Watch: KITTIE Kicks Off First Full North American Headlining Tour In Over 10 Years, Enlists Stand-In Bassist RACHEL GONZALES

Canadian heavy music pioneers KITTIE kicked off their first full North American headlining tour in over 10 years Saturday night (June 6) at The Pageant in St Louis, Missouri. Fan-filmed video of the concert can be seen below.

The 16-date trek, dubbed "Legacy Of Fire Tour: 30 Years Of Kittie", celebrates three decades of uncompromising metal and marks a milestone moment for the band, honoring 30 years since KITTIE's formation in 1996 while riding the momentum of the ban's recent triumphs, including 2024's critically acclaimed comeback album "Fire" and 2025's "Spit XXV" re-recorded and reimagined anniversary EP. Support on the tour is coming from KINGDOM OF GIANTS and GORE.

KITTIE bassist Ivana "Ivy" Vujic is sitting out the band's current tour due to a family commitment. She is expected to rejoin her bandmates in August. Filling in for Vujic on "Legacy Of Fire Tour: 30 Years Of Kittie" is Rachel Gonzales of the Las Vegas band NEON KNIGHTS, who previously played with KITTIE on this year's ShipRocked cruise in February.

On Friday, June 5, KITTIE released the following statement via social media: "A quick note regarding the Legacy of Fire tour: As many of you know, Ivy is a devoted mom to a young family, and right now her focus needs to be at home. Because of those family commitments, she won't be joining us on this tour.

"We fully support her decision and know how important this time is for her and her family. We're looking forward to sharing the stage with her again at Tinley Park and throughout our August dates."

At last October's Aftershock festival in Sacramento, California, KITTIE drummer Mercedes Lander and guitarist/vocalist Morgan Lander spoke to Baby Huey and Chasta of the San Francisco radio station 107.7 The Bone about the band's decision to reunite in 2022, initially just for a couple of festival appearances. Mercedes said: "We could not ignore the e-mails from [concert promoter] Live Nation in our inbox any longer. Because we didn't have any representation for management, we didn't have any representation for our booking agents or anything like that. So these people's last-ditch effort to try and get us on these festivals was to e-mail us, e-mail the band e-mail, and then they were so persistent, like, 'Hey, I've got this festival. Come on.' And every couple of months they'd e-mail us. And I remember writing Morgan and being, like, 'Hey, just so you know, we should probably reply back to this guy, 'cause he's written us at least three times.'"

Referencing the fact that KITTIE eventually released a new studio album, "Fire", which came out in June 2024 via Sumerian Records, Morgan added: "But it wasn't just that — it was that more people were listening. Spotify numbers [were growing], and people just asking for new music. And the voices just continued to get louder and louder."

Continued Mercedes: "And we couldn't ignore them anymore. And our plan was just to play a couple of shows and then be, like, 'Okay, bye.' That's the KITTIE universe — so it always ends up taking on a life of its own. And then that morphed into us getting an offer for a record deal, and then getting, obviously, to write new music. And we were, like, 'Well, we don't have any new music, but I guess we'll write some music.' So, again, everything kind of spiraled out control. We got to work with like dream-list people for 'Fire'. It was amazing. We felt so lucky to be able to work with somebody like [producers] Nick Raskulinecz and Josh Wilbur. Like, wow. Those are the guys. It was the dream team. We have the dream team."

On September 19, 2025, KITTIE released "Spit XXV" EP, a four-track effort celebrating the 25th anniversary of the band's gold-certified debut album. The collection featured freshly updated and re-recorded versions of four of the albums biggest tracks, "Brackish", "Charlotte", "Do You Think I'm A Whore?" and the title track, "Spit", all produced, once again, by Garth Richardson who helmed the original 1999 sessions at EMAC Studios.

Released on January 11, 2000, "Spit" transformed KITTIE from four Canadian teenagers into international heavyweights, achieving gold certification with over 660,000 U.S. sales. The album became a defining moment for women in heavy music, with its aggressive sound and uncompromising attitude proving that metal made by women could achieve both critical respect and commercial success during nu-metal's completely male-dominated peak era.

The original "Spit" earned critical recognition from Rolling Stone, who ranked the title track No. 82 on their "100 Greatest Heavy Metal Songs Of All Time" in 2023. The album's influence continues rippling through generations of musicians, with artists like Serena Cherry of SVALBARD crediting it as "the reason she became a metal musician," while experimental artist Poppy covered the title track in 2023.

"Fire", KITTIE's first new material in 13 years, reached No. 13 on U.K. Rock & Metal Albums charts and No. 20 on Billboard Top Album Sales, while single "We Are Shadows" became the band's highest-charting song on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Airplay chart at No. 20. The album earned the band a 2025 Juno Award nomination for "Metal/Hard Music Album Of The Year".

Since returning from their hiatus in 2022, KITTIE has experienced a remarkable resurgence across demographics, with their 843,000 monthly Spotify listeners spanning longtime fans and new generations discovering their music through social media. Their performances at major festivals including Sick New World, Welcome To Rockville and Sonic Temple have demonstrated the band's enduring live power, while their successful 2024 North American headline min-tour proved their enduring and undeniable ability to command stages as headliners.