Not Tonight
Sara-
I think we’ve both had If It Was You on the brain the last few weeks. It was you who came to me a few weeks ago about making the first leg of the 2024 tour something special. I believe it was Stacy who suggested to you that we should consider making the shows an album tour. We wanted to stand out, do something special, and set the tour apart from a regular T&S tour. I was on board right away and emailed management about it. I loved the Con X tour we did in 2017, and I loved re-recording So Jealous to make Still Jealous during the pandemic. I think some bands feel weird about looking back, but not us, and for good reason. The early part of our career—hard as it was—was really special, and most of it was done under the cloak of late '90s to early 2000s darkness (aka before social media). So, it feels fun to revisit the photos, demos, and videos from that time. Don’t you think? We haven’t had to see it all again and again online, which is nice. The other day, I joked that we don’t really need new videos or photos. We can just visit the first three albums we made and their accompanying content. That should keep us busy for another couple of years.
What I remember most about “If It Was You” was how empowered we were. Recording the demos ourselves had allowed us to have more of a say in the studio and in pre-production with the band. For the first time ever, I felt capable of showing people what I heard in my head and how I wanted us to sound. I also remember that cycle as our first with a band, and how nice it was not to be alone: on the long drives, on stage, on international flights, on days off, and backstage before shows. It was easier to be surrounded, and protected. There were still plenty of tours we did on that cycle acoustic and alone, and some were incredibly important when it came to building our careers. But we were so desperate to be in a band, to have drums and bass and loud guitars. We were so over being a duo and playing acoustic.
Funny, then, that we should choose to go out and play this album acoustically twenty years later to celebrate it. I know we’ll have other musicians to help us fill things out, to capture the essence of every song, like we did with Gabe and Tim on The Con X tour. But still, it’s fun to imagine us up there, singing and playing just the two of us, the songs, melodies, and lyrics exposed and stripped back. Maybe we should do lyric booklets and have the audience sing along. And how about some “If It Was You” era-inspired merchandise?
The tour went onsale today, and people are upset that we might not bring the tour to other places. I wish we could, but I know we won’t. Maybe we can record one of the last nights? Make a video? Or a live album? Oh! I have an idea for the set and backdrop… I’m calling you now.
Tegan
PS Check out this video attached of us playing I Hear Nosies on Good Morning Australia. I have no memory of doing this. You? Weird to see no tattoo me.
Not Tonight