Land of Broken Hearts

AS IT HAPPENS – Free M&G TOMORROW in San Antonio AND New Jon Foreman song

Lisa — Wed, 16 May 2012 03:58:45 +0000

Hey guys, I don’t know if Jeanna had previously posted this, but according to Air1, Switchfoot will be having a free meet and greet at Best Buy:

WHEN: Wednesday, May 16 2012, 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM

WHERE:
Best Buy
125 NW Loop 410 @ San Pedro
San Antonio, TX 78216
Call: 210-858-5904

Free Midday Break with Switchfoot
Best Buy In-Store Performance

Come hear one of today’s top bands play a couple of its songs, meet the guys, have your photo taken with them and ask a few questions.

Space is limited.
Who’s going?
^Thanks Autumn, for sharing this!

Looks like we finally got a recording of that new song that Jon played at the York aftershow. We still don’t have a name to it, and the video’s short but here’s a sneak peek!

Thanks Reese!

“This is a song for people who don’t know how to dance, but love to dance anyway”

Lisa — Wed, 16 May 2012 01:16:35 +0000

Hey all! Lisa here with a few updates for you guys, so let’s get started!

Tomorrow, the guys are back on tour after a couple of days off, kicking it off in San Antonio, TX. If you’re attending the show and would like to send us photos, videos, setlists, or recaps, email us at news@landofbrokenhearts.org!

Also, don’t forget that Switchfoot will be performing Friday afternoon at the 2012 Hangout Music Fest. The lineup is INSANE so if you have a chance to go, do check it out! Their set is scheduled to be on Friday from 12:15-1:15pm.

Here’s a little tidbit about Radio 92.9′s Earthfest, which is happening this weekend in Boston:
PLANET FUN: Practice your eco-friendly habits at Radio 92.9 EarthFest by sampling earth-friendly food products, throwing your trash in the special recycling containers, and enjoying music and kids activities (these last two help the planet too). The musical lineup will include Third Eye Blind, The Spin Doctors, Switchfoot, and Eve 6. May 19 at 10:30 a.m. (Kid’s Planet stage; 11:30 a.m. main stage). Free. DCR Hatch Memorial Shell along the Esplanade, Boston. 617-822-9600. www.earthfest.com (Text by June Wulff, Globe Staff)
^Who’s going? Switchfoot, Third Eye Blind AND the Spin Doctors? I sure would.

Next, a pretty glowing review of Switchfoot’s recent show in Birmingham:

Switchfoot’s Electrifying Set at Samford
Chris K. Davidson

San Diego’s Switchfoot is known for putting on a dynamic and memorable live show. Their Samford performance was no exception.

The Rocket Summer opened the night. Led by Bryce Avery, the band played keyboard and guitar-led indie rock that gave nods to Something Corporate, Jack’s Mannequin and Mae. Avery kept the performance interactive, speaking to the audience and letting them know how excited he was to play Birmingham and hyped Switchfoot several times through his set. He also crowd surfed near the end of the set, playing guitar and soloing as the audience carried him along.

He even had the band exit so he could create a song on the spot through a loop machine. He started with drums, then moved onto keyboards, bass, guitar and wordless vocalizing. He even led the audience in clapping and singing of the vocal line. It was an interesting feat to say the least.

Switchfoot made quite an entrance with “The War Inside,” the third song off its newest release, Vice Verses. Elaborate lighting flooded the stage and three diamond-shaped projector screens played various types of images, including video footage of the band surfing and playing music.

Lead singer Jon Foreman played an excellent showman, spending equal amounts of time in all corners of the stage. He occasionally would pick up an audience member’s hat or sunglasses and put them on for a few lines of the song. He shook hands and pounded fists. During “This Is Your Life,” he went into the crowd and stood on the bleachers. He was not content to sit still.

The band played a variety of tracks from their catalog, including songs from Vice Verses, Hello Hurricane, Oh! Gravity and The Beautiful Letdown. Foreman spoke several times before songs to communicate to the audience what they meant to him:

“I want this music to be as communal as possible,” he said before “Your Love Is A Song.”

“This is a song for people who don’t know how to dance, but love to dance anyway,” he commented before the band launched into a rendition of “Gone.” This song also had a cameo by Samford’s bulldog mascot during the bridge.

“This is a song that I believe in more than when I first wrote it,” he said of their hit single, “Dare You to Move.”

