LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Who Made Who, Queen: It's A Kind Magic, Bon Jovi Forever, And Led By Zeppelin!!)

Today's news post is devoted to LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for the Sault Community Theatre Centre for later this month, and I do apologize for only finding out about these in one cluster just recently. I've gotta stay more on top of S.C.T.C. concerts, and they've been pretty busy for booking notable touring shows and bands this year, even if the last attempted one (Dr. Feelgood) fell victim to "unforeseen circumstances". In an SMS-amenable context, what is first up there this fall?

Hamilton-based Led Zeppelin tribute band Led By Zeppelin will make their local concert debut at the former Kiwanis Theatre on Saturday, September 12th! If this gives you deja vu, it's likely because we just saw a different Led Zeppelin tribute (London's Zed) headlining Rotaryfest Stage 1 yesterday, so the turnaround to have another Zeppelin tribute from Southern Ontario exactly eight weeks later seems really odd. I find it's unfair to compare tribute bands of the same source act due to inevitably subjective opinions, but what I can tell you is Led By Zeppelin deliver the goods musically! Not so much visually, there's no real attempt to dress like Led Zeppelin, but as Motorhead fans saw with M1 earlier this month, you don't have to mimic the original artists' hair and clothing to deliver a good show. Hopefully Led By Zeppelin get a strong turnout in September, especially if the Zed fans last night want a kinda-sorta encore!

This concert has an 8:00 PM start time and no age limit, but unlike Zed at Rotaryfest, this will be a paid and ticketed event (unless you are under 6 years old). As such, adult tickets cost $61.02, seniors 65+ and students 16-25 will cost $49.72, and kids 6-15 will cost $27.12. Those may seem high, but given the large and fancy theatre playing host, hopefully tickets move well, and there's plenty of good seats still available. Buy yours at this link or at the in-person box office at Station Mall, and stay tuned for more on what should be a solid concert for late 1960s and 1970s hard rock fans!

Next up, if you want another tribute to a legendary British classic hard rock act of the 1970s, you only need wait until Wednesday, September 30th, when Australia-based Queen tribute band Queen: It's A Kinda Magic return to the White Pines Collegiate-based theatre! Fans of Freddie, Brian, John, and Roger have been absolutely spoiled post-pandemic, as not only has this particular tribute band rocked the S.C.T.C. three times on their global tour runs (most recently in May of last year), but they're not even the most recent Queen tribute to play here, as the Great Britain-based Majesty just headlined at The Machine Shop in March. Again, I'm not comparing the two, but It's A Kinda Magic have gotten really solid crowds and high praise in their past local stops for how well they pay tribute to Queen musically and visually, so hopefully this show brings the goods all around again!

Like with Led By Zeppelin that same month, this is an all ages ticketed event, albeit with a slightly earlier start time of 7:30 PM. The show will have adult ticket prices of $75 with kids under 13 at $45 (no senior or student rates here), and if you're curious, prices here are slightly up from Q.I.A.K.M.'s show here last year. Based on the online ticket sale link (click here), there are still lots of good seats available still, though the show is moving tickets a little faster than Led By Zeppelin. Buy yours online and at the in person box office, and while this isn't the cheapest show going (and mid-week), there's a reason why this Queen tribute comes here so much!

Also this fall at The Sault Community Theatre Centre is the return of Oshawa-based Bon Jovi tribute band Bon Jovi Forever, who will headline there on Saturday, October 10th! This Thanksgiving long weekend concert will be (at least) this particular band's third stop here, following a Rockstar Bar show in 2016 and their S.C.T.C. debut in September of last year. As I recall, B.J.F. drew well last fall, and you can see proof of how that show went via videos linked here. Baz and crew sound the part and deliver enough visually for fans of both early hair metal Bon Jovi and their later, more general rock material, and he definitely sounds better than Jon himself does nowadays, so hopefully things go well in their return to White Pines in three months! The 8:00 PM start time, all ages status, and ticket prices here are actually identical to the Led By Zeppelin show in every way, so see above for the ticket price breakdown.

Of note, tickets aren't moving nearly as fast yet for this concert, but Bon Jovi Forever drew well last year, so this should tick up, and it just means that you have time to get a really good seat! Click here or visit the in-person box office to get yours, and visit the above links for more details!

Lastly for new Sault Community Theatre Centre concerts of a hard rock persuasion, Toronto-based AC/DC tribute band Who Made Who will return to the Soo on Saturday, October 24th in a joint concert with Creedence Clearwater Revival tribute band Green River Revival! This is being touted as "the ultimate rock concert", which is quite a claim, and while the two bands aren't even contemporaries for era, the two will cover a lot of ground for classic rock fans. Both bands share management, hence why it makes sense for them to share a bill if tour paths cross, and they've both played here numerous times, including as the featured touring headliner of Rotaryfest (Green River Revival in 2019, Who Made Who last year). Repeat local stops for both is a good sign, so fans know that Who Made Who will deliver their requisite high voltage rock n' roll again, while Green River Revival's faithful take on CCR and John Fogerty hits will go well for southern rock fans in the Soo in October!

This concert has a listed 7:30 PM start time, and will be all ages like the rest. The show was literally first announced last week, so this has the most available tickets of the four, and prices are a flat $55.37 for all, which is the cheapest of the four shows, surprisingly so given Who Made Who & Green River Revival's combined name recognition. Expectations appear to be high for ticket sales too, as this is the only one of the four with available balcony section seating, so get yours A.S.A.P. at this link and/or at the in-person box office while selection is good! Looks like a lot of good 1970s and 1980s hard rock tribute action is in store for the Soo this fall, so visit the above links for more on all four concerts! Thanks everyone!

