In a heart-warming display of Canadian unity, two bands from opposite
ends of this fine country have teamed up to spread the word of rock 'n' roll.
Calgary popsters Zuckerbaby -- just nominated as Canada's best new band
in the new Canadian Radio Music Awards -- and Halifax rockers Sandbox
have teamed up to co-headline a show that hits Barrymore's tomorrow
night.
For Sandbox, this tour marks a sort of Phase II for a career that exploded
in 1996. Their debut Bionic spawned three hit singles and earned them a
Juno nomination, a CASBY award for the song Curious and nominations
for three East Coast music awards.
It also forced the band to hit the road a bit more than they might have
wanted.
"The touring was good experience but you get exhausted after a while and
that's not really the best condition to be in for a performer," singer Paul
Murray said in an interview.
The band also had some humbling lessons during the period when they took
their show to the United States.
"It's just so hard down there," Murray said. "It's big and you're not known
and you've just got to take every little gig you can.
"But we were kind of reassured when we were down in Washington and
we saw a poster on a hydro pole advertising the Tragically Hip playing in a
small club. You see a band that big that's still playing clubs and you feel a
little better about your own thing. Plus we had the night off so we got to see
them in a 600-seat club."
The U.S. tour wasn't a complete loss as the band sold about 1,600 CDs off
the stage.
It also got them prepared for their second album, A Murder in the Glee
Club, which guitarist-songwriter Mike Smith describes as a concept album
based around a murder mystery.
See if you can figure out the clues at Barrymore's tomorrow night. Tickets
are $8 in advance and the music starts at about 9 p.m.