The three-guitar attack and extended outro of “Meant to Live” ended their set, but the audience cried out for more. The band obliged with two more songs, “Dark Horses” and “The Sound [John M. Perkins’ Blues].”

Setlist:

“The War Inside”
“Stars”
“Oh! Gravity”
“Where I Belong”
“This Is Your Life”
“Your Love Is A Song”
“Needle And Haystack Life”
“Mess of Me”
“Gone”
“Restless”
‘Dare You to Move”
“Afterlife”
“Meant to Live”

Encore:

“Dark Horses”

“The Sound [John M. Perkins’ Blues]”
PHOTOS BY KATIE CARTER

Of course, this review came with a few great photos, taken by Katie Carter:

Credit: Katie Carter

Source: AL.com

Here are some photos that were taken from their show in Chattanooga by Victoria Goodwin, and were posted on their Facebook page:

Credit: Victoria Goodwin

Lastly, looks like the guys are either doing a photoshoot today, or are being interviewed because this was tweeted:

This just in, the shoot is for the next issue of Revolt in Style Magazine!

That’s all for today, friends!

“You nearly have to pinch yourself and say, ‘Dang, this is Switchfoot with saxophone!’”

Lisa — Mon, 14 May 2012 13:36:13 +0000

Hey guys, Lisa here! As you may or may not know, Jeanna’s away in New York for a good part of the week so I’ll be filling in for her in the meantime! So if there’s any news that you’d like to share or if you’re attending a show in the next few days and you’d like to share some photos or reviews, feel free to send it on in to news@landofbrokenhearts.org OR to me at lisa@landofbrokenhearts.org. Thanks!

So since the guys have a couple of days off until their next show in San Antonio, let’s get started with some show recaps! Our friend Zach sent us a couple of reviews that were real fun to read:

Athens

Definitely one of my favorite SF shows. Got to meet them and
request We Are One Tonight because I’ve never heard it live and they actually
played it which blew me away. I always hear it’s awesome so I’m glad I finally
got to experience it. I’ve met them enough times for them to recognize me and
Jon and I talked about how I’m not from Florida even though he always thinks
that so I finally set the record straight. The rest of the show was amazing
with Jon walking in and out of the crowd. The only thing I didn’t like was how
they did the M&G. Instead of getting let in early, we got let in after
everyone else so my friends and I were in the very back of the room. We ended
up squeezing our way through and show was great but I thought the system was
odd. After the show Jon did an aftershow and stood up on a platform right next
to my girlfriend and me. I gotta say Just Rob Me is a huge crowd pleaser. Every
time he plays it, big laughs. Souvenirs was great to hear stripped down and I
even did some backing vocals when Jon played 24. It was cool to see it put a
smile on his face. Definitely a great night.

Chattanooga

I thought that going to two SF shows in a week would be too
much but I was dead wrong. My girlfriend and I showed up to the venue around
4:30 and there is actually a hotel next to the venue with train cars and
gardens so we walked around and killed some time. We started walking back and
actually ran into Drew and Chad! Just passing remarks but it was cool to see
them being normal. After a long wait in line my girlfriend let me go to the
M&G while she waited in the front and held a spot for me. They were very
nice to let me take some close up shots of them and we chatted about a tattoo dilemma
I was having. I am lowercase people vs. love is the movement. Drew suggested I
combine them into “I am a movement” then Jon followed up with “I had a movement”.
I asked them to play 4:12 because it’s one of my girlfriend’s favorite songs
then Tim said “What about Learning To Breathe? We put it in the set for you.” I
was completely blown away because I had tweeted them earlier to play it. Their
genuine kindness is something that still impresses me. Ended up working my way
to the front and saw one of the best concerts ever. Took over 800 pictures that
I still have to look over and Jon pointed to me before LtB. Drew got a little
crazy with the guitar throwing and hit Jon in the head so hard that he started
bleeding. Later Bobby came out in a weird get up and handed him his harmonica
and Jon told us later he thought he was seeing things. That night was
especially crazy, it seemed like every song was hard hitting and they brought
out everything they had. We hung out near the buses after the show and got to
chat with Drew about Fading West. He said the soundtrack to FW might be the
next SF album and that they’ve talked about making a later album that comes
with a soundtrack. They’re also really excited about playing in Indonesia and
South Africa. Because we were talking to Drew we missed the first song for Jon’s
aftershow but I yelled out Collide and he played that so it made up for it. I
felt bad that he forgot the words but he pulled through. If any show could have
topped another, it was this one.

