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'Hell of a market in Sudbury': Marianas Trench looks forward to March 19 stop in Nickel City

Vancouver rockers gearing up for another cross-Canada tour
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Canadian pop rock mainstays Marianas Trench will kick off their Suspending Gravity tour on March 6, and will be making a stop at the Sudbury Arena on March 19. (Supplied)

Canadian pop rock mainstays Marianas Trench will kick off their Suspending Gravity tour on March 6, and will be making a stop at the Sudbury Arena on March 19.

The Nickel City is the final stop on the Ontario leg of the tour that will hit 15 Canadian cities next month.

The Vancouver-based pop rock outfit have been mainstays on Canadian radio waves since their debut album "Fix Me" dropped in 2006, and have since put out two certified gold-selling albums, double platinum singles, and won the 2013 JUNO Award for Group of the Year.

With tour stops in some major Canadian cities like Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, and their home base of Vancouver, a tour stop in Sudbury is a little off the beaten path.

"You really want to hit as many spots as you can when you're touring and there's a hell of a market in Sudbury for us," said Matt Webb, lead guitarist with the band. "The last time we were there, I think it was in 2016, and we had incredible support so we're looking forward to coming back."

Every tour is different and unique in its own way, but this one certainly presented its share of challenges for the band, according to Webb.

"For the first time in our careers we had a big deadline to hit," said Webb, referring to the release of the band's newest album Phantoms, which will be released on March 1, just five days before the tour kicks off.

"We had this tour planned and we weren't really close to finishing the album. For whatever reason we were really struggling to get it done."

Webb says that there's a careful balancing act involved with planning out shows and set lists when touring, and this is especially true when you're touring an album that is less than a month old.

"Personally, I hate it when I go to a show and a band just plays their new album that I haven't really had a chance to get to know yet," said Webb. "It's cool to hear the new stuff, but at the same time you want to hear all those songs that got you into the band and have been your favourites."

With more than a decade of experience under their belts, Webb says that their success puts them in a good position to bring a mix of the new album and the old favourites to their audiences.

"We're fortunate to have a big catalogue to pick from," said Webb. "You try to find a happy medium because you only get 90 minutes or so on stage so you try to get as much in there as you can."

The pop rock genre is generally known to hit a younger demographic, but Webb says that the band's longevity has created some eclectic audiences at their shows.

"It's such a cool thing to see, because we've been playing together and were doing shows before our first album in 2006, so you recognize people that were at your shows way back when and they're still coming out to shows now," said Webb. "It's great to see old fans and new ones and maybe some of them are kids of fans who have been listening to us since the start."

While Vancouver may not be known for the harshest of winters, Webb and the boys are more than prepared to hit the road through Northern Ontario and into Winnipeg, Regina, and Edmonton in the middle of March.

"We're Canadian through and through so we don't have any issue throwing on the parkas and enduring some Canadian winter. I don't think we've ever even done a Canadian tour in the summer, it feels like any time we tour it's winter," said Webb.

"There's obviously a lot of moving parts with the trucks carrying all our equipment and everything so you're always keeping an eye on the weather, but I think we've only ever had to cancel one show because of the weather."

If you've never been to a Marianas Trench live show, Webb says you can expect a lot of energy, but this tour will be bringing a bit more of a "spooky, haunted vibe" to the stage.

"There's always a lot of love and support in the room and great energy," said Webb. "Our fans are crazy loyal and we just really appreciate all the love, their energy always makes it a lot of fun for us."

General public tickets are on sale now and can be purchased at greatersudbury.ca/tickets.


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