Thursday, February 15, 2018

LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (Shit Liver, Soundcheck, And Tym Morrison), Plus An Upcoming New Album Release!!

I hope everyone had a good Valentine's Day! It's now time for another batch of weekend concert previews on the SMS, and while things are quiet on the hard rock spectrum, both of this weekend's performing hard rock acts have SHORT NOTICE LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS to address as part of them! To round things out, we have one more huge new concert to address, including a new album alongside it, so here's what you should know!

Local classic/hard rock cover quartet Soundcheck will return to The Rockstar Bar stage for one night only TOMORROW NIGHT, with their apparent Water Tower Pub debut following THIS SATURDAY NIGHT! Apologies for the short notice on these shows, the former was announced via their Facebook event page on Monday, and the latter was briefly noted on the Sault Music News Letter Facebook page on Tuesday. However, note that Soundcheck have not publically acknowledged either show on their own Facebook page at press time (or posted there in almost a month), and the Water Tower Pub haven't mentioned it either that I've seen. TOMORROW'S Rockstar Bar show will be the Mourning Wood successors' first at this venue since January 19th, and while it's not clear why they didn't get a double booking for there this weekend, SATURDAY'S Water Tower Pub show will fill in the gap in a rare solo hard rock appearance there from a local band!

An act of Soundcheck's style isn't unprecedented for this Great Northern Road venue, and hopefully they deliver a solid set on SATURDAY, assuming that the show is still on! These gigs are likely 9:30 PM affairs both nights, you must be 19 or older to attend, and there are no advertised cover charges. Check the above links for more details, and nope, no public Soundcheck videos yet! We'll let you know when any turn up!

Next up, prolific local hard rock singer/guitarist Tym Morrison has new nighttime gigs at Room 21 above Low & Slow TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT to go along with his ongoing Gliss Steak & Seafood matinees that take place earlier those same days! Again, apologies for the short notice on the Room 21 shows, Tym only announced them via their Facebook event page on Sunday (concurrently with his Mark's Breakfast Plus gigs earlier this week.) These will be Tym's first stops at this newer acoustic-heavy upstairs venue of 2018, last having played there in September, so if you liked seeing his unplugged hard rock favourites there last fall, here's another chance! Likewise, his ongoing long-term arrangement at Gliss continues for two more matinee shows this weekend, so if you want an earlier and more intimate night of music, you have those options once again too!

These four shows (including at Room 21 TOMORROW & SATURDAY NIGHT) have no cover charges, and while the Gliss gigs are at 6:00 PM with no firm age limit, the Room 21 shows are at 10:00 PM with a 19+ age limit. Click here and visit the above links for more details, and here's Tym live!



Also, here's one more new show with lots of advance notice, and it's a big one, as local/St. Catharine's grindcore trio Shit Liver are coming back home for a headlining concert on Friday, April 6th at The Algonquin Pub, with their new album in tow! Last seen here at The New A in September during the "Trading Faces" split release tour, Shit Liver will make their way back north in support of their second full length album "Hitting The Fan", which never even made our "Where Are The New Albums?" posts because they never publically and firmly acknowledged studio sessions for it. In their album announcement on their Facebook page yesterday, the guys indicated that this is completely a DIY release that they recorded and are releasing themselves with no label assistance, so that may have helped explain the quiet recording sessions. "Hitting The Fan" will be released on Tuesday, March 13th, with local physical copies following at the show on April 6th, but how can you hear it?

An online release is expected for next month (presumably on Bandcamp), but physical copies appear to be limited to vinyl records with no CD pressings implied. If true, this will mean that all three of their studio albums have came out on different physical formats (should we break out our 8-track players for album #4?!) This pressing is apparently limited to 550 hand numbered records, with coloured vinyl, a lyric insert, and a poster, so keep that in mind come April 6th! In terms of that concert, local punk trio Stegadeth will open in their second show of the year, while there will be a third band to be announced. Stegadeth are a solid choice to compliment Shit Liver's punk influences! Promoted by Six, Two, Oh. (who also put on their show here last fall), a 9:00 PM start time is advertised for this 19+ concert, which has an $8 cover charge, and while prices for vinyl copies of "Hitting The Fan" are not out yet, their friends in AlgomA priced their vinyl splits for around $20.

I had no idea that things were this far along for Shit Liver's sophomore original album, but this is huge news, and I know fans will be eager to hear their new originals in studio form next month! Stay tuned for more on the digital release and price, track listing, and more, and assuming there's no release hang-ups, our next three CD reviews are set for the site! Given that Mike McCleary and Telephone & Address have new albums already on sale, that may bump "Hitting the Fan" to an April review, but certainly no later than that. Keep in touch for updates, and for a new news post this weekend, hopefully with Big Wreck and Pop Evil fallout! Thanks everyone!

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