Rotaryfest 2025 Stage 1 & 2 Concert Reviews!!

For a second straight year, I went to Rotaryfest at Clergue Park to do an extended double run of both Stage 1 and Stage 2 on Saturday, and this is my extended review of what I saw! Last year, I saw eight bands in partial sets by hopping back and forth between stages, but this year, I had ambitions of seeing everyone across both stages, aided by the unusually cool July temperatures. The only spanner in the works there was the rainy weather, which held on longer than forecasts were projecting. I did make it down to Clergue Park during the Stage 1 opening set by classic rock quartet Rusty & The Soft Parade, but the rain was coming down steadier and harder, as you can see in my pictures. My Fujifilm Finepix digital camera has an impressive zoom lens, but one that was acting up during the rainfall, and there was even condensation building up inside the LCD display screen.

It's an old camera, but a really good camera, and I was not comfortable risking it with that rain coming down any further. I did get 10 rainy photos of The Soft Parade (my cap for the bands on Saturday), but my sole video attempt ended after about 3 seconds, and I bailed to let the weather run its course and leave the area. I opted to come back in the 3:00 PM hour, so I do profusely apologize to The Rhythm Junction, Matthew James, Steel Rock, and Cameron Oliver for missing their sets. If public coverage/videos of their sets crop up when we do our Rotaryfest fallout coverage, I'll let you know!

Just to clarify, I tried to see 20-30 minutes of each band at Rotaryfest (Soft Parade aside), allowing for time to walk from stage to stage, so I could see a fair amount of everyone's set to keep things equal, though there were Stage 2 delays in the second half of the day's schedule. When I made it back to the festival grounds, St. Mary's College's new student rock band Crusade was mid-set covering Creed's "Higher" with a female singer, and later tackled Simple Plan's "I'm Just A Kid" when I was present. Like with Steel Rock before them (that day and last year), they have a modular lineup, with students coming and going depending on the needs of the song. The program listed fourteen members of Crusade and I definitely didn't see all of them. Obviously, I can't speak for the whole St. Mary's music program, but the kids did a good job, and hopefully this will set them up for bigger things!

At around 3:30, I headed off on the short walk to Stage 2 for my first band on the originals-leaning program there, namely crossover thrash quartet Hails in their festival debut. One of the heaviest bands to play the Second Stage yet, their set featured original songs like "Peter Pandemic", "Pink Clouds Of Density", and "Ghosts", plus their cover of The Almighty Trigger Happy's "Meathook". Another ferocious and speedy set, Brenton Ellis was in fine form on vocals and bass, and guitarist Carmen Muto's haircut didn't sap his powers at all! A decent crowd was on hand for Ha!ls' fury, and hopefully this drove up hits for their self-titled album on major streaming services! In quite a shift in styles, my trek back to Stage 1 led me to The Northern Jazz Ensemble early in their 4:00 PM set. The most prolific Rotaryfest band on this year's bill, the Martin Virta-led band started with an instrumental number before Judi Holmes joined on vocals.

Songs covered during The N.J.E.'s set included Diana Krall and Nat King Cole songs, plus an instrumental version of Donovan's "Sunshine Superman". I'm far from qualified to talk about jazz, but everyone performed well (including Convergence guitarist Jacob Valois in his second of three sets on Saturday, including with The Rhythm Junction), and the smooth jazz interpretations were a good change of pace! The sonic whiplash continued when I headed back to the Second Stage for local hard rock quintet HeadF1rst's second straight time here, and they broke out originals like "Homewrecker", "Tour Bus Fantasy", and "Story Of Me" in a set heavily based around their new album "Road Trippin'". I also heard their cover of Thin Lizzy's "Jailbreak", which went over well also. Similarly to when I last saw HeadF1rst in May, they had a strong set with catchy originals & good enthusiasm, especially with Red Jettson's stage presence!

Everyone performed to standard, with Rainey Rancourt's solos being top notch, and Red's deeper range was captured well on "Steam", but I had to miss their Claire-fronted songs due to the voyage back to Stage 1, where classic rock cover quintet Encore had taken the stage. Dressed in matching white shirts and pink ties (save for frontwoman Janet Brown), I was able to hear them covering songs by the likes of Creedence Clearwater Revival, Bryan Adams, Eddie Money, Fleetwood Mac, and The Foo Fighters. Not leaning heavier for the most part, but they had a good sound for classic rock fans! Janet had a friendly manner while still commanding the stage, while Paul Glassford & Dave Repath were a solid compliment on guitar, so they did good to capture fans' attention in their Rotaryfest return! I could have seen more of their set, but unbeknownst to me when I left, there were delays underway.

For one reason or another, progressive/djent metal quartet Convergence weren't able to begin their 5:30 PM Second Stage set until 5:47, which led to a 15 minute-ish delay for the rest of the night. In the time I spent there, the rain from earlier cropped up again, forcing me to retreat under a nearby tree to give my cameras as much protection as possible while still seeing the band, and I'm glad I wasn't forced to flee, as they put on an impressive performance with technically sound dual guitar work from Brendan Christie and (completing the Rotaryfest double) Jacob Valois! The big question mark for me was vocalist Stephen Gagnon-Ruscio, whose singing style reminded me a bit of a heavier, more hardcore-influenced Claudio Sanchez (I hope that's fair), and he delivered good energy and aggression with melody! The coordinated Hawaiian shirts were a nice touch, though I'd have introduced more songs (I only heard "Dig Up Your Ghost" named.)

