Four rock acts on one stage: Sum 41, Papa Roach, Danko Jones and Bleeker. They are all commanders of the spotlight, they are all known for power with polish. Three of them are global smash acts and Bleeker, the up-and-comer group, got nominated for a Juno Award the day they announced the P.G. show so they are already taking Canada by the throat.
But if there's one act on this slate that knows P.G. well, it's Danko Jones. This road warrior has been all over the world pounding out his brand of blues-based hard rock. He's been a global ambassador for the loud half of the Canadian amp dial, and this city has been on his route a number of previous times. He's been bringing the band here since the late '90s when his anthem hit Bounce came out.
A lot has happened since then, but let's just summarize by saying "opened for the Rolling Stones." Not good enough? How about Elijah Wood and Selma Blair did three of his videos. So did Lemmy. Yes, Motorhead fans, that Lemmy. It was such a compelling video trilogy it got turned into a short film.
It's been a unique rock ride. He keeps A-list company but he doesn't play the domestic celebrity game. He's known more in the United States and Europe than in their native Canada, which means he has to approach his setlist differently, starting with Bounce.
"Nobody really knows that song in Europe as a single so we don't really end up playing it too much," said Jones, the frontman for the trio that bears his name. "It's only in Canada where people recognize it as a single so when we play Canada we have to remember it and practice it. It's just become this odd song for us now, whereas before it was what made our name national. Now we have to dredge it up when we play a certain place in the world."
They've been performing a lot, but it is quite often on the other side of the Atlantic. Tour routes and major festivals across Europe have welcomed Danko Jones and they struck a management deal with a promotions company based in Sweden.
"You just go where you're wanted and Europe as a continent, when we first went there, most the audiences really understood us immediately, more so than us banging on doors here in North America, so it was an easy choice because we got offers," Jones said. "When I get interviewed in Canada I'm often asked 'do you like European audiences better, or Canadian' and my response is, Europe is not just one place. I'll take 50 countries over one. You're comparing a continent to a country."
One thing Jones and his bandmates seem to do well is make friends in the entertainment industry. He became a podcaster long before that word was known on a wide scale, it was just in the form of a syndicated personal radio show. That got him playing the music of other musicians, interviewing other entertainers, and crossing paths with people in show business in a whole different way. When modern times proliferated that genre on the internet, he took his broadcasting career there with The Official Danko Jones Podcast. His guests have been a wide and indefinable collection of interesting people, from Ron Sexmith to Feist to Henry Rollins to Duff McKagan and recently it was NHL broadcaster Dave Hodge who happens to be a well schooled fan of the Danko Jones band.
It was Jones' friendship with film directors The Diamond Brothers that led the band to Elijah Wood. The acclaimed actor became a fan of the band at the Diamond's urging and eventually they decided together to make some music videos together for the band, but take it a step higher than the usual MuchMusic song brochure. They did three videos - I Think Bad Thoughts, Full Of Regret and Had Enough - that fit together as a set and with some additional scenes they shot along the way got morphed into a short-film as well.
Wood's presence, and their previous relationship with Motorhead's Lemmy Kilmister who also came on board, helped them attract others to the project. Selma Blair, Jena Malone, Ralph Macchio and other band fans soon joined the cast.
"We reached out to Mike Watt to be the narrator of it, and he was amazing. We didn't know how good he was going to be until the cameras started rolling and everyone started looking at each other (in pleasant surprise)," said Jones of the legendary rock bassist who turned actor for this rare kind of film.
Despite the cinematic nature of those and many other Danko Jones videos, he does not want to become an actor on the side of his music career any more than his podcast is leading to a broadcasting career. He writes a regular magazine column, too, and has some thoughts about a book, but that again is just a quick diversion for personal interest. He has done some spoken word projects in the past, also, but he's not pining for the lecture circuit.
What he is excited about is the side project he and his bassist J.C. Calabrese have going with Tomi Leppnen and Jussi Lehtisalo of legendary Finnish prog-rock group Circle. They call their diversion band Iron Magazine. "Jussi called it happy metal so I'll go with that," he said.
The main focus for Jones, though, is the brand new album Wild Cat only a few weeks old. The lead single My Little Rock 'n' Roll is generating the biggest buzz in Canada since Bounce.
"Every album we put out we're hoping for the best. This one seems to be doing pretty good right out of the gate. It's been fun," he said.
The Prince George unveiling happens tonight at CN Centre.
