Alexisonfire Happy To Hit The Road

07/03/09 4:53pm

by Shehzaad Jiwani (CHARTattack)

It's been a while since Alexisonfire proper have dominated the airwaves around here.

Since the release of their third album, Crisis, the band have crisscrossed the world, championed their friends in Attack In Black, Cancer Bats and Johnny Truant, Wade MacNeil started The Black Lungs and Dallas Green became Canadian rock royalty while collaborating with the likes of Gord Downie.

After endless touring, multiple Junos and a few platinum records, no one could blame the St. Catherines, Ont. quintet for taking some time off. It gave them time to reassess and revamp their sound, which is exactly what they appear to have done on their fourth full-length, Old Crows/Young Cardinals. The record sees them moving even farther away from the dreaded "screamo" tag, incorporating ballsier rock 'n' roll elements into their trademarked sound.

"I think the big thing influencing myself and Dallas when we were getting off the road was having played a lot and done some touring with some bands that we didn't like," says guitarist/vocalist MacNeil. "We knew what we didn't want and what we wanted to distance ourselves from, and that became equally important as what we were trying to get to."

Drummer Jordan "Ratbeard" Hastings attributes the album's stylistic shift to the extended amount of time the group dedicated to their writing and recording process — a luxury never afforded to them in the past.

"We had a long time to write, whereas opposed to Crisis, we had a month off to write it, and a month after that to record it, then right back out on the road," he explains. "This time, we had just shy of a year to go through every song, pick through them and come back to them to do what we wanted to do. I think that could have a lot to do with it."

That time off will be the last anyone in the band sees for a while, as the boys will be touring well into next year in support of Old Crows. MacNeil maintains that they're excited to get back out on the road after so much time off, even if their tour schedule is quite daunting.

"I have no idea what to do with myself [when we're off tour]," he says. "You get antsy. I think it's that struggle to find that balance.

"Up until just now, I've been talking about how excited I am to get back on the road. Just seeing that entire [tour schedule]... It's too much for me [laughs]. We've been out for so long so it's nice to get back out on the road."

Alexisonfire will play these dates:

