Well the new decade has begun and Elliott BROOD settles into a warm fuzzy period of reflection and regeneration.
The "Future Ghost Towns" tour was more than a great success for us, being our first real complete North American tour (50 cities in 60 days), most of the Canadian dates sold out. Somehow we managed to enter the whole thing into this blog (West), and http://elliottbrood.exclaim.ca (East). You will notice that the Western portion (this one) is more pretty, mostly because of the inclusion of photos, before the camera was stolen. The East blog (Exclaim) is populated by more by links and archive shots, like the stock picture of the Asheville Hotel lobby for example.
Highlights:
Washington DC: A necessarily great show with Heavy Trash
St. John's NFLD: definitely worth the trip
St. George NB: Saturday night in a small town surprise factor
Toronto ON: best and biggest T.O. show ever, but a fateful night for Mark's guitar
Hot Springs AK: host promoters had all the funk. We shall return
San Francisco CA: strongest Monday night show of the tour. Lotsa people dancin'.
Victoria BC: got the whole church on their feet
Nelson BC: stupidly amazing Saturday Night in hippie ski country
Not so much...
L.A. CA, Campbirdge MA, Asheville NC. Nothing a little advance local promotion can't cure in these cases.
During our Eastern tour, especially in the US, our media publicist Angie kicked us into high gear with radio recordings and interviews. Hearya, "Your Roots Are Showing" with Franny Thomas The Loft XM Satellite radio, Americana music content at Radio City, Acoustic Cafe, Austin News at noon, KVRX Austin, a Lake Fever Session plus a slew of radio interviews in Nashville just prior to the tour. We also had a few media reviewers come to US shows, like SF Weekly Blog.
Being shortlisted for the Polaris Prize just prior to the tour certainly didn't hurt with ticketing for the concerts.
This was also the first time we took our man Ryan Fields on the road with us. Acting the true professional virtually at all times, Ryan made us feel cared for onstage, and I can't say we had any nights with bad sound. He mixed every show except one I think. Plus his enthusiasm made it almost all the way to the lights, helping to get us hooked in with the likes of Sabian, D'addario, SKB, and nearly the deadly Sennheiser.
Ok folks, this is it for a bit, unless you are going to be at the Vancouver Olympics in the middle of February. We are laying low until the spring, getting busy on domesticity and of course recording some new material to attack you with in the summer.
Be well and rest easy,
