| Page 1 2 PARTING IS SUCH SWEET SORROW: THE LAST DAYS OF ENGINE DOWN by Ivan Fernandez It’s about five in the afternoon on a bright and sunny, yet cool, day in West Hollywood. A group of kids have already started gathering by the front door of Doug Weston’s The Troubadour, one of Southern California‘s concert venues and cultural landmarks. The doors won’t open for at least another hour and a half, but these dedicated fans want to be the first inside for what will be post-hardcore group Engine Down’s last show in West Hollywood. After nearly a decade of playing together, the Richmond, Virginia-based band has decided to call it quits and go out with a bang with a farewell tour across the United States. “We’ve been in bands for a long time and done a lot of things together,” explains bassist/vocalist Jason Wood. “We feel that now was the perfect time to lay things to rest.”The decision to end Engine Down was a relatively simple process. Wood and his bandmates, vocalist/guitarist Keeley Davis, guitarist Jonathan Fuller and drummer Cornbread Compton (no, not his real name), were in the midst of a European tour when they decided to end Engine Down. The topic came up somewhat casually and, days later, everyone agreed to write the final chapter of the band’s book. “Everything we’ve ever done has really been organic,” says Fuller. “We’ve never sat down and talked about what we wanted to accomplish. Things just kept happening along the way. Everything has always felt right and this was just another thing that came up.” The members not only felt a natural inclination to end the band but wanted to avoid the old band breakup cliche. “We have a few peers who, by example, have gone a little bit too long and they end up burning out or hating each other and we’re terrified of that happening,” continues Fuller. “So we wanted to stop while we felt super good about Engine Down. We can always look back and say it was the best thing we’ve ever done.” The band members met nine years ago in Harrisonburg, Virginia from the ashes of their former bands, namely Sleepytime Trio, the Weak Link Breaks and Bughummer. However, the band’s interpretation is a lot more humorous than the truth. “We saw each other playing frisbee on the quad,” says Compton. “We were like ‘what’s up, dude?’” “We’re the only 4 guys with no shirts on, let’s do this!” continues Fuller. “Or something like that.” Whatever the case may be, the group of friends, with the exception of Davis, made the decision to group together as a rock band. Davis would replace the original vocalist two years later. “Keeley’s the new guy that joined seven years ago,” jokes Fuller. But even then, Davis was a more crucial member of the band from the very beginning. “We played about two weeks of shows combined before Keeley even joined the band,” admits Wood. “Obviously we love [original vocalist] Jeremy and he was a part of our band but the ‘showing it to other people’ part of the band was when Keeley was in it.” Tonight’s show at The Troubadour marked the halfway point for the band‘s tour, but the impact of it is only just starting to strike the band. “It’s getting more emotionally intense because it’s really starting to set in,” explains Fuller. “At the beginning it was like ‘ok, we’ve got a whole month left’ and now it’s ‘oh crap, we’ve got half a month left, I can’t believe we’re stopping!’” The tour’s impact hit Wood two nights ago when the San Diego show at The Che Cafe was cancelled by the owner that very night. “That’s when it really set in for me because this is our last tour and we can’t make that show up,” laments Wood. “There was a plumbing problem with the club and there was water all over the place.” It would be impossible to fix the problem in time for the show and the band couldn’t find a last minute replacement. Hundreds of fans lost their last chance to watch their favorite band on stage one last time. The band faced a smaller setback in Orlando, Florida. “Orlando was really, really fun for me,” says Fuller with a hint of sarcasm. “It was hot as hell and the venue didn’t have an air conditioner. We were all just soaked through by the end of the show.” Thankfully, the rest of the tour up to this point was like a working vacation. “I’m not very sentimental,” admits Davis, “but it’s weird because it is our farewell tour, but at the same time it seems like this is the best tour we’ve ever had.” For their farewell tour, the group also had the added comfort of selecting anyone they pleased as their opening act without having to worry about ticket sales or other extraneous business matters that come with touring. “There’s no stress and all those business aspects are out,” continues Davis. “There’s no crap to take care of for the next tour.” Fuller further expands on the point by adding how they’ve always had to work on their next tour as soon they finished whichever current tour they were on. Whether it be designing new posters, selecting new songs or renting a practice space, the foursome never had a time to rest. “This tour is more like ‘WHAT ARE WE DOIN’ TONIGHT? LET’S PARTY!’” “With this being our last tour, we don’t have to think about things like ‘we should bring out this band because they draw a lot,’” says Compton. The band used their added freedom and selected close friends and family to support them as their opening bands. |
“We’ve known Des Ark for a long time and we’re all real big fans,” explains Davis. The indie-blues rock duo is also sharing van space with Engine Down.Take Me Home - FAQ - Contact Us - Privacy Policy - Donate
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