LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS (The Din), Their Impending Breakup, And The Oh!No 2017 Music Festival Preview!!

This longer-than-usual news post is devoted to two extended topics: Our preview of a massive music festival in our area tomorrow night, and leading off, lots of LOCAL CONCERT ALERTS relating to a prominent local band whose days as an active presence in the scene are sadly numbered. Here's what you should know on this Friday morning!

Local alternative/hard rock trio The Din have announced that they will be disbanding following a farewell headlining concert (and CD release show) at LopLops Lounge on Saturday, October 21st. As unfortunately announced on Tuesday via their Facebook page and related video below, The Din confirmed their impending split, saying that this was an "incredibly difficult decision to make", but frontman Mike Haggith says in the video that "there isn't very much opportunity (to) get all the living done that we want to if we keep going like this", with Mike's likely work-related relocation out of the Soo a contributing factor. However, the news isn't all bad, as they will release their second and final studio album at LopLops on October 21st, with a limited print run of 50 CDs for the occasion (no word on price or Bandcamp availability yet), with Mike noting that they returned to where they started to record it at Pretoria Hill Productions, presumably with earlier demos now being the final copies.

This isn't all for The Din's fall plans, as they will still play at THIS SUNDAY's Loud & Proud event at The Bushplane Museum (look for it's preview in our next post), but The Din also have four more shows to play in the interim! As first announced in the comments of the video below, they'll play a show next week at Sault College's campus lounge Odeno (basically The Outback's replacement) on Thursday, September 14th, in what may be a farewell/thank you event from aviation graduate Mike to his alma mater, but no details are out on this event beyond a 7:00 PM start time. A cosplay optional family picnic set for Sault Pridefest is also advertised for Saturday, September 23rd down at the Soo Locks, with their set planned for 11:00 AM (yes, AM!) The Din will also play a presumed solo concert at The Canadian Nightclub on Friday, September 29th at 9:00 PM, while their last opening set will be on Monday, October 11th when they open for Niagara Falls indie/pop rock trio James Blonde at LopLops Lounge. They're not going gentle into that good night!

Of the four new shows, the Pride picnic will be ALL AGES but the rest are 19+. The LopLops show will likely have a cover charge of at least $5, but the rest likely have no cover. See above for details where available on them, and look for our Loud & Proud preview soon! The news of The Din's breakup is very sudden and disappointing, but like the band Haggith's initial breakup announcement from 4 years prior, at least we have advance notice and more chances to see Mike, Tammy, and Brandan on stage before the big farewell and CD release on October 21st! In terms of that show, expect a 9:30 PM start time and 19+ age limit, but there has been no announcement yet on admission fees. As well, an opening band is expected to be named, and advance singles from the album will be posted online in the lead-up to the event. I hope everyone stays active in music after next month, be it in solo form or new bands, but enjoy The Din while you can, visit the official Facebook event page for more on the farewell show, and here's The Din's video announcement on their breakup!

Finally for today, here's our extended preview of TOMORROW'S Oh!No 2017 Music Festival in nearby Leeburn, Ontario! A spiritual successor to promoters Six, Two, Oh.'s prior Das Bunkerfest event, this end-of-summer festival will see thirteen bands and one DJ cram into Robbie's Church (truly a former church turned residence) in nearby Leeburn for a day full of musical intensity from out of town and local bands alike, including a few new confirmations, so who can you expect tomorrow? The nominal headlining act is DJ Seith with some night-capping turntable mixes at 1:00 AM, but in terms of bands, promoters impressively managed to get all 5 touring bands in the closing slots. Those bands are Toronto country/indie rock band Run Coyote at 11:30 PM, Barrie all-female punk quartet (and local headliners from June) Beaver Slap at 10:30 PM, Sudbury punk trio Lightmares at 9:30 PM, and two bands who played here last year, namely Hamilton punk rockers Artificial Dissemination at 8:30 PM & Thunder Bay desert rock group The Franquilizers at 7:15 PM.

Local bands will include new indie/hard rock trio Vol. at 6:30 PM, punk/metal quintet Jack Spades at 5:45 PM, drone/ambient rock trio Pointless (replacing a planned solo set from frontman Bill Priddle) at 4:30 PM, and alt-punk quartet A Dire Setback (in their second show in under 24 hours) at 3:45 PM. Prior to one of two mid-show intermissions, the opening acts will be funk/hard rock quartet The Elements at 2:45 PM, Brent Ellis' new project Slumshine at 2:00 PM, reunited extreme metal rockers Winkstinger at 1:15 PM, and indie/punk rock trio Handsome Sandwich (in their first show in 2 months) opening the festival at 12:30 PM. Notably, both The Elements & Handsome Sandwich are late confirmations for the festival lineup, with one/both replacing doom metal trio AlgomA for unannounced reasons, possibly due to their promotional duties for Oh!No 2017. Great to see the new bands the bill, and don't miss AlgomA on October 2nd! Six, Two, Oh. will also be filming the days bands, though no word yet on what form their public postings will be in.

A bonfire, outdoor activities, vendors, food from The Gore Street Cafe, and on-site parking and camping will be available for festival patrons, so feel free to stay awhile and enjoy the festival's entire scope tomorrow! No age limit is stated for the fest, and tickets are $25 via the cafe, The Rad Zone, Case's Music, Northland Music, Coch's Corner, and Big Guns Barbershop, while you can also get hooked up from local performers, and presumably at the door, while directions to the festival (just outside of Bruce Mines) and extra details can be found at the official Facebook event page. Also, while early shuttle bus plans were cancelled due to cost concerns, promoters are encouraging prospective attendees to consider ride-sharing or cab rentals to get to Leeburn for the show tomorrow if unable to drive there yourselves, so you do have options to get to the Oh!No Festival! This presumably inaugural festival promises to deliver loads of entertaining music from many genres!

The unique setting in an old church outside of town should provide an intriguing backdrop to all of this action, so whether you can stay all day, can camp beyond, or can only see a few bands, definitely consider a trip to Leeburn TOMORROW if at all possible for this ambitious festival! See above for more details on tomorrow's action, here's a preview video of Beaver Slap live, and stay tuned for more news on the site tomorrow! Thanks everyone!