Touch The Sun has a lot of cosmic irony magnetized to their metal frame. There is a rare solar eclipse happening the same weekend they appear in Prince George, the area is in a forest-scorching heatwave, and here comes the band named for the epitome of blistering heat.
It's too flammable to have birthday candles on stage in Prince George right now, but Touch The Sun is blazing back here to celebrate their first birthday. When they take the stage tonight at the Metallion Festival, it's not just to rip another gig. This place has touched this band.
"We played Metallion last year, and we had such an amazing time," said Alex Roque, vocalist and guitarist for the Vancouver melodic metal quartet. "That was the first show we ever played as a band, as Touch The Sun. We'd been working on this project for quite awhile but we hadn't actually gone on stage under that name. And Brad (Foster, Metallion impresario) was so wonderful, so awesome to us last year, and been such a supportive person when it comes to our band, we wanted to get asked back."
The community of metal drummers is a tight one, so Foster, a thundergod himself, had known Touch The Sun drummer Rob Wade from Wade's days in bands like Jar and Flybanger. That was the personal connection that sparked that historic eventuality in Prince George last year.
Along for the permanent ride with Wade and Roque are guitarist Cam Jarvis (previously with Gladyss Patches as was Roque) and bass player Russ Bergquist formerly of Dusk Machine and Annihilator.
After a seven-year loose affiliation to slowly hone relationships and new songs, Touch The Sun is now lurching ahead. Since their Metallion debut they spent the year recording an album with special guest producer Jason Martin (Unleash The Archers, Todd Kerns, Gray Level) at Tudor Studios in Richmond.
They also made a splash at one of the most seaworthy performance opportunities the band could have hoped to float their way. They got called to be one of the acts on the 70,000 Tonnes Of Metal cruise ship festival. For several days they plied the waters of the Caribbean Sea with thousands of on-board metal fans who signed on to see bands like Anthrax, Testament, Arch Enemy and Touch The Sun.
The album they've been working on has a name - Above Dark - and it has its songs, but it is not quite ready for public launch.
"We've been sitting on the record," said Roque. "We're getting ready to release this thing. It's set to come out in October or November. We're working out the details of the release. That's going to be our next big show, the CD release party, and then we're hoping to get out there for a support tour."
They already have Prince George circled on their hypothetical tour as a place to which they want to return, Above Dark in hand. This city has a fan base already starting to show itself, and although it wasn't the city in which they were conveived, it is where they were born.
Touch The Sun celebrates their first anniversary on-stage tonight at the Metallion Festival at the Brookside Resort west of town near Cluculz Lake.
Tickets are $84 (includes free camping with ticket purchase) available on the Metallion website or at Electron Sound & Percussion (3658 Massey Drive). There will be day passes in limited amounts at the rate of $50 each, while supplies last each day.
