Music
Interview
Stage Times: Silverstein
From a rained-out first visit to China to an unforgettable headline show in Texas, Shane Told walks us through some of his most memorable performances
Formed at the turn of the millennium during a cold, snowy winter in Burlington, Ontario, Silverstein have come a long way since their ragged emo earnestness first captured the ears and hearts of the alternative rock world.
Their 2003 debut album When Broken Is Easily Fixed merging the tenacity of hardcore with pop-punk’s driving melodies – fusing the two together with a distinct heavy metal edge – over the last 25 years they’ve forged a truly remarkable career. Impressively consistent in their output, never taking more than a three-year break between records, each step of their eleven-album discography has facilitated a slow and steady climb – one which frontman Shane Told now recalls fondly.
“Twenty-five years…,” he ponders.
“You don’t start a band and plan on that. No one thinks they’re going to last 25 years as a band, but it happened naturally whilst we focused on the only thing a band should focus on – the music. We’ve always written the best songs we could, put out the best records we could, and put on the best live shows we could. When you do things the right way, often it comes back to you.”
Celebrating a career milestone that few bands manage to reach, the 25 Years Of Noise tour is set to bring the longest Silverstein headline shows to date. Stopping off in London and Manchester in early 2025, the Canadian band are delving into their full catalogue for some unforgettable evenings, journeying through every album and inviting fans to vote to hear their favourite tracks. An opportunity to hear some deeper cuts alongside genre-defining hits, they’ll even be joining forces with scene legends Thursday and relative newcomers The Callous Daoboys and Bloom for the occasion.
“We’ve always been very conscious of great new bands, and it’s all about progression in this scene,” Told nods.
“It’s cool now, because a lot of the new bands are throwing it back a little bit too. It doesn’t seem out of place to have a band like Bloom or Split Chain – who are opening up our US leg – play with us, because they’re so in-tune with what we’ve always done.”
“On the other hand, Thursday have been around even longer than us. They’re legends, they’re great people, and somehow, we’ve never actually gone on tour together. So many people have asked for it over the years, and we’re finally making it happen.”
With even more new music on its way, Silverstein’s UK headline shows will kickstart their 2025 anniversary celebrations in style. Twenty-five years spent touring the world, from witnessing a young Sum 41 take to the stage in their local venue to ripping out punk tunes whilst cruising the New York Harbor, we sat down with Told to reflect on his journey.
![Silverstein - Confession [Official Music Video]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/9tIpj7w-fCo/0.jpg)
The gig that made you want to play music
From a very young age, I was obsessed with live music. Not huge rock shows with hundreds of Marshall cabinets, fireworks and spectacles, but the community of punk rock. I remember going to my first few local shows in the Toronto area. I’d often see local bands, and occasionally touring bands would come through. Those bands had records that you could buy in a record store, and they were from exotic places like Texas and California. That was so exciting, and they were playing these songs just for us. There was no security, no barricade, and everybody knew the songs. Everyone sang along, and I felt a real sense of community and purpose. I didn’t need to be the guy that everyone was looking at onstage, but I needed to be a part of the community. As it turned out though, my part in the community was as that guy onstage.
One particular show that had a lasting impact on me was when I went to see Gob play in Toronto. They’re from Vancouver, and they were a real 90s punk band. They had an opening band that I had been hearing about, but I’d never seen before. They were from Ajax, which is just on the other side of Toronto, where my dad grew up. That band was called Sum 41. They were my age, and they were so good. They had great songs, they were funny, and they had trampolines on stage. It was so cool to see a local band and know that they were going to be the biggest band in the world. At that moment, it felt attainable.
The first
The first show we ever played was in 2000 at the Glad Tidings Church in Burlington. We played second out of around six bands, and we had a pretty good crowd. We had all been in other bands locally, and we had made a bit of a name for ourselves, so surprisingly it was a pretty good show. We played five songs, and they were all original songs from our first EP. At that point, Silverstein was just a side project. We didn’t know if we would play any more shows, let alone put out records or tour. It just kept growing. We actually have a resource on our website that has a full archive of our touring history, which is extremely fun to look back on.