The delay threw off my schedule timing a tad, but my walk back to Stage 1 let me take in much of an entertaining set from local punk/alternative cover favourites BookcluB, the only band that I saw at Rotaryfest both this year and last. After missing their Stage 1 set last year, bassist Dustin Jones was back with Bookclub on Saturday, though they played shorthanded anyway, as saxophonist Josh Norling was out of town. Their suitably eclectic set included covers of the likes of Timbuk 3, Cake, Marcy Playground, and Lindsey Buckingham, with Dustin taking over lead vocals for a rendition of David Lee Roth's "Just Like Paradise". Good stuff, with Mikey Hawdon leading everyone through some fun covers that you don't hear other local bands play often, and Allan Watson's drumming was on point! Late in their set, I returned to Stage 2 to check out the solo debut of Shane "DJ Seith" Erickson, who was up to his usual tricks on Saturday evening!

Giving more credence to DJs using proper turntables and vinyl record mixes rather than just pressing keys on a laptop, Seith laid down some fun mixes for assembled fans, and while I didn't immediately recognize any of the songs he was mixing, there were lots of catchy vibes to go around, and he seems more animated for arm movements and lip syncing than I recall previously! Nice touch by bringing tambourines for the audience to use too! Over on Stage 1, the next band on Saturday evening was pop rock cover quartet Lime, who I kinda sorta saw last year as "Miss Madii" playing frontwoman (and reigning Soo's Got Talent champion) Madii Schomogyi's original songs on Stage 2. This year, they were only on Stage 1 doing covers, and drummer Braiden Bryant was present after missing last year's Rotaryfest. Madii and the guys covered the likes of Franz Ferdinand, Coldplay, Jet, Kenny Loggins, and Def Leppard on Saturday.

Lively array of crowd pleasing covers, and they were a good choice to hook people in, as they were the last Stage 1 band before Who Made Who. A couple songs were well handled duets with guitarist Liam Seymour also singing, and there's definitely lots of talent here, so hopefully Lime keep the momentum up! For the penultimate Stage 2 band, I headed back outside of the Art Gallery for my first time seeing indie rock quartet Jupiter Marvelous, whose lineup entirely features musicians we've previously covered in heavier bands: singer/guitarist Anthony Marcello (ex-Caroline Divine), guitarist Shane Storozuk (ex-Vol.), bassist Jacob Quarrell (ex-Mike Haggith's solo band), drummer Bradley Nixon (The BAG), and apparent guest guitarist Spencer Pine (ex-Electric Church). Their set was heavily made up of songs from their 2024 album "Isn't This Supposed To Be Fun", like "Juice Box" and "Cherry Girl", plus covers of Fall Out Boy and... T-Pain?!

Jupiter Marvelous definitely lean more to an indie/alternative sound that by and large suits what Stage 2 had tended to book, but they have a lot of talent and were definitely having fun and staying loose up there (Jacob was particularly funny and engaging with the audience in particular), and their cover choices point to some eclectic influences! Not the heaviest band going, but don't bypass their studio material on major streaming sites! Once I headed back to Stage 1, there was a sea of people as Toronto-based AC/DC tribute band Who Made Who's featured sets had begun! Due in part to the Convergence delay on Stage 2, I saw the start and end of Who Made Who's set, though not the middle, but I caught them covering songs like "If You Want Blood", "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap", and "Sin City" before leaving once more for Stage 2. While I have seen Who Made Who on their prior local stops, it's been many years, and certainly never to this huge of a crowd.

If you're a fan of Brian Johnson-era AC/DC, you'll have been right at home with their up-tempo and very faithful take on the AC/DC live sound, with Dan Hunter sounding just like Brian, and Scooter Von continues looking and sounding the part on guitar, though he didn't do the duck walk as often I recall from prior shows. Everyone had a strong handle on AC/DC's classic hits, but there was one more band on Stage 2, so I ducked out at around 9:00 PM to check out reunited local midwest emo band Fuller as the closing band there! For this set, they did indeed welcome Nebraska Arms alum Dave Prendergast to fill in for an absent Mark Rand on bass (Dave's shirt was a nice touch), but in a complete surprise, they also welcomed former Id Iota/Pixo Control guitarist Dustin Goodall as a second guitarist! I don't know if Dustin is joining permanently, let alone if Fuller have future plans beyond Rotaryfest or not.

Remember that Dustin produced and provided additional instrumentation on their album "II" from March of this year, so he knows the material from the album well! Jamie, David, and crew unleashed originals like "Image In My Sight", "Love Is Always Better When You're Dreaming", and "I Will Crush You" during their Second Stage closing set, while also covering The Pixies' "Where Is My Mind?". I'm not an emo/post-hardcore scholar, but it was neat seeing Jamie Vincent front Fuller again for my first time since their original Oddfellows Hall days, and a strong crowd was present for their up-tempo alternative sound, and hopefully we hear more from Fuller in some form or fashion! After Fuller's set wrapped up (no encore), I returned to Stage 1 for the final time to catch the end of Who Made Who's extended set. They finished with the AC/DC classics "Thunderstruck", "High Voltage", and, of course, the band's namesake song "Who Made Who".