^*shakes head* Drew and Jon are just crazy.

Zach also sent us in some AWESOME photos that he took in Chattanooga. Here are a few of our favorites:

Credit: Zach

^Proud smirk, much?
Credit: Zach

^HA! Okay everyone! Caption this!
Credit: Zach

Credit: Zach

Credit: Zach
Thanks for sharing, Zach! Check out his full set HERE!

Now for some MORE videos from Chattanooga!
Where I Belong:

Credit: joshmonkeymanmasters

The War Inside:

Credit:jess467450

And a couple from Jon’s aftershow that same night:
Just Rob Me:

Credit: jars14

Here’s another video of Collide:

Credit: jars14

I’m not sure if this is from the Chattanooga show, but I REALLY love this performance of Souvenirs:

Credit: lewhalstead

In other news, The Examiner recently posted a pretty flattering review of Vice Re-Verses:

Switchfoot Switched
by Dan MacIntosh

There really isn’t a Switchfoot sound, per se. There are bands you recognize the moment one of their songs come on the radio. Maybe it’s a vocal give away, such as Tom Petty’s whine with the Heartbreakers, or The Edge’s guitar effects on U2 songs that provide big, bold, italicized auditory clues. Switchfoot isn’t such an obvious beast, however, which doesn’t exactly make them an ideal candidate for a remix makeover. Even so, ‘Vice Re-Verses’ is a delightful rethink for some of the tracks from the group’s ‘Vice Verses’ album.

With “The Original,” the JT Daly Remix transforms Switchfoot’s slight Beatles ode into a percussion-y groove, highlighted by brass horns and a slightly dub segment toward track’s end. JT Daly also redoes “Dark Horses” with a spooky dance remix that sometimes brings Depeche Mode to mind.

“Selling The News” was already an out-of-the-ordinary musical moment for Switchfoot’s Jon Foreman, as it found the band’s singer and primary songwriter rapping a bit. This Photek Remix strips away a lot of the electric guitar textures, and replaces these with electronic dance elements. By erasing regular guitar band elements, it places even more intensified focus on Foreman’s lyrics concerning the shabby treatment truth oftentimes receives in today’s media.

Adam Young, who remixes “Blinding Light,” is also known as Owl City. With this aural remodel, Young Owl Citifies Switchfoot and gives us a window into what Owl City might sound like with Foreman fronting it. It’s saturated with pretty synthesizers, which makes it sound much more Owl City than Switchfoot.

“Vice Verses” is aurally reconsidered by Mutemath’s Darren King. Strangely, it is largely toned down in its percussion elements. This is surprising because King is Mutemath’s drummer, so you’d likely expect his drumming background to give the song a far bigger beat. Instead, King mainly mixes in keyboard elements to further enhance the song’s overall moodiness.

The remix that most changes Switchfoot’s original work is DandJ’s take on “The War Inside.” The band’s original recording is a big, rocking rant. In DandJ’s hands, however, Foreman and band’s emotions are significantly muted. Rather than hearing Foreman publicly confessing his Paul-ian inability to always do the right things, even though he has the will to do them, Foreman is more meditative and reflective. It’s as though he’s quietly admitting these faults to God during private prayer time, rather than getting them out into the open with his fellow man.

‘Vice Re-Verses,’ although hardly essential listening for diehard Switchfoot fans, is nevertheless fully worth the time it takes to expose one’s self to these re-imaginations. A good remix is like a wholly original song cover. When somebody takes a familiar piece and gives it a brand new spin, the song nearly becomes something new. These re-recordings reveal how well Switchfoot’s melodies and lyrics stand up. With original material this good, the original intent can still be expressed, even with a lot of sonic mixing and matching. There’s a saxophone solo during a section of JT Daly’s remix for “The Original” where you nearly have to pinch yourself and say, ‘Dang, this is Switchfoot with saxophone!” This release is, at its best, Switchfoot as you’ve never heard them before.
Source:The Examiner.com

It’s time for our Monday Comes Around discussion! I thought I’d go a bit of a different route instead of discussing a Switchfoot/Jon Foreman/Fiction Family tune today and poke at your mind grapes instead! So my question is, what tune would you like them to cover, as they’ve been covering lots of different songs in the last few years? A punk tune? R&B? Some good ol’ Beatles? Full out RAP? DISCUSS BELOW!

