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Hello everyone! The time is almost upon us. Next week (or perhaps THIS WEEK, depending on when you read this), OCtoberflame begins.
OCtoberflame is, for those of you who have not heard, a festival of sorts that will be headlined by Tiger Army for each of five nights at The Grove in Anaheim, CA, beginning this Thursday, Oct. 23rd and concluding on Halloween night.
They're not going to be just any shows, and I wanted to take this opportunity to tell you a bit more about them and what they mean to us.
Just over two years ago, we entered the studio to begin the process of recording our latest album, Music From Regions Beyond. When we completed the album, we immediately went to Europe and didn't stop touring from there. In the year and a half since we left the studio, we've done the equivalent of three full U.S. tours, our first-ever Canadian tour, tours of Australia, Japan, and four separate trips to Europe. It's funny, because there are still places we need to go. There were a lot of great shows and a lot of great experiences there, but touring can be a void – endless like space. If you're not careful you can get lost in it, and not be able to come back.
Some people seem to be unaware of just how much we've toured. We've gotten more than a few messages lately saying "Don't you guys ever leave California?" Sometime when you're bored, check out the Gig Archive, it's got a list of literally ever live appearance we've ever made. It's linked from the Tourdates section at our site TigerArmy.com. As you can see from that, it's more like we never stay in California. But that's about to change.
After two years of almost non-stop work, Tiger Army's taking a break. Our lifestyle of constant touring will shift into something else. It's something I need to be creative, something I need to write the next record. OCtoberflame will be a goodbye of sorts, the end of a moment in time. It's also a thank you to all the fans for all their support over these last two years, and all the years before that.
We're not just playing five shows in a row somewhere (well four in row then Halloween, but you get the idea), a LOT of work is going into these shows to make them something special and unique, for even the most diehard Tiger Army fan who's seen us everytime we play in Southern California.
We've been hitting the practice space on a regular basis – our goal is to play TWENTY unique songs over the course of five nights, you will hear at LEAST four songs each night that are not played on ANY other night. The setlist will change quite a bit nightly in addition to those unique songs as well, it's not just gonna be the same core set plus four new songs. As always, we'll draw on the entire catalog for our setlist – including songs that haven't been played live in YEARS, and a few that haven't been played live EVER.
For those of you who haven't heard about the fourth show, Sunday October 26th, that's gonna be another special night. Adam Carson of AFI, who also happens to be the original drummer of Tiger Army, will rejoin the band for one night only. The set will consist solely of songs that he recorded with the band, or were played during the era he performed with us. We've practiced with Adam several times so far, and I already know it's going to be a blast. Sometimes touching base with the past is a good way to look towards the future, it's funny how that works.
What else? We might be joined onstage by some friends and special guests. I've got to leave some surprises.
Sadly, T.S.O.L. had to cancel, something related to their drummer. I was sad to hear this because they were one of my favorite bands scheduled to play, and I've been a fan since I bought Dance With Me at age eleven. But an important announcement: not only are horrorpunks "Calabrese" from Arizona playing, but as of today a special surprise guest has been added to the bill for the Saturday, Oct. 25th show! We can't announce them til Monday, but I think a lot of you will be excited, I know I am.
Another bit of information that's important to OCtoberflame that I haven't mentioned here – as you may have heard, the next record I do will in all likelihood not be a Tiger Army album, but a Nick 13 solo album. A little background: as most of you know, I grew up in a town called Ukiah, CA with Dave, Jade and Adam from AFI (as well as Geoff Kresge from Tiger Army!). Dave and Jade's lives have been similar to mine in the sense that we've all basically devoted our lives to our respective bands. In the last year or so, they found time to do a side project called Blaqk Audio. I've wanted to do an album vintage-inspired honky-tonk for years, and there was something inspiring to me about their example. They found the time to make a record and even do a quick tour with something that was musically different from what they do, without it taking away from the band that they've dedicated their lives to. A lot of things have been important to my plan to finally do this record, like Tiger Army's trip to Nashville this year, but there's a VERY good chance it'll happen. BTW, think "Outlaw Heart", "In the Orchard", "The Long Road", "Where the Moss Slowly Grows" for musical direction.
So let's take a look at what this could mean for playing live with Tiger Army. A disclaimer – you NEVER know what's going to happen. We took somewhat of a break to write for Music From Regions Beyond in '05/'06 and that's when we were offered shows we felt we couldn't decline by Morrissey and AFI. We also did a show here and there because we missed playing live when the writing process took longer than I wanted to, as it often will. So things like this could happen again, but they also could NOT.
That being said, let's take a look at one scenario: finish OCtoberflame on Halloween night. Chill for a couple months. Write for a few months. Record Nick 13 solo country album for a few months. Play a few shows, maybe a quick tour or two with country project. Back to Tiger Army at that point, but maybe straight back to writing or the studio – it could be a year or more until Tiger Army plays again! I'm not saying it will be for a fact, I'm just saying that with the country project in the mix, NO ONE knows the next time Tiger Army will play a show and as things stand now, anything before at LEAST mid-2009 is unlikely. So if you're in Los Angeles, San Diego, wherever else, don't wait for us to come to your doorstep. I wish I could have one version of myself to tour constantly, and another version to write, record and create constantly, but alas, there is only one of me.
What else? No service charge at The Grove box office. If you bought the five-night package, your ticket will be slightly different than a regular ticket, and people at the venue will know this for the meet-and-greet after the Halloween show, the limited poster (by Linas Garsys!), and so on. We're playing with some ridiculously good bands over the various nights – VNV Nation? The Quakes? C'mon!
Preparation for these shows has consumed my life lately, it's the last hurrah on a long path before we go down a new one. I hope OCtoberflame will mean as much to the people who see it as it will for us to play it – we'll see you there!
T♠A♠N♠D,
Nick 13
5 show VIP pass link
Tickets for Thur. 10/23 w/ VNV Nation + War Tapes
Tickets for Fri. 10/24 w/ SWEET AND TENDER HOOLIGANS + Civet
Tickets for Sat. 10/25 w/ SPECIAL SURPRISE GUEST TBA + CALABRESE + Enjambre
Tickets for Sun. 10/26 w/ GUANA BATZ + Creature Feature **Special show with original drummer Adam Carson of AFI playing Tiger Army songs from '96-'99!**
Tickets for HALLOWEEN Fri. 10/31 w/ THE QUAKES + 12 Step Rebels
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