As has been the case in all but one non-pandemic year since 2015, a local band was booked after the touring headliner, and this year, the honours went to Rotaryfest newcomers Headrush, who unleashed a set of hard rock-leaning classics for remaining fans! The numbers were thinner, but a good number of fans witnessed the Johns, Wes, Frank, and Gino covering the likes of Journey, Billy Squier, Boston, Harlequin, and Loverboy during their nightcap set. You'd never have guessed that they were still so relatively new as a band, as they had a tight sound and good chemistry, with John Anderson's uniquely toned but rangy vocals suiting their cover choices, and Wes Greco's lead guitar truly was the engine driving these covers forward. Solid work with crowd-pleasing hits, and hopefully we see more from Headrush soon! Overall, Rotaryfest 2025 (well, most of the Saturday bills) went well for music, and I'm glad to have seen more of the bands this year!

The rain did dampen things early, but it didn't dictate the whole day, thank goodness. Whether the skies will be clear for 2026's Saturday run, who's to say, but I do want to do the full day marathon at some point! There's a lot to see and sample, so click here to check out our photos (all 135 of them) from the fourteen acts that I saw on Saturday at this link or via our Facebook page! Again, no video of Rusty & The Soft Parade due to the rainfall, but I filmed everyone else that I saw, so in order across both stages, here's Crusade covering Green Day's "She", Hails playing "Sole Crusher", The Northern Jazz Ensemble covering Vinicius de Moraes' "Agua De Beber", HeadF1rst playing "Have A Good Time", Encore covering Hot Chocolate's "You Could Have Been A Lady", Convergence playing an unintroduced original song, BookcluB covering The Traveling Wilburys' "Handle With Care", DJ Seith mixing Shocking Blue's "Send Me A Postcard", ...

...Lime covering Van Morrison's "Wild Night", Jupiter Marvelous playing "Pieces", Who Made Who tackling AC/DC's "Sink The Pink", Fuller playing "And I End", and Headrush covering Sweeney Todd's "Roxy Roller"!

That's all for now, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site soon! Thanks everyone!

Rotaryfest 2025 Concert Previews (Stage 1!!)

The busiest concert weekend of the year is upon us, so let's start things off today with a look at who's playing Rotaryfest Stage 1 at Clergue Park! This is the 25th year since Rotaryfest adopted its current staging and format for the covers-centric pop-up stage beside the Centennial Library, and as usual, there will be three days' worth of FREE live music for all ages over the weekend! Visit the festival website for more on non-musical activities going on downtown before, during, and after the bands. Here's what you should know on the musical end of things!

Andrew Stuetz is returning as the MC for Stage 1 this year on all three days. We'll start our Rotaryfest weekend concert previews off TOMORROW for night #1, as the first four bands in this year's program will take the stage, three of which being festival newcomers. In a first for the Thursday lineups, a touring headliner will close things, namely Billy & Elton: The Legends, the joint Billy Joel/Elton John tribute show from accomplished & relocated local musicians Mick Dalla-Vee and Michael Sicoly in a relatively rare local concert appearance from them in any project. They headline at 9:30 PM, while hard rock fans will get the largest bone of the evening at 8:00 PM when classic/hard rock cover quartet Silent 9 pause their summer break in their second straight appearance on Stage 1. Debuting local ten-piece yacht rock/R&B band The Lock City Rollers will take the stage at 7:00 PM, while pop rock cover band Bourbon Blue will make their Stage 1 debut at 6:00 PM.

Like Silent 9, Bourbon Blue are taking a couple months off from bar gigs, so if you've missed either as of late, be at Clergue Park tomorrow! The current weather forecast from 9&10 News has sunny skies with temperatures of around 17-18°, but there is rain currently expected tomorrow morning, so follow your preferred weather outlets for specifics closer to. Sounds like a talented and varied lineup to kick off Rotaryfest for 2025, and Jess, Ryan, Paul, and Steve should deliver some hard rocking favourites for the occasion, so visit the above links for more details, and here's Silent 9 live!

Next up, let's profile night #2 of Stage 1 music on FRIDAY, as six local bands will grace the stage, four being returnees from past Rotaryfests. Your headliners are classic/hard rock cover quartet Generations in their third consecutive year on Stage 1 and first turn as the closing act on a given day, so don't miss their old school cover classics at 10:20 PM! Jeffrey Wright's classic country cover band The Way Backs will themselves play Rotaryfest for a third straight year at 9:00 PM, and country fans will also want to check out Soundcheck alum Cameron Oliver's one-off band Mile 38 at the 8:00 PM timeslot. Handsome Sandwich guitarist Jesse Cook will notably be showing his musical diversity in Mile 38, though with Cameron's teased move out of town this fall, see them on Friday while you can! Classic rock cover veterans RPM will play Stage 1 for a fifth time at 7:00 PM, while fellow classic rock staples Flathead Ford play their seventh Rotaryfest at 6:00 PM.

Opening on Friday at 5:00 PM are The Jazz Cats (not to be confused with 2017's "Jazz Catz"), a newer local jazz cover quintet featuring Convergence bandmates Jacob Valois & David Peredun, so while the metal is a day away on Stage 2, the technicality will be present on Stage 1! As of this writing, we're too far from Friday for an hourly forecast, but 9&10 News is currently calling for partly cloudy weather with a high of 21° then. Another varied but very talented lineup of musicians for fans to check out on Friday, with Generations ending things on a heavier note, so visit the above links for more on night #2, and here's Valerie, the Tonys, and Pierre live!