Photo, Video and Graphic of the Week

Lisa — Sun, 13 May 2012 20:27:31 +0000

Hey guys! It’s about that time again…what time, you ask? That time when our favorite fan photographer Susie sees Switchfoot and comes back with fantastic shots! Susie saw the guys at the Orange Peel earlier this week…here are our favorites:

Tim steadily gazing out to the crowd:

Credit: Susie

Best. Moment. Ever!

Credit: Susie

Here’s Drew, showing off his fancy new kicks:

Credit: Susie

Such brotherly love:

Credit: Susie

Good-natured Drew, all smiles:

Credit: Susie

Crowd–You’re awesome, Jon!
Jon–No YOU! *grin*

Credit: Susie

Chad blowing our mind grapes with his fierce drumming:

Credit: Susie

Yeah. Mind grapes.

AHAH. CAPTION THIS. GO.

Credit: Susie

Romey looks rather serene here:

Credit: Susie

Probably my favorite shot of Susie’s full set:

Credit: Susie

I love the composition of this shot:

Credit: Susie

Please, please PLEASE go and check out the rest of Susie’s set HERE. There are so many gems, it was SO hard to narrow it down. If it was up to me, I’d have her full set on here!

We thought it’d be fun to showcase a fan cover this week as choice video. Our friend Andrew sent us this video of him and his brother covering “Yet”. Check it out!

This week’s graphic is actually a FANTASTIC drawing of Jon, by Melanie:

^Amazing! Thanks for sharing, Melanie!

That’s all for this week friends, catch you all later on this week as I’ll be filling in for Jeanna while she’s in New York! See ya!

Jon Foreman “might want to release one new song a week for year”

Jeanna — Sun, 13 May 2012 03:04:53 +0000

Hey fans! This is going to be my last post for a few days, as I’m heading to NYC for a bit. Lisa (your Photo, Video & Graphic of the Week columnist) will be taking over in my absence, so please help her out by sending her any news you come across and any updates from shows! You can email news@landofbrokenhearts.org – thanks!

Now, let’s get on with the updates… Jon’s been playing a lot of aftershows lately and he shared some new info on his solo project at his show in York. Check this out!

Okay. Jon might not have been serious – but let’s just say he WAS… now take a moment to let that sink in. A new song. A week. For a year. 52 weeks. 52 songs… cue fan freak out in 3, 2, 1… (By the way, did anyone get a video of that new song?!)

Jeremy Spring, the lead singer of the band “Abandon Kansas” performed a cover of “Your Love Is Strong” – watch below. How do you think he did? (Thanks to everyone who sent in this tip!)

I think we’ve posted this before, but just as a reminder, Switchfoot’s playing a free show in Philly on June 2nd as part of Radio 104.5′s Summer Block Party concert series. For more info click HERE!

Show updates!

York – 5/10

Our friend Emma sent us a review and the setlist!

Setlist:
War Inside
Stars
Oh! Gravity
This Is Your Life
Afterlife
Souvenirs
Sabatoge (Jon dedicated the song to Bobby (Merch master) and the Beastie Boys member who recently passed away. Jon also got Tim in a headlock and started pulling him around stage. )
Awakening
Mess of Me
Your Love Is A Song
Restless (Jon made his usual trek through the audience)
Dare You To Move
Dark Horses
Meant To Live

Encore:
Hello Hurricane
The Sound

A concert friend of ours told us that there was also an after show where Jon played 5 songs. Sadly, we missed it because we had a long drive home and the parents were driving.

We went to Meet and Greet before the show. It still overlaps the opening band, but we had enough time to see a few songs. There were over 80 FOTF there, so we waited in line and were sent up in groups.

As soon as we were let into the room, almost before we had gotten our bearings to find Drew, Drew found us and started grinning, pointing and doing everything but jumping up and down. Best feeling ever. Ike was taking pictures of the meet and greet with people’s cameras, so when we got up front we handed Chad the camera and ‘flash mobbed’ Ike (as he called it). The guys all loved it, including Ike. He’s really a very fun guy.

