Calgary's Sittin Idol is a four-piece power band that has been holding it down on the local scene for some time now. Their fans love them for their powerful guitars, intense song writing and adrenaline rush stage show. Short on frills, the band relies on a great combination of metal crunch and power harmony.
In fact, it is fair to say that Sittin Idol is a no bullshit band. But how did Sittin Idol turn a one-time off show at Mac Hall into an American tour with Damage Plan and Drowning Pool? I decided to go to a rodeo ground and get the story straight from the Sittin horse's mouth.

I'm hanging out in Benalta, AB at the third annual Alberta's Own Independent Music Festival. As the punishing sun allows some evening reprieve, Sittin Idol (SI) prepares to headline the main stage. Year by year they have raised their profile to get to this point. Today they are one of the big fish, in a talented yet small pond. A drunken partier walks by, offering magic mushrooms to the band. Focused on the task at hand, they decline. The combination of a loosely adhered to schedule and a strictly enforced noise bi-law would mean that their set would be cut short, at only 15 minutes. For those in attendance,
however, it was a manic quarter hour to say the least. SI have an extra spring in their step right now. They are still riding high from their recently completed American tour, in which they opened up for Drowning Pool and Damage Plan, featuring former Pantera guitar/drum combo Dimebag Darryl and Vinnie Paul. For independent bands, who work relentlessly for little or no glory, the story is as inspiring as it is unlikely. SI drummer Stu is a huge Pantera fan, so when he got word that they had called it quits he was
understandably disappointed. His spirits lifted, however, when he learned that Damage Plan, the new project of Dimebag and Vinnie Paul, would be playing a show at Calgary's Mac Hall. He became even more excited when Greg Curtis, the promoter of the concert selected SI to open the show. SI bass player Mark Fassina explains, they owe their placement on the bill to some good luck. "(Greg Curtis) was looking for opportune bands for this show. I happened to drop off a press kit on the same day. It was total
coincidence that we got the show, and we were like ... this is the biggest thing to ever happen to us." When Mark got word of the good news, he had the enjoyable task of
informing his band mates. "Greg called me back and said, 'yeah, you guys get the show, if you guys want to play it.' Like fuckin A! I didn't even think about asking
everybody if their schedules were open, of course we'll play it. Then I gave Rick the responsibility of calling Stu. I wish that I could have heard that phone conversation."

