Pick Up The Phone Tour With Blue October

Come on out for a night of entertainment this Thursday to the Cain’s Ballroom. Blue October will be here in high gear to rock your socks off.

Blue October is a rock band originally from Houston, Texas who formed in 1995. The vocals on some of their more melancholic songs have been compared to Peter Gabriel or Roger Daltry. The band is led by Justin Furstenfeld, who is joined by his brother Jeremy on the drums, Ryan Delahoussave on violin (along with many other instruments), C.B. Hudson on guitar and Matt Noveskev on bass.  Since the 90’s, Blue October has released five studio albums along with two live albums and one live DVD. Their biggest album to date was “Foiled” which came out in 2006. Many of their songs have made it to various soundtracks including; American Wedding, Saw III and the TV show NCIS.

The band’s latest album, Approaching Normal came out March 24, 2009. Blue October opted to use a different production style, by using digital audio workstations like FL Studio instead of recording it with live instruments. Approaching Normal was produced by Steve Lillywhite (U2, Peter Gabriel, Dave Matthews Band).  The album debuted at #13 on the Billboard 200 chart with the first single being “Dirt Room”. They did something else very unique with this album. They released two versions, each with a different bonus track: an explicit version, with “The End” as the bonus track, and a clean version with “Graceful Dancing” as the bonus track. In late 2008, as a special gift to their fans, “Graceful Dancing” was also released for those signed up under the band’s email list.

If you haven’t heard about the “Pick Up The Phone Tour”, it was created through a partnership between the non-profit organizations To Write Love on Her Arms and the Kristin Brooks Hope Center founders of 1-800-SUICIDE. Several months ago lead singer Justin Furstenfeld, suffered a debilitating anxiety attack in a Minneapolis airport leading to his hospitalization and the band’s sudden cancellation of the tour. The tour has since been rescheduled and started back up April 7th with stops in 17 markets.

Furstenfeld, who suffers from bi-polar disorder himself, recently spoke to policy makers on Capitol Hill in a history making press event in the Cannon House Caucus Room. Furstenfeld is hoping with his actions that it will bring awareness and funding for alternative forms of mental health treatment programs.  For more information on either of the organizations involved with this tour, visit; www.twloha.com and www.hopeline.com.

So instead of staying home being a couch potato and watching Fringe (that you can DVR), put your favorite concert-tee on and join Blue October for a night of fun and Rock-n-Roll.

When: Thursday, April 29th
Where: Cain’s Ballroom 423 W. Main Street
Time: Doors open at 7:00, show starts at 8:00
Tickets: Can be bought at the Cain’s box office, online at www.protixonline.com or by phone 866-977-6849
Openers: Stars of Track and Field, Hurricane Bells