The crowd wasn’t the best – we were at a college and I think there were a lot of kids there who came just because there was a show going on. But the guys gave it 110% as always, and it was an amazing show.

5/11 – Chatanooga

Our friend Zach shared the setlist:

The War Inside
Stars
Oh! Gravity
Gone
Learning to Breathe
Your Love Is A Song
Needle & Haystack Life
Mess of Me
Restless
Dare You To Move
Afterlife
Dark Horses
Meant to Live

- Encore -
Where I Belong
The Sound

Jon also played an aftershow and we’ve got some videos! Watch below:

^ The part where he forgets the lyrics is hilarious. “I appreciate all the suggestions.” But what do you guys think about the different way he’s playing this song? Well… different from the first performance, when the pace was a bit slower. I personally like the original version better, but what do you guys think?

Lastly, our favorite Switchfoot concert photographer, the lovely and talented Susan Lloyd posted an AMAZING photo blog of Switchfoot’s performance at the Orange Peel in Asheville – you guys HAVE to check out the full post right over HERE, but I can’t help but post a few of my favorite shots below… enjoy!

Photo Credit: Susan Lloyd

“Some of Jon’s best songs yet!”; Vice Verses “is a record of passion.”

Jeanna — Fri, 11 May 2012 17:36:53 +0000

I know (especially after seeing the results of our last poll) how excited you guys are about Jon Foreman’s solo release so you’ll be happy to know we’ve got a bit more news on it for you today! As you may recall, Jon tweeted that musician Jeremy Larson had performed with him at a recent aftershow and was working with Jon on his next solo album. Jeremy recently posted a blog that shared a bit more. (Thanks Radio 104.5!):

Friends, it was an eventful weekend. I achieved one of my long time goals- playing music live with one of my favorite songwriters- Jon Foreman. Switchfoot was playing here in Springfield at the Gillioz last Friday, and before the show Jon asked me if I’d like to accompany him on the cello for the after-show show. We did four songs in the parking lot behind the Gillioz, to a crowd of people that hung around after the show. It was truly an honor! Of course I don’t play the cello in a live setting all that often, so I was a little terrified, but still had fun. I neglected to get ANY pictures of the performance, so if you were there and took pics, please email them to me! (band@jeremylarsonmusic.com)

I’ve been keeping something a secret for quite some time, but I think it’s safe to let you all in on this now. Jon is working on a new solo album, and I wrote some string/piano arrangements for two of the songs. Since he tweeted about this the other day, I figured it was safe to talk a little bit about it. I’m not exactly sure when this album is set to be released, but I’m so excited for you all to hear these two songs. Some of Jon’s best songs yet!

I’ve really been in a collaborative mood this year. I’ve put aside writing much of anything for myself so I could work with Stacy, and Jon among others. It’s just where I’m at right now. I’m working on filling up my fall schedule right now, so if you are interested in booking any studio time with me- long distance, or in Springfield, please let me know asap. After the fall, I’ll probably jump back into working on a new album of my own full time.

Thanks for reading.

Jeremy

STOKED. STOKED. oh and. STOKED.

Speaking of collaborative projects, Ryan from Sleeping At Last posted a great “behind-the-scenes” blog on his song “Birthright”, featuring Jon Foreman.

birthright” is the 18th song in the yearbook series, track 3 of the “march” ep.

early on in the making of yearbook, I asked my friend jon foreman of switchfoot if he’d be up for being a guest on a song at some point throughout the year. being the rad dude that he is, he said he would be up for it. at that time, I had no song in particular in mind, so jon and I just kept in touch for the first several months about it. when the chords and melody for birthright came into view, I knew it felt like the right song to invite jon to be a part of. he and the switchfoot gang were in the studio hard at work making their “vice verses” album, so I had doubts that the timing of my invitation would even be doable… but to my surprise, jon was able to make time to record this and did such a beautiful job.

it wasn’t until the lyrical theme of birthright came together that i felt like this song was the perfect fit for jon and I to sing together on. I knew right away that in order to do a “duet” of sorts, the lyric subject matter had to feel right.

i wanted to tell small fables about family – little portraits of brothers and sisters throughout the verses, born into different circumstances. the first line that directed this theme was:

“she was raised by wolves,
in the warmth of their fur.”

that line definitely paved the path for each of the following verses to play with hard and soft images in just about every line. I enjoyed playing with those contrasts in this song.

