Red Bull Tour Bus brings some of Canada's most celebrated bands to their hometowns

- Red Bull Tour Bus will travel the country and convert into a live sound stage featuring the latest, state-of-the-art audio technology with a custom built generator and trailer. -

TORONTO, April 10, 2013 /CNW/ - This summer, the Red Bull Tour Bus will make some noise for the very first time in Canada. Making its way from coast-to-coast, the bus will transform into a self-contained stage to bring some of the countries' most celebrated bands to their hometowns for FREE outdoor shows. Kicking off the tour in Vancouver on Saturday, May 4, music fans will experience local indie stalwarts The New Pornographers performing on the vintage 1967 GM transit bus. The Tour Bus will then make its way to Edmonton where dance punk/electro band Shout Out Out Out Out and Canadian rapper Cadence Weapon will push their music envelop on the brand new stage. Closing the May long weekend, three-time Juno Awards winners, the Sheepdogs - known as the most exciting band to see in their hometown - will take their show back to Saskatoon before indie rock band Tokyo Police Club explodes at Toronto's Sugar Beach. The tour will end in Halifax with singer and songwriter Matt Mays who will play songs from his latest album - Coyote.

The first of its kind in Canada, Red Bull Tourbus transforms into a complete sound stage. The bus itself is comprised of three separate parts: 1967 GM transit bus (front end only), 1974 Silver Eagle (rear ¾ of bus), and sits on a 2012 Freightliner Chassis. Taking nine months to build, the bus converts into a concert stage fully equipped with a sound system featuring over 120,000 watt concert audio. To create the stage, the side of the bus was modified with a hydraulic lift system to raise the roof 35-feet above the ground and extend a stage floor of 17-feet wide by 15.5-feet deep. Once deployed, the bus features a 9 x 12-foot green room in the rear featuring two leather couches, two 37-inch flat screens, and a combination of hardwood floors and red LED back lighting. In less than 25 minutes, the bus transforms from a typical 45-foot-long bus to a full out custom rock stage.

RED BULL TOUR BUS HOMETOWN TOUR DATES

The New Pornographers in VANCOUVER
May 4 at 3:00 p.m. PDT
Georgia/Cambie Street parking lot
Free concert - RSVP at www.redbulltourbus.ca

The New Pornographers (www.thenewpornographers.com) formed in 1997, almost immediately recorded the classic "Letter From An Occupant," and it was on. Their five full-lengths (as well as numerous solo ventures from A.C. Newman, Neko Case, Dan Bejar, Todd Fancey, Kathryn Calder, and not to mention the numerous films directed by Blaine Thurier) received wild critical and public acclaim, and they continue to enjoy bigger (and taller and smarter) audiences. 

Shout Out Out Out Out + Cadence Weapon in EDMONTON
May 17 at 7:00 p.m. MDT 
Sir Winston Churchill Square
Free concert - RSVP at www.redbulltourbus.ca

Shout Out Out Out Out (www.shoutoutoutoutout.com) was formed in the summer of 2004. The members of the band have all been playing in a variety of rock and punk bands, and came together with a shared interest in synthesizers, a burgeoning interest in electronic music as a whole, and a strong desire to take themselves out of the comfort zone of their previous musical experiences. They released their first album, Not Saying / Just Saying in 2006, and it was well received beyond their expectations, earning them a nomination for a Juno Award, and raising their profile in Canada significantly. Their new album, Spanish Moss and Total Loss, was recorded over the course of 3 months in their hometown and it marks a departure from their previous material, or rather a natural progression. They have been strongly influenced by classic House music, Techno, Disco, Krautrock, and a variety of cosmic synth music, and all of these influences have crept their way into Spanish Moss and Total Loss.

