The WestFest II & Rock N' Roll Ave Concert Previews!!

As promised, here's part #2 of this weekend's hard rock concert previews! Due to how long the WestFest preview ran, I'm bumping our Generations and Bone Yard 225 previews to our next post alongside Curtis McKenzie, so this post only has two write-ups for weekend shows, though one eats up 3/4ths of the post. We'll start in Sault Michigan today, as this involves a show tomorrow where the other Canadian ones don't, so here's what else you should know on this Thursday evening!

While fans in St. Ignace can check out the EUP debuts of Nolium this weekend at their Kewadin Casino branch, fans an hour north will instead bear witness to the first regional appearances of Mount Pleasant classic/hard rock cover band Rock N' Roll Ave TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT at The Rapids Lounge at the Sault Ste. Marie Kewadin Casino! A spin-off/side project from the metalcore band Black Out, this weekend's shows aren't just Rock N' Roll Ave(nue)'s first in the Soo, but their first anywhere since relaunching earlier this year. Rehearsal videos and pre-comeback live videos point to a good hard rocking cover range, though be careful, as their Facebook page also hosts Black Out videos, and they're just a tad more extreme! This weekend's shows are 9:00 PM affairs tomorrow and Saturday night with 21+ age limits and no cover charges. See above for more details, and here's a recent Rock N' Roll Ave jam video!

Now let's head to Sault Ontario with the second annual WestFest, which returns to Anna Marinelli Park in Jamestown on SATURDAY! This "block party meets music festival" is part of the West Village Revitilization Project's ongoing efforts to improve and rehabilitate the Jamestown and Steelton areas of downtown Sault Ste. Marie, and there will be food and craft vendors, family activities, and more at this outdoor event, so be sure to visit the West Village Renewed Facebook page for full non-musical details! Musically speaking, we are down from seven acts last year and five in initial marketing to just four tomorrow, with the only hard rock-leaning band being new local alternative hard rock band Riverside Stasis in their fifth public concert and first since the departure of guitarist Liam Dinsmore. Frontwoman Tea Emlaw headlined last year's WestFest in her prior band Handsome Sandwich's final Sault Ste. Marie concert set, but this band is opening WestFest II at 5:00 PM.

Riverside Stasis were strongly hinted as being signed up for the talent show/battle of the bands to find the opening act, only for that to be cancelled due to "unforeseen circumstances", so they were acclaimed as the openers on Saturday. Hopefully things go well for Tea and the guys tomorrow! The rest of Saturday's lineup includes local/Collingwood folk supergroup The Ontarians (featuring the Soo's own Frank Deresti and Chris Johns) as headliners, alongside folk/country quartet The Golden Scoundrels (the only returning band from last year's WestFest) and Treble Charger frontman Greig Nori's daughter Ava Nori in the first public concert appearance by her as a lead performer that I can recall. Marketing up to last month also had BookcluB/ex-Hails guitarist Carmen Muto playing a rare solo set (a video of him shredding an electric guitar was even shared to the West Village Renewed Facebook page).

Unfortunately, it appears that Carmen has dropped out of WestFest and has not been replaced, and any promotion directly referencing him/his set was taken down. I have not heard a reason why Carmen isn't playing on Saturday, but hopefully nothing too serious happened, and don't miss him with BookcluB at the next Downtown Street Party in two weeks! Other set times haven't been announced, but WestFest II takes place from 4:00-11:00 PM on Saturday, it is absolutely all ages, and admission at 169 James Street will be via donation (last year was free). Weather-wise, 9&10 News is calling for a high of 20° on Saturday and a low of 13° with sunny skies and no likely rain, but this is two days out, so keep tabs on your preferred forecast just in case. Despite the smaller lineup, WestFest sounds like a good time and with agreeable weather, so visit the above links for full details, and here's Riverside Stasis live!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for the rest of this weekend's hard rock concert previews next! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (Downtown Street Party #2) & A Video From Last Month's Sandman Show!!

For our ninth post already this month, this is a two topic post, starting with a big LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for later this month, and ending with a video from a recent tribute band concert here. Let's get things rolling!

Over one month after the City of Sault Ste. Marie's second Downtown Street Party on Thursday, July 16th was cancelled due to that day's severely poor air quality, they will host the planned third (now second) one on Thursday, August 20th! Originally scheduled to take place on a closed stretch of Queen Street East from Elgin to Dennis Street, they're basically doubling the size of this one to include the Brock-Elgin stretch that was gypped out of last month's street party, so this will virtually take place from the former BMO building all the way down to the bus terminal. Going along with this, they will try again for the Downtown Plaza aspects of last month's cancelled street party, including re-booking Nicole Does Trivia and the live screening of Jaws 1 there. Click here for full details on non-musical activities to expect on Queen Street two weeks from tomorrow (even a rock climbing wall!)

