the din - the suburban sendoff

     The first of a series of posthumous releases from The Din, The Suburban Sendoff is a live album which was recorded in its entirety at the group's farewell concert on 21 October 2017 at Loplops Gallery in downtown Sault Ste Marie, ON. Featuring a full set of original material with the exception of one Tragically Hip cover to commemorate the recent passing of lead vocalist Gord Downie, the group performed an extensive selection of well-known hits and deep cuts to one of their favorite venues, in a concert which was sold to capacity.

     Serving as the final chapter of the group's long-running active status, the group held nothing back in terms of emotion or delivery. Between the frequent banter between tracks, the impromptu intermission featuring a short speech from longtime friend and collaborator Kyle Foster, Haggith memorably crying his way through In The Moonlight, the group's extended version of Suburban Dream, and the unplanned eleven-minute encore version of A Drive Through The Peninsula, the concert delivered on all fronts for both longtime fans and newcomers alike.

    The song performances included on the record are completely unaltered, and pulled directly from the live board recording. Preservation of the human element on the live tape was of the utmost importance when trimming the audio for release. The inclusion of all nine tracks from their Suburban Dream album was by design, as the farewell concert also marked the release of the record- their second and final studio effort. The remainder of the set list included eight of nine tracks from Give In To The Din (the only holdout being The Rose), and a rendition of We Met At The Circus, which was a modified Mike Haggith solo track and fan favorite from live group performances. The Din's performance ran for nearly two hours, making the concert audio too long to be released on any conventional physical medium.

     The live board audio was recorded and subsequently mastered by Daniel Schmidt of Pretoria Hill Productions, and edited further for commercial release by Mike Haggith of MorningStar Studios. Released nearly four months after the concert for digital download, the live album was later complimented by the release of the full concert video on the group's YouTube channel in 2019, as filmed by Shaw Spotlight.