Anberlin
Anberlin have always been very welcome in Australia, received by sold out crowds at virtually every gig they play. Now at the end of the cycle for their sixth record 'Dark Is A Way, Light Is A Place,' the band are returning to our shores for An Evening With Anberlin, a tour that promises to showcase the band's brilliant live show and span their large catalogue. Reflecting on the group's impressive ten-year career drummer Nathan Young describes it as having been a quick ride, "It really is crazy to think about that, ten years is such a long time. I was actually talking about this to someone the other day. There are so many bands that we started with and have toured with or they've taken us on tour, they have all come and gone for whatever reasons. In a sense, the decade flew by. We have made so many great friends and enjoyed so many good memories, so for us we feel so accomplished." Young is right to be proud. The hype surrounding Anberlin began pretty much from the word go, following their second album 'Never Take Friendship Personal', which earned all kinds of positive reviews. Now five records down and with a sixth on the way, the stickman states firmly that the creative juices are still flowing. "Everyone has a strong vision, because you learn so much from mistakes and things you've done. We now know what we want and we are all throwing around tons of stuff so it's like one big pool of brainstorming." A major change in the writing process for the band is a new found sense of collaboration, with all member's contributing evenly to the tracks as opposed to just guitarist, Joseph Milligan, who was the main writing force behind the earlier works. 'An Evening With Anberlin' is a tailor-made tour just for Australia, which Young says is the band's way of thanking the Australian audiences for their kindness over the years. "I think this is our seventh time over in Australia so we didn't want it to be the same thing. We wanted to show you that you mean something to us. We have always kinda said Australia is our second home and it has always been one of our favourite places to be, so we wanted to do something different and unique and hopefully it feels like a big family and something different than just a normal show." The set list for the tour will span their whole catalogue and even include a glimpse into some new music, providing what would seem to be the ultimate Anberlin experience. Anberlin's success is unquestionably down to the band's work ethic and a hefty amount of touring, but one cannot dismiss the element of perfect timing that has helped the band's career. One example of which was signing to a major label, which Young claims was great in their situation but possibly not the case for younger bands in the current musical climate. "The thing is at the time that we started playing music, the industry was at a really weird place. In the grand scheme of music, it was almost like an anomaly, bands were making so much money that it was stupid and records were so big. But I don't think it was normal, I think that was a very random thing to happen, so things are really different now and a major label is not what it was five or ten years ago. It used to be that if you signed to a major you were set for life and people were making millions, but that is not the case at all anymore. It's almost like the major label is the opposite of what you want." Industry anomalies aside, the main reason for Anberlin (and any band's) success comes down to the support from their fans, and for that the group would like to say a big thank you in the form of a show which will no doubt be as impressive as their last seven visits. So if you are an Anberlin fan, get out and see them on the tour and get the thanks that you deserve. 'An Evening With Anberlin' will be hosted by the Thebarton Theatre on Sat 27 Aug.  |
Issue 526
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