Your closing lineup of bands on SATURDAY is, as usual, the longest of the three days, with ten bands taking over Stage 1, and your featured touring headliners are Toronto-based AC/DC tribute Who Made Who in their fifth local concert appearance since 2010 and first since they played at the former Canadian Nightclub in 2019. Good to see their faithful take on the Australian hard rock legends again on home soil, and hopefully they infuse Stage 1 with lots of high voltage rock n' roll on Saturday night! As normal, the touring attraction aren't the final band, with Who Made Who playing at 8:30 PM, but the closing band this year will be classic/hard rock cover quintet Headrush, closing the festival at 10:30 in their Stage 1 debut, which ain't a bad spot to be in at all! Working backwards, local pop rock cover quartet Lime will rock Stage 1 for a fourth time at 7:00 PM, while alternative/punk cover sextet BookcluB will play Rotaryfest for a third straight year at 6:00 PM.

Classic rock quintet Encore will hit the big stage at 5:00 PM in their fourth time on Stage 1, while The Northern Jazz Ensemble will return at 4:00 PM in their sixteenth time at Rotaryfest and seventh consecutively (both records among this year's lineup). Two of Sault Ste. Marie's four active high school rock band programs will rock Stage 1 in the 3:00 & 2:00 PM timeslots, namely Crusade from St. Mary's College (in their Rotaryfest debut) and Steel Rock from Superior Heights Collegiate (who played last year). The kids are alright, as you'll see on Saturday afternoon! Funk/dance rock cover band The Rhythm Junction will play Stage 1 for a second time at 1:00 PM, and the day's music lineup will be led off by local blues rock veteran Rusty McCarthy and his new classic rock cover outfit Rusty & The Soft Parade, and you can see them kick off the day #3 program at 12:00 PM. 

For both the amount of bands total, the multiple SMS-amenable acts, and the concurrent Stage 2 program on site (more on that tomorrow), Saturday will likely appeal the most to diehard readers, but don't bypass any of this year's lineups on Stage 1, as there's loads of talent on hand! The current weather forecast is calling for mostly cloudy weather with a similar high temperature of 21°, but there is a 30% chance of rain at press time. Again, keep tabs on your preferred weather forecast for updates as we approach the festival proper. Visit the above links for much more on all three days of Stage 1 action at Rotaryfest, and here's Who Made Who live!

That's all for now, but we'll next dive into non-Rotaryfest previews and Stage 2, so stay tuned for all of that shortly! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Rotaryfest Stage 1!!)

The lineups for this year's Rotaryfest were finally announced earlier this week (about on schedule with last year but beyond earlier "late May" claims), so what should you know here? We'll focus on the covers-centric Stage 1 at Clergue Park in this post, and we'll discuss the originals/blues-centric Stage 2 lineups tomorrow. For this 25th year of Rotaryfest's music lineups in this format, bands will take to the familiar pop-up stage beside the downtown library from Thursday, July 17th to Saturday, July 19th for three days of FREE & ALL AGES musical entertainment to go along with all of the other community activities and events during the Sault's summer festival. Click here for ongoing details on what to expect next month (the program is not out yet though). Like last year, 20 musical acts will grace Stage 1, half being returnees from 2024, but only five of these bands have played three times previously, and only one played in 2021, so there is a good historical variety!

For night #1, the lineup on Thursday the 17th will have a touring headline act, which I believe is a first for the Thursday schedule. At 9:30 PM that night are Billy & Elton: The Legends, a joint Billy Joel/Elton John tribute from British Columbia-based former Saultites Mick Dalla-Vee and Michael Sicoly. Mick (now of the reunited Bachman-Turner Overdrive) and Michael (a veteran commercial/voice over artist and anthem singer) have also performed together in Simon & Garfunkel and Beatles tributes, even playing with the latter here in 2014, so it will be neat to see these accomplished local artists back home next month! Co-headlining at 8:00 PM are local classic/hard rock cover quartet Silent 9 in their second straight Rotaryfest as they pause their summer break, while the other two bands are new to the festival. At 7:00 PM are The Lock City Rollers (not to be confused with 2000s regulars The Twin City Rollers).

A new soft rock big band with a full horn section, this ten-piece band will be full of familiar local faces playing classic covers, so keep them in mind! Pop rock cover band Bourbon Blue will surprisingly make their Rotaryfest debut to kick off the festival at 6:00 PM, and their talents should be on full display! Yes, they are known to cover hard rock on occasion too! Diverse lineup to begin Rotaryfest on a good foot, with Silent 9 delivering the most for heavier fans on average, so visit Rotaryfest's website's page on Stage 1 for more on this and the other days' musical lineups!

Six bands will grace the Clergue Park stage on Friday, July 18th, and this year's night #2 headliners at 10:20 PM are local classic/hard rock cover quartet Generations in their third straight Rotaryfest appearance and first as a closing band, so this will be a strong platform for their fan friendly range of covers! Also playing Rotaryfest for a third consecutive year at 9:00 PM are Jeffrey Wright's local classic country cover band The Way Backs, while the 8:00 PM band is the one-off Mile 38, heavily implied to be fronted by ex-Soundcheck singer/guitarist Cameron Oliver. Rotaryfest's website drops another hint that Cameron is not long for the Soo, with plans to move away to further his musical career, so see him and crew next month while you can! This is a distinct band from this weekend's CO2 at Jay's, for the record (no one named Lori in CO2). Veteran classic rock quartet RPM will rock Stage 1 at 7:00 PM.

