EXCLUSIVE: Anberlin Tour Blog #1

7 September 2013 | 7:24 pm | Staff Writer
Originally Appeared In

Anberlin are currently making their way through Australia touring nationally with The Maine, William Beckett and Masketta Fall. Killyourstereo.com is proud to host the exclusive tour blog for the band beginning with entry number one written courtesy of bassist Deon Rexroat. Well, here we are a few days into our tour and Australia hasn't let us down. We arrived in Brisbane a day early, which was probably a good thing since it gave us a chance to rest and see a little bit of the city. The first show was at the Hi-Fi and we were excited to kick off the tour there. The stage at the Hi-Fi has given us some very special memories, so we were very happy to be back again. The fans did not disappoint either. As William Beckett and The Maine each took the stage I could do nothing but anticipate our set as I watched the excited crowd from side stage. When it was finally our turn, we kicked right into the set with our song "Resistance" – ready for another memory to be made in Brisbane. Everyt...

Anberlin are currently making their way through Australia, touring nationally with The Maine, William Beckett and Masketta Fall.

Killyourstereo.com is proud to host the exclusive tour blog for the band beginning with entry number one, written courtesy of bassist Deon Rexroat.

Well, here we are a few days into our tour and Australia hasn't let us down. We arrived in Brisbane a day early, which was probably a good thing since it gave us a chance to rest and see a little bit of the city. The first show was at the Hi-Fi and we were excited to kick off the tour there. The stage at the Hi-Fi has given us some very special memories, so we were very happy to be back again. The fans did not disappoint either. As William Beckett and The Maine each took the stage I could do nothing but anticipate our set as I watched the excited crowd from side stage. When it was finally our turn, we kicked right into the set with our song "Resistance" – ready for another memory to be made in Brisbane.

Everything was going great too, up until the point when my bass broke as we began "Modern Age". Now, it's not uncommon for electronics to get a little worn out after so much touring and it's usually fairly easy to fix any problem that arises. However, when you are in the middle of a live set, it's not like you can tell everyone to hold on while you figure things out. So, as my tech and I are trying to figure out what had gone wrong, I began to feel a little crazy as the song rolled on without me. However, we finally tracked down the culprit, a bad cable, and I was able to jump back in just in time for the end of the song. The downside is that when stuff like this happens, it can be such a momentum killer and difficult to get back the energy you had before. Fortunately, the crowd in Brisbane was so enthusiastic and singing so loudly that it was easy to fall right back in line with the guys and the rest of the set was simply amazing up to the point when we finished our final song, "Fin."

Don't miss a beat with our FREE daily newsletter

Once the show ended, it was off to bed for us as we had to get up fairly early to drive down to the Gold Coast for our second show in Coolangatta. It has been a few years since we played the Gold Coast, eight to be exact, so we decided it was time to get back. I'm really glad we did too. I slept most of the drive as I was still pretty tired from getting to bed late the night before, but I woke up just in time to see the part of our drive that spanned the beautiful coast. I could never get tired of that view. You Gold Coasters are very lucky. I spent most of the day just walking around and taking in the water as surfers paddled out and rode waves all around me. Combine that scenery with some beautiful weather and it makes for a great day. Except for lunch when I decided to give Mexican food a try in Australia. It was pretty bad. I really hope that it was not indicative of all Mexican food here because you guys are really missing out! haha… Not that it ruined my day or anything, but it was worth mentioning I suppose. Anyway, when we finally took the stage later in the night, our relaxing day made us pumped and ready to go! Once again, the fans were dancing around and singing and screaming loudly. Now, we enjoy playing music and we get excited, but when a crowd is truly on board with us, it is very much a give and take situation. The energy in the room makes things that much better and we become more excited as fans are more excited. It's probably why we came off stage soaked with sweat. Thank you for the beautiful day and night Gold Coast!

Sometimes while on tour, sleep can become wishful thinking. We went on stage in Coolangatta after 11pm, which meant we didn't finish the set until 12:30 or 12:40. This put us back at the hotel some time close to 2am. We had to leave at 6am the next morning to go to the airport, so you can imagine that we were all a little tired as we boarded our flight to Newcastle. So tired, in fact, that I don't really remember the flight at all as I was awakened by the plane landing in Sydney. From there, we jumped onto our bus and made the 2-hour drive to Newcastle. Another city to which it has taken us a few years to return. The last time we played there was 2007 on our tour with our friends, Copeland, so we were glad to be back. Most of us napped throughout the day trying to catch up on a little sleep, so we didn't get out and do much, but the highlight of the day, as it usually is, was the show. Each night of tour is seemingly getting better and better. The highlight of the night for me was when Stephen played our song "Dismantle. Repair." by himself on piano. Hearing the crowd sing so loudly with Stephen, possibly even louder than they would if we played the normal rock version of the song, was special. I think I found myself joining in with them and singing at times. If Newcastle was mad at us for not making an appearance for six years, we couldn't tell. We were all still on a bit of a show high as we got some McDonalds or "Maccas" for the sleepy drive back to Sydney.

All in all, we're having an amazing time in Australia as usual. We still have four shows left, so bring on Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth!

Killyourstereo.com & Destroy All Lines present Anberlin on tour with The Maine and William Beckett.

For remaining show/ticket information click here.

Read Anberlin’s pre-tour greeting here.