samo714's Blog

Over the years I have heard music from many extraordinary bands and I have been able to see many great bands perform live like Danzig, The 69 Eyes, Garbage, Audioslave, Velvet Revolver, Motley Crue, Sheryl Crow, John Mayer, L.A. Guns, The Foo Fighters, and Jane's Addiction to name a few. But for me the greatest band I have ever seen live, wasn't a band that made millions of dollars, nor have their album gone muliti platinum. They didn't have pyro's or big expensive stage set. All they had was their music, and their passion for music, and their high energy, and that was enough for me and many others to be hooked to a band called "The Colour".

 

The story of The Colour starts off 4 years ago where the band members all met up with each other in Biola University, a Christian college. Soon after they met they all dropped out of school and began working odd jobs to support their new career.  The band, Wyatt Hull (lead singer), Davey Quon (lead/rhythm guitar), Nathan Warkentin (drummer) and Luke McMaster (rhythm guitar) all lived in a small home in Whittier as they worked on material for a demo.  Soon after they started playing at small clubs in the local area until they were signed on to Monarchy Music record label. They began recording their first e.p. “Out and About”.  The e.p. spawned spectacular songs such as “Mirrorball” and “Down the Circus”. Pretty soon they were opening up for large festival with the Psychedelic Furs, and opening up for Kasabian’s first tour as well as Ok Go.

 

“Out & About” was filled with blues guitar licks, a gospel smacking tambourine, about every decade of sounds as they pour it in a bucket of ideas. The Colour is able to put all these ideas together in a way that makes sense, keeping it short, simple and sexy. Every song on the album just gets you in the mood to dance and embrace the music, as music was once embraced back in the days of Jimi Hendrix, and Janis Joplin in the 60’s.

 

I saw the band perform for the first time when they opened up for Kasabian. I had no idea of who they were, but I could tell their was something special about them. They stood out from the rest of the opening band. Judging by how the crowd reacted to them, I think the crowd knew what I knew too. I remember after the show ended going to the merchandise table asking the clerk what was the name of the 2nd band that went up. He told me that they were the colour, and I bought their first e.p. it took 3 days before I listened to it. I wanted my hearing to come back completely before I listened to it. I wanted to hear the full quality of the cd, and not judge them harshly because the music didn’t sound as good due to the ringing in my ear from the show. I remember liking what I heard, and pretty soon, I couldn’t go a day without listening to it. I was hooked on them.

 

The second time I saw them, was a few months later at chain reaction. By that time they were changing labels to RETHINK, and beginning work on their 2nd e.p. entitled “Devil’s Got a Holda Me” and a few tracks would later be called the cave session. Like before they were amazing live. The fans were going wild; Wyatt was stirring it up like he only knows how. His present on stage is a mix of Jim Morrison from The Doors, and had the pure octane of David Lee Roth on stage. Everyone in the club was singing along, dancing and cheering the entire time. After the show was over I was able to meet the drummer again, even though I didn’t know I met him the first time until I met him the 2nd time.  Again he was at the merchandise table selling items, but this time I was able to finger him out. We talked for a bit and laughed at how I didn’t recognize him the first time I met him. I wasn’t wearing my glasses the first time, so I couldn’t tell what they looked like since I was a bit far away from the stage.  Later on I met the rest of the band. They were all great guys, very nice, funny, and never too busy to pose for a picture, or sign an autograph. They even stuck around to talk to me for half an hour, then they left to eat, and head home.

 

After seeing them a few times and getting to know them, they actually remembered me, and we would talk about music that inspires them, and what inspires their lyrics. Some of Wyatt’s biggest influences were The Clash, and T. Rex. But you could tell that other bands like Led Zeppelin and The Cure was an influence as well on his vocal style on their full length album “Between Earth & Sky”. It’s a throwback to the classic rock sound and just taking what they did in “Out & About” and taking the next step.

 

The last show I saw them at, was in Fullerton at a small venue called The Alley. It was the second to last show they were playing, before they hung up their boots. They decided as a band, they have gone as far as they can creatively, and thought it was time to move on. I remember picking up my sisters for the show. They live 2 hours away from the o.c., but they were dying to see them live. They were also big fans. So my cousin and I drove for 4 hours, had no sleep almost and nearly got in a pile up accident just to see The Colour. The pile up accident was not our fault; it was some speed demon that kept changing lanes that ended up side swiping a SUV that flipped over 3 times. Don’t worry everyone was fine. I pulled over, and checked on them, as my sisters called 911.  So later on that same day we saw them in their final show. As we waited for the band to take the stage, I remember seeing Wyatt head over to the back stage. He waved at me, and I went up to him and wished him luck on the show.  Then 30 minutes later the show started and my family and I had a great time. It was everything I knew it was going to be, and more. It was one of the best shows I saw.  The show was just full of life and energy. After the show we got to say our goodbyes to the band, and well wishes, and just thanked them for all the great music, and memories.  They were surprised by what we went through to see them, and appreciated us taking the time and energy to see them.  Music has always meant a lot to me, but this band is one of the few that is always going to have a lasting impression on me, and I was glad to take part of that band journey.

(Left to right) Davey Quon(lead/rhythm guitar, piano),Wyatt Hull (lead singer), Derek (bass)Nathan Warkentin (drummer)

"Out & About"- 1.St. Micheal, 2. Mirrorball, 3. Down the Circus, 4. Open Up The Boulevards, 5. Building Situations, 6. Tambournie

"Devil's Got A Holda Me"- 1. Devil's Got A Holda Me, 2. Save Yourself, 3. Chariots of Gold, 4. Until We're High

"Between Earth & Sky"- 1.Can't You Hear It Call, 2. Devil's Got A Holda Me, 3. Save Yourself, 4. Silver Meadows, 5. Our Children Were the Stars 6. Black Summer, 7. Just A Taste, 8. You're A Treasure, 9. Kill The Lights, 10. Salt The Earth, 11. Bearded Lady, 12. Dirge to Earth & Sky

check out thier music video for "Devil's Got A Holda Me"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkDToTJ9g8s

live perfromance of "Kill The Lights". this video shows how well they play live.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-U5HCDXkjKc

watch them perfrom 2 songs live on the  jimmy kimmel show. it shows off their true live stage presences.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fb3uqm6pMQ

a very special live acoustic concert by the colour.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_XoWPMDT30