Papa Roach and My Darkest Days can’t remember how long they’ve been on tour, but that won’t stop them from giving everything they’ve got when they hit the stage, along with Buckcherry and Bleeker Ridge, Mar. 1 at the CN Centre in Prince George.
Touring in support of their hit song Burn, Papa Roach have toured with some of the biggest names in the industry, including Guns N’ Roses, Motley Crue and Red Hot Chili Peppers, to name a few, but bass player Tobin Esperance pointed to an early experience that proved key to their approach to touring.
“We went on tour with Korn, it was our first arena experience,” Tobin said.
“We were amazed at how they destroyed the crowd with their energy and attitude.”
Despite the innumerable shows under their belt and in the foreseeable future, Esperance said the band was feeling extra pep in their step these days and the crowd at the CN Centre can expect to see all of that energy and a few surprises.
“We’ll play some new songs, some classic ‘P-Roach’ jams and there’ll be some twists and turns,” he said.
“It’s going to be a bit more intense and in your face.
“We try to rip it up every time we get on stage.
“That’s the essence of rock’ n’ roll, that live experience.”
Esperance, who joined the band in 1994, admitted the band was getting older but felt Papa Roach was just hitting their stride.
“We’re better now, we’re seasoned, we’re sounding better, working on the show, making it tight,” he said.
“We’re just having fun.
“I think people can tell when your up there and you’re having fun and they feed off of that energy.”
Interestingly enough, it is the energy of a Papa Roach show that proved to be a key moment for My Darkest Days, lead singer Matt Walst.
“They go to war, no matter what,” Walst said of the approach taken by Papa Roach every time they hit the stage.
“They give it one million per cent every night.”
Although the band recently received a Juno nomination for Band of the Year, Walst knows that many in attendance will be there to see Papa Roach and Buckcherry and he says the band is just fine with that.
“It’s cool, we still have to prove ourselves,” he said.
“It’s after the show when people come up to us and say things like ‘Your awesome.’
“That’s rewarding.”
The heavy touring includes many overnight drives, puts a strain on healthy eating habits and sleep habits, but My Darkest Days finds refuge on the stage and the positive experiences.
“For me it’s seeing the people singing the songs,” Walst said.
“That makes me feel like we’re doing something right and touching people with our music.”
“It’s fun to be going to different places every day, different venues, different faces, different-sized crowds,” lead guitarist Sal Costa said.
Although touring can be a grind, playing different venues with different crowds, Costa said, means the band can take a different approach to how they perform their songs, such as their hit single Porn star dancing and that helps them keep the songs fresh.
Regardless of where they are, Costa said, the band follows one motivation once they hit the stage, regardless of what happened during the day.
“It really is all about the fans, he said.
“We owe it to the fans to put on the best show every single night.”