This will be RPM's fifth time at Rotaryfest and fourth consecutive, while 6:00 PM band Flathead Ford (another 2024 returnee) will be taking over Stage 1 for the seventh time since 2013. Your openers at 5:00 PM are The Jazz Cats, apparently unrelated to the one-off "Jazz Catz" that played Rotaryfest in 2017. with this new band seen live on occasion since their 2024 debut. Convergence guitarist Jacob Valois is definitely in their ranks, so keep that in mind! Lots of good stuff here for classic rock and country fans, with Generations ending things well, so visit the above links for more on details!

As previously noted on the SMS, the featured touring tribute band on Saturday at 8:30 PM (in partnership with 104.3 The Fox, no less) are Toronto-based AC/DC tribute Who Made Who, a recurring local sight for AC/DC fans, but who will be joining them? Like usual, a local cover band will close the Saturday bill at 10:30 PM, and this time, it's newer local classic/hard rock quintet Headrush, so what a way for them to debut at Rotaryfest! Pop rock cover quartet Lime (who have some heavier covers in their back pocket) will play Rotaryfest for the fourth time since 2019 in the 7:00 PM timeslot, while alternative/punk cover sextet Bookclub will grace Stage 1 for a third straight year at 6:00 PM. Classic rock veterans Encore will play their fourth Rotaryfest set since 2017 at 5:00 PM, while The Northern Jazz Ensemble will continue their run as the modern Rotaryfest iron men/women at 4:00 PM in their seventh straight year on Stage 1 and sixteenth total since 2001.

The kids take over Stage 1 that afternoon, as St. Mary's College's newer student rock band Crusade will make their Rotaryfest debut at 3:00 PM, immediately preceded at 2:00 PM by Superior Heights Collegiate's student rock band Steel Rock in their second Stage 1 appearance. Great to see these bands get the spotlight, and now we just need The Pine Tones to pop up here! Funk/dance cover quintet The Rhythm Junction will return for their second Rotaryfest at 1:00 PM, and the day will be kicked off by veteran local blues musician Rusty McCarthy's new classic rock cover band Rusty & The Soft Parade at 12:00 PM. For SMS readers, you'll get the most bang for your buck (free admission acknowledged) on Saturday, but there's a lot of diversity among this lineup, with old and new faces alike! For the record, notable 2025 absences include Abba Soo, Brendan Hodgson, Double Down, and Mike Haggith, who all played the last two years on Stage 1.

There's a lot to take in as usual for Rotaryfest Stage 1, and we haven't even glanced at the Stage 2 lineup yet, so visit the above links for more on this year's stacked Clergue Park band lineup, and our Second Stage coverage is on the way next! Thanks everyone! 

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Who Made Who & Pet Retina), Convergence Updates, And More!!

Before we begin this post, I wanted to apologize for missing a late notice concert in this past weekend's concert previews, as local classic/hard rock solo musician Tym Morrison played at The Dive Gastro Pub on Saturday night, replacing acoustic rock duo Dodge This. A reason for the late lineup change wasn't publically announced by the venue or musicians, but Tym only launched the Facebook event page for the gig earlier that day at 1:03 PM, so it must have fell into place late. Hopefully Tym's show went well, apologies again, and hopefully we see Dodge This back out there soon!

Now, today's post otherwise has LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS for the coming months, updates from a local metal band, and some new original material, but let's start with the new shows, as Victoria, British Columbia noise rock/synth duo Pet Retina and drummer Max Patterson's solo project i.o will both return to the Soo on Monday, May 26th at The Art Hub At Spring! These two creative acts last came here to rock The March Street Stage (which, like the Art Hub, is technically on Queen Street) in May of last year, but their return just over a year later will actually be as support bands for local outsider folk musician Shae Tull, as this show is the release party for her new album "Statues Of Teeth On Every Street Corner", which came out digitally last month. No word on if there will be physical copies, but hopefully Shae gets a strong response to the new material at the show and in general!

Noise rock fans will take to Pet Retina and i.o in their opening sets, so don't be late for all of this diverse action next month! The first SMS-amenable concert booking of 2025 for Piecing It Together Shows (née Dryer Fire), doors open for this all ages concert at 7:00 PM, and tickets run for $15 at this link (at the door, admission is via a "pay what you can" model). Visit the official Facebook event page for more details on this intriguing concert!

Next up, the headline band for this year's Rotaryfest Stage 1 at Clergue Park on Saturday, July 19th has been announced, and unlike in recent years, you may know them from prior local headlining dates, namely Toronto-based AC/DC tribute band Who Made Who! High voltage rock n' roll fans may recall seeing Who Made Who last when they rocked the former Canadian Nightclub in November 2019, after previously playing at least four prior local gigs dating back to at least 2010. We've seen multiple different AC/DC tributes here in the past decade, but Who Made Who always delivered the goods in the past, and how does an outdoor nighttime concert on the big stage at Rotaryfest sound for their return after 5+ years? We await full confirmation of the Rotaryfest lineup on any stage, as applications for local bands are still ongoing until April 16th, so click here for details on how you can get consideration for 2025!