Musically speaking, there will actually be three "stages" for Street Party #2, but sadly, none of the acts on the 20th are ones who were scheduled for the cancelled street party last month (nor were any of them scheduled for Stage 1 at Rotaryfest that same day). One stage will be up... way up atop Village Media headquarters (a space they call "The Canopy"), which has sparingly hosted live bands in recent years, and this is where SMS readers will likely be most interested, as punk/alternative cover sextet BookcluB and local/Barrie alt-hard rock musician Mike Haggith (presumably with The Big Finish Band) will be playing on the roof at 9:30 & 8:15 PM respectively! Opening on The Canopy is Dustcovers frontman "Just" Tom Peer with an acoustic set at 7:00 PM. This should be a fun and unique experience, Mike's high elevation day job acknowledged, so don't bypass this action in just over two weeks!

As for the other stages, they will try again re: having bands at the corner of Queen & March Streets (the cancelled Brock-Elgin street party would actually have been from March-Elgin), and that stage will be headlined by prolific local folk/blues musician Jay Case with support sets from blues singer/guitarist Josh "The Preacher" McNally and his Jackleg Band, as well as folk singer/guitarist Matthew James. The bonus third stage will basically be a reprise of Stage 3 from Rotaryfest, in that it will feature EDM artists/DJs, including Skeletune, Hippie Business, and Flummoxx (all set times are identical to The Canopy's). The EDM party goes down outside of Outspoken Brewing between Elgin and Bruce Street. Downtown Street Party #3 #2 runs from 6:30-11:00 PM on Thursday the 20th, and it is FREE & ALL AGES! The third and final Downtown Street Party for 2026 goes down on September 17th from Dennis-Gore Street, as the parties move west down Queen Street.

Unhealthy levels of forest fire smoke was an unexpected wrench in last month's plans that hopefully won't rear its ugly head again in two weeks, for Northwestern Ontario's sake, let alone wherever that air drifts! Otherwise, these street parties go ahead rain or shine, but still, I do hope that there's no rain to worry about after the two month wait for another one of these! With BookcluB and Mike Haggith's rooftop involvement, this is the most SMS-friendly of the three street party lineups too, so keep everything in mind in two weeks, and visit You Belong SSM's Facebook page for more details!

To close this post, let's look back at a video from one of the concerts that we are backlogged alone in terms of just covering videos from, namely the Sandman concert at The Full Throttle Saloon! The former Primavera Hall have been oddly quiet on social media since this show took place on July 25th, but Mike Blair's 705Live Sound Co. were on hand to man the soundboard for this hard-touring Toronto-based Metallica tribute band, and he did get a video for the 705Live Facebook page! FYI, despite running sound for Rotaryfest Stage 2, Mike didn't post any videos from Clergue Park. The Sandman video runs for 71 seconds of them playing "Enter Sandman" (complete with Rick jokingly mispronouncing "Sault"), and Mike makes effective use of the zoom lens to let us "walk up" to the stage from the soundboard!

It's always fun to see Sandman's faithful take on 1980s and early 1990s Metallica on a local stage, even if this concert's ticket prices were noticeably higher than past shows here, and the crowd looks decent from what is visible. Give Mike's Sandman video a watch below, and hopefully the Saloon proper shot something to upload when their social media break ends!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for weekend concert previews on the SMS next! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (The Lazys & WestFest II!)

Happy Canada Day to our Canadian readers! Just a quick note that the full music schedule for TODAY'S opening day of Poutine Feast was finally revealed on the You Belong SSM Facebook page yesterday, confirming that Vito Tassone (credited as "VT Music") and Josh "The Preacher" McNally will also be performing, as will unspecified indigenous performers. The official timeslots weren't given, but they're in descending performance order with Eli Russell & The River Fools up first at 12:00 PM, and BookcluB & Dos Amigos both confirmed on Instagram that they'd be at 8:15 and 4:15 PM respectively. If you're going to the plaza, have fun and stay hyrdrated! Now, here's two big LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS to look for in the coming months!

The full lineup for the second annual WestFest at Anna Marinelli Park on Saturday, August 8th was gradually revealed on the West Village Renewed Facebook page last month, and with this video 100% confirming the five final acts (down from seven last year), who all is heading to Jamestown next month? Surprisingly, only one band from 2025 is returning this year, and unlike last year's focus on Rotaryfest alumni (all but one act being from recent Stage 2 lineups), the four newcomers here have never played Rotaryfest in the forms you'll be seeing at WestFest II. Headlining this year are local/Collingwood folk rock quartet The Ontarians (featuring the Soo's own Frank Deresti and Chris Johns), while folk/country quartet The Golden Scoundrels will co-headline as the only return act from last year. Two familiar faces will play solo sets prior, including the solo debut of BookcluB/ex-Hails guitarist Carmen Muto!

I have no idea what Carmen's solo set will entail in terms of genres, possible bandmates, if he'll be singing too, etc., but he's an exceedingly talented guitarist for his age, so hopefully he makes a big impression! Also performing at WestFest next month is Ava Nori, the daughter of Treble Charger frontman Greig Nori, who you may recall guesting with her dad's band at their last local concert at The Machine Shop in March 2024. Ava's arguably better known for her poetry (she was interviewed about it on The Borderline, even), but come out to Anna Marinelli Park to see how she does as a solo musician! Opening on August 8th are new local alt-hard rock quintet Riverside Stasis, one year after singer Tea Emlaw headlined WestFest 1 with Handsome Sandwich in that band's final Sault Ste. Marie concert set. I have no clue if Riverside Stasis were always planned to play next month, or if they had signed up for the cancelled battle of the bands to find the opening act.

