help on the road

DAVID USHER GETS HELP ON THE ROAD

Author: Kari D.
Source: Chart Magazine
URL: www.chartattack.com/damn/2002/07/3011.cfm
Date: July 30, 2002

David Usher can finally go home. The Moist frontman was looking forward to heading back to his own bed as he sat, exhausted, on a patio chair outside a club one sunny afternoon last week in Winnipeg. The last month has been littered with shows scattered across the country and back for Usher and his band, who have been playing at either end of the touring extremes: focusing mostly on larger outdoor festivals or smaller, more intimate club shows.

"We've played to about 200,000 people this summer," he says, taking a breath. "That's a lot of people."

After playing 45 club shows to initially promote his sophomore album, Morning Orbit, Usher and Co. spent the majority of July criss-crossing Canada's festival circuit, even dipping down into Buffalo at the beginning of the month. Coming out of that run, their month was capped off with a quartet of club shows in Western Canada sponsored by du Maurier.

Usher bites back at those skeptical of his corporate pecuniary facilitation with a nice dose of reality.

"Name one band in this country that doesn't play the Labatt's show," he says. "I'd love to hear it. Y'know? It's very difficult not to. Almost every other show you fucking see in Canada is a Labatt's show. That's just the way life is."

Thankful for the monetary assistance a sponsor can provide to a touring musician, one must wonder if the product their chosen gift horse deals with can potentially bring about hesitation. As for the source of this particular sponsorship, Usher remains relatively unfazed.

"Is it any different than beer or sneakers? I don't smoke personally, but most of the guys in the band do. So I've been around cigarettes and booze all my life. A lot of the only way to keep a band on the road these days is through sponsorship. Most shows these days are sponsored."

That's not to say Usher is ready and willing to accept the cash from just anyone.

"It really depends on what the tour is, where we are in the touring schedule. I won't do certain things that I'm not into that are outside of my lifestyle."

The month of August has Usher playing roughly once a week, but this time, with the exception of a show in Montreal August 9, the gigs are relatively closer to home. Check Usher's website for more details.

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