Thursday, October 22, 2009

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......

Our Lady Peace


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

9 comments:

Jessica L. said...

Great to hear from you! It sounds like the tour is going great, can wait to see you in Dallas! <3

hope said...

Too bad y'all aren't coming to my area.

Christine said...

dude, somehow i can so understand everything you wrote here... idk why, but i do, even tho i haven't experienced it.. but for some reason, i always totally feel your blog posts, whether ive been thru the stuff or not, it usually strikes things i've thought about before.....
the only ones i cant say i, fully grasp, are the ones about liking oregon :P
speaking of which, i so wanted to go to that show. when i heard two of my very fav bands were going on tour, i flipped out, but knew i likely wouldn't get to go cuz of my mom.. i wish so much i could i kno nothing is impossible for God, so pray that i can XD

mich9fan3 said...

That's awesome! I've never heard of that band, but I'll check them out.

Ida Lou said...

Thanks Jon!! But Hawk is the best!

And this blog made me homesick for San Diego after you threw in the line about the West Coast....

Sorry I couldn't make the tour.... Next time you're in the area I will do my best begging ever to be there....

Britney said...

No. Thank you for being in such an awesome band!!! XD

AlotlikeKARA said...

Nah... just thanks for being in an awesome band who literally changed my life.. Yea let's go with that :) :)

See you December 1st my friend :)

Unknown said...

I was in the front row at this show and I had an AMAZING time. The Clubhouse is THE BEST venue! I love the intimacy and I love being THAT close to someone like Raine, an idol of mine. I didn't even think the Clubhouse could fit 300 people! It's so darn small! The show was amazing though :)

Carey said...

I really miss you guys. I have your 'Smile' album in my car right now and almost danced myself off the road, i like listening to the old stuff cause alot of the time that stuff is forgotten about. I love all your albums though.
Do you have any idea when teh dates for the Canadian tour will be posted? (Jason talked about it in the live chat thing for 30 days of HN) I'm sooo looking forward to it and i hope i get to see you guys then!