The smallest
We were on tour in 2003, and our first album had just come out on Victory Records. We were playing on the east coast of Canada, where there are a lot of small cities. We rolled into a place called Saint John, New Brunswick, and loaded into this venue where we were playing with a band called Somehow Hollow. When we arrived, we were looking for the promoter, and we spoke to the bartender to explain that we were there for the show. They didn’t have any idea about it, and there was no indication that we were playing. The bartender told us that the promoter would be there later, so we ordered a couple of beers and waited.
All our stuff was still in the van as we didn’t want to unload until we knew what was happening, and by six o’clock the doors were supposed to have opened. There was still no sign of the promoter, and no one had shown up, so we got ready to leave and drive to the next show. However, around an hour after the doors were supposed to have opened, two random guys showed up. They told us they were there to see Silverstein, so we felt bad about leaving. We didn’t want to load everything in though, so we just got an acoustic guitar out of the van. It was more of a toy guitar, really. Mike [Casarin] from Somehow Hollow played three songs, I played four, and that was the show. We played to just those two people, and in retrospect we probably should have loaded all of our gear in and played a real show for them!
The biggest
There’s one that I’m particularly proud of, and that was when we headlined a huge show in San Antonio, Texas. For some reason, people just love us down there. We sold tickets for a venue, and they sold out, so we moved it to a bigger venue. That sold out too, so we moved the show outside. It just kept selling tickets, and it ended up being our biggest ever headline show. When that happens and you’re able to exceed your own expectations… It’s so special. I’ll never forget that show. What was weird about it though is that they moved it outside, and I don’t think they’d done many shows outside there before. It was right beside some train tracks, and there were a lot of trains. The loudest trains ever kept coming past the stage, and everyone’s hair would blow. It was an experience!
The weirdest
We played in a batting cage once. I don’t know if they exist in the UK, but they’re these enclosed areas used for baseball practice. They have a machine that hurls the ball at you really fast, and you try to hit it. We played in one of those once in Connecticut, which was super odd. We also played this weird show in a forest where everybody was on drugs, and even more recently we played a boat show in the New York Harbor. The boat went around the Statue of Liberty during this three-hour tour, and we were just there playing a punk show on the boat. We’re always open to doing weird stuff, and honestly, I’m excited when we get to do things that we haven’t done before. After 25 years, you can feel like you’ve seen it all… It’s nice when you realise that you haven’t.
The worst
The only show we’ve ever loaded in for and not played was in Buffalo, New York. It was on a Friday or Saturday night, and Bayside had played right before us. The show was super packed, a little too packed, because a girl got hurt pretty badly during Bayside’s set. They had to call a paramedic in to take her out of there, and luckily, she was okay. When the paramedics came though, the fire department was also in the neighbourhood. They walked in and went, ‘Oh, hell no. You cannot have this many people in this room’. We were shut down, and we were told we couldn’t play. We’ve played close to 3,000 shows now, and that’s the only one where we’ve ever loaded all of our gear in and not played.
Now that I think about it though, there was another show in China where we got rained out. Obviously, that’s no one’s fault, but there was too much rain, so we couldn’t play. The promoter asked me if I would play some songs on an acoustic guitar, which I was happy to do as there was a bit of a lull. I got up there, and the second that I hit the first chord a torrential downpour poured down right on top of me. Billy [Hamilton, bassist] came out and held an umbrella over my head whilst I played, and hilariously that’s the only show we’ve ever played in China. I have a great picture of Billy holding an umbrella over me in the pouring rain… That’s what friends are for.
The best
The best gig we’ve ever played hasn’t happened yet, because it’s happening next year in London, or maybe in Manchester. I don’t know which one it will be yet, but one of them is going to be the greatest Silverstein gig ever. I love those cities, and both shows are going to be incredible. We’re so excited to be doing something this special to celebrate 25 years of Silverstein, and so happy that we’re able to come over and do these shows in the UK. These are the ones that will kick off the celebrations, and we really can’t wait. I hope everybody gets a ticket before they’re gone and comes to say hi to us.
