Last weekend I had the pleasure of playing with Long Way Down at Boonstock 2010. Boonstock has quickly become one of the premiere summer rock events in Alberta with over 25 bands including local and national acts (Past bands to play Boonstock include Three Days Grace, Shine Down, Offspring, Chevelle, Mathew Good, Papa Roach plus many more). It grows every year and this year was no different.

Long Way Down played on the main stage on Friday and we scored a backstage pass for the whole weekend. We had a wicked set even though playing outdoors at festivals can sometimes be a little hectic and crazy… very in and out, no sound check, use the festivals backline, etc. Although we did have an awesome sound guy and stage crew, those guys are amazing!

After our set on Friday we ended up coming back that day as it started raining and we had no desire to sleep in a tent in the rain. We went back to the city, ate dinner, power napped, and headed to the Taphouse in St Albert to watch Econoline Crush! They put on a great show as always, and we all drank enough to drown a school of fish. It was an awesome day all in all… and the next day was even better.

So come Saturday we headed back out to Boonstock in the afternoon, making sure to be there with enough time to catch Chevelle’s entire set. Our backstage pass was extremely handy at this point. We brought our cooler full of beer backstage and patiently awaited for Chevelle to hit the stage. When the band started playing we went out the front backstage area (the stage viewing area for people backstage I guess you could call it).

There set was AMAZING! Thoroughly rocked my face right off. After they were done we got to hang out and drink with their bass player, although this didn’t stop me from introducing myself to all of the boys from Chevelle and got them all to sign a copy of the New Living Illusion Disc (Also gave them a copy of it as well!). Needless to say… one of the best weekends of my life…

And now I’m done typing.

Shane Lamotte
shane@livingillusion.com
http://www.livingillusion.com

Alright it’s finally time to hit the stage and once again do what we enjoy most, rocking out hard and heavy on stage for your entertainment! After a year and a half long hiatus from playing live we’re finally coming back for an awesome night of hard rock to kick off the launch of our new album! On Friday April 9th the Starlite Room on 10030 102 Street NW in Edmonton, AB will be hosting us for our CD Release Party. Sharing the stage with us will be Grounded Star and our favorite Canadian band and previous Sonic Band of the Month Winner PORTAL!

To say you have to be there would be an understatement… YOU MUST BE THERE! It’s going to be a wicked show, with an amazing line up and at a great live venue as well, plus you can pick up a copy of our brand new album which is being released at the show. Over a year in the making, the new album showcases the evolution of Living Illusion with a focus on quality, progression, and a refined style of songwriting… and it sounds freaking HUGE! It’s been a long time coming and we’re all stoked to finally get to share it with the world.

Here’s some more show details:

Doors open at 9:00PM

Grounded Star – 10:00PM
http://www.myspace.com/groundedstar

Living Illusion – 11:00PM
http://www.myspace.com/livingillusion
(New Songs to be Posted Mid to Late March)

Portal – Midnight
http://www.myspace.com/portalband

Tickets are only $10!

Call me (Shane) @ 780-904-7625 or email shane@livingillusion.com to get tickets.

See you there!

Shane Lamotte
shane@livingillusion.com
http://www.livingillusion.com

What a rough Monday it was after our show on the 19th, although the rough Monday meant it was a pretty damn good weekend, and a good weekend it was. On Friday we hit the stage at the Starlite Room with two incredible bands, Pure City & Atlas Shrug. Both bands were freaking amazing and it was killer to share the stage with those guys, hopefully we’ll be playing together at some shows in the future.

All in all the show was really fun. The crowd was good, and the night was great. When we got there for sound check it took quite a while to get everything together as I brought in a bunch of recording gear to record feeds off the mixing board. Our sound guy did a great job of putting it all together and a special thanks to him for not killing me when I told him we wanted to do multi-track recording with out any heads up.

We were the last band to go on, and I must admit we weren’t as tight as we usually are and we had to sacrifice some decibel levels in order to do a proper recording, but either way it was still fun and we had a good crowd stick around and watch. To say the least, thanks to Art Szabo (You Rock Dude!) for an enlightening last show before we head into the studio to record the New EP.

To finish the night we we’re lacking wheels so three car loads of gear in my Focus later I made it home around 4:30am and passed out only to wake up the next day and head out to the Portal CD Release Party and do it all over again (minus the performing on stage, loading gear, etc). Yah… I’ve got nothing else to write, lol.

Shane Lamotte
shane@livingillusion.com
http://www.livingillusion.com/wordpress/

Join us at the Starlite Room for an evening with some of the best progressive hard rock Alberta has to offer! Not only will you get to see us and the band from Calgary that opened for Ashes Divide (Pure City), you will also get to see the wickedly toolish sounds of Atlas Shrug. The show is entitled “A Night for the Progressive Thinker” and it’s gonna freaking ROCK!