Given their pedigree (including 3/5ths of HeadFirst), hopefully they were picked on their own merits, but regardless, Sault Ontario has been snakebit for battles of the bands since the pandemic! Like last year, WestFest is a centerpiece event for The West Village Revitalization Project in their efforts to revive and bring attention to the Jamestown and Steelton areas in the west end of the downtown core, and community initiatives and causes therein. Termed as a "block party meets music festival", this outdoor event at 169 James Street will also feature local vendors and family activities, and if the same as 2025, a beer garden, so click here for full non-musical details and any to come. This year's WestFest is blocked to start and end later than last year's, with an advertised runtime of 4:00-11:00 PM, with Riverside Stasis kicking off the live music at 5:00 PM. While last year's was free, WestFest II will have admission by donation, so pay what you can to support the cause.

While Riverside Stasis are the only assuredly hard rock-leaning act next month (again, I don't know what to expect from Carmen solo), there should be a little for everyone to enjoy musically at WestFest II, and I do hope that the weather cooperates, both in terms of possible rain and the temperature/humidity next month. Kudos to West Village Renewed for keeping their revitalization going, and visit the above links for more details!

Finally, Australian hard rock quintet The Lazys will make their local concert debut on Friday, October 9th at Blaster Powerhouse! Announced late last month via this poster that bafflingly doesn't give the date (The Lazys' website and the Facebook comment replies confirmed it), this is a band that will be familiar to listeners of 104.3 The Fox, as The Lazys have far more Canadian rock radio success than American thanks to hit singles like "Too Tough To Die" & "Hot Under The Collar". While not as AC/DC-coded as their fellow Aussies in Airbourne, there's still a retro flair to their catchy brand of hard rock, and no less than Ian D'Sa from Billy Talent has co-wrote music with them, so it'll be neat finally see The Lazys in the Soo! Opening on October 9th (also in their local debut) are Winnipeg "nu grunge punk n' roll" quartet The Bloodshots, an all-Indigenous group whose described genre is pretty accurate, as they cover a lot of ground in their original music, so there's a lot to like within, and do check them out in advance!

A local opening band is to be announced for this all ages concert, which is expected to start at 8:15 PM. Advance tickets are on sale for $40 at this link and presumably at the former Soo Blaster, and the price will jump to $50 at the door. This should be a fun concert for modern hard rock fans with an old school flair, and there's three months to prepare for it, so visit the above links for more details, and stay tuned for weekend concert previews and this month's "Where Are The New Albums?" post next! Thanks everyone!

B.A. Johnston & Silent 9 Concert Previews, Plus Early Details On WestFest II!!

Let's wrap up this weekend's known and public hard rock concert previews with what's going down at a popular west end venue, as well as early details on a returning summer concert festival still looking for bands!

Local classic/hard rock cover quartet Silent 9 will cap off their spring calendar with shows at The Esquire Club TONIGHT & TOMORROW NIGHT! As usual, the band will not play any public nightclub gigs over the summer, instead focusing on special events, festivals, and private bookings, so if you want to rock out with Jess, Ryan, Paul, and Steve again before their focus shifts for the season, head to the west end this weekend! While there was some confusion as to if Silent 9 would even be playing at The Esquire Club tomorrow given the B.A. Johnston booking (more on that in a second), it has been confirmed in recent promotion that Silent 9 are still playing tomorrow, just with a later start time. Tonight's show starts at 9:00 PM as normal, tomorrow's will kick off at 10:00 PM, and regardless, both gigs are 19+ with no cover charges. Visit the above links for more details on Silent 9's classic and hard rock cover action this weekend, and here they are live!

Next up, Hamilton outsider folk/acoustic punk troubador B.A. Johnston will make his own return to the Soo TOMORROW NIGHT at the aforementioned Esquire Club! A well travelled, eclectic, and proudly Canadian musician, B.A. is known for frequently playing here, always at different venues than the last (including at Venue on Queen Street East last year), so him finally landing on The Esquire Club isn't that surprising, even though that venue isn't historically known for booking touring artists. This time though, B.A. seems like the supplement rather than the headliner, as he is playing a one hour set at 9:00 PM before Silent 9 take the stage, and the venue is treating these as separate concerts back to back. Hopefully B.A. crams his hour full of his freewheeling unplugged punk classics, and do give his videos a watch for a better glimpse of what he brings to the table! Maybe he'll even play on top of a car again?

As with Silent 9 (the de facto headliners, you could say), this is a 19+ concert with no announced cover. See above for more details, but rest assured, you'll wanna be there to see what he sings about and who he plays off of in the audience! For a preview, here's B.A. Johnston live!