As per this SooToday press release, the full musical lineups for the Sault's summer festival will be released in "late May", which would beat last year's June unveiling if that holds. Who Made Who would likely take the stage on July 19th at 8:30 PM, with a local cover band closing out the night & festival at 10:30m if things are the way they were in eight of the past ten years. Rotaryfest is FREE & ALL AGES as usual. This has to be the heaviest touring headliner that Rotaryfest has ever had on the big Clergue Park stage, so definitely stay tuned for more updates on this year's stage lineups!

Finally, here's the latest from local progressive/djent metal band Convergence, starting with the long awaited confirmation of their newest member, as they have enlisted singer Stephen Gagnon-Ruscio into their lineup. Steve's biggest band role that I'm aware of is as co-lead vocalist in the local disco tribute band The Saturday Nights, but his tenor vocal range has been put to good use in multiple local stage productions, most notably when he played Frankie Valli in last year's production of Jersey Boys. That's a demanding role in & of itself, but how will he handle metal? Stephen actually joined Convergence as far back as December, as per this Sault Star article from Brian Kelly which focused on guitarist Brendan Christie's own Woodward Avenue Studios (née Yellow Room Studios), but elaborated on how they decided to add him to the group. The article is a good read, and Brendan does quality work for original artists!

As for Convergence at large, they are continuing the lead-up towards their live debut at The Pit at Soo Blaster on April 18th, and have continued posting "Reels" to their Facebook page to hype their preparation process for the concert (just a reminder, "Reels" are unembeddable on external websites). Four new ones have been posted since we last left off with Convergence on March 24th, with the March 25th "Reel" features what they call "more writing/arrangement shenanigans" where they're working through how many choruses that one of their songs should have. Four days later, guitarist Jake Valois revealed in this "Reel" that "the drums are tracked", their live setlist is finalized, tickets for The Pit are selling well, Steve is writing and helping finalize lyrics, and the band was planning to rehearse with their full live rig last week. On Sunday, that "Reel" saw the guys setting up their gear at the Algoma Conservatory of Music.

Their newest "Reel" from yesterday has Stephen jokingly (thank goodness) promoting Convergence's official cryptocurrency and also playing piano, before we see out first rehearsal video of the band in action as a four piece, albeit not for long. These "Reels" tend to end abruptly, and who knows what content they're leaving on the editing room floor, but it looks like progress is making its way up for Steve, Brendan, Jake, and David, and here's hoping their live debut is a hit! Visit the above links for more from Convergence, and that's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the SMS as this week continues! Thanks everyone!

LOCAL CONCERT ALERT (HeadFirst & Oz), A New Interview, And More!!

Here's a new news post on this Wednesday morning, which features some new-ish videos, details on a new interview tat a local band conducted with a brand new outlet, and leading off, LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS on both sides of the border, so here's what you should know!

Iron Mountain, Michigan classic/hard rock cover quintet Oz will make their local concert debuts on Friday, March 1st and Saturday, March 2nd when they hit The Rapids Lounge at the Sault Ste. Marie Kewadin Casino! While new to our coverage, Oz have been rocking venues in the western and central Upper Peninsula (and northern Wisconsin) since 2012, and deliver a wide ranging, crowd pleasing array of classic rock covers that include a healthy dose of heavier songs that should keep hard rock fans engaged. Be sure to check Oz out, they have no shortage of videos online from their gigs! As usual for Rapids Lounge gigs, these are 21+ affairs with 9:00 PM start times and no cover charge. Time will tell if Oz become favourite recurring bands at the Soo Kewadin like Peril, Scarkazm, and Fyrbird, but be sure to check the official Facebook event page for more on their local debuts next month!

Next up, let's head north to Sault Ontario for the latest from newer local hard rock quintet HeadFirst, who have confirmed new dates at Jay's Piston Broke Pub on Friday, March 29th & Saturday, March 30th, as well as Saturday nighters at Shooters Downstairs Lounge on June 1st & August 17th! These concerts are 9:30 PM, 19+ gigs with no cover, as usual, but they actually weren't announced by the band or either venue at press time, rather in an interview that HeadFirst took part in with a new local blog last month! This was for Who's Who In The Soo, a new local interview site launched by Sarah Vikken, who you may recognize as the former marketing & communications director of the Sault Area Arts Council, as a jewelry and craft maker with Vixxen Studios, and from her semifinal run as a singer in The Soo's Got Talent in 2022, among other artistic pursuits.

This blog is intended to cover "the stories of the people of Sault Ste. Marie" and will likely not focus solely on musicians, but HeadFirst are indeed first for Sarah's first long-form article, which went up on February 1st!Formatted like a news or magazine article, this interview was conducted with the full band, and Sarah goes into some surprising detail that other local band interviews don't! The article goes into how HeadFirst met (it helps that singer Red Jettison and bassist Claire Jeffrey are actually stepsiblings), their musical backgrounds (drummer Anthony Boudreau's old metal band Exploring Detritus is briefly mentioned here), their individual and band-wide musical influences, what the members would change about Sault Ste. Marie, and what their future plans are. Notably, HeadFirst revealed that AC/DC, The Tragically Hip, and Bachman-Turner Overdrive influence their sound, with a Rolling Stones-influenced attitude, which all pairs well with their set.

