Jul. 21, 2010 - Issue #770: Draw It Yourself
Prevue
Whales on wheels
Said the Whale comes to love bicycles over buses
POP A WHALIE » They rode to the photo shoot on bikes, honest / Venessa Heins
Pumping pedals by day and playing wide-open pop-rock by night should be enough to exhaust even the hardiest souls, but according to Bancroft, if it was at all feasible, he'd probably rather tour by bike than cram into a van one more time.
"I certainly appreciate hills a lot more," Bancroft says with a laugh. "But no, a couple days in was pretty rough, but I'm feeling pretty excellent now. It's actually a lot more comfortable to tour on a bicycle than to sit in a tour van every single day, feeling like shit, eating shit, then getting to the show and feeling like a big lump of nothing. At least our blood was pumping, and we got tired for a reason at the end of the day. I'd trade the tour van for bikes any day."
Alas, Bancroft and his bandmates—fellow singer/guitarist Ben Worcester, drummer Spencer Schoening, bassist Peter Carruthers and keyboardist Jaycelyn Brown—will be piling back into the Said the Whale-mobile for their current western Canadian swing. They will have something they're hoping will help recharge the touring batteries, though: this swing is an all-ages tour, which Bancroft says carries a different kind of energy than the usual bar gigs.
"The vibe is so different once you get kids in there who aren't drinking, and are just there for the music—it's almost like they have a slightly inflated idea of how successful you are," he explains. "Like, I remember being 15 and I went and saw By Divine Right play at the PNE, and there was maybe 20 people there, but we just thought they were absolute rock stars: we had them signing autographs for us and everything.
"But the reality was, they were probably just in a shitty van like we are, driving around not making any money and paying too much for gas." he continues. "But because of our perception of who they were and our dedication to their music, I was in awe of them the entire time." V
Thu, Jul 29 (5 pm)
Said the Whale
With We Are the City, Aidan Knight
Starlite Room, $15
More info about Starlite Room →
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