The Rubens have been riding high since taking out the top spot in the triple j Hottest 100 2015, and judging from what we’ve seen of their ongoing Australian tour, they’re not looking like they’re going to be slowing down anytime soon.
Sell out shows in their wake, and we imagine a good number of hangovers, we asked the boys to document some of the highlights and low points of their first weekend out on the road to share with you. So strap yourselves in and join us in taking an anti nausea pill as The Rubens take you on the wild fast food littered ride of your lives as you go behind the scenes on their current tour.
Kicking off the first day of tour in the best way we know how: getting lubed up with fast food bitches. Of course the well to do business people in the Virgin Lounge tried to pretend they weren’t jealous. They was.
Sometimes we have to send Sam out to the bar mid-set to grab more beers. Walking down amongst the crowd is of course out of the question, so we choose to send him on a modern day chariot also called a lilo. As you can see, we don’t scrimp on it either. That thing’s the DELUXE recliner. Better b’lieve he’s reclining in suburban comfort.
We’re really proud of our merch on this tour, thanks to an artist named Sindy Sinn who we’ve been working with. He’s a talented dude with a really unique style and great ideas. We want our merch to be quality stuff that we personally would wear.
And we do wear it because it’s dope and we have no shame. (That’s a terrible photo of Sam in our beanie, take our word for it).
And then there’s Clint our tour manager, also kind of our tour dad/mum. He loves our merch so much he keeps begging us to make Rubens jocks with our faces on them and that’s not weird at all.
They say the key to keeping healthy on the road is to stay liquidated, or something like that. That’s how Zaac best understands it anyway. This is him keeping to his strict liquid regimen after every show. Skull 2 litres of Black and Gold soda water, gargle 2 more, then when he’s done he gets to give himself a pat on the back.
Will is probably the person who has the best time during soundcheck. For most of us it’s a chore. For him it’s a chance to fiddle and obsess over his bass tone to the nth degree. He’ll change basses, swap strings, rearrange his pedal board, strip his pedal board, by pass his pedal board and go straight into the amp, then ask old mate Ryan where the heck his pedal board is. At least he’s having fun though.
Sometimes we get asked to sign stuff which is weird but cool. Most of us use the same signature for autographs as we do on our credit cards and bank statements, so if you’ve ever got anything signed by us it’s probably worth something. Free money, you’re welcome.
They say some people are born to be in front of the camera. Not Scott. Just look at him will you. Stunned like a deer in the headlights, all because a measly Canon EF 50mm f1.4 lens was pointed at his mug. I mean really. He wasn’t born for that, but he was born to time keep (it’s a music term for drumming you wouldn’t know) so at least he’s chosen the right path.
(Photo by Beck Bradshaw)
Sam jumped off the second tier of the Tivoli in Brisbane onto that charriot (lilo) as the crowd watched in bated breath. Our breath wasn’t bated. We knew he could do it all along. We trusted him. You know why?
Cos we’re a freakin band man and in this day and age that’s gotta count for summthin. When one of us says “Hey guys, I’m gonna go ahead and do this thing in front of a lot of people which is potentially dangerous and could end embarrassingly” you know what we do? We say “Frick yeah dude that sounds rad” and we go get a camera.
Sometimes people ask us, “Do you get nervous before shows?” And our answer of course is, “Never, not even once ever.” To which they would respond by asking for proof, which we never had, up until now. Ladies and gentlemen, without further ado, check out this proof right here.
This is Elliott lounging (LOUNGING) in a chair just moments before we had to be on stage. Now, may we ask, does a nervous person lounge? Does a nervous person drape themselves elegantly over the arms of a chair like a curly haired demigod? No, they don’t. A calm, cool headed dude lounges, and that’s what he did, and that’s what we are.
(Photo by Ryan Miller)
Thanks for sticking around. Hope this sneak peak into what kind of goes on BTS on a Rubens tour was everything you wished for, and we hope to see you on the road! Many cheers x.
The Rubens are currently touring Australia. Check out their video for Cut Me Loose here with full tour details below.
The Rubens Australian Tour 2016
Friday 17th June – NEW SHOW
HQ, Adelaide
Tickets: Megatix
Saturday 18th June
Metro City, Perth
Tickets: Megatix
Friday 24th June (all ages)
Hordern Pavilion, Sydney
Tickets: Ticketek
Saturday 25th June (all ages)
Margaret Court Arena, Melbourne
Tickets: Ticketek