SI were fresh off a string of bad luck, and front man Scott Lennox couldn't believe their good fortune, "We've had a lot of shows cancelled on us lately. Then all of a sudden this comes along and you can't help thinking, what's going to go wrong," he recalls. However, when Damage Plan's guitar tech noticed SI axe man Rick Hatch's rare '71 Les Paul Recording guitar, things started to go right. "The sound tech for Damage Plan sees it, and says 'WOW that's a weird guitar' and goes back and tells Dimebag about it." Without getting the opportunity to meet Damage Plan, SI take the stage and nail out some of their blazing material, preparing the crowd for what was to come. Midway through the set, low and behold, the drummer who pounded away on such Pantera classics as 'Walk' came out to show a little respect of his own. "We'd never even seen those guys, because they were hidden away in their dressing room," explains Scott, "and we're playing our set, one of our favorite songs, 'The Current', this wicked drum part, Vinnie Paul comes out on the stage, and starts going 'fuckin yeah', giving Stu the mad horns." This predictably sent the crowd through the roof, not to mention SI. "I'm glad I didn't see it," admits Stu, "I would have passed out." After the show, Dimebag Darryl, like a Mafioso king pin, sent a
messenger to summon Rick. It would seem that the Damage Plan axe player had his eye on Rick's pride and joy, his '71 Les Paul. That's when Scott had the million dollar idea. "I said Rick, just tell him that if he takes us on tour, we'll give him the guitar," he suggested. The tour had seven dates left, and the drinking Dimebag thought it was a great idea. The tour manager, however, who had to deal with the logistics of adding another band to a completely scheduled tour, was less enthusiastic. "He was grumbling about it, and said, we probably wouldn't make it across the border. Eventually he assumed that we wouldn't make it, and said, alright you guys can play if you show up in Spokane on Friday." Only problem was, it was already late Wednesday night. The members of SI, like most independent musicians, each had to deal with a little thing called a day job, not to mention a van that was in dire need of some serious work. Wanting desperately to take advantage of this opportunity, the guys would first have to consider the obstacles standing in their way. Like any Canuck hoping to work in the U.S., a Canadian band must complete certain paperwork before touring south of the border. Red tape being what it is, this was simply not possible in 48 hours. On top of this, they had no official invitation to join the tour. It is not uncommon in the music industry for deals and agreements to spring from post show drunk-talk, but the band didn't want to take any chances. "We tried to confirm it, but you know the business ... you hear people say 'yeah, be there, do it,' but you want that written confirmation," explains Mark. "If I'm gonna drive twelve hours to Spokane, risk my ass
at the border, and show up, you're not gonna stiff me, right?" They were basically riding on a wing and a prayer. "The one confirmation we had ... Dimebag wrote his cell phone number on Rick's hand. We're like, we'll just call Dimebag and the whole thing was riding
on that." Rock n roll requires balls (note to girl bands: I mean metaphorically, not literally), and SI would have to check theirs. The following day, the band met for a team meeting, and in the end it was decided, SI would go for it. Scott's emotions summed up those of the whole band, "We're like Fuck it man, I can't not go and not know what would've happened." Stu and Scott would report to work as normal on Friday, while Rick and
Mark would take the team van south, to sure up the situation. Stu and Scott would remain in Calgary, waiting for the green light, and then fly down to the U.S. when given the go ahead. "The biggest obstacle was getting the band's equipment across the border," explains Scott, "We decided to tell them that we were going down there to record an album, and with two guys in the van, it was a viable story. We even called the border crossing and asked them if it would be cool to go spend money as a band instead of make money." As Mark recalls, the border official bought the story, and the pair had
made it to the U.S. "She said, 'you guys aren't going down there to play shows and make any money?' We said, no ... and that wasn't entirely a lie, because we weren't making any money." Next stop, Spokane, Washington ... the site of Damage Plan's Friday night concert. By the time that Rick and Mark found the venue, the show was all but over. Nonetheless they would have to buy tickets in order to be admitted into the venue. "We go inside and grab the guitar tech, he was blown away by it," recalls Mark. "But the second we saw the tour manager, he couldn't fuckin believe it. The look on his face was like 'Oh My God, you guys are stupid. Why are you here?' He's like, 'you're giving up your prize
possession, basically quitting your jobs, just to come and fucking play these shows, it means that much to you?' And we're not getting paid fuck all. And it does mean that much to us." The Saturday show would be in Boise, Idaho, and there was no time to spare. The marathon driving continued, as Mark and Rick rolled down the highway, stopping frequently to sweet talk a van they feared would die on them at any moment. Says Mark, "Every 100 km we had to stop, undo the radiator cap and top it up." Meanwhile, back in Calgary, Scott is rolling out of bed, preparing for a day on the job, when he got the phone call. "Saturday morning, I'm thinking I'm gonna go to work," he recalls, "they call me and confirm. I got out of bed, got my flight and called Stu. I go into work, went up to my boss, who knew nothing about any of this and said look, here's the deal." Predictably, his boss was less than impressed. "I run the construction company, and I had all new employees, everything was just up and going, and he's like 'what the fuck?' After I got back, none of the employees I had hired were still there, the company was in shambles. They quit. It was a disaster, that's why it was so hard for me to leave. But ..." he says nonchalantly, "... fuck it." Since SI would not be paid to play, they hoped to recoup some of their expenses through CD sales. In a daring move, Scott smuggled some discs into the U.S. and managed to evade authority. "I filled the whole suitcase," he confesses. Stu, who would fly in several hours later on another flight, was basically sacrificing a work term he had begun at NAIT in order to take the tour. The two landed in Boise, and the band had their first
meeting, about 45 minutes before go time. "The Boise show was OK," recalls Rick. But, as Mark remembers, it was, "A little on the rough side, we were a little tired." With no time to rest, the reunited band left Boise and proceeded to Salt Lake City, where they would play the following night. This would be followed by dates in Denver, Colorado, Albuquerque, New Mexico, and finally a pair of Texas dates, in Amarillo and Lubbock.