The band plans to put out original music "once we get a following", and they hope to release a music video "in the next few months". Sarah also filmed HeadFirst playing their original song "The Walk" as the first video for the Who's Who In The Soo YouTube channel, and surprisingly, this marks the first public video of the band that is shot horizontally and features them playing a full song. This bluesy hard rocker is played proficiently and with ease by this fast-rising quintet, with Red introducing everyone midway through, so give it a look below, and kudos to Sarah for a solid and revealing first interview that you can read at this link, and see above for more on HeadFirst's upcoming Shooters & Jay's gigs!

Finally for today, let's take a trip 23 years back in time for a newly uploaded video of local/Toronto indie/punk band Treble Charger live, in arguably their most seen television performance ever! On March 4th, 2001, the band was in Hamilton at Copps Coliseum (now the FirstOntario Centre) for that year's Juno Awards (hosted by Rick Mercer), where they were nominated for Best Single and Best Rock Album. Treble Charger lost both awards to Nelly Furtado and The Tragically Hip respectively, but they got their moment in the sun, as they played their Juno-nominated single "American Psycho" on stage! In the Junos' last year on CBC before a 16 year run on CTV, a national audience got to see Treble Charger at the "Wide Awake Bored"-era peak of their popularity, and it's neat to finally see this pop up on YouTube! The visuals are fuzzy given the VCR quality, but the song is faithfully performed with good energy as you'd hope!

Despite getting at least one Juno nomination out of all of their albums except "nc-17", Greig, Bill, Rosie, and Morris/Trevor were never able to to snag a Juno of their own. Perhaps if the album that Treble Charger had started working on in the late 2010s ever gets finished, we could see how it does commercially and with critics, let alone at the Junos. Thanks to YouTube user Scorpionsblackout 82 for posting this last month, and give it a watch for yourself below!

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

Who Made Who Concert Preview & New Video Uploads!!

Before I head off to the Halloween Party at The Rockstar Bar, here's our first post of November 2019, and it features one more weekend concert preview and some new videos from the last while! Here's what you should know!

Toronto-based AC/DC tribute band Who Made Who will return to Sault Ste. Marie for another round of high voltage rock 'n roll TOMORROW NIGHT at The Canadian Nightclub! Once a frequent sight at The Canadian in the early 2010s, Who Made Who have played elsewhere in their most recent local dates, most recently at The Rockstar Bar last April. Fans who have seen Who Made Who locally will attest to their faithful looking and sounding take on AC/DC's live concerts, for both the Bon and Brian eras, and it'll be great to see them back in the area tomorrow! Tickets for this 9:00 PM and 19+ event are $15, and can be bought at The Canadian Motor Hotel's front desk, though the price jumps to $20 at the door. If you love AC/DC, you won't want to miss out on all of this classic action tomorrow, so visit the official Facebook event page for more details, and here's Who Made Who live a couple of years back!

Next up, let's dive into some recent new videos, starting with three belated videos from the Michale Graves concert at the aforementioned Canadian Nightclub in September, courtesy of Christopher Paci's excellent YouTube channel in the past week! At the time, Chris had posted 12 videos from the night, including 8 of the former Misfits frontman's headlining set, but you can judge for yourself why these three were so delayed. The new videos are of Michale and company playing four "Famous Monsters" songs from the second half of his set, namely "Saturday Night", "Them", and as embedded below, his closing songs "Helena" (well, part of it) and "Kong Unleashed." You can tell that Michale's voice was tiring as the show progressed, but the videos are solid as usual, and the crowd response is great, especially on "Saturday Night"! Give these a look above and below, as well as Chris' initial batch of videos!



Also today, let's continue playing catch-up with the videos shared to Sault Michigan classical metal band Theatre of Night's Facebook group as they continue prepping for their Christmas tour (starting later this month!) On August 26th, keyboardist Craig Harrison shared this 30 second video of computer tracking for a studio version (with vocals) of "What Child Is This?", noting in the caption that he was editing and mixing Rachel's vocal tracks for 3½ hours, achieving "nuanced (and) small perfections." As best as I can tell, it sounds great! Five days later, some humorous photos were shared from bassist Scott Andringa's recording sessions featuring him having fun with guitarist Steve Giles and some unexpected props, with this video of him playing air guitar (I suppose) also being posted with them. While set to the band's studio tracking, this is far more light-hearted and silly, but it's worth a watch if you're in that mindset!

Embedded below is a minute-long video of Steve playing his guitar solo for Theatre of Night's version of "Star of the East", as bookended with shots of the computer tracking his performance. Casual setting but strongly performed as you may expect, so give it a look below, and look for more of their videos from this fall in the coming days!

Finally, remember the video of local party metal trio The Apocalypse Afterparty covering Lorde's "Tennis Courts" at their private "Spooktacular Soiree" at the revived Mellow D's Underground last month? Well, there's more where that came from, but not on their Facebook page. Despite being filmed by rapper Conika (according to the band), that video and one more from that night were uploaded to YouTube user Miranda Siegrist's channel earlier this week, plus extra footage from The Soo's Got Talent that we haven't covered on here. We'll get to those videos next week, but for now, here's the other video that Conika filmed/Miranda uploaded, and it's another cover, this time of MGMT's "Kids. Recording's a little rough, but the cover is lively and effectively made into an aggressive number (Paul's screaming has improved with time, he's worked at it!) Give it a look below, and stay tuned for more from this channel in due course!



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