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So what was it The Glorious Sons were singing about before being so rudely interrupted?
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It’s been so long since the talented Kingston rockers have been on stage it’s difficult to remember.
“Even we wondered if we could still do this,” joked TGS guitarist Jay Emmons Friday. “But in rehearsals we realized we had actually become a better band. We had time to work out the fine points you can’t do when constantly touring.”
They are talking the glass half full approach and turning lemons into lemonade.
After being shut down from playing live for more than two years, Kingston’s favorite Sons — which include younger brother Brett Emmons (vocals), Chris Koster (guitar), Adam Paquette (drums) and Josh Hewson (bass) — are ready to rock again .
It’s fitting this rock ‘n’ roll resurrection is happening at Easter.
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“We have waited so long for this,” said Emmons during sound check at the 6,000-seat Leon’s Center in the band’s hometown. “We are all very excited.”
This tour, which includes three dates at Toronto’s Massey Hall in June and shows in arenas across North America all summer, is dubbed The Unfinished Business Tour.
“We are doing the shows postponed,” said Emmons. “Some of them were canceled three times and we wanted to see our fans who stuck with us throughout this difficult time.”
The band can relate to each and every one.
“Each member had to do their own thing during the time off to keep busy and make ends meet,” said Emmons.
Whether it was writing songs, creating a music label or working in construction, these hard-working Kingston lads were true to their blue collar roots.
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“It’s just who we are,” said Emmons, who with his wife Martina welcomed the birth of their daughter June James in September.
He doesn’t mind being teased about showing up to gigs with a stroller and guitar.
“We are just regular guys from Odessa and Kingston who consider ourselves to be hard-working dudes.”
With their no-nonsense rock show, they play Peterborough on Saturday, Kitchener on Monday and Tuesday, London on Wednesday, St. Catharines on Friday, and the 10,000-seat TD Place Arena in Ottawa on Saturday.
But the comeback started in Kingston.
“It’s fun because when we look out into the crowd we know almost everybody,” said Emmons. “There’s a real buzz in the city every time we do a hometown show.”
As for the folklore of fans saying they have seen band members in a supply store in construction gear covered in paint picking up tools while still obliging for a selfie picture, Emmons says it’s no exaggeration.
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“It has happened,” he said with a chuckle and wearing it like a badge of honour. “We are working people and the pandemic affected everyone.”
Kingston guitar aficionado Del Vezeau says that “regular guy on the street persona” is why TGS are so popular.
“They are working class and their well-written songs represent the every day struggle of working people and suits these times well,” said Vezeau, who founded the Canadian Guitar Festival.
At the prime of their careers, the pandemic arrived just after winning a Juno for Canada’s top rock band and after opening for the Rolling Stones and The Who while enjoying airplay for such hits as Sawed Off Shotgun (SOS), Everything Is Alright, Josie, Kill the Lights, Heavy, Pink Motel, Panic Attack and Mama.
“We were all a roll,” Emmons said.
Then along came a virus.
“No one knew if live shows would come back.”
But now that they have, The Glorious Sons have put their hard hats back on and are on a mission to build it all back again.