Now that SI was in the U.S. and playing shows, they just assumed that the hard part was over. A rude awakening came, however, in Denver Colorado, in the form of a seriously FUBARed transmission. "In Denver we started hearing a weird noise coming from the van," recalls Rick with a smile, "it was our only day off on the whole tour. Our transmission was fucked, it cost $1500 US. We all split it." For a touring band, the van is not only a means of getting from point A to point B, but also a home base. Scott summarizes the financial reality of the situation, "The night in Denver we decided to sleep in a hotel, the next day it breaks down, and I asked the guy if we could go in his shop and sleep in the van, because it's breaking our asses money wise. He said no, so we had to sleep in a
hotel twice in Denver and that was the only time we got to sleep in a hotel." The next day the guys got their van back and made their way to Albuquerque, New Mexico, just in time for the show. The band was very well received by American rock fans, and they recall each show very fondly. It was in Damage Plan's home state of Texas, however, where they received the best welcome. Prior to the show, Damage Plan and Drowning Pool did a high profile radio spot, promoting the show, and paid homage to the crazy Canucks. The radio plug succeeded in hyping the band, who were then treated like rock royalty by the Texas fans. "It was all kids," recalls Rick. "As soon as the doors opened, the kids
were just running from the door to the stage and going crazy. We only played for 15 minutes ... and after the show was over we sold 60 CDs to these kids. We were signing autographs for half an hour!"

SI are certainly not rookies to the scene, and have many shows under their belts. However, touring with Damage Plan opened their eyes to a few of the disparities between major U.S. commercial tours, and the old BC/Alberta ski town circuit. Mark recounts some of the things that struck them as they toured with big-time rock stars ... "Damage Plan goes up and plays their show, when they're done they drink a whole bunch of whiskey, they get in their bus, drink a whole bunch more whiskey, and then fall asleep while their driver takes them to the next venue." Things for SI were a bit different ... "We drink with them because we want to party, get in the circuit. Then at 2 o'clock in the morning, we got to sleep our asses off until 5 or 6 and then get up and drive to the next venue because we don't want to be late." Scott adds, "Basically we're sleeping in our van in parking lots and back alleys by the venue."

All good things, however, come to an end, and after the last show, there was some partying, and then it was time to head back to Canada. As Mark remembers, "We were in the dressing room, they finally brought us back, and they said 'This is it, you're giving the guitar to Dimebag.' They brought us in the room and closed the door, we had a big fuckin festival, everybody was drinking rye shots." Dimebag promised to send a new guitar to Rick, but as of the time of this interview, it had not arrived. Meanwhile, Vinnie Paul gave Stu some free gear on the spot. "He said 'you're a rippin drummer, but those cymbals fuckin suck.'" Stu recalls, "He said go raid my case. He set me up with a drum tech, and said go take what you want." Lady Luck still refused to look favourably on the group's van. Even in the end, a random act of vandalism saw the SI van with a busted window.

The guys from SI have returned to Canada, back to work at their real jobs now, but the always ambitious band is revitalized, and considering another U.S. tour. They are fully aware, however, that going it alone will not be quite as easy. "We jumped on a thing that was already organized," reasons Scott. "If we do it ourselves, it's gonna take a pile of work." Still, with fans from the tour still visiting SittinIdol.com to offer positive feedback, and several U.S. radio stations spinning their disc, it may not be a bad idea. And given their work ethic, one would be wise not to bet against it.

~Jonathan Stoddart
Vex Magazine
http://www.vexmagazine.com

Copyright 2005