to me personally, each “character” in these mini fables represent someone I know. without directly saying who, I can say that each of these mini fables do tell a truth. (hence the end lyric, “our fables tell our truths“)

for the general fable imagery, I was inspired by the chronicles of narnia.

the resolve of each of these small stories is in the chorus lyric. it was inspired by a thought that I had a while back – although extremely simple and has probably been said an infinite amount of times before, I believe that pain finds us anywhere. to me that means that all pain is valid, no matter what situation it finds us in – rich, poor, healthy, unhealthy, etc. it doesn’t matter, pain finds us anywhere and should need no qualifiers to be considered valid. and out of this pain, we can become stronger and more whole.

“Right or wrong,
Tension makes us stronger
By making us weak
When we needed to be.

Privilege and pain
When compared look the same.
Comprehension begins
When we pull back the lens.”

although each verse tells a different fable about different brothers and sisters, I also intended this song to be read as one story about 1 brother and 1 sister, telling their stories from different perspectives. I liked the idea of having multiple dimensions to how this story can be read. and I liked the idea of two very different experiences and how on the surface one looks better than the other, but in reality – the pressures of either life presents similar challenges and hurts.

I really had fun writing in this fairy-tale, fable-like fashion.

musically, this song was also a ton of fun to piece together. Dan Perdue did a beautiful job recording piano (on my fav upright piano ever!), some key patches and bass. Jason Toth did a fantastic job on drums. and of course, Jon Foreman did a truly beautiful job as well. truly blessed to have my friends to be a part of these songs that mean so much to me!

for the guitar, if my memory serves me correctly, I recorded my baby Taylor acoustic guitar on this. could be my martin, but i am pretty sure it’s my baby taylor. really pleased with the overall acoustic sound here… mr. John Goodmanson’s mix work always makes things sound good and right. (he has magic!)

I am really pleased with how this song turned out from recording, to concept, to getting make music with friends that I love.

thanks for reading, gang!

love, ryan

listen:

lyrics:

BIRTHRIGHT

she was raised by wolves,
in the warmth of their fur.
surrounded by fangs,
she knew that she was secure.

language barriers
made no difference at all.
when you’re truly cared for,
there’s no purpose for walls.

his fences stood tall
as the shoulders of old.
but he dreamt that one day
maybe he’d break the mold.

but time shyly stands still
when you watch it unfold.
from these ivory towers
freedom is only a ghost.

privilege and pain
when compared look the same.
comprehension begins
when we pull back the lens.

right or wrong,
tension makes us stronger
by making us weak
when we needed to be.

they made her their queen
on the day she was born.
they placed on her a crown
she wasn’t ready for.

but all impossible odds
foreshadow our means,
like paving a road
to kingdoms we’ve never seen.

he woke up one day,
written out of the will.
they swore he’d be okay,
with lesser shoes to fill.

“what doesn’t kill us
makes us stronger,” they say.
our only birthright in this life
is the breath that we take.

privilege and pain
when compared look the same.
comprehension begins
when we pull back the lens.

right or wrong,
tension makes us stronger
by making us weak
when we needed to be.

our fables tell our truths.

If you don’t have that song yet, GET IT! It’s one of my favorites.

The massively talented folks over at Revival Photography wrote in to let us know they had posted parts 2 and 3 of their Switchfoot/Drew Shirley/Elliott Guitars blog. Be sure to check them out fully right over HERE – the photos are AMAZING! We’re just posting a few of our favorites below, but there are a ton of fantastic ones on the blog still.

PART 2

We had the awesome opportunity to see Switchfoot in concert at The Orange Peel in Asheville, NC this past Monday night. It. was. a. BLAST! We came with Elliott Guitars to do some photos of Drew Shirley, the guitar player for Switchfoot, playing his Elliott Guitar (along with Jason’s Elliott Raven that he played for part of the show).

For part 2 of this blog series, we’ll feature a few highlights of Drew playing Elliot guitars from the concert! In part 3 we’ll feature highlights of the opening band, The Rocket Summer and Switchfoot…(Yes, I know, 3 parts, seriously?? There are so many good ones we needed to split them up. Part 3 (last one) on the blog tomorrow!

PART 3

Finally! Part 3 For part 3 of this blog series we’ll feature highlights of the opening band, The Rocket Summer and Switchfoot.

