Dallas Green Concerned About Picnic

07/18/08 1:22pm

by Cameron Gordon (CHARTattack)

The Rogers Picnic could be a challenging gig for City And Colour/Alexisonfire main man Dallas Green. The lineup is full of hipster-approved favourites, and Green isn't sure that his City And Colour project's solemn strums will be met with approval from the sun-baked masses.

"It's a bit of an odd bill for me because I'm paired up with pretty much a full lineup of 'cool' bands and, for that type of audience, it's anything but cool to like me. I'm really just curious to see who shows up. I'm guessing it might be a mix of City And Colour fans, maybe some Alexisonfire fans, and then people who won't like me because it's cool not to like me. I guess we'll find out."

The well-inked instigator will headline both the Summersonic festival at Halifax's Citadel Hill Garrison Grounds on July 19 and the Rogers Picnic at Toronto's Fort York the next day. These will be City And Colour's inaugural festival headline slots, if you omit an afternoon show in Saskatchewan that was washed-out by a massive rain storm last summer.

You'd think the headline slot would afford certain luxuries backstage — hot tubs, hookers, or at least a selection of imported cheeses. Fortunately for the Rogers coffers, Green is the least demanding of performers and shuns any effort to upsize his involvement.

"Occasionally, you encounter festival organizers who just assume that you're going to be demanding based on where you're playing on the bill or how many records you've sold," he explains. "They don't realize that we're just a bunch of kids from small towns who like touring around and playing music.

"Our rider is pretty much as basic as you can get: pop, chips, beer, towels. And with Alexisonfire, the only unusual item we request is distilled water, so our drummer Jordan [Hastings] can use his sleeping apparatus. That's as bizarre as you're going to get with us."  

Expect to hear much of City And Colour's 2008 best-seller Bring Me Your Love at the two festivals. Savour the best of the bits, as Green estimates there won't be another new City And Colour full-length until 2010 at the earliest. What you'll get in the interim is another Alexisonfire full-length (due sometime in 2009) and sustained Alexis touring next year and beyond.

Green's first U.S. tour as City And Colour kicks off in September with a string of shows as part of the Austin City Limits Music Festival in Austin, Texas. Green will support Tegan And Sara on many dates, and he looks forward to shifting his focus southward.

"I've played some showcase gigs before in New York and Los Angeles, plus South By Southwest and a few dates in the northwest, but that's it in terms of American touring. It'll be a little strange starting over with promoting this album since it'll be almost a year old by then, but hopefully it might bring some new freshness to the sets. That's the plan, anyway."