Also today, you may have heard that WestFest is coming back this summer, so what should you know there? The West Village Revitalization Project launched this event in July of last year at Anna Marinelli Park at 169 James Street as part of their efforts to renew and better the west end of downtown Sault Ste. Marie (Jamestown & Steelton), and last year's WestFest featured family entertainment, vendors, a beer garden, and yes, live music from local artists. WestFest II returns a little later in the year for 2026 (on Saturday, August 8th), and while a lineup announcement is not out yet, organizers are planning to host a talent show to find at least one additional act! On May 14th, the West Village Renewed Facebook page announced that they were looking for "up-and-coming, undiscovered" local musicians to apply for a chance to compete for an opening slot at Beck's Bar on Saturday, June 6th.

I do apologize for the week+ delay on our end, but there is still time, so if your band is interested in a slot at this returning outdoor summer concert festival, contact organizers at the above links for more details by Wednesday! This definitely smells more like a battle of the bands than a "talent show", but perhaps the verbiage is intentional to leave things open to solo artists without compromising (note that Matthew James was the only solo artist on last year's bill). An online application form for the competition is now online, confirming that organizers want artists "ready to bring energy, originality, and a strong live performance", and "selected finalists" will be picked to compete on the 6th in front of a judges panel and "a community audience" (no word on if a fan vote will play into the selections). Only one winner is mentioned there, and while they will be featured in WestFest promotions, I don't know if any other prizes will be awarded.

Just as a point of reference, last year's WestFest had seven acts (including headliners Handsome Sandwich in their final Sault Ste. Marie concert), and all but one were recent performers on Rotaryfest Stage 2, though I hope that doesn't pigeonhole the artist registrations. No word on if they're waiting for the battle to announce the remaining lineup or not, but it will be interesting to see who all is heading west (well, west in the downtown) for year #2! Visit the above links for more details on WestFest 2026 and the talent show applications, and that's all for now, but stay tuned for more news and notes this weekend! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Soundcheck), Weekend Concert Previews, And More!!

A relatively quiet concert weekend lies ahead in the Twin Saults, albeit the calm before the Halloween weekend storm. Still, I am holding one big event for tomorrow's post, namely the semifinals of The Soo's Got Talent, as I was waiting for as much public video from round #2 to turn up, but did it? Stay tuned then, but now let's dive into traditional hard rock concerts this weekend, and some details on a major local development that may have SMS ties in time, but first, here's SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS!!

Local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck will return to Jay's Piston Broke Pub for concerts TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice, the band only announced the dates via their Facebook event page yesterday, but at least they made one for them! The guys (sans Cameron) will also be hosting jam night there tonight as usual, and while we don't consider jam/open mic nights as "concerts" due to their in-built unpredictability, Soundcheck are calling this their "triple decker weekend" at Jay's. This should be a fine weekend for fans of Soundcheck's classic and hard rock cover attack, so don't miss out on all of the action TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT, perhaps also including jam night tonight if you don't mind seeing mystery guests join in for mystery covers! These are 19+ events at 9:30 PM with no cover charge. See above for details, and here's Soundcheck live!

Next up, here's some shows that had prior notice, starting with local southern hard rock trio Bone Yard returning to Shooters Downstairs Lounge for one night only TOMORROW NIGHT! This will be Bone Yard's first gig at the Dennis Street nightclub in two months, and is a one-nighter as usual for this venue this season due to Shooters hosting DJs on most Saturdays. If you'd enjoy seeing Greg, Alex, and Warren unleash some hard rocking classic and southern rock hits, you know where to be tomorrow! Note that Bone Yard have confirmed that they will return to Toystock at The Grand Gardens North on Sunday, November 26th, as per their updated Facebook concert calendar pictured here, but I'm waiting for the full lineup announcement before going into details on the SMS. Tomorrow's Shooters show is at 9:00 PM with a 19+ age limit and no cover. Visit the above links for more details, and here's Bone Yard live at Shooters in the summer!

Also this weekend, local classic/hard rock cover quartet Generations will return to The Esquire Club for concerts TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Postponed a week due to the band trading weekends there with The Steeltown Playboys, fans of their first few months together will especially want to take notice of tomorrow's show, as drummer Tony Santoro revealed on their Facebook group yesterday that original guitarist Brandon Ruch will return to fill in for an absent Tony Kajnar. This is a one-night-only switch (the band didn't say why Tony K. will be unavailable), but it'll be neat to see Brandon back! Both Tonys will be present on Saturday. Just to clarify scheduling, it does look like singer Valerie Powley will be 100% available on Saturday too, as The Soo's Got Talent's semifinals (where she is judging) begin at 6:30 PM at Soo Blaster and are projected to wrap up in time for her to get down to the west end. Stay tuned tomorrow for our belated round 2 coverage & semifinal preview for The Soo's Got Talent!