Cadence Weapon (www.cadenceweaponmusic.com) continues to firmly establish his legacy as a sonic pioneer while constantly pushing the rap and electronic music envelope. Following his critically acclaimed, Polaris Music Prize nominated albums Breaking Kayfabe and Afterparty Babies and a two year term as Edmonton's Poet Laureate, he returns with Hope In Dirt City out now on Upper Class Recordings. Composed of a unique hybrid of psychedelic soul, old school rap, IDM and mutant disco; Hope In Dirt City is a ground-breaking achievement in hip hop, and Cadence Weapons' third Polaris Music Prize nominated album. Most recently Cadence Weapon won the Hip Hop Artist of The Year at this years Indies http://tinyurl.com/d8zg8uq

The Sheepdogs in SASKATOON 
May 20 at 3:00 p.m. CST 
Broadway/10^th Street
Free concert - RSVP at www.redbulltourbus.ca

While most rock bands are all too focused on the riff, the Sheepdogs (www.thesheepdogs.com) remember the importance of those other elements that make for great rock music: melody, harmony and groove. To see them live is pure rock and roll jubilation, to revel in the splendor created by 3 part vocal harmonies and heavy hitting dual guitar leads. Their inaugural album, Learn & Burn, is a beautiful blend of power and imagination, ranging from ferocious rockers to southern boogie and grooving psychedelia. Big guitars, stacked harmonies, vintage organ and piano skillfully colour each of the album's 15 tracks, proving that these boys are as dedicated to the craft of songwriting and album making as they are to playing a dynamite live show. In September 2012, the self-titled "The Sheepdogs" LP was released and debuted at #1 in Canadian Rock Charts.

Tokyo Police Club in TORONTO
June 2 at 3:00 p.m. EDT
Sugar Beach
Free concert - RSVP at www.redbulltourbus.ca

Tokyo Police Club (http://tokyopoliceclub.com) took its first baby steps toward finding their own voice as a band with its formation in 2005. The band was off and running the following year, releasing the debut EP A Lesson In Crime to instant and universal acclaim. One more EP (Smith), a digital-only single ("Your English Is Good") and a few world tours later, Tokyo Police Club's first full length album, Elephant Shell was released in April 2008. Elephant Shell's release was preceded by multiple sold out shows in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Toronto, and followed by appearances on The Late Show With David Letterman, The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson and, bizarrely enough, Desperate Housewives. Critical response to the full length was even more enthusiastic and diverse, with the likes of GQ ("Strokes-caliber catchiness"), Elle ("a smart, furiously played sugar-rush debut"), Rolling Stone ("poised to become the biggest Canadian export since Molson") and more giving thumbs up. The guys circled the globe in support of Elephant Shell for approximately a year and a half, finally coming off the road in August of 2009. In 2011, the video for "Wait Up (Boots of Danger)" was nominated Best Indie Video of the year by MuchMusic.

Matt Mays in HALIFAX
June 8 at 7:00 p.m. ADT
Waterfront Warehouse Lot
Free concert - RSVP at www.redbulltourbus.ca

Matt Mays (www.mattmays.com) is on a quest to find and create the music he hears in his head. When he stays still the sound drifts farther away: "when the vibrations stop," he says, "it's time to move on." A few years back, Matt left to embark on a journey into open space. To live in the midst of a world where anything could happen. A crusade into the sound, traversing the vast musical divide that he calls home. Mexico, California, Indonesia, Hawaii, Costa Rica, New York. Wherever. He used surfing, yoga, and a ukulele as tools to bring him closer to the melodies and words different places and experiences inspired. Eventually, the sound was found. As soon as he stepped off the plane in Halifax he started work an album he called Coyote: a proper home for all his experiences. Imagery painted with song. Coyote covers the whole spectrum of the sound that Mays finally found. "I've always loved animals that are beautiful but dangerous," Matt explains. "It's a good analogy for life. Coyotes are native to Canada, Mexico and the United States and that's where I lived while writing this album." Coyote is Matt's fifth album since his self-titled debut. He's won numerous ECMAs and been nominated for four JUNO Awards. He's toured Canada, the USA, and the UK.

Red Bull Tour bus Content: Free for Editorial Usage

Through the Red Bull network, hi-res video and still images are captured and made immediately available for editorial use for all media channels including television, film, print, mobile, and digital. The content is centrally located in the Red Bull Content Pool for media partners at www.redbullcontentpool.com. Search: Red Bull Tour Bus Canada

FOLLOW US

Facebook: www.facebook.com/redbull
Twitter: @RedBullCanada | #RBTourBus
Instagram: RedBullCanada
Website: www.redbulltourbus.ca

SOURCE: Red Bull Canada

Jessica Swan
Narrative PR
416-922-2211 x 3289
647-281-6345
[email protected]

Josée Laperrière
Red Bull
647-680-2855
[email protected]