Tours and Shows, Tours and Shows

Alright.... I KNOW.

I know I've been LAZY with blog posts recently. The truth is that I haven't been feeling particularly inspired with anything to talk about. I've felt like keeping to myself these last few weeks.... so I hope you all can forgive me for that.

Let me catch you guys up....

We're on the Awake and Alive tour, with Skillet, Decypher Down, and The Letter Black. We've been having a good time so far... but I think we're about to start having an even BETTER time, because we're getting to my favorite part of the country.... the west coast.... Tomorrow night we're playing in Phoenix, and then on to Los Angeles, Bakersfield, Fresno, Redding, and then up through Oregon and Washington.

Tonight, however, was a special night for me. We had a day off in Phoenix today, and we heard that Our Lady Peace was playing in town. Now, you have to understand that OLP was one of my favorite bands growing up, and they influenced me tremendously as a guitar player and musician...... and I've NEVER seen them live.... So I knew I HAD to go. Even better, Skillet's tour manager Scotty managed to pull some strings and get us in for free! Yeah!

There were 2 opening bands, and then Our Lady Peace hit the stage......



I've gotta say, there were a ton of surreal things about this experience.

First off, they played incredibly well. The set list was a great mix of songs from each record.... They played 3 new songs from their new album Burn Burn, so there was plenty of space for the HITS! Songs like Innocent, Superman's Dead, Somewhere Out There, and Is Anybody Home had the crowd singing along. He let the crowd sing the first half of 4am on their own before really kicking in on that one. Nice touch.

Steve Mazur, the guitarist, played both new and old guitar parts faithfully. He joined the band in the early 00's, and I wasn't sure how much liberty he'd take with the parts. Well done Steve. He NAILED the "One Man Army" guitar solo. This solo was hugely influential to me, and was my inspiration for the chaotic guitar solo on "The Job" of the new HN record. I was so glad he didn't alter that particular part.

Jeremy and Duncan, the drummer and bassist, were SO locked in. Amazing rhythm section. The foundation of their playing left the field wide open for Steve to be SUPER expressive with the guitars. It inspired me to push the envelope a little more on the guitar... and take more chances... not play things so safe, and I sometimes like to do.

Raine's vocals were classic Raine Maida. His pitch was better than I remember from seeing him on TV shows and such back in Canada all those years ago. He seemed tired at times, but that's kind of his persona. Haha.... I was more interested in the rest of the band anyways.

Probably the most shocking thing for me was that there were only maybe 300 people at this show. This was MIND BLOWING to me, because OLP has sold more than 5 million records worldwide, and they're a massive band (especially in Canada, being good ol' Canadian boys). I got the impression that when they play in the US, this number is not unusual. It was hard for me to wrap my head around the fact that this crowd is smaller than the smallest crowd we'll have on the tour WE'RE currently on. WOW.

I can't contemplate this fact without feeling a deep sense of humility and appreciation for our fans. You guys are seriously amazing. Thanks for coming to our shows.... thanks for showing up in the hundreds and thousands..... thanks for showing up and singing along, and kazooing like crazy people. Thanks for helping make it possible for us to do what we do. I love my job, and tonight, I am exceedingly grateful for it, and inspired to push myself even further with it.

You guys are the best. Thank You!

Jonathan