We had the awesome opportunity to see Switchfoot in concert at The Orange Peel in Asheville, NC this past Monday night. It. was. a. BLAST! We came with Elliott Guitars to do some photos of Drew Shirley, the guitar player for Switchfoot, playing his Elliott Guitar (along with Jason’s Elliott Raven that he played for part of the show).

Here are some highlights from the show… also check out Part 1 and Part 2 if you haven’t seen them already!

More concert updates! Here are shots from the guys in Athens, courtesy of our friend Zach. View the full set HERE:

Photo Credit: Zach

Zach also uploaded another video of Switchfoot’s “Orange Crush” cover – love those backing vocals!

The Herald News posted an article/interview with Chad on Switchfoot’s upcoming show in Illinois on the 20th!

When the band Switchfoot goes on tour, they like to surf. So much so, in fact, that they are filming their various surfing exploits for a future documentary.

Hate to break it to them, but surfing might be hard to come by in Illinois.

…

“When we were making the record, we really had the live show in mind,” he said. “It’s a very rhythmic record. As a drummer, it’s been a whole new challenge to interpret the songs in the live show.”

This record, he said, is different thematically than previous works.

“It’s about the contrasts of life — the light and the dark, the joy and the pain, and the tension of living in between,” he said. “Musically, we wanted to match the intensity of some of the lyrics.”

The songs “Dark Horses” is about homeless children the band met in their hometown of San Diego.

“That intensity of the lyric is something we wanted to match with the lyric,” he said. “We worked for a long time re-writing and re-working that song. Ultimately you want to tell a story and the music presents itself in the best way possible. It’s a record of passion and for us to be able to hear people singing it every night, that’s the reward.”

He acknowledges that Switchfoot is the rare band that stays together for eight albums, and says they don’t take it for granted. They are childhood friends brought together by their mutual love of surfing.

“This year we’re actually filming a movie called ‘Fading West,’ as we travel around the world playing music and surfing in different spots,” he said. “Australia, Indonesia, South Africa, New Zealand – places like that. I think even after the band’s over, we’ll be sitting on a beach years from now talking about our adventures together.”

Switchfoot puts on an annual charity event called the Bro-Am. It’s a surfing contest and concert benefitting StandUp For Kids, a national nonprofit volunteer outreach organization founded in San Diego that is dedicated to making a difference in the lives of at-risk and homeless children.

“If you have a vacation, come out to San Diego and be a part of the fun,” he said.

Expect a sweaty rock show, he said.

“My favorite part of the night is seeing people of very diverse backgrounds singing together,” he said. “Those moments are powerful when music unites people and brings them together like that.”

Have a great Friday every one!

Weekly Footsoldiers Updates

Alex — Fri, 11 May 2012 12:26:42 +0000

It’s mid-week, and you know what that means — footsoldiers updates! Check out how Switchfoot’s newest single, “Afterlife”, is doing on the charts, and a quick overview below:

“Afterlife” continues to head up the charts as it moves up on the Mediabase Alternative charts, Billboard Christian charts, and Billboard Christian Rock charts. While the move wasn’t as rapid as last week, we only fell by one spot on one station. Footsoldiers are continuing to request to radio stations and push the single up, and we’re already beating numerous singles from Hello Hurricane, and even beginning to catch up to “Dark Horses.” Keep promoting, and don’t forget to request to two stations today!

Billboard Alternative

Current Position: #19 (+0 from last week)

Song Plays: 484 (+49 from last week)

Top Position Reached: #19

Other Mentions: #30 on the Indicator Chart (smaller radio stations) with 58 plays.

Mediabase Alternative Charts

Current Position: #16 (+1 from last week)

Song Plays: 574 (+75 from last week)

Top Position Reached: #16

Other Mentions: None

Billboard Christian (National Audience)

Current Position: #30 (+1 from last week)

Song Plays: 880 (-49 from last week)

Top Position Reached: #28

Other Mentions: “Afterlife” is #2 on Air 1′s top songs from this we ek.

Billboard Christian Rock

Current Position: #5 (+1 from last week)

Song Plays: 227 (+16 from last week)

Top Position Reached: #1

Other Mentions: ”Dark Horses” has been featured as #11 on the recurrent chart.

