@movernie
Marianas Trench, a well-established Canadian rock band was on a “Never Say Die” Tour in the past few months, making stops in many American and Canadian cities. Whether the cities were big ones or small ones, Marianas Trench made every effort to ensure its fans from all parts of the countries a chance to get up close and personal with them.
For those who wanted to know more about Marianas Trench, it’s a rock band from Vancouver, British Columbia that was formed in 2001. The band consists of members Josh Ramsay, Matt Webb, Mike Ayley, and Ian Casselman. This band has been in the music industry for 15 years and counting.
Personally, I am a huge fan of Marianas Trench, they are lovable, down-to-earth real, funny, cool, hip and really have its own unique character. Most importantly, this band has never ran out of music creativity, I have seen this band evolve over the years, thinking of new images, new ideas, new music direction, giving its fans something new to discover about the band while maintaining its own roots. That’s not easy to do for many bands but Marianas Trench just gets it done. In particular, I really like the singles called “One Love” and “Fallout“. You could hear the lyrics and how passionate Josh Ramsey interpreted in these songs. This band has so much to offer and so many hit singles that their fan base just continue to grow and grow.
Last month, I was very fortunate to be invited to cover and review the Marianas Trench “Never Say Die” Concert at the Air Canada Centre (ACC) in its Toronto stop. Another great Canadian band, Walk Off The Earth did the opening for them for the entire tour. It was a perfect choice to have them to open for the Marianas Trench. In particular, I really like one of their latest song called “Rule the World”, it’s just so powerful, strong instrumental music and just full of energy. And to be able to hear them live was a total pleasure. They had definitely hyped up the crowd that evening. I wish Walk Off The Earth best of luck and continue to pump out great music and hopefully, I will see them have their own tour in the near future.
The set list told us that the Marianas Trench concert will begin at 8:50 pm. To my surprise, the band was right on time. Wait, let me re-phrase this. The reason I was super surprised because most concerts that I been to in the past, they would never be on time, with some artists showing up 40 minutes later. Not for Marianas Trench, they didn’t want their fans to wait too long and suffer, thus, they began on time.
The background display of virtual images, lights and music were what made a live concert fun and entertaining. There is no comparison watching the concert live than by watching it on TV at home, it’s a total different experience. Josh Ramsey, as usual came out wearing flashy outfits, holding up his guitar and began jumping up and down throughout the stage. His fellow members positioned themselves at different places throughout the stage, playing their respective instruments.
The crowd at the ACC were jam packed, they were screaming, jumping up and down, moving their bodies along with the music. The vibe was awesome. You could see lots of young ladies, kids accompanied by parents were all singing along every song.
Marianas Trench released its latest album (Astoria) back in October of 2015 and they performed many of the songs from this album, including Astoria, One Love, Never Say Die and many more.
As you know, MoVernie is ALWAYS on the MOVE, so I took some shots from my seats and I also got to experience what a concert was like standing close the stage. I got to take lots of closeup photos (check them out below), so that I can share with you guys.
There was a few highlights that stick in my mind during the Marianas Trench concert. The moment when Josh came down the stage from the centre spot, he ran along the barricades and I was able to see him up close and personal, that was a memory to remember. He basically went around the arena and high-five the fans along the way. You could see how excited the fans were. Some even cried after they shook hands with Josh. Another highlight was when Josh went to the centre floor area, go onto the platform, sat down beside the piano and began to play the song “One Love” in piano version. That was really cool! Last but not least, Josh tied himself on a zip line wire and zipped across the stage in mid-air, singing songs while doing acrobats. That’s multi-tasking folks! All those spins moves and moving upside down in mid-air? Josh made it look so easy. I would have thought that flying mid-air, spinning around will affect his breathing or singing. Nope! Not a chance, he was flawless, smooth breathing and he maintained his great vocal.
You could tell this band appreciates their fans greatly. Throughout the concert, the band thanked the fans for their support. I recalled at one point, Josh said, “Thank you all of you for your continual support, without you guys, we won’t be able to last this long. We have our own tour across Canada and U.S.A. We have our own show at the ACC. I recalled 10 plus years ago, when we were performing at a tavern, there maybe only a handful who showed up. Thank you for your love”. I thought that was a powerful speech. I mean, think about it, imagine yourself performing on a stage at a tavern and only a handful show up and 10 plus years later, a jam-packed crowd at the ACC? That’s something to be proud of.
Also during the show, Josh thanked the parents who bought tickets and accompanied with their kids. He said, “Thanks to the parents who came here with your kids. Now, let me teach you a lesson, Pop 101”. The crowd cheered as Pop 101 is one of the band’s songs.
One of the perks of being able to stand near the stage was the opportunity for me to observe how the behind-the-scenes work crew operated throughout the concert. Staff members consistently had to move equipment along the stage, setting up visual effects and coordinating with each other to ensure safety comes first and everything was working. Special shoutout to the hardworking staff members that we often negectled but played an important role to the success of the show.
Did you know that the band used more than one guitar for the entire show? I honestly don’t play instruments myself. It was fascinating to see an entire row of guitars being placed underneath the stage and the staff members carefully placed them in specific orders. They also hand out different guitars to the band members for certain part of the performance. That was interesting.
All-in-all, I had an amazing time at the Marianas Trench Concert. They have come a long way to establish themselves and built such a large following of fans around the world. I think it’s not easy for a Canadian band to be able to build such a successful brand in both the U.S. and Canada markets but they did it!
I will definitely go to the next Marianas Trench concert. If you haven’t watch them in person, I highly recommend you buy tickets to watch them in the near future and also buy their latest album, Astoria.
Special thanks to Live Nation and Strut Entertainment for giving me such a wonderful Exclusive VIP experience at the Marianas Trench Concert in Toronto.
Follow me on Instagram (@RealMoVernie) and Twitter (@MoVernie) for more awesome photos and videos of my coverage at the New Balance Toronto Media Event. Stay tuned!
Also follow me on SnapChat @MoVernie or Periscope @MoVernie for more interactive live-broadcast videos.
Until next time, MoVernie is outta here!