Living Illusion:
http://www.livingillusion.com

Atlas Shrug:
http://www.atlasshrug.ca

Pure City:
http://www.myspace.com/purecity67

Time and Place
————–
Start Time: Friday, September 19, 2008 at 9:00pm
End Time: Saturday, September 20, 2008 at 1:00am
Location: Starlite Room
Street: 10030 – 102 Street
City/Town: Edmonton, AB

Call me at 780-904-7625 for Tickets. Hope to see you there!

Shane Lamotte
shane@livingillusion.com
http://www.livingillusion.com/wordpress/

P.S. You should definitely come hang out with us at Portals CD Release Party the next day, Saturday the 20th of September at Jet Nightclub!

What an awesome night, I can’t even begin to explain how great that show was. There was hundreds of people packed into the Starlite Room ready to rock out to some wicked progressive hard rock, and they got exactly what they asked for. Being back on stage felt like I had just come home after a year long vacation. I remember when I got the phone call asking us to open for ASHES dIVIDE and when I think about it, it still sends chills up my spine. I’m amazed that we pulled it off, and sounding freaking awesome all the while.

Two weeks ago if you would’ve asked me when our next show was going to be, I would’ve most likely said sometime in October, but things can change in a drop of a hat. One phone call had me scrambling to find a new bass player, a jam space, a sound system, etc. There are somethings in life that you just don’t pass up, and this was one of them. With the whole band being long time fans of A Perfect Circle there was no way in hell we weren’t going to step up to the plate for this show.

Our last gig was almost ten months ago, and we hadn’t rehearsed as a full band in a very very long time. After my insane scrambling to pull everything together for practicing, it left us with about 10 days to rehearse before the show… and we didn’t waste anytime. We had 8 rehearsals in just 10 days; from having the cops come by for our noise complaint to playing in plus thirty heat above a convenience store, we rocked out hard and heavy in our jam space. It was truly a testament to our desire to be on stage with Ashes Divide and get out there in the scene again.

In the end it all payed off, and the show was a huge success. Our new bass played did an amazing job, our drummer rocked out harder than I have seen in ages, and Jay and I had an freaking great time on stage. Special thanks to Art from the Starlite Room, Byron from Live Nation, Kevin and the boys from Portal, and obviously all the guys in Ashes Divide. AND a BIG thanks to all the fans that came out and the people that helped to make the show possible. We appreciate all the support over the years and don’t intend on disappointing.

Shane Lamotte
shane@livingillusion.com
http://www.livingillusion.com/wordpress/

Edson Kinsmen Soft Ball Tournament – Edson, AB August 4th 2007

Just to give you a little back story on what this event is all about here is what their website has to say about it: “The Edson Kin Slo-Pitch Tournament is the largest of it’s kind on the planet, played at the worlds largest ball park “Vision Park” with 24 regulation sized diamonds in one park! This Tournament plays host to 256 Regular Division Teams and a 16 Team “Masters” Division, one HUGE beer gardens and thousands of players, fans and spectators. Can you say PARTY!?”

So this was the event that we got invited to play, and man we’re we stoked. It is boasted as having one of the largest permanent beer garden structures known to exist anywhere. This event even got listed as Maxim Magazines #2 Event to Get Laid At. It was an insane party, at least 5000 people were there rocking out like no tomorrow… was one hell of a memorable experience.

It lasted all weekend though we only played on Saturday night. Amber Haydey played on Friday and Brad Johner played on Sunday. As for our part of the event itself, we arrived in the afternoon on Saturday for sound check. After a couple of hours of getting all the sound issues hammered out we had finished and we’re ready to get some food before we had to take the stage.

Around 10:00 PM we hit the stage to thousands upon thousands of people ready to rock. The crowd was amazing. It was a sea of people in front of us having the time of their life. All I can say is “AWESOME!” We decided to close our first set with a cover “Killing in the Name of” which I sang, and got some of the crowd involved in too. Was definitely the high point for me that night.

As the night went on more and more people starting occupying the beer gardens, and we still had a second set to play. It was even rowdier and crazier during our second set. Playing for that amount of people on stage is just amazing. There is no real way to describe what it’s like, you just have to be there and experience it.

When all was said and done, it was a good night, lots of rock and lots of beer. And hey, even the ‘rents came out and took part in the experience. I could probably go on and on about the whole thing, but all in all, it rocked and I can’t wait to do it again.

Special Thanks to Lee Freezen of Freezen Hot Music, the Kinsmen Slo-Pitch Tournament and everyone who came out.