Generations' classic and hard rock covers can be enjoyed at The Esquire Club tomorrow and/or Saturday night at 9:30 PM, these are 19+ events, and there's no cover charge. See above for more details, and for a preview, here's a new video of Generations! This was shared to their Facebook group by Mario Naccarato, and it features the Jus' Chillin successors covering Alannah Myles' "Love Is" at Reggie's this past weekend. Rare when you Alannah covered locally, especially when it's not "Black Velvet", but Valerie is more than up to the vocal task! Alas, the vertical camera angle is not ideal, and Tony S. is completely blocked from view from where Mario was filming. Give it a look for yourselves below!

Let's close today with a topic that I have completely resisted talking about on the SMS for the longest time, namely the downtown plaza. Many will have followed the plans, delays, agreements, and construction of the plaza beside the new Soo Market at the corner of Queen Street East and Brock Street, and while a concert stage was teased as part of it since early on, I've opted not to cover the plaza on the SMS because it's not really relevant until it is. It has to get heavier bookings first, let alone open successfully, which seemed up in the air for a time as things got delayed. Local news outlets have kept fans abreast of the plaza's progress, but we got some finite plans re: concerts there, as SooToday parent company Village Media have donated $50,000 towards construction of a stage & video screen, and $100,000 towards maintenance & advertising over the next 10 years on what will be called the Village Media Stage (click here for SooToday's coverage).

The stage isn't ready yet, but the plaza will be officially opened to the public on Saturday, October 28th at 10:00 AM, and will be used in its current state as part of Halloween festivities downtown as well as Bon Soo events to be identified. I don't suspect that concerts will be on the docket until the stage is 100% complete (not to mention once winter is over), so look to the spring of 2024 at the earliest for possible concerts. I hope the plaza is a successful investment for the downtown core and for the Soo at large, and we'll let you know as SMS-relevant details come in! That's all for today, but stay tuned for The Soo's Got Talent coverage next! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Destroyer & The Wyld Stallyns), Plus Weekend Concert Previews!!

A relatively quiet concert weekend is upon us for hard rock fans in the Twin Saults, but we do have LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (one on SHORT NOTICE) to pad things out with, so here's what you should know on this Thursday night!

Local funk/hard rock cover sextet The Wyld Stallyns will provide musical entertainment at TOMORROW'S street party on Queen Street East to coincide with the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds' home opening game! Apologies for the short notice, I only heard about this show earlier today via SooToday, but a Facebook event page had been online for the past two weeks. Regardless, The Stallyns have not confirmed their involvement on their own Facebook page, but given drummer Derek Turner's ties with Village Media, them playing makes sense when you realize their precise location TOMORROW. Queen Street will be closed between Bruce & Dennis (naturally given where GFL Memorial Gardens is), but rather than play at street level on a pop-up stage as normal, the band will be playing on the rooftop of Village Media headquarters at 298 Queen Street East!

Very Beatles-esque conceit there, but totally unique for this city, so look up for The Wyld Stallyns' rocking covers TOMORROW! Food/alcohol vendors, OLG promotions, and family activities will also be on tap for this all ages event, which takes place at 3:00 PM in the leadup to the Greyhounds hosting the Sudbury Wolves in the Gardens at 7:00 PM. Likely one of this year's final outdoor hard rock shows in the Soo, 9&10 News is calling for sunny weather of around 20° TOMORROW during the festivities. Visit the above links for more details, here's The Stallyns live, and go Hounds go!

Next up, we'll pause our weekend concert previews for a second for another new concert taking place further in the timeline, as Toronto-based Kiss tribute band Destroyer will return to Soo Blaster for a headlining concert on Saturday, October 14th! Announced oddly late given who the headliners are, this will be Destroyer's (at least) sixth local headlining concert, most recently taking the stage at Soo Blaster in April of last year. Fans who have seen Destroyer live will know that they deliver a faithful rendition of Kiss classics in visual and auditory senses, so if you want the best, the next best thing will be here in a little over two weeks! Local support this time will come by way of new local pop rock cover quartet Bourbon Blue (featuring Turner Up and Soo Fighters alumni), and while not as heavy as Fort Creek from last year, there's a lot of talent in their ranks, so don't be late for their lead-off set next month!

Admission for this 19+ & 7:00 PM concert is $20 in advance (on par with last year) or $25 at the door, and VIP booths will be available if desired. No word on online ticket sales yet, but last year's Destroyer show did have them. Should be a good time for Kiss Army members in the Soo, so definitely visit the official Facebook event page for more details!

Moving back to this weekend's concert previews now, we'll next stay downtown on Queen Street for local southern hard rock cover trio Bone Yard's scheduled return to Shooters Downstairs Lounge TOMORROW NIGHT! A one-nighter due to Shooters' fall decision to host DJs on Saturdays, this show was announced via the venue's Facebook event page last month, but has not received active promotion on their end nor the band's since. Assuming that all is well, Bone Yard should have a solid evening of hard and southern rock favourites in store for fans and Shooters regulars alike tomorrow, so keep this show in mind for your end-of-month delectation! This 19+ show has a 9:00 PM start time and no cover charge. Visit the above links for more details, and here's Bone Yard live!

