The Archers with Sam Weber and Luca Fogale
When: Saturday, 7:30 p.m.
Where: Fairfield United Church, 1303 Fairfield Rd.
Tickets: $13 at Ditch Records, Lyle’s Place and brownpapertickets.com
By the time their current stretch of touring comes to an end, Victoria roots rockers the Archers will have spent 47 arduous days on the road, driving themselves by van from one side of the country to the other.
The band left Vancouver Island in April for a tour that took them to Halifax and back in support of their debut full-length recording, These Wicked Woods, playing a concert every two days or so.
And when they finally return, for a homecoming show on Saturday at Fairfield United Church, singer-guitarist Ethan Caleb is hoping the band makes the most of its moment in the sun. Because once the Victoria show is out of the way, Caleb and his longtime friends — Sandy Hughes, Liam Moes and Liam McLaren — are looking at doing a whole lot of nothing.
“We’ve been so caught up in pushing the record, another plan hasn’t flourished or even come to mind,” Caleb said Monday from Calgary.
There’s a bit of space on their schedule at the moment, but it won’t stay that way for long if the band’s affinity for performance is still intact after their epic seven-week run.
A lot has transpired during the band’s four years together (from early wins at teen band contests to recent sets at national showcases such as North by Northeast and Canadian Music Week) but it would appear that things are going better than ever. The band found success even before they primed themselves for it, earning $10,000 in prizes and the title of B.C.’s Best Teen Band while its members were still students at Stelly’s Secondary, but they have matured nicely in the years since, despite the fact the oldest member of the group is just 21.
“I had no idea what I was going to do,” Caleb said of the band’s beginnings. “The only thing I really liked doing was music, so I decided to keep going. Everyone else was the same, so it just kind of fell into place. And what do you do if you’re in a band? You play shows.”
The Archers’ current tour has provided its share of highlights, including a sold-out date and standout shows in Calgary and Edmonton. Occasionally, an impossibly long drive or so-so performance can sap their collective energy, but those are to be expected, Caleb said. The upside on this particular tour is the presence of current touring bassist Rowan Mackenzie, who is with the group temporarily (in place of the now-departed Robert McMullen) on his first national tour.
With five lengthy out-of-province treks in four years already under their belts, the quartet of Caleb, Hughes, Moes and McLaren are savvy veterans by comparison. Their secret, they say, was gaining valuable tips from past tourmates and experienced bands they met along the way.
For now, with the final dates of their current tour in view, Caleb is setting his sights on life outside the tour bus.
“Integrating back into reality is going to be difficult,” he said with a laugh. “But I’m ready to be home.”