BLIND MELON - Toronto & Montreal

[onthejourney]

Holy Moses! Yes, I know, no Shannon. But Blind Melon is coming baby! I am excited...very excited.

From email:

The GOOD NEWS is we have added Toronto and Montreal.

Here are the details:

Nov 20................Les Saints................Montreal, Quebec

Nov 22................The Mod Club......... Toronto, Ontario

oh ya............

[Hal Johnson]

Cool, on a saturday too. I know there's no Shannon, and their new album kinda blows, but I've heard they nail the old songs, so I want to go.

[Northern Wish]

I am thinking of hitting this up. I heard a show they played in CT this past summer and they do nail the old songs and play all of the ones you want to hear, and I don't find the new disc to be all that bad.

Shannon ain't comin back so its the only way to hear these songs that I love.

[balogna pogna]

Saw them with the new singer in March and they were pretty good.

Hopefully the price is reasonable and no more than $15.00 or so (mind you I just paid $115.00 to see a Frank Zappa cover-band last week but that's a different story).

[Velvet]

I too saw them in March and it was surprisingly good.

[onthejourney]

$24.50 me thinks...

Yah, Shannon is not coming back....nothing we can do about that. I would just love to hear the old songs as I never made it out to see them when he was alive.

[Hal Johnson]

Yup, Id pay $24.50 for it.

[EddieRamser]

24.50 is seriously worth it.

I saw them here in Banff last month and it was really, really good. Exceded my expectations by 100 miles.

They nailed all the old songs. I wasn't too keen on the new ones but the show itself was VERY energetic and I thoroughly enjoyed pretty much every minute of it.

[c-towns]

I don't remember them in March, I must have been on my honeymoon.

[Sarahbelle]

Hhhhmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm this is super interesting!! have to check my cash flow though....(poet n don't know it!!)

[Ol'Hickster]

I just tried Ticket bastard but it isnt working for me, know where else I could pick some up?

[bradm]

Tickets for the Montreal show (like tickets for a lot of shows in Quebec) are available via admission.com:

http://www.admission.com/html/artist.htmI?l=EN&artist=BLIND+MELON

Aloha,

Brad

[onthejourney]

son of biatch. The Blind melon forum, which is supposed to keep me freaking on top of things, just let me know about this show on wednesday. Well they were already sold out by wednesday because the tickets went on sale on the 23rd. I am royally pissed, I must say. So if anyone happens upon tickets that aren't being f'n scalped for $279 a piece, let me know.

[bradm]

son of biatch. The Blind melon forum, which is supposed to keep me freaking on top of things, just let me know about this show on wednesday. Well they were already sold out by wednesday because the tickets went on sale on the 23rd. I am royally pissed, I must say. So if anyone happens upon tickets that aren't being f'n scalped for $279 a piece, let me know.

Would you consider Montreal? I just tried to get a single for the Montreal show (using the link I gave above) and it's not sold out.

Aloha,

Brad

[Booche]

But Blind Melon is coming baby

Not anymore.

[Schwa.]

Go and see them for sure.

the old shit is bang on, and the new stuff is good to listen to when you go get a beer Brought a wave of emotions flooding in as i'd never seen them with Hoon but realized i sooooo should have.

[Jaimoe]

Friends....

I bring you some difficult news.

The revelry call went out to start the tour, and all reported to duty except for one. We, along with our entire team, have been working long hours to prepare for this upcoming US tour, which we have all been excited about. All except one. There has long been consensus with the original 4 members of the group....we agree on purpose and vision, we believe deeply in what we are doing, and we have been forged together in the kiln of tragedy which has made us unbreakable. We all share that. All except one.

We believe that it is a great privilege to do what we do. It is an honor to stand onstage before you all and play these songs, and we will endure just about anything to do so. We have unity on this...all except one.

