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 YOU ARE VIEWING ARTICLE - ID:20121011031  |
| Title: | Red Poppy Acoustic Tour | | Subtitle: | Introducing Joe Silva - 24th November | | Author: | Joe Silva | | ID & Publication: | 20121011031 ~ The-Villager.co.uk | | Area: | Doncaster | | Subject: | Events (Local) |
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Mike Peters, formerly of the The Alarm is coming to Doncaster's The Leopard on 24th November.
Supporting him will be Joe Silva.
For more information about Joe Silva, including some of his personal notes about his forthcoming tour, and about Mike peters and The Al;arm, please read on.
Joe Silva’s thoughts on being the support artist on Mike Peters’ Red Poppy Acoustic Tour
Over the years, I have told Mike Peters that he is to me what John Lennon was and is to him, so you may imagine the elation that I felt when I learned that I would be the support artist on Mike’s Red Poppy UK Tour. The Alarm has been my favorite band since I first heard ‘Declaration’, and to perform on this tour, which celebrates 30 Years of Alarm music, is truly another one of my dreams to come true…
For the past 15 years, my band The Threats had the pleasure of playing on tour dates with Alarm in our home country of the United States. We had performed with dozens of international performers during our tenure as The Threats, but each and every time we ended stints with The Alarm, my band-mates and I would talk about how The Alarm is THE best band in the world to work with. Mike and his band always treated us with the utmost respect and kindness, which wasn’t always the case with other groups that we had worked with.
I can’t say enough about The Alarm’s fans. Always attentive to the song & lyrical content, they are the perfect audience for a singer-songwriter like me. Each and every concert I play with The Alarm seems to result in long-lasting friendships with concert-goers. The 2012 Gathering was no exception. I recall touring the main street in Prestatyn and happening upon a pub. My wife and I were getting hungry so we went inside for a pint and some lunch. What we found were twenty or so folks passing around an acoustic guitar, as everyone had a song to share. They were getting primed for that evening’s concert at The Gathering, and when they learned that I was one of the opening acts for The Alarm they absorbed Kim and I into their group. I had so much fun with them that I hadn’t noticed the time passing. Eventually, Kim pointed to her watch in panic and we ran out of the pub, barely making it to sound-check. Those folks and I still communicate, and I look forward to re-connecting with everyone I met at The Gathering, and the many new Alarm fans that I will surely become friends with while touring the UK with Mike.
The Red Poppy Tour coincides well with the release of my new solo CD titled ‘Blue’, which was produced by the Late Show with David Letterman drummer, Anton Fig. It was recorded at Sun Studio in Memphis, Tennessee, where Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and countless other notables began their legendary careers. The CD will be available at all of the Red Poppy concerts.
See you all very soon!!
Joe Silva
Personal Notes Regarding The Alarm<\B>
Hearing About The Alarm:<\B>
I began performing in nightclubs at the age of 14 as a singing drummer. By the time my band-mates and I were 15 years of age, we were playing on tour dates with some of the best-known bands in the United States. I recall sound-checking at a venue and the soundman informed me that he caught a band in Boston that came in from Wales called The Alarm, which had a similar sound, look, and energy as my band The
Threats, yet they blew everyone away with ACOUSTIC guitars. Curious, I searched for their music that week and found what would become the soundtrack of my high-school years and beyond… a cassette tape titled ‘Declaration’. I was immediately struck by the deep meaningful nature of the lyrics and the anthem-like delivery that drove the essence of each and every song straight to the core of my soul. When ‘The Stand’ played on MTV in The States, I felt validated, as my band-mates and I also wore our hair in a manner that defied gravity. Our guitarist’s mother was a hair-dresser who returned from a seminar on the newest European styles, and offered to try a new style on the band. We agreed, and loved the look, but we took a LOT of teasing from the upper-classmen in our high-school. They had limited exposure to other cultures, and they weren’t out in the punk/new-age club scene as The Threats were. The Alarm, in a way, helped to prove that we were a bit ahead of the times in America, while we made our own ‘stand’.
We would rehearse most nights that we weren’t gigging, and afterward, we would pile into our guitarist’s 1973 Ford Mustang to blast our favorite music. None of us wanted to sit in the back seat of that car, as the front seats were so high, and the window area in the back was limited, that it felt cave-like & claustrophobia-inducing, but if I knew that we’d be blasting The Alarm that night, I’d freely volunteer to sit in the back so I could be in my own world and fully breathe in each and every song fully.
Trying To Meet The Alarm:<\B>
The Alarm came to my home-state and played a concert at the University of Rhode Island. Watching the band on stage that night reinforced and increased my respect for them, as the camaraderie between the members was evident via brotherly handshakes & hugs in-between chords and choruses. The love for their fans exploded outward from the stage and returned many-fold from their audience. For me, it was the perfect soul-feeding concert experience. The only other act that came close to wowing me on stage like that at the time was The Clash.