Billboard Christian CHR (Contemporary Hit Radio)

Current Position: #3 (-1 from last week)

Song Plays: 595 (-15 from last week)

Top Position Reached: #2

Other Mentions: None

Mediabase Christian AC Charts

Current Position: #40 (+0 from last week)

Song Plays: 64 (+4 from last week)

Top Position Reached: #34

Other Mentions: None

Other Chartings

Afterlife – Billboard Rock Charts – #35 (+6 from last week) (Until we reach the #30 position, we don’t have detailed updates).

Vice Verses – Billboard Christian Albums – #24 (+1 from last week).

This Week’s Mission:

Continue requesting the single! “Afterlife” is steadily climbing the charts, but it won’t stay that way unless everyone helps! This week, your mission is not only to request to two stations per day, but encourage a switchfoot-loving friend to request, too! Send them to Switchbeats and direct them to the request page.

That’s it! Another successful week over and done. Don’t forget to request to at least two stations per day – this is vital to the single’s success! Request online HERE. Have a great week!

“You guys just witnessed the weirdest two minutes I think I’ve ever seen on stage…”

Jeanna — Thu, 10 May 2012 00:44:06 +0000

As you may have seen on Drew’s twitter account, he was pretty stoked to try out some new guitars in concert. They’re called Elliott Guitars and the folks over at Revival Photography posted a great photo blog with Drew testing out the guitars and spending some time with the makers. Check it all out with additional photos HERE. (Thanks Susie!)

We had the awesome opportunity to see Switchfoot in concert at The Orange Peel in Asheville, NC this past Monday night. It. was. a. BLAST! We came with Elliott Guitars to do some photos of Drew Shirley, the guitar player for Switchfoot, playing his Elliott Guitar (along with Jason’s Elliott Raven that he played for part of the show).

For part 1 of this blog series, we’ll feature a few behind the scenes photos from our afternoon in Asheville before the show! Tomorrow we’ll feature a few photos from The Rocket Summer and Switchfoot concert!

Photo Credit: Revival Photography

Now for some concert updates!

Athens – 5/08

In Athens, Jon played an aftershow for about 150 fans after the concert – check out the videos, thanks to our friend Ivey!:

For some more recordings, click the following links:

Ivey also sent us some photos from the concert – view the full set HERE and my favorites below!:

Photo Credit: Ivey

Videos from the show? Click the following links! (Thanks Susie!)

Asheville – 5/07

Now for Asheville! Our friend Christie shares more:

I took some photos at the show last night in Asheville, NC. It was a phenomenal show. The only show that I think was better for me was the HH tour back in ’09. Look out for the shirtless guys with the body paint – Jon brought them on stage because he said “this is the closest to a football game we’ll ever be.” While they were up there they started doing the hoe down, and after that Tim said “You guys just witnessed the weirdest two minutes I think I’ve ever seen on stage…”

View the full set of photos HERE!

Photo Credit: Christi

Agape Fest – 5/06

Our friend Brad sent in some epic photos! View the full set HERE!

Photo Credit: Brad

You can check out some videos from Agape Fest HERE.

That’s all we have for now! If you’re going to any of the shows this spring tour and want to share photos, videos and setlists with us, send us an email at news@landofbrokenhearts.org – thanks!

Switchfoot Covers “Orange Crush” by REM

Jeanna — Wed, 09 May 2012 12:36:43 +0000

The guys brought out a new cover last night in Athens, nailing a performance of “Orange Crush” by REM. Watch the video below! (Thanks so much Susie!)

We’ll get an MP3 of that for you asap – after we see if we can find a higher quality audio!

So how do you like the cover? I think it sounds fantastic and Tim, Romey and Drew NAILED the backing vocals!

Polls of the Month #7

Jeanna — Tue, 08 May 2012 02:20:26 +0000

Hello fans! It’s time to put on your business socks (50 points if you can name that Switchfoot/Jon Foreman reference) and participate in our Polls of the Month! We love to hear your opinions on all things Switchfoot-y, so I hope you’ll take the time to vote in the polls AND post in the comments, sharing why you voted as you did. Good discussion will follow!

Before we get to this new batch of polls, you can still vote in our previous ones by clicking right over HERE! Have fun!

Now, onto business!

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll. Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

Pause! Before you answer this poll, you’ll want to revisit our “The 5 Best Switchfoot Live Concert Moments” post – and once you’ve done that, you may proceed!