When legendary rock group Deep Purple members tell you they're big fans it's really humbling, said Highball Riot guitarist Andrew Dorish.
The local band just opened for Deep Purple last week at CN Centre and are pretty pumped about the whole thing.
Highball Riot is a ska rock band with reggae and hip hop influences and includes lead singer/rhythm guitarist Kenny Pyne; Andrew Dorish, lead guitar; Sam Wright, bass; Fraser Blues, drums and keyboardist, Aaron Hornak.
Bass guitarist Sam Wright's brother Eric told Dorish the first album his dad ever gave him was Deep Purple because they were his favourite band.
"So we knew that if we could ever open for Deep Purple their dad would love it so I e-mailed Glen Mikkelsen [entertainment and marketing supervisor] who I've worked with before and that's how we got the gig," said Dorish. "If you don't take a chance and you don't ask -- you don't get anything."
The Midway State at UNBC's Backyard BBQ and 54/40 concert at CN Centre are the two other big shows Highball Riot has opened for and both were super fun, said Dorish.
Performing at the Deep Purple concert and meeting some of the band has certainly been a highlight of their short musical careers.
"We were all just hanging out back stage and Sam talked to bass player Roger Glover and keyboard player Don Airey," said Dorish. "They said 'hey, man we loved your reggae set, fantastic job' and then Sam told them they were awesome and then they said 'no, you're awesome' and he's like 'oh my god, you can't be saying that to me, you're so legendary and we're still nobody!' and it went on like for a while. We forget sometimes that the wave we've created keeps rippling because we're so dedicated."
Up next is more gigs, private and public in and out of town and St. Patrick's Day celebration the Shamrock Shaker at the Hart Community Centre will see them bringing down the house with a killer PA system, said Dorish.
An album is on the wish list so they could tour but for the boys in the band it's all about the love of music.
"At the end of the day, if we could call ourselves Canadian artists and that's what you could do with your life, making 7-11 wages for the next 10 years for what we did, it's worth it," Dorish said.