By that year, my band and I had performed with several international rock groups, but my dream was to open for The Alarm. With a cassette tape of my band in my pocket, I left my girlfriend and a few friends at our seats and departed the show during ‘Blaze of Glory’, in search of access to my musical heroes. The building was odd-shaped and large, with many inlets and alleyways with seemingly an endless number of doors. It must have taken me over an hour to circle the venue as I tried each and every door that I could find, until I noticed that my car was the last one in the enormous parking lot, with my girlfriend and friends patiently waiting along the side of it. With my tail between my legs, I walked back to the car in disappointment, yet fully satisfied by the concert.
It would be several years later before I would have another opportunity to try and meet Mike Peters and The Alarm. It was at an arena show in Providence, Rhode Island, that The Alarm was playing as the warm-up act for American singer, Pat Benetar. My band was working extensively at that time with the venue’s promoter, so we knew which doors and elevators would give us back-stage access. As we circled around back-stage in search for Mike Peters and the boys from Wales, a large security guard caught up with us and asked if we were in the band, as we didn’t have any passes to be back there. I told him that we were looking for the promoter, in an attempt to not get kicked out. The security guard said that the promoter wasn’t in the building, and kindly escorted us out of the arena. We snuck back in and hid in the press-box to watch the Alarm’s set, wishing badly that we got to meet the Welsh band that had become our main musical influence.
Unsafe Building – Opening for The Alarm for the 1st Time:<\B>
In 2001, I was loading my equipment into a venue in Rhode Island called The Station, at which my band, The Threats, were performing in that evening with Quiet Riot. I stopped in my tracks when I saw the schedule on the wall, which included a date for The Alarm just one month later. I dropped what I was holding and searched for the venue’s booking agent to plead for the gig. He gave it to me on the spot, and I was elated.
The month-long wait leading up to the show was the longest 30-days that I could remember. My band and I arrived at the venue on the evening of the concert and we were informed that The Alarm was running late, and they asked if they could use our equipment for the show. Of course I wanted my favorite band to blast my favorite songs through our gear. We set up the stage, sound-checked the amps and drums, then I headed outside to the parking lot as The Alarm’s van pulled in. Mike gave his smile and wave as the van inched past me to a stop, and we’ve been friends ever since…
That night, Mike Peters dedicated ‘Unsafe Building’ to me and the band, which was a moment that I will forever cherish… for many reasons. You see, a few years later, a band called Great White came to play a concert at The Station and lit some fireworks off inside the building, which took to the foam sound-proofing insulation on the walls.
Tragically, the venue burned to the ground, killing 97 of our musical friend and fans that night, with an additional 3 people passing-away from burn-injuries within weeks. Additionally, 100+ more concert-goers suffered serious and life-long lasting burn-injuries that night. An Unsafe Building indeed. I wrote a song the day after the fire when it was reported that 97 people perished in the flames. I called it ’97 Angels’, and it was the soundtrack for all of the fundraisers that were organized over the decade that followed the tragedy.
Here is a YouTube link to ’97 Angels’: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bzh5sa6bbzQ
Late to the Gig:<\B>
In the mid-200’s, my band The Threats joined The Alarm for some dates along the East Coast of the United States. The first night was in Boston, Massachusetts, and Alarm Tour Manager, Liam, gave us a specific time to be at the venue in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the next night. We made sure that we gave ourselves plenty of time to check-into the hotel, shower, and get to the gig. When we returned to our van in the hotel’s parking garage, we learned that it had been blocked-in by another vehicle. Our van held all of the equipment for the show, including what The Alarm would be playing through. We ran around in a panic looking for the owner of the car, but had no luck. In the meantime, I had missed a call from Liam, and I could tell by his voicemail that he was getting concerned that The Threats, and all of the equipment, were missing. I tried to call him back to explain the situation, but my primitive cell-phone plan wouldn’t allow me to dial Liam’s international number… I couldn’t believe it… There I was on my dream tour and I couldn’t even get to the gig… and even worse, my favorite band might need to cancel their show because my band and I were trapped in a parking garage with all of the equipment.
We put our heads together and eventually decided to let some of the air out of the tires to lower the van’s profile, take down some signs that hung from the parking garage’s ceiling, and barely scraped the van out through a cavity in the concrete on one side of the obtrusive vehicle. Once we finally arrived at the venue, I apologized up and down to Liam and The Alarm, who were waiting for us on the sidewalk. Both bands then dug-into the van and hoisted the equipment onto the stage. You never saw a stage get set up for a concert quicker than on that night in Philly…
Here’s a link for Joe’s new album, ‘Blue’, which, although available to download now, will be released officially released in late spring/early summer 2013: www.yousendit.com/download/WUJackhjNDJCMTd2WnRVag
See the attached pdf for more details: Joe Silva Bio.
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