Toronto pop band Barenaked Ladies are "greening up" for their upcoming tour in support of their new album, "Barenaked Ladies Are Me," which, incidentally, is printed on Domtar EarthChoice paper that comes from sustainable forests.
"We're trying to make ourselves as eco-friendly as we can on the road," says frontman Steven Page, whose U.S. tour runs from Oct. 21 in Uncasville, CT until Dec. 3 in San Diego, and starts in Canada Feb. 1 in Victoria, BC until Feb. 26 in St. John's, NF. They will head overseas after that.
The band is booked by S.L. Feldman & Associates in Canada, Little Big Man in the U.S., and The Agency Group in the U.K.
"We all try to live ecologically at home," says drummer Tyler Stewart of himself, Page, vocalist Ed Robertson, bassist Jim Creeggan, and keyboardist Kevin Hearn.
"I think it's a big deal. I think it's important," says Page. "We live those kinds of lives at home, and then you go on the road and you've got these busses and trucks sitting and idling all day, and lots of waste of food and lots of throwing out of plastic cups and plates. So we're doing a whole top to bottom systemic environmental shift in the way we do business."
Living that way on the road is particularly difficult because it takes a concerted effort and cooperation on every level from crew to venue.
Page says that all their busses and trucks will use biodiesel, a fuel derived from biological sources. There will also be compostable food and reusable goods on the busses and backstage.
"As much organic food as possible," says Stewart. "Organic booze," he adds, not letting on if he is joking.
Page says they will also be buying carbon offsets "to offset all of our plane travel," which reduces carbon dioxide emissions (to combat global warming).
"Wind offsets as well," says Stewart.
The band are also bringing Reverb on the tour, a Portland, OR-based non-profit eco-organization started by Guster guitarist/vocalist Adam Gardner, that has greened tours for Dave Matthews, Alanis Morissette, Avril Lavigne, and helps musicians spread the word to their fans about environmental ethics.
"We'll have some tabling as well," says Page of pamphlets and information that will be available at their shows. "Reverb is going to help us do all our backstage green activities and cleaning up and make sure that the promoters and venues have recycling at every show.
"That's always a big deal. At half these venues, there's no recycling backstage and we stand onstage and talk the talk about being green and then go backstage and there's a pile of plastic Solo cups back there."
Full tour dates at http://www.bnlmusic.com/tour/
Canadian dates:
February 1st Victoria Save on Foods Memorial Centre
February 3rd Vancouver GM Place
February 4th Prince George, CN Centre
February 5th Kelowna Prospera Place
February 7th Edmonton Rexall Place
February 8th Calgary Pengrowth Saddledome
February 9th Lethbridge ENMAX Centre
February 10th Saskatoon Credit Union Centre
February 12th Regina Brandt Centre
February 13th Winnipeg MTS Centre
February 15th London John Labatt Centre
February 16th Toronto Air Canada Centre
February 17th Sault St. Marie Steelback Centre
February 19th Montreal Bell Centre
February 20th Off or TBD
February 21st Kanata (Ottawa Market) Scotiabank Centre
February 23rd St John, NB Harbour Station
February 24th Halifax Metro Centre
February 26th St John's, NFLD Mile One Stadium
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