The Din CD Release Concert Review, Plus More On The CD!!

It's now time for our review of last night's "Give In To The Din" CD release concert at The Tech, so what should you know about the festivities? This was the first concert that I've ever attended at the former Lakeway Collegiate/St. Mary's College site, and while I didn't get to explore the venue, the bands' merchandise tables were set up outside of The W.W. Baldwin Auditorium, where the show itself took place. However, things took an unexpected turn before the auditorium doors opened, as a fire alarm went off in The Tech, resulting in everyone being evacuated from the building as a precaution, with the Fire Department called down to inspect the cause, for what became a 20 minute delay. Din frontman Mike Haggith told me that a loose fitting was rumoured to have set the alarm off, but I can't verify that otherwise. The show went on though once given the all clear, and once in the auditorium proper, you had a good sense of how nice and spacious it was, reminding me of The Grand Theater with permanent seating! Sadly, the balcony was cordoned off.

From my close, sixth row seat in the auditorium, I had a good view of local post-punk quartet Gnaeus for their opening set, where they largely played songs from their own new CD "Meditations", with originals like "The Edge", "Circles", and "Fire" (ironically) attracting the notice of fans! However, Gnaeus did have two non-album tracks in their set, including their standard cover of "Hang Me Out To Dry" and a very new original song named "Electricity" that sounded very promising and true to their style! Gnaeus were on form from past concerts, with Aaron Alessandrini's vocals and guitar work strong as ever, and Brad Irwin's synth work was very clear in particular, though the guys could have moved around a little more and explored the stage more than they did, especially given it's size and expanse. Overall, Gnaeus delivered a solid set to kick things off last night, and I'm sure we'll hear more from them in short order!

With their entrance announced via a vintage TV displaying band footage, headlining local alternative/hard rock trio The Din hit the stage next in grand fashion with dramatic entrances (Tammy Hill even entered through the crowd!), and the band didn't disappoint with a strong set loaded with originals from their debut CD like "Out Of My League" and "Flux". The Din also gave us some non-album originals and live favourites, plus a smattering of covers from the likes of The Foo Fighters, The Barenaked Ladies, and The Beatles. Making good use of the stage's confines, Mike Haggith's vocals and bass work were on point, and his amusing banter with drummer Brandan Glew kept the fans laughing between songs, while Tammy's excellent guitar work continues to show her talents and potential! The Din's entertaining, often poppy, and hard charging originals definitely had attending fans giving in, and hopefully there's much more to come from The Din in the near future!

Overall, this was a fun concert with two very talented & fast rising local bands giving it their all, and despite the fire alarm early, maybe it was a sign that the bands would heat up the stage? Shaw TV's Christian Lemay (also of Id Iota) was on hand to film both bands' sets, so be sure to look for a likely feature or two on channel 10 when ready as well! As for our media, you can check out our album from the release show at this link or via our Facebook page, and while the dark theater wasn't the best friend of flash photography, I got some cool shadow shots of the bands, so keep that angle in mind! Now for our videos, so here's Gnaeus playing "Exercise of Self-Awareness" & The Din playing "In Search of the Perfect Moment"!





Lastly for today, I wanted to acknowledge the contents and interesting notes regarding The Din's debut studio album "Give In To The Din", as I did buy a copy last night! Printed to resemble a vintage CD release from the 1980s, the album's nine songs were largely written & composed by Mike Haggith or the band as a whole, though Brandan Glew did write both "Flux" and "Remember" (with the former notably being titled via a random thesaurus pick), while Tammy Hill is given direct credit for composing the latter. For the song "Alleyways & Apartments" (which was recorded at Mission Control Studios rather than Pretoria Hill Productions), the booklet notes that Mike mixed that song himself, while the album's cover photo was taken by Forrest Heard. The 9 songs run for 38 minutes in total length, with "A Drive Through The Peninsula" closing in at over 8 minutes alone, so prepare for that one in particular! A review of "Give In To The Din" is coming this month, so look for it in the coming weeks, and get your copies A.S.A.P. at upcoming shows, or when online/in-store availability is announced!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for a new news post tomorrow, with more to come still! Thanks everyone!