Travis does not share this with us. Two weeks ago when we cancelled the first half of the tour, Travis was having problems with his voice and the doctor recommended that he rest. Though it hurt us to cancel the shows, we were understanding towards him and supported him because nobody wanted him to injure himself or damage his obviously amazing voice. God dropped a Stradivarius down Travis's throat, but the reality is that he treats it like a broken pawnshop fiddle. It is very difficult to maintain a rigorous touring schedule while chain smoking.

Early this week Travis was due to again visit the doctor, a specialist that we found for him who is the very best available. The doctor wanted to make sure everything was OK before we embarked on the tour. We told Travis that we would cancel the rest of the tour if his voice was still hurting, regardless of what the doctor said. Travis will tell you that we fired him because his voice was fried, but this is not true. All singers go through vocal problems from time to time, and we understand that. We did not fire Travis, he abandoned us. The plan was set, it was solid, and we were confident. Everybody was on board...all except one. Not only did he bail on the doctor, but he did not return anybody's calls, texts, emails, telegrams, or carrier pigeon messages for the last two weeks. We're talking about a LOT of attempts to communicate. This has been a pattern from the beginning of our involvement with him. The reality is that Travis did not want to go on this tour, and his reasons for this changed many times. The touring life is not for everyone. Had he told us that it was just too much for him, then that would have sucked for us but we could have dealt with it. But the dilemma was that HE WOULD NOT COMMUNICATE WITH US.

We finally started calling family members to try to locate him. Members of his family were very helpful and the good news is that they had spoken to him and he was alive. We were all relieved but curious as to what was going on. One of Travis's cousins finally got him to agree to call our manager yesterday evening and they spoke for about 20 minutes (we were all waiting to figure out if we should get on airplanes today or stay home). Travis stated that if we couldn't understand that he needed this time to himself, then he didn't want to be in a band with us anymore. He complained about being underpaid and overworked (we all make the same thing and we all work as hard as he does). He said that he didn't want to play the US anymore and that he was under-appreciated. He complained about playing the same songs in the same towns. We could not make him understand that the wheels were in motion for this tour for 6 months, and that to blow it out just because he didn't want to do it was a very bad move (we think his voice is probably fine now, by the way, though we could never say for sure since he neglected his doctor's appointment and did not call us to tell us that it was not well).

There was no indication that any of this was coming at the end of the Canadian tour. We had great success up there (thank you Canada) and we were encouraged by what was ahead of us. We were all set to record a live album on this tour, we just booked Japan, and we were in the process of putting together Europe and South America. People have been working very hard on this stuff...lots of great people who we are very much lucky to be working with. Travis is unable or unwilling to care about how his actions affect everybody else, and he's been this way since day one. We have passed up or blown many opportunities because of his actions, and this has made it very difficult for us to function effectively. For the 2 weeks worth of shows that we have cancelled in the last year, there have been countless others that were on the verge of not happening. Many nights we have sat in the dressing room or on the bus wondering if Travis was going to show up and what condition he would be in if he did show up. None of us want to be in one of those bands that is held hostage by a single person's whims and demands. Travis's talent is enormous and deep, but after two gut-wrenching years and countless setbacks and heartbreaks, we can no longer work with him.

We want to make this clear that this calamity is not just about the most recent events. For many different reasons, there has been a division that slowly developed from the beginning. Travis came into a very difficult situation, and in a lot of ways he handled it very well. But for whatever reason, we could never get him to come fully into the fold. We tried to achieve unity and balance in the band and we welcomed him with open arms as a full partner. But in a band you are dealing with a bunch of highly creative and impulsive people in suspended adolescence who are also oftentimes maladjusted. It must have been very difficult for Travis to figure out our relationships and to find his place. When things got tough, Travis would fire off an email and threaten to quit the band....this happened at least a dozen times. Eventually, confidence within the band as well as with the people who worked with us became undermined. Everybody around saw what was going on and were probably taking bets on how long we would last.

