A New Local Band, The Danger Cats' Future, And Mike Haggith Updates!!

Before we tackle weekend concert previews and our next CD review, let's touch on some news and notes from the Sault Ontario side of the border, including big updates on an upcoming album and release concert, and a popular local band's apparent final weeks, but first, here's a new local band you may recognize from some recent concert announcements!

Remember Id Iota, the new band debuting at The Algonquin Pub next Friday? Well, they finally have a Facebook page, so we can tell you more about them! Their lineup features ex-Free Beer frontman Christian Lemay (of Shaw TV fame) and guitarist Dustin Goodall alongside bassist Justin Girardi (who I couldn't find recent band credits for) and ex-Dirty Few drummer Blair St. John. You may recognize all but Justin from the band Habitat Shuffle, who released an EP last year alongside fellow Free Beer alum Ryan Gray, but they never played live, and judging by the quiet deletion of their Facebook page, that project is presumably now defunct. There's no clear indications yet of Id Iota's sound, but for what it's worth, Habitat Shuffle played more of an alternative rock sound than Free Beer's old ska-punk material, but if they skew close to either, they'll fit the SMS well!

Recently seen recording material at Tidal Records' own Mission Control Studios, Id Iota will join fellow debuting local band Caroline Divine (more info forthcoming) at both next Friday's Gonqshow event and at the next day's Lopstock II at LopLops Lounge, as they're the last and newest announced band, and are in the opening 1:00 PM timeslot (source here.) It's great to see Id Iota getting a quick start to the concert game where Habitat Shuffle didn't, so stay tuned for more on them as it rolls in, and they're now in our band links, with their predecessors moved to our inactive links, albeit under their Bandcamp page now!

Next up, it looks like local all-female hard rock/punk quartet The Danger Cats are disbanding in the near future. As per a post on their Facebook page on Monday, the girls revealed that their set at the Archaics-headlined concert at The New American Pub this coming Monday will be our "last chance to see a full set" from them, even referring to it as their "last hurrah", though they are still playing halftime mini-sets at the Border Brawl roller derby event on June 13th. Though not stated there, the breakup is at least partially due to frontwoman Kate Kougar's upcoming move to London, and they'll presumably be removed from the lineup of October's Dusty Tucker concert at The Rednecks Saloon as well. I was hopeful that The Danger Cats would stay active in some form after Kate's move, but they've had a good run that's seen them get lots of positive attention and quickly rise in the local scene since their 2013 debut!

Hopefully everyone stays active in music after next month's shows, and best of luck to Kate, Paula, Jamie, Katie, and Summer in whatever comes next, but they're not done yet, so make sure to see the girls before it's too late on Monday and on June 13th!

Finally for this post, we'll touch on some recent updates relating to prolific local hard rock musician Mike Haggith including the latest on his upcoming studio album "The Warinside" and it's release party on Friday, July 3rd at The Rednecks Saloon, so what should you know? In terms of the release show's lineup, local solo musician Micheal Husband is the surprise final opener for the show, and he'll kick off the night's events at 9:30 PM. He is credited as among the PaperClip Productions artist roster, and he's apparently a singer/guitarist, but we don't know much about him at this point. This should be a good showcase for him though! Instead of the announced three opening bands, there will only be two (Micheal and jazz rockers The Wild Iris), as headliners Mike Haggith & The Din will instead play two sets: one of them playing "The Warinside" from start to finish, and the other of extra originals and covers, not unlike what The Bear Hunters did in November.

Also, spellings of the album's name as "The Warrenside" are frequent on Facebook, but that is reportedly just an inside joke that is explained in the album booklet, and the CD's title's spelling is officially still "The Warinside". Ticket prices have also been announced, and they'll be $5 in advance, $7 at the door, or $10 for admission + a CD upon entry, though details on ticket availability will be announced in the near future. This is by far the biggest launch ever given to a Mike Haggith solo album, and everything sounds like it's shaping up well, so keep everything in mind for July 3rd, and see the above links for more details! As for "The Warinside" itself, Mike has uploaded final copies of the remaining songs from the album ("Out Of My League", "30", and as embedded below, "Someday") onto his YouTube channel, complete with a full playlist of the full album to boot! For reference, Mike's Haggith/Din bandmate Curtis McKenzie assists in the production on all 3 songs, and guest performs on all but "Someday".

We won't review these songs here yet, as we plan to review "The Warinside" in full this summer (likely in July after the release show), but check out the new songs and full streaming copy of the album above and below, and for you Haggith fans, look for our review of "Apocalypse" by week's end!



That's all for now, but stay tuned for our Haggith CD review, weekend concert previews, and more in the coming days! Thanks everyone!