The Full Rundown Of Mike Haggith's Live-Streamed CD Release Concert!!

As was well publicized on social media, local/Thompson, Manitoba solo artist Mike Haggith released his 50th canon studio album "If Ever Comes The Day" yesterday, complete with a live-streamed release concert on his Facebook page! Of course, we all wish this could have been at LopLops with a full band, but the ongoing pandemic had other plans, so at least Mike found a way to make due! This live-stream also doubles as #LockdownLive VII, breaking from the Saturday pattern this week, but we are covering it on a Saturday, for what that's worth. Unlike past installments, this was filmed at "a top secret location" that may or may not be in Thompson, and you can tell that the spot is dolled up like a full concert stage. Before the set proper begins, Mike announced a contest for live viewers where the person who shared the live-stream the most times will get to request any song for Mike to cover next Saturday, and he has to cover it!

While this is not Mike's first live-stream to focus on the songs from "If Ever Comes The Day" (that'd be #LockdownLive II), this installment is very different in setting and approach, as you'll see across it's 2+ hour runtime, notably by narratively scripting much of the set, rather than going by the album's track listing. The set proper begins with Mike discussing the August 2019 local concert at Outspoken Brewing on the trip that kickstarted the album, before covering "Girl From My Dreams" by local folk musician Jacob Quarrell, who co-headlined that show and would have played guitar in Mike's backing band tonight if not for COVID-19. After jokingly turning off the nonexistent drummer, Mike plays "Take Back The Moon" from the new album, as tied into anecdotes about playing the song at the local show. He next covers Tears For Fears' "Everybody Wants To Rule The World", which folds right into his rendition of the album's title track, "If Ever Comes The Day".

Mike next covers Death Cab For Cutie's "I Will Possess Your Heart", which had a similar impact on Mike personally as the Tears For Fears cut. That is followed by the original "Into The Setting Sun", before Mike takes a call from ex-RedD Monkey cellist Pete Mozarowski, who recorded the instrumental track "This Page Intentionally Left Blank" for the new CD, and plays it on speakerphone held up to Mike's mic. These obviously isn't the ideal conditions, but it's nice to hear Pete's thoughts on the recording! In concert and on the album, this leads into "Back Away Slowly", followed by "Morningstar", and an old Din original that he played on August 10th, "Missing". The second half of the live-stream begins with another caller, namely Re:Born/ex-Din drummer Brandan Glew, and their conversation is just as irreverent as you may expect from his regular #LockdownLive commentary, if not moreso! Mike then covers Tears For Fears' "Shout", allegedly Brandan's 9th favourite song.

The personal emotion of the original material returns with "The Best You Never Had" and "Visual, Descending For The Field", before talking about local internet radio station The Borderline, who recently interviewed Mike on air and have featured his album in full (we are behind in talking about the station, stay tuned for more on them next week.) The set resumes with "Communique", which folds right into a surprise cover of Prince & The Revolution's "Purple Rain", before discussing the album's symbolic 8 & 10 second blank tracks, and then playing the last song on the CD, "2145". The final 20 minutes of the live stream include Mike playing Bruce Cockburn's "Lovers In A Dangerous Time" and his troll rendition of Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Free Bird" (bookended by a story of his Windsor trip in the winter), followed by closing thoughts and thank yous to everyone who watched, though I did not catch if he announced who won the contest for most shares.

Kudos to Mike for making lemons out of lemonade with this release concert, wherever it was held, and we got a nice selection of original songs and covers with a unique presentation, and the balance between the emotional and personal lyrics and the humorous conversations with live-stream viewers was done pretty well! Time will tell how #LockdownLive VIII looks next week, let alone the rescheduled local release concert in November, but support Mike's new album and the work he put into it by buying or streaming "If Ever Comes The Day" watch the whole thing below, and stay tuned for more news and notes on the site tomorrow! Thanks everyone!