July 3 Houston, TX @ The Showgrounds At Sam Houston Race Park (Vans Warped Tour)
July 5 Dallas, TX @ Superpages.com Center (Vans Warped Tour)
July 7 Indianapolis, IN @ Verizon Wireless Amphitheater (Vans Warped Tour)
July 8 Pittsburgh, PA @ Post-Gazette Pavilion (Vans Warped Tour)
July 9 Cleveland, OH @ Time Warner Cable Amphitheater (Vans Warped Tour)
July 10 Mississauga, ON @ Arrow Hall (Vans Warped Tour)
July 11 Montreal, QC @ Parc Jean-Drapeau (Vans Warped Tour)
July 12 Hartford, CT @ New England Dodge Music Center (Vans Warped Tour)
July 14 Washington, DC @ Merriweather Post Pavilion (Vans Warped Tour)
July 15 Scranton, PA @ Toyota Pavilion (Vans Warped Tour)
July 16 Buffalo, NY @ Darien Lake Performing Arts Center (Vans Warped Tour)
July 17 Camden, NJ @ Susquehanna Bank Center (Vans Warped Tour)
July 18 Uniondale, NY @ Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum (Vans Warped Tour)
July 19 Oceanport, NJ @ Monmouth Park Racetrack (Vans Warped Tour)
July 21 Boston, MA @ Tweeter Center For The Performing Arts (Vans Warped Tour)
July 22 Virginia Beach, VA @ Verizon Wireless Amphitheater (Vans Warped Tour)
July 23 Charlotte, NC @ Charlotte Verizon Wireless Amphitheater (Vans Warped Tour)
July 24 Orlando, FL @ Central Florida Fairgrounds (Vans Warped Tour)
July 25 Miami, FL @ Cruzan Amphitheater (Vans Warped Tour)
July 26 Tampa, FL @ Vinoy Park (Vans Warped Tour)
July 28 Atlanta, GA @ Lakewood Amphitheater (Vans Warped Tour)
July 29 Cincinnati, OH @ Riverbend Music Center (Vans Warped Tour)
July 30 Milwaukee, WI @ Marcus Amphitheater (Vans Warped Tour)
July 31 Detroit, MI @ Comerica Park (Vans Warped Tour)
Aug. 1 Chicago, IL @ First Midwest Bank Amphitheater (Vans Warped Tour)
Aug. 2 Minneapolis, MN @ Canterbury Park (Vans Warped Tour)
Aug. 3 St. Louis, MO @ Verizon Wireless Amphitheater (Vans Warped Tour)
Aug. 4 Kansas City, MO @ Sandstone Amphitheater (Vans Warped Tour)
Aug. 7 Boise, ID @ Idaho Center Amphitheater (Vans Warped Tour)
Aug. 8 Salt Lake City, UT @ Utah State Fairgrounds (Vans Warped Tour)
Aug. 9 Denver, CO @ Invesco Field (Vans Warped Tour)
Aug. 12 Calgary, AB @ Race City Speedway (Vans Warped Tour)
Aug. 14 Vancouver, BC @ Thunderbird Stadium (Vans Warped Tour)
Aug. 15 Seattle, WA @ Gorge Amphitheater (Vans Warped Tour)
Aug. 16 Portland, OR @ Washington County Fairgrounds (Vans Warped Tour)
Aug. 19 Fresno, CA @ Save Mart Center (Vans Warped Tour)
Aug. 20 Mountain View, CA @ Shorline Amphitheater (Vans Warped Tour)
Aug. 21 Sacramento, CA @ Sleep Train Amphitheater (Vans Warped Tour)
Aug. 22 San Diego, CA @ Cricket Amphitheater (Vans Warped Tour)
Aug. 23 Los Angeles, CA @ Home Depot Center (Vans Warped Tour)
Oct. 7 Cambridge, England @ The Junction w/Anti-Flag, The Fall Of Troy and The Ghost Of A Thousand
Oct. 8 Norwich, England @ University Of East Anglia w/Anti-Flag, The Fall Of Troy and The Ghost Of A Thousand
Oct. 9 Oxford, England @ O2 Academy Oxford w/Anti-Flag, The Fall Of Troy and The Ghost Of A Thousand
Oct. 10 Nottingham, England @ Rock City w/Anti-Flag, The Fall Of Troy and The Ghost Of A Thousand
Oct. 11 Bristol, UK @ Anson Rooms w/Anti-Flag, The Fall Of Troy and The Ghost Of A Thousand
Oct. 14 London, England @ Forum w/Anti-Flag, The Fall Of Troy and The Ghost Of A Thousand
Oct. 16 Glasgow, Scotland @ ABC w/Anti-Flag, The Fall Of Troy and The Ghost Of A Thousand
Oct. 17 Leeds, England @ Refectory at University Of Leeds w/Anti-Flag, The Fall Of Troy and The Ghost Of A Thousand
Oct. 18 Manchester, England @ O2 Academy Manchester w/Anti-Flag, The Fall Of Troy and The Ghost Of A Thousand
Oct. 20 Birmingham, England @ O2 Academy Birmingham w/Anti-Flag, The Fall Of Troy and The Ghost Of A Thousand
Oct. 21 Portsmouth, England @ Pyramid Centre w/Anti-Flag, The Fall Of Troy and The Ghost Of A Thousand
Oct. 23 Luxembourg, Luxembourg @ Den Atelier w/Anti-Flag, The Fall Of Troy and The Ghost Of A Thousand
Oct. 24 Berlin, Germany @ Postbahnhof w/Anti-Flag, The Fall Of Troy and The Ghost Of A Thousand
Oct. 25 Prague, Czech Republic @ Roxy w/Anti-Flag, The Fall Of Troy and The Ghost Of A Thousand
Oct. 27 Leipzig, Germany @ Werk 2 w/Anti-Flag, The Fall Of Troy and The Ghost Of A Thousand
Oct. 28 Stuttgart, Germany @ Longhorn w/Anti-Flag, The Fall Of Troy and The Ghost Of A Thousand
Oct. 29 Munich, Germany @ Backstage Werk w/Anti-Flag, The Fall Of Troy and The Ghost Of A Thousand
Oct. 30 Pratteln, Switzerland @ Z7 w/Anti-Flag, The Fall Of Troy and The Ghost Of A Thousand
Nov. 2 Milan, Italy @ Musicdrome w/Anti-Flag, The Fall Of Troy and The Ghost Of A Thousand
Nov. 9 Paris, France @ Elysee Montmartre w/Anti-Flag, The Fall Of Troy and The Ghost Of A Thousand
Nov. 10 Wiesbaden, Germany @ Schlachthof w/Anti-Flag, The Fall Of Troy and The Ghost Of A Thousand
Nov. 12 Antwerp, Belgium @ Hof Ter Lo w/Anti-Flag, The Fall Of Troy and The Ghost Of A Thousand
Nov. 13 Koln Germany @ E Werk w/Anti-Flag, The Fall Of Troy and The Ghost Of A Thousand
Nov. 14 Amserdam, Netherlands @ Melkweg w/Anti-Flag, The Fall Of Troy and The Ghost Of A Thousand
Nov. 15 Hamburg, Germany @ Docks w/Anti-Flag, The Fall Of Troy and The Ghost Of A Thousand
Nov. 17 Gotheburg, Sweden @ Brew House w/Anti-Flag, The Fall Of Troy and The Ghost Of A Thousand
Nov. 18 Stockholm, Sweden @ Klubben (Arenan option) w/Anti-Flag, The Fall Of Troy and The Ghost Of A Thousand