We Were Promised Jetpacks will blast into Arden Gild Concert Hall

We Were Promised Jetpacks are in the midst of a stateside tour taking them from Los Angeles, CA to the East Coast...

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We Were Promised Jetpacks are in the midst of a stateside tour taking them from Los Angeles, CA to the East Coast over the next month bringing with them their thunderous and powerful style of indie rock, shimmering guitars and melodic vocals. With two magnificent full length studio albums to their credit, debut: “These Four Walls” and sophomore LP: “In the Pit of the Stomach”, the Edinburgh, Scottish quintet drops an equally stunning and mind-blowing live record “E-Rey. Live in Philadelphia” recorded at Philly’s own major venue Union Transfer. This album drops on February 25.

We Were Promised Jetpacks has been brought back to Delaware on March 6th to Arden Gild Hall by Tric Town and Y-Not Radio. The 2nd act is an amazing lo-fi female rock duo from Scotland called Honeyblood. Newark, Delaware’s own Stallions opens the show.

Jetpacks music is the featured soundtrack of the new Philadelphia Eagles promotional video: 

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I had a chance to speak to the drummer, Darren Lackie of They Were Promised Jetpacks. They were in the middle of “nowhere” between L.A. and San Francisco travelling on the road, but I had a great conversation with Darren, and here is how it went:

I mentioned seeing the live photos the evening before of El Rey in L.A. on Facebook and was completely impressed and asked him what the concert was like. Darren said that everybody was pleased, and it rocked, and it was great to see so many people.

Jon: How does it feel to be back in the States?

Jetpacks (Darren): It feels great. We have been looking forward to this tour for quite a while. It has been about a year since we had a full American tour. So, it was really exciting to get out and play some new songs that we’ve been working on for the past year.

Jon: How is it different from the UK?

Jetpacks: More people come and see us here ( in the States)….

Jon: Awesome. You are coming across the US and you will make it to Delaware. For me (and many others) , it’s exciting, so what does it mean for you to come back to Delaware?

Jetpacks: Well, we got the ticket sales report and like comparison ….size of the venue…Delaware has the top selling ones which is really nice because I think we’ve been once so it’s great! We are looking forward to coming back!

Jon: I want to ask about the new live album which was recorded in Philly which was the last concert of the last tour? This live album comes across really strong. Can you talk about it?

Jetpacks: I think we tried to do a one-off show in Glasgow like there was nothing around and trying to get the feeling of gigs, and it didn’t sound very good; so, we thought to do it again at the end of a tour. It was quite a big tour for us….big show…we played Coachella that year and things like that so there were a lot of big shows…everyone was feeling good about that tour, and we recorded at the very end that run of shows. It gave us an opportunity to play live at the end and we really benefited from that.

Jon: I want to talk about the music scene in Scotland. There is a rich history of really good music coming out of Scotland. I love Simple Minds and after that I was into Primal Scream and Teenage Fanclub. Those 2 bands, I enjoyed probably as much or not more than Nirvana which came out at the same time… There is unique creativity coming out of Scotland. Can you talk about that?

Jetpacks: I’m not really sure, but it’s such a small place. Everyone is around and people kinda know about you. I agree with you…there is a lot coming out of Scotland but not sure why it happens or the reasons. Everyone bands together and everyone knows each other. We play off of each other.

Jon: What about those people who are not familiar with your music? How would you describe your sound?

Jetpacks: It changes as we have been getting older…We started out with a more poppy feel to our songs and music and then with our last album we went a bit heavier, a bit more rocky, and this time around we were cutting back on the mix… more overly expansive guitars cutting down on that a bit. We are making accessible, more enjoyable songs again.

Jon: What is on tap for the rest of 2014?

Jetpacks: We just finished recording our 3rd album just before flying out to the States…maybe in the Fall. There will be a lot of sorting out things for getting this album out. We have a festival in the summer, but this is our main tour for most of the year until the new album comes out. So, then it will be a quiet one on the gig front until later on in the year…a lot of planning and organizing to be done.

Jon: So maybe some new material later on?

Jetpacks: Yeah, a new album out in the Fall and tour. Maybe a single before that. We are not 100 % sure.. We’ll be back in America, Europe, and the UK….

Jon: I think a lot of fans will love it. Thank you, Darren. We’ll see you in Arden!

Get you tickets for the upcoming show as they are going fast! 

Date, Thursday March 6, 2014 – 8 PM (Doors 7:30 PM) –$15 advance or members, $18 day of show.

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Jon Crary is an avid music fan. Jon's roots are the late 70’s punk and the new wave scene, but his influences are early 70’s glam- Roxy Music and David Bowie. His tastes evolved in the 80’s to include his influences’ copiers – Japan, Duran Duran and New Order. He hosted a radio program where Echo and the Bunnymen and the Smiths were staples. Now, their legacy is well documented. Many people think he has great taste in music, and he actually has a good record collection. He is also a semi-musician having played the bass guitar in a French garage rock band. Now, you will see him enjoying the new music of this and the last decade…thanks to Interpol “Turn on the Bright Lights” album for which he will forever be grateful for revitalizing music for the new generation and old.

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