The real back-story to this is very deep. If you squint your eyes and read very closely between the lines, you might pick up a hint of it. There is no way that we could accurately tell you what has transpired over the past two years without breaking some ethical codes and spewing a bunch of angry stuff that will just sound irrelevant to you. We don't want to hurt Travis or say anything more than what is necessary to tell enough of the story. We believe that to publicly air out all of the prior details of what brought us to this place would be counterproductive. We will have our side of the story and Travis will have his, and the two shall not meet. And you as the reader will be left scratching your head and wondering who is crazier. You'll probably also wonder why we can't just kiss and make up and play the goddamned songs. We can only say that we have tried everything that we could to get to that place.

We sincerely hope that Travis finds a musical situation that makes him happy. As previously stated, his talent is prodigious, and that is why we thought he should play in the big leagues, but now it is clear that he was drafted by the wrong team. He belongs onstage, and that is where we got along with him best. He is a GREAT performer and we are hopeful that he will end up in the right situation for him.

So the next question is "what are we going to do"? First of all, we plan to begin the tour in Allentown, PA on Monday. Chris Shin, who formed Unified Theory with Brad and Christopher, is coming with us and is ready and willing. We are enormously grateful to Chris for accepting this somewhat daunting challenge. After the tour, we will begin the process of finding somebody who understands, as previously stated, that it is an honor to perform for ya'll, and that it is important to pull together and work together in order to create something truly great. We intend to play all the shows that are on the schedule, including the New Year's eve show, and we will make up the shows that were cancelled earlier this month. We're going on a journey and we'll bring you back something great......thank you for everything that you've given us.

Blind Melon

November 6, 2008

[deranger]

wow. crazy. I couldn't get tickets for Toronto? Anybody got an extra?

[onthejourney]

no tour - no tickets.

Thanks for postin that Jaimoe...I was just about to.

[deranger]

So the next question is "what are we going to do"? First of all, we plan to begin the tour in Allentown, PA on Monday. Chris Shin, who formed Unified Theory with Brad and Christopher, is coming with us and is ready and willing. We are enormously grateful to Chris for accepting this somewhat daunting challenge. After the tour, we will begin the process of finding somebody who understands, as previously stated, that it is an honor to perform for ya'll, and that it is important to pull together and work together in order to create something truly great. We intend to play all the shows that are on the schedule, including the New Year's eve show, and we will make up the shows that were cancelled earlier this month.

I'm confused. I haven't cross checked the stated info above with the remaining tour dates, but I was under the impression the Toronto show is late Nov.

So, is the TO show canceled or is it on with the new "new" guy?

Edited November 10, 2008 by Guest

[Hal Johnson]

Ya, I was under the impression the Toronto show was still on too.

[deranger]

posted on their myspace page today, which also now only lists their NYE show. I'm guessing the Toronto show is off.

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=95911507

The Future.....

Hey there,

We've read a bunch of the posts on here and everybody appreciates the support. It has been very helpful to us over the last few days. It means more than you know.....

It's time for us to move forward now. Any more time spent with anger and insult is wasted time. One of the things that the last two years has taught us all over again is that we love playing music together. The eleven previous years were spent healing and dealing, and we came back with an even stronger bond. Our dream, what this is really all about for us, is to have the chance to make something great. A great album. A great show. As we said before, we will endure just about anything for that.

So we're going to try to press forward immediately, and we want to find a singer to go with us. In our minds, Travis set the bar pretty high. And Shannon?....well that goes without saying. We're looking for somebody from outer space that has their feet on the ground. We're looking for somebody who has a voice that inspires new songs and sheds new light on our old songs. We're not looking for clones, drones, jokers, clowns, or drama queens. If you are interested or know somebody else who is, send an mp3 or video/audio link to blindmelonsinger@gmail.com. We'll check it out and get back to you if we think you might be a good fit for the band. Thank ya!

Blind Melon

11/10/08