Lastly for this weekend's known hard rock concerts, we'll head to the west end, where local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck are slated to rock The Esquire Club TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT! Their first of two concert weekends booked for the last third of 2023 at this venue, these will be their first shows since playing at Jay's last week with guest singer Darrel Ford, and as far as I can tell, their full lineup (with Cameron) will be back in full force for this weekend's gigs. While the band proper hasn't publically acknowledged them on Facebook, The Esquire Club has, so fingers crossed that the guys have lots of entertaining hard and classic rock favourites ready to go for fans this weekend! As usual for their gigs here, expect 9:30 PM start times, 19+ age limits, and no cover charges tomorrow and/or Saturday. Visit the above links for more details, and here's Soundcheck live last year!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes in the coming days! Thanks everyone!

Rotaryfest 2023 Fallout & Videos (Part 4!!)

To cap off the month of July, let's resume our fallout from this year's Rotaryfest at Clergue Park, so musically speaking, what else should you know from two weeks+ ago? We'll pick things back up with the one-off reunion set of local classic/hard rock cover veterans That's Chester, whose steady stream of multi-camera videos from that night has continued on a daily basis on their Facebook page! All edited together by drummer Ric Datson, the videos include covers of Doucette's "Mama Let Him Play", AC/DC's "Let There Be Rock", The Refreshments' "Banditos", Molly Hatchet's "Flirtin' With Disaster", Deep Purple's "Highway Star", this two song video featuring The Knack's "My Sharona" & Queen's "Tie Your Mother Down" (plus a guest appearance from late guitarist Eugene Orlando's grandson), Harlequin's "Thinking Of You", Sweet's "Ballroom Blitz", ZZ Top's "La Grange", and as embedded below, their first two encore songs.

Specifically, they covered April Wine's version of Hot Chocolate's "Could Have Been A Lady" and the April Wine original "Roller" back to back. Along with the first four songs that we addressed in this Rotaryfest fallout post, these videos constitute That's Chester's complete reunion set, and they sound very good across the board with a nice hard rock edge and some welcomed Canadian content for fans of 1970s and 1980s domestic rock acts! Hopefully this won't be the last that we'll see of That's Chester, but check out these well shot & edited videos from Rotaryfest above & below!

Next up, we'll leap from the very last act to play this year to the very first, but not via a video. As you're likely well aware, the Thursday opener on Stage 1 was local/Barrie alt-hard rock musician Mike Haggith and his local backing band in a set cut short after just three songs due to Mike severely dislocating his right knee during his second song (he finished it while laying on his back, and managed to play the third while surrounded by paramedics before the ambulance took him to Sault Area Hospital). One week after all of that happened, Mike was a guest on the podcast Inside The Village (naturally a product of SooToday parent company Village Media) to talk about his abbreviated set with hosts Scott Sexsmith (membership director) and Michael "Frisco" Friscolanti (editor in chief), plus producer Derek Turner (yes, The Wyld Stallyns' drummer). You can hear the 34 minute episode at this link or on other major podcasting services.

After bantering about Michael Amadio bringing the Stanley Cup home to the Soo and discussing some local stories in Southern Ontario (as in, local to other markets served by Village Media news websites), the Mike Haggith portion of the episode begins 10 minutes in after a brief commercial break. Here, Scott asks Mike about the beginnings of his musical career and the planning for his Rotaryfest set this year before diving into the set proper, including how things went until he collapsed, the amusing initial reactions from his bandmates (who didn't immediately know that he wasn't just being theatrical), the quick response from on-site paramedics, the decision to play "I've Seen It Before" while laying on his back with a twisted knee, the crowd response to their set, his prognosis for the knee (as of the interview, 4-6 weeks on crutches with physio and ortho), how Sault Area Hospital staff responded to everything when he was first admitted, ...

...his surprisingly early (initial) exit from the hospital, reaction to his social media accounts afterwards, his hopes to get a Rotaryfest do-over in 2024, and his set at the Northern Vibe Festival next month (where he will be seated). The last six minutes of the episode feature more discussion about Mike's injury and similar stories about persevering through injury, with Derek's musical point of view coming up here, as he drummed with the Stallyns on Stage 1 that same Saturday. Informative interview with Mike getting more candid than ever about the events of July 13th, so I highly recommend checking out the interview above (and he dislocated his right knee, Jacob's live-stream was mirrored. My apologies!)

We'll close today with some fallout from Stage 2 near the Art Gallery of Algoma, as I've barely talked about that stage at this point! Granted, the two heavier bands to play this year haven't posted videos from their sets, but what is posted publically to check out? From the Saturday program of original-leaning bands, surprisingly not too much. Machines Dream posted a video on their Facebook page of them playing the first part of "Boundaries", so fans of this exceedingly talented progressive rock band will want to give that a look, especially as this was the last of this run of shows for their reunited original lineup! The other public video that I know was shot on Saturday was a "Shorts" video uploaded by YouTube user Owerri Chic TV, and it captures The Hollow Heads (I think), though the video is confusingly titled "End of Rotaryfest" (they were the third-to-last band on Saturday). Sounds good while it lasts!

