Silverstein Celebrate Their Decade With Live CD/DVD

Most bands don't even last a year together before they split up, even less get past the first few, and it's a slim pickin's who make it to double digits. But Silverstein recently became a member of the latter camp, and will release their Decade (Live At The El Mocambo) CD/DVD on Tuesday (June 8) to celebrate.

The package was recorded at the Toronto venue of the same name over four nights in March. Silverstein performed all four of their albums — 2003's When Broken Is Easily Fixed, 2005's Discovering The Waterfront, 2007's Arrivals & Departures and 2009's A Shipwreck In The Sand — in entirety. They devoted one night to each album, performing them chronologically.

Vocalist Shane Told says the concept was equally inspired by Jimmy Eat World's 10th anniversary Clarity tour and interviews about A Shipwreck In The Sand. Many journalists asked him if the band were going to perform the album in entirety on tour, pointing out that since it was a concept album it might not make sense if they didn't.

"We made sure that it wasn't going to be like that, that we had songs within the album that would, you know, convey the message," he says on the phone from his parents' house in Oakville, Ont. "But I think when we talked about that, we thought, 'You know, it'd be really cool to do something special and it's our 10-year anniversary. 'Maybe we'll play Shipwreck from start to finish,' which was something we'd wanted to do.

"I think it was me, I'll take credit for it, I just decided why don't we try to do all the albums from start to finish and do one per night."

The band recruited director Robby Starbuck, who helmed Silverstein's videos for "Vices" and "American Dream," to shoot video of all four nights, and booked the El Mocambo in late March. Told says choosing the legendary Toronto venue was an easy choice for the band.

"It's the place where I actually played my first show in Toronto when I was, I don't know, 13 years old in my first band," he says. "We got this show in Toronto and it's like, 'Oh, my God! The Rolling Stones played there.'

"It's also always been a place that had punk shows over the years, and it's like come and gone. I always felt like it was part of Toronto and that's why we picked it. It's a good size.

"We didn't want to do a big show, like a typical 'Live At The Sound Academy' or Kool Haus or whatever. We wanted to do a bunch of shows with no barricade. We wanted everybody to be crazy and hot and sweaty and really raw. That's why we picked that place."

Told says he hopes the concept, along with Starbuck's film techniques, will leave fans with a concert DVD that isn't your typical one, pointing out that he finds most concert films "so fucking boring" because they use the same shots over and over.

Mostly, though, he's surprised and seems floored that his band have been together for 10 years, released four albums, and also the level of achieved international success they have.

"The term 'decade' — we called the record that, and it's just such an intense, like, strong term. That's kind of a funny thing 'cause a decade seems even longer than 10 years," he says. "But it's been a wild ride, it's been a lot of fun for sure.

"It's amazing how much you grow up. I was 18 or 19 when we started the band, and I'm 29 now. Those years of your life involve a lot of learning about the world and yourself and everything. It's just been crazy, and I'm a bit speechless about it and I'm a bit overwhelmed by the whole thing."

Silverstein will premiere Decade (Live At The El Mocambo) at Toronto's Royal Cinema on Monday. They'll screen the DVD portion of the film in entirety.

CHARTattack's giving away the chance to see the film, attend a meet and greet with the band and pick up the album before it hits stores on our contests page.

You can see Silverstein on the Scream It Like You Mean It Tour here:

July 7 Poughkeepsie, NY @ The Chance Theater
July 8 Sayreville, NJ @ Starland Ballroom
July 9 Detroit, MI @ St. Andrews Hall
July 10 Chicago, IL @ Metro
July 11 St. Paul, MN @ Station 4
July 13 Denver, CO @ The Summit Music Hall
July 14 Salt Lake City, UT @ Murray Theater
July 16 Seattle, WA @ El Corazon
July 17 Portland, OR @ Hawthorne Theatre
July 18 Orangevale, CA @ Club Retro
July 20 Hollywood, CA @ House Of Blues Hollywood
July 21 Anaheim, CA @ House Of Blues Anaheim
July 22 San Diego, CA @ Soma
July 23 Tempe, AZ @ Marquee Theater
July 25 Dallas, TX @ Palladium Ballroom
July 26 San Antonio, TX @ White Rabbit
July 27 Austin, TX @ Emo's
July 28 Houston, TX @ Warehouse Live
July 30 Orlando, FL @ Club Firestone
July 31 St. Petersburg, FL @ State Theater
Aug. 1 Atlanta, GA @ The Masquerade
Aug. 3 Baltimore, MD @ Ram's Head Live!
Aug. 4 Philadelphia, PA @ Trocadero
Aug. 5 New York, NY @ Irving Plaza
Aug. 6 Worcester, MA @ Palladium
Aug. 7 Hartford, CT @ Webster Theater
Aug. 8 Lancaster, PA @ Chamelon Club