In an unusual twist of fate, Scotland is sweltering in the summer heat. Black Stone Cherry have arrived to play a show at the Garage in Glasgow which, by their standards, is something like plugging in at an intimate get together with your nearest and dearest.
But, like all family gatherings, something has gone awry in the build up. The first flight in their journey had to turn back, resulting in hours stuck on a plane and a missed connection. Instead of flying to London, they had to go via Amsterdam and arrived in the city a day late, without their luggage. But they're here now, and that's what matters. "I don't know [if I've recovered yet]," says guitarist Ben Wells. "I'm still trying to figure that out. It was miserable, but we're here."
On a brighter note, 2015 overall hasn't been quite as mishap-laden as the last 48 hours might suggest. Since the arrival of ‘Magic Mountain’ last May and a bullish slate of arena shows to close out the year, the band have been in a low key frame of mind, with home life and writing taking up the bulk of their time.
"It's been really good," Wells says. "We've been home for most of it, really. We took the beginning of the year off, home through the winter, see everybody. John Fred [Young, drums] had a new baby and I got married back in September of last year, so it was good to have that time to relax. Then we've been writing new songs, started a tour in the US at the end of April and now we're back in tour mode.”
Tour mode includes a headline set on the second stage of Download Festival this weekend, shows in Cork, Dublin and Belfast and, following that, the Carnival of Madness tour, which will find them hitting arenas again. Wells also hopes to have album five on shelves by the time they touch down in Cardiff early next year.
“We've got five or six brand new ones that we've wrote in the past month,” he says. “We've got a bunch of older ones that we're revisiting now, so it's going really good. We're doing a big tour in the UK next year and we hope to have the new album out sometime around then, so we're trying to get it all recorded before this year is over and release it."
The Carnival of Madness run will also feature Shinedown, Halestorm and Highly Suspect and is one of those line-ups that goes above and beyond. It’s stacked from top to bottom, much like their most recent UK trek, where Airbourne opened and threw down a gauntlet each night.
"It's a great package," Wells says. "It's something that I think the fans can really get excited about. We don't want to come and just do a tour just for our own good. We want people to come to our shows where they can really get their money's worth, we want to put together a good package. So if you're a rock fan, I don't know of any tour that's going to go out next year that's going to compete with that. All the bands on the bill are awesome, so we're excited about that."
A lot of bands would feel the heat from such a support line up, along with pressure that comes with packing out back-to-back arena runs. But Black Stone Cherry seem to have the momentum to continue at such a level. What is it about their relationship with their UK fanbase that makes this possible?
"I don't really know," Wells admits. "I think it's just because we are who we are. We're not trying to be a band that is something we're not. We're very personable, we're very real with the audience. I think they appreciate that. If we mess up on stage, it's live. We don't run any tracks, we're very upfront with our audience and I think that's something they respect."
Back to the show ahead, where it seems odd to see them suiting up for a set at a hall 10 times smaller than they’re used to. The time it took the Garage to sell out, in fact, could be measured in seconds rather than minutes. "It's good," Wells smiles. "Those shows are some of the best. Shows like this can be so fun sometimes because the people are jam packed in. Those people want to be here, they were first to get tickets and they're here to rock. So, it's a good atmosphere, it's very intimate and it's loud, it's very close and we love that kind of thing.
“We heard this morning that it sold out in about a minute, I was like: 'What?' I can't even fathom that really. It's hard to believe, but it's awesome because we're flattered. But then you have people that have supported us for years and didn't get a chance to get a ticket. Then we get messages like: 'I didn't know, please help me!' There's nothing we can do, we can only have so many spots on our guestlist. So it's good and bad. But it's totally flattering, to sell that many tickets so quickly is awesome."
After Glasgow, all roads lead to Donington and one of rock’s truly hallowed patches of land. "I love Download,” Wells says. “I'm wearing two Download wristbands still. I love that festival, I really do. Last time we did it in 2013, we headlined the second stage and it was almost surreal seeing that many people out there who came to watch us. It rained, and they stood there in the rain. So, to have that happen was incredibly humbling. We expect it's going to be a good time.”
Black Stone Cherry Upcoming Tour Dates are as follows:
Mon June 15 2015 - CORK Pavilion
Tue June 16 2015 - DUBLIN Academy
Wed June 17 2015 - BELFAST Ulster Hall Belfast
Thu January 28 2016 - CARDIFF Motorpoint Arena
Fri January 29 2016 - NOTTINGHAM Capital FM Arena
Sat January 30 2016 - LIVERPOOL Echo Arena
Mon February 01 2016 - GLASGOW SSE Hydro
Tue February 02 2016 - BIRMINGHAM Barclaycard Arena
Thu February 04 2016 - LONDON SSE Arena Wembley
Fri February 05 2016 - LEEDS first direct Arena
Sat February 06 2016 - MANCHESTER Arena
Click here to compare & buy Black Stone Cherry Tickets at Stereoboard.com. Tickets for the Carnival Of Madness tour are on sale at 9am on June 19.
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