The other known public videos to date are from the Friday Night Blues program on Stage 2, and I will touch on those in some form in an upcoming post, especially if any hard rock covers snuck into the sets/videos. Also, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that Stage 1's Thursday headliners Abba Soo were photographed by The Sault Star in this article on the opening day's festivities. That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site next month! Thanks everyone!

VM Radio's Pilot Stream Info, Plus More Recent Updates!!

With a new week in full swing, there's news and notes to touch on now that we're fully out of the Halloween weekend, and hopefully everyone had a fun time seeing The Brains last night! Today, we have plenty of assorted recent updates, and first, your first chance to sample a new network of regional radio stations, so here's what you need to know!

SooToday parent company Village Media's new digital radio network VM Radio is now in it's pre-launch pilot phase, so we can now check out samples of each! Though originally planned for a September debut with 3 stations, it's better late than never, especially as there's actually 5 feeds, so what's available to check out? SMS readers will likely be most interested in VM Rocks, whose description says will feature modern rock, alternative, metal, and classic rock, citing bands like Gob, Seether, The Black Keys, and locals Garden of Bedlam & Jack Spades among it's playlist, so click above to hear the current stream! The other four stations include the previously announced VM Roots (for folk, roots, and blues rock), and in lieu of the originally hyped "Mix" station, VM Bounce (for hip-hop, dance, and club music), VM Indie (for indie, pop, and electronic music), and VM Y'All (for country music.) All streams are available to check out right now with less commercials than on terrestrial radio, but a full launch involving news and weather broadcasts is expected for later this week.

The idea of a full new network of local internet radio stations is a sound one, especially as Sault Ontario only has Country 104 and Kiss 105 for locally produced FM stations (and even with Sault Michigan stations, there aren't any FM indie or roots stations here.) Also, with Energy Rock Radio moving out west a few years ago, it's nice to have a full local internet radio presence based out of here again! For my own experience checking out the pilot streams of the stations, I've had no problems with the audio quality or speed of the playback, though the player's own page is very plain looking. For potential listeners of VM Rocks, today's rotation included artists like Big Wreck, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, Steely Dan, Crash Karma, and ZZ Top, so it will cover a wide gamut of rock genres, with lots of Canadian content! That said, plans for potential programs or genre blocks with live DJs haven't been publicized yet, so I can't say with certainty if metal or punk fans will get a dedicated show on VM Rocks, but it'd be cool to see!

I'm very curious to see where VM Radio (and VM Rocks) go from here, including on if there will be other ways you can listen (i.e. through TuneIn Radio), so stay tuned for more updates on the full launch as they are made, be sure to check out all of the stations at the above links, and VM Rocks is now in our Sault Ontario internet radio/podcast links!

Finally for today, here's _ shorter assorted recent news items from the last few days, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by artist, website, or company name:

• Local concert promoters Oh! Right Arm! Promotions have launched a sister promotional company named GFC Promotions that will specialize in shows outside of Sault Ste. Marie, specifically in Garden River like next August's Das Bunkerfest II, related private house parties, and perhaps future attempts at Echo Bay concerts? No word what "GFC" stands for, but like them above, and GFC Promotions are now in our "Other Local Metal Links"!
• In his latest local band search posting on the Musicians Wanted Facebook group on October 30th, local bassist Jordan Leach is now looking for a singer, guitarist(s), and drummer for a horror punk band he's launching, though "other interesting instruments" are also welcome. The band would mostly play originals with some covers. With Frigtlight's demise, there is a horror punk void now, so hopefully this takes off, and message Jordan at this link or above for more details!
• On his solo Facebook page on October 15th, Haggith drummer Mike Haggith revealed the tentative setlist for his upcoming 49th studio album "The Warinside", and while most of the 10 songs are new, the CD will apparently include a re-recording of his 2009 song "Lay My Body Down To Rest" (which Mike and The Din have played live recently.) Intriguing titles, so stay tuned for updates on this and his other upcoming solo plans!
• Though not a formal review of the show, a new SooToday article from Donna Hopper on Halloween costumes and parties in the Soo from this past Friday does feature photos of Frightlight's headlining set at The Algonquin Pub during frontman Johnny Pints' annual Halloween party (in colour too!), and they're excellent as usual, so click here to see them and all of the great costumes from Halloween 2014 at four different downtown bars!
• In the first finite info regarding this year's third annual Toystock fundraiser concert, promoters Maxx Entertainment revealed on their Facebook page yesterday that the event is still slated for Sunday, November 30th at The Canadian Nightclub, will feature 10 live bands once again for a roughly 10 hour duration, admission will be via a toy or food donation (money is accepted too), while the band lineup will be revealed shortly. Great to see Toystock back once again, and stay tuned for confirmation of this year's bands!
• Sault Band-O-Rama promoters, Mourning Wood bandmates, and local metal band alums Terry Eaton & Steven Flint have launched a new live event sound company named Twin City Sound that are available to book for various types of events, presumably including concerts (like Sault Band-O-Rama at the Primavera Hall on November 21st.) Though the "Twin City" name implies that they'll cover Sault Michigan too, nothing is explicitly stated regarding cross-border bookings. This should be interesting, and Twin City Sound are now in our "Other" links section!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and updates as November rolls along! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (The Misfits), VM Radio Updates, And New Videos!!

