Although the Trews will be in Banff to promote their new-self titled album next week, it’s an old classic that Canadians have been connecting to over the past few days.
In the wake of their 10th anniversary, the Canadian rock icons recently began touring to support their fifth studio album.
First they stopped in Montreal to play a campus bar. Then they held their breath, along with the rest of the nation.
The band’s next show was scheduled for Thursday in Ottawa, one day after the tragic shooting that saw Corporal Nathan Cirillo gunned down while standing guard over the National War Memorial.
“We were scheduled to leave mid-afternoon (on Wednesday) when it all happened and we were waiting to see if we would even have shows to play, because everything was playing out in real time. The venue we were playing was in one of the lockdown areas, so nobody knew if or when it was going to get lifted. It was minute-by-minute,” said guitarist John-Angus MacDonald.
The band did end up travelling to the capital city later that night. MacDonald said there was still a very heavy police presence in the downtown core the following day.
“There’s a definite palpable vibe of sorrow in the air — all the flags are at half-staff and everybody’s talking about it,” said the guitarist.
The band was scheduled to make an appearance on CTV Morning Live Ottawa to promote their new single “Rise in the Wake.” Instead they opted to perform a well-known classic, “Highway of Heroes,” in honour of the tragic events in both Ottawa and St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Que.
“It just didn’t feel right under the circumstances to play anything but that song,” said MacDonald.
The Highway of Heroes is a stretch of highway in Ontario that extends from Trenton to Toronto and is used by funeral convoys to take fallen Canadian personnel to the coroner’s office in Toronto.
It is the same stretch of highway that was used to transport the body of Cpl. Cirillo to his family in Hamilton, Ont. on Friday.
A crowd-favourite at all their concerts, the song was inspired by the death of Capt. Nichola Goddard from the band’s hometown of Antigonish, N.S., and the first Canadian female soldier killed in combat, but has “a new poignancy” in the wake of recent tragedies.
“That’s what the song is about — it’s a song for all of the troops, particularly the fallen troops. It’s just the most recent incident, just such a tragic and senseless loss. Certainly applicable on a day like today,” MacDonald told The Crag on Thursday.
All proceeds from the sale of the single continue to support the Canadian Hero Fund, a charitable organization, which supports military personnel and their families by providing children and spouses with post-secondary scholarships.
The Trews will be supporting a different charity during their performance at Wild Bill’s on Nov. 8. They will play alongside Lexi Strat, Brad Brewer Band and The Watchmen as part of Team Invade Banff’s 9th annual fundraising event for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society of Canada.
The show starts at 5 p.m. and tickets are available at teaminvadebanff.com.