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| First Bane hoodie - Niagara Falls Nov 2005 |
I first got into Bane via my friend Ryan in around 2003/04 when I met him at Uni and discovered someone else liked punk based music. We used to swap a re-writable cd (this is before a 64gb USB was $10) with new music we had downloaded. I really didn't like Bane and I kind of dismissed them for a while and weren't a band I really listened to. In late 2005 I was heading to America and Bane were supporting Rise Against at a show I was going to attend and so I got listening to them again. I liked em much more now as I was getting a bit over metal-core, break down, break down music and the show was pretty sweet and the first of my Bane hoodies was purchased (grey with blue writing), I was set from this moment on.
Gradually my love for this band grew and they finally toured Australia in 2007 and if ever there was doubt they were my number 1 band, the debate was solved this evening. It was clear and obvious there was no other band that I felt such a connection to lyrically and in my eyes was everything music and hardcore should be.
I was determined to see many more bane shows and if Bane was not going to come to me, I would have to go to them. I was fortunate again to be in Boston when they played "Home for the Holidays" in 2009 but a Europe tour in 2010 after I had finished Uni was just perfection. I sent Bedard an email (despite the risk of sounding like some crazed fan) basically saying i'm following the entire tour, can I tag along, help out, sell merch, whatever. After a few emails and deciding life is to live, I booked some flights and I was set to see Bane 23 times.
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| "Give More, Give Everything, Give Blood" |
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| Mike and myself AFL Grand Final Sept 2011 (naturally we had Bane and TUI merch on) |
The first show in Milton Keynes Bedard couldn't believe I actually did show up and after some alterations to my trip where I would now see around a dozen shows, the best few weeks of my life was about to begin. I ended up seeing Bane 13 times across 8 countries (with some nice sight seeing in between) and was lucky enough to travel with them (thanks to the Trapped Under Ice guys for the spare seat) and now consider the members friends.
Talking with my fellow Bane enthusiast who followed this tour, Mike, I famously said "I am just happy having one of each release". After this trip this was bullshit and I have since basically cleaned out a few peoples collections and sent a few emails to some record companies to now have a very high percentage of releases and a lot less dollars.
A huge thanks to:
Matteo of Hurry Up records (http://www.hurryuphc.com/)
Sam Yarmuth of Triple B records (http://www.triplebrecords.limitedrun.com/)
Kyle Whitlow (http://seekingthesimple.wordpress.com/)
Marcus Andrews (http://endlessquestrecords.blogspot.com.au/)
Aaron Dalbec of Bane (https://www.facebook.com/banecentral)
Aaron Dalbec of Bane (https://www.facebook.com/banecentral)
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| With Bane, end of Europe tour 2010 |
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| Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary, Brisbane, 2015 |
Update March 2016
The final USA tour begins next week. This is the actual final final tour. I managed to squeeze in the final Australian, South American and Europe tours over the past 18 months and to think that this crazy ride is actually over. For me the final show was in Russia, what a truly amazing place as an Australian to see his favourite band, who are American for the final time after 10 years of madness. This band has been such a prominent element of my life and the biggest part of that, the touring with them, will never happen again. Although this somewhat saddens me, I actually smile as the adventures and times I have lived because of, and surrounding this band will never leave me. Bane has been an excuse to go to places I may never have visited. They have been a reason to sleep for 3 hours on a floor then walk at 6am to catch a flight for a show in a country where english is a second language. They have lead me to singing in front of hundreds where the exhilaration of this opportunity pushes aside any anxiety. There are those who echo what I say or how I feel, we have shared moments that can not be re-created through anything else, except the mutual love of a simple hardcore band from Boston who somehow changed the lives a so very many. The beauty is we let Bane change and shape our lives, to live in the moment and for all of this I have zero regrets.
The final USA tour begins next week. This is the actual final final tour. I managed to squeeze in the final Australian, South American and Europe tours over the past 18 months and to think that this crazy ride is actually over. For me the final show was in Russia, what a truly amazing place as an Australian to see his favourite band, who are American for the final time after 10 years of madness. This band has been such a prominent element of my life and the biggest part of that, the touring with them, will never happen again. Although this somewhat saddens me, I actually smile as the adventures and times I have lived because of, and surrounding this band will never leave me. Bane has been an excuse to go to places I may never have visited. They have been a reason to sleep for 3 hours on a floor then walk at 6am to catch a flight for a show in a country where english is a second language. They have lead me to singing in front of hundreds where the exhilaration of this opportunity pushes aside any anxiety. There are those who echo what I say or how I feel, we have shared moments that can not be re-created through anything else, except the mutual love of a simple hardcore band from Boston who somehow changed the lives a so very many. The beauty is we let Bane change and shape our lives, to live in the moment and for all of this I have zero regrets.
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