THE GLORIOUS SONS
With: The Blue Stones
Where: Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre, 1925 Blanshard St.
When: Thursday, Nov. 9, 8 p.m.
Tickets: $29.50-$65 from the Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre box office (250-220-7777) or
Hard work rewards those who put in an honest effort. And for the majority of their decade-plus career, The Glorious Sons have worked harder than most bands in Canada.
The result was success on a level few could have predicted, the spoils from which took their toll on the hard-working Kingston, Ontario outfit. The members are in a better place today. But midway through their biggest tour to date — 57 dates across the U.S. and Canada — a perfect life-work balance remains elusive.
“As you get older, and hopefully a little bit wiser, you find ways to make it all a little easier,” guitarist Jay Emmons said.
“We’ve grown a lot as a group, especially over the last four years. But we’re still learning about the best ways to manage the stresses and factors that go into touring.”
Success on the road was nearly the group’s undoing, before the pandemic brought everything to a halt. Health restrictions forced the band to take a much-needed break, and in doing so, changes were made within the group. “It forced us to look in the mirror and ask some hard questions about a lot of things,” Emmons said.
Permanent and touring members departed, and new players were brought in. The trio of Emmons, his younger brother, singer Brett Emmons, and drummer Adam Paquette, are now the core of the group, which formed in 2011.
The four-time Juno Award nominees are touring to support their fourth full-length, Glory, which arrived Sept. 6. Three days later, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the band’s massive tour got underway, taking them to cities they had not visited since before the pandemic.
The Glorious Sons return to Victoria Thursday night, for the kick-off to the 91原创 leg of the tour, which runs until Dec. 31. Emmons said he clearly remembers his previous Victoria performance, at The Royal Theatre on March 6, 2020. It was one of the last in-person performances in the city before Canada went into lockdown and venues were shuttered.
The group performed several nights later, in Kelowna and Red Deer, Alberta. Those would be the final dates of the tour. The band’s crew was setting up for a performance at Calgary’s MacEwan Hall when “someone hit the panic button,” Emmons said.
They were being ordered off the road, with stops in 12 cities remaining. “There were whispers [in Victoria] that something crazy was going to start happening, but it wasn’t until we got to Calgary, after we went out for dinner and were back at our hotel, that we heard about it. The next morning, the whole world was in a minor panic.”
The cancellation came at a significant cost to the band. Several buses carrying 25 crew and boxes containing $60,000 in tour merchandise were sent home. “We went from what was going to be a very successful tour to something that we are still paying for today.”
The new tour has been a blessing thus far, according to Emmons. Some of the new songs touch on physical and mental health, an example of the growth that has taken place. The Glorious Sons aren’t perfect, Emmons said, but they are trying.
“We can communicate like adults. We face some things head on that we hadn’t been able to do in the past. But we’ve grown a lot through that process. Before that, I don’t think anyone [in the band] was in that great of a headspace. It was about reaching the peak at all costs, regardless of what those peaks might be.”
Feedback for the current tour has been positive thus far, with many longtime fans taking notice of the harmonious atmosphere. The Glorious Sons weren’t about to let this tour pass without advance preparation, resulting in four pre-tour rehearsals each week leading up to the launch.
The results are evident on stage and off, Emmons said.
“We’re having fun again. A lot of people are saying it’s the best the band has looked live in a long time, and I think that’s a testament to how much work we’ve put in. It’s not just a line-up change that has contributed to this. It’s good old-fashioned elbow grease.”