Before we begin this post, we send our best wishes out to Mike Gingras and Wayne Kozeyah on the screenings of their short films "The Kid Who Made The Face" and "LemmaFest" at TODAY'S Soo Film Festival at The Soo Theatre in Sault Michigan, hopefully you guys get a great reception (for possible attendees, their films will be part of the 3:00 PM screenings!) Now, today's post features new concert videos, updates on an upcoming regional radio station, and first, here's a huge LOCAL CONCERT ALERT!!

New Jersey horror punk legends The Misfits will be hitting Sault Ontario on Thursday, September 18th for their first ever publically advertised concert in our area! Known for classic songs like "Last Caress", "Hate Breeders", "Astro Zombies", and "Scream" (among many others), The Misfits have long been a favourite cover choice for many different local bands, and now Jerry Only and company will finally be playing a public concert for Sault-area fans! Fitting an event of this scope, this will be a rare heavier concert at The Kiwanis Community Theatre Centre at 1007 Trunk Road (also the site of White Pines Collegiate), so metal and punk fans in the east end will like that convenience! For Black Flag fans, note that The Misfits' current guitarist is Dez Cadena, and they are known to cover some Flag originals live too! Local support will come from local punk/metal quintet (and ardent Misfits fans) Jack Spades, and this will be familiar territory for frontman & promoter J.D. Pearce, who has opened for The Misfits in Toronto with Frightlight, and has teased going on tour with them this September, so we'll have to see how that shakes out!

At least one more opening band has been teased on personal Facebook postings, though details haven't been publicized yet. Co-presented by J.D., The Sault Ste. Marie Arts Council, and VM Radio (more on them in a second), this concert will be ALL AGES (and licensed), an early 6:00 PM start time is advertised, and tickets will be around $35 (including tax) at the Kiwanis Theatre box office at the Station Mall (no word yet on other ticket locations.) For more details, visit the official Facebook event page! No matter which Misfits era you prefer, this is a huge announcement, and hopefully there's a fittingly big turnout next month, as this is shaping up to be one of the biggest local metal/punk concerts in our area this year! Stay tuned for updates!

Next up, remember how SooToday & Local2's parent company Village Media has been in the planning stages of launching a new local internet radio station named VM Radio? Well, some more public details have been released, so here's what we now know! According to their new Facebook page, VM Radio (whose logo is pictured) will actually be three separate stations, with one dedicated to rock music, one to roots music, and one for a mixture of other genres. Great idea, especially to ensure that specific music genres get sufficient attention and timeslots! A launch date is teased for at some point next month, but announcements relating to on-air programs, streaming formats, and on-air personalities have yet to be made. I have high hopes that VM Radio will fill in the Sault Ontario-produced radio gaps that have been vacant for too long, especially as we only have 4 Canadian FM stations, and only 2 are locally produced. I'm very excited to see how things develop, so stay tuned for updates on VM Radio as we hear it!

Closing with new videos, here's a bunch of clips from local hard rock quartet The Danger Cats' set at The Esquire Club last weekend! Uploaded to the girls' YouTube channel over the last few days, an attendee shot these clips of the band covering Blondie's "Call Me", the last half of The Runaways' "Cherry Bomb" & AC/DC's "Big Balls" (both part of one video with bassist Jamie Jaguar on lead vocals), and as embedded below, renditions of The Runaways' "I Love Playing With Fire" and The Scorpions' "The Zoo", so click each link to check them out! Inconsistent lighting, but the girls sound good on these covers, and they're shot at a good close angle to the stage! They're definitely coming into their own, and you can see more of that TONIGHT when The Danger Cats open for Late & Loud one last time(?) at The Rockstar Bar, though they'll have a special guest too, as former Sativa Rose singer Marisa Valois revealed on her solo Facebook page that she'll be joining them for a couple of songs. That should be interesting, so don't miss that TONIGHT, and here's The Danger Cats at The Esquire Club!



Finally, here's a newly shared Facebook video of local alternative hard rock trio The Pixo Control from one of their sets at Gusto's Bar & Grill at the Wellington Square Mall way back in April! This is of their cover of Nirvana's "Come As You Are", as filmed by attendee/Heavy North Entertainment owner Tyler St. Amour, and while it was only posted on his personal Facebook page at the time, The Pixo Control just shared it publically today. Aside from The Pixo Control's early 2014 shows here, Gusto's isn't largely known for heavier concerts, and with the video being dark and somewhat grainy, it's hard to get a sense of it's band setup, but there's a solid crowd, and the guys play a faithful energetic version of this Nirvana classic! Check it out below, and don't miss their set at The Emergency next Saturday!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for this month's "Where Are The New Albums?" post TOMORROW! Thanks everyone!