Keep Smiling,
Shane Lamotte

The Locker Room – Edmonton, AB – August 3rd 2007

The night before we had to play the Edson Kinsmen Slo-Pitch Tournament we decided it would be a good idea to play a gig and get our feet wet seeing as we hadn’t played for a live audience in a few months (It was essentially an extra practice). Luckily I was able to get a last minute gig through a friend of mine Paul Husband.

Paul connected me to the people at The Locker Room, whom oddly enough I already knew. It was Art from the old metal act Methodical Breed (Art was also in a band years ago with our drummer Sean). Art set us up a last minute gig at their venue downtown over by the Starlite room.

Art is there booking manager and head chef… odd combination but awesome none the less. So we got there pretty early as we had to run our own sound that night. After fighting with there system and multiple calls to there usual sound guy we got everything hammered out and set up.

A few of our friends made there way over to the venue and there were a good number of people in the room for us to play to. We essentially played the same two sets of music that we were going to be playing the next night in Edson. Needless to say the crowd was impressed.

I was surprised by how nice and low key the venue was, people were actually coming in off the street and into the bar simply because they heard us playing…. Got to love that. We rocked out our usually style, sold some CDs, and T-Shirts, and like it began the night was over.

We got some free beer and hung out with friends for a while before we called it a night and tore all our gear down.

Heh…
Shane Lamotte

Starlite Room w/ Econoline Crush – Edmonton, AB – April 16th 2007

This was probably by far one of my most memorable experiences to date with being in a band. Between the simple email from Brent Oliver saying “Want to open for Econoline Crush” all the way to the actually experience of playing the gig itself, the whole thing kicked serious ass.

Growing up in the 90’s and early 2000’s Econoline Crush was a household name in Canada. Fuck I was on cloud nine for at least a month when I knew we got the gig, plus we were getting to play with “Art of Dying” another seriously kick ass Canadian indie rock band. Did I mention this gig was amazing?

So like any other gig we arrived for sound check with all our gear, but as we looked around we realized we were playing on monkey toys compared to the Stacks of gear that the other guys brought with them. After we loaded in I got introduced to Trevor Hurst lead singer of Econoline Crush. That was pretty cool. I also got to hang out with the guys in the green room.

So as the night progressed we were first to go on to a pretty packed house, playing our style of Toolish hard rock which every one thoroughly enjoyed. Being on stage knowing that in just a little bit Econoline Crush would be coming out was a very cool experience. Shit I listened to these guys when I was in Middle School. Big Shiny Tunes much?

So we played had a great time, and stuck around for the rest of the night to hang out and watch every one else play. After every one was finished I got a couple pictures of myself with Trevor and then called it a night (had to work in the morning).

In a nut shell, it was phenomenal and I can’t wait til’ I’m on the road playing with more great bands like the ones that we got to play with on this night.

Special thanks to Brent Oliver for thinking of us!

Happy & Fulfilled,
Shane Lamotte

Rock at the Ranch – Rangeton AB – Sept 2nd 2006

We we’re invited to play the “Band Ranch” event which happens every year and features a slew of bands. The event is organized and head up by Darryl Bowers. He saw us play at a show earlier in the year and invited us to come out.

some of the other bands that we played with include: S.O.S., Redline, Freeburn, Flynch, Scratch, Swarm, Fatty Jones, Rigveda, Portal, Shattered Core, Foof Doogan. All the bands we’re from different parts of Alberta.

We we’re slotted to play on Saturday night before Rigveda and Portal took the stage. A quick drive out of the city to the location and it was already time to do a sound check. Short and sweet (just the way sound check should be) we were ready to take the stage. As we were playing we could literally see groups of people making there way down to the stage.

The event is outdoors and there is camping on site, so as we played more and more people starting making there way out. It was pretty cool. By the time we had finished our set there was a nice following of people rockin’ out.

Since the night was still young we stuck around and watched the next bands that we were playing with. Every one at the event was very talented…

We hope to play another Band Ranch soon, and want to give a great big thanks to Darryl for calling us out to play. Next time, I’ll definitely be staying the night and getting wasted with the rest of the campers!

Happy & Fulfilled,
Shane Lamotte

Kings Knight Pub (Jet Nightclub) – Edmonton, AB – Sept 1st 2006

This was quite the show. Why you ask? Because previous members of the first incarnation of Living Illusion were at show and it was tons of fun. Some friends from Vancouver Island were at the show, including Brody Slater, Stacy Mack and Christina Cholfi.

So any way, we got the gig through the previous bass player of Stereo Therapy, Phil. We we’re playing with a bunch of bands for an Indie Rock weekend… As a side note, the Kings Knight Pub is now The Jet Nightclub. We played with Okacadet, Face First, Lipht, and The Omega Theory.

It was like any usual gig, except with more drinking, partying and rockin’ out. This was not the first time we played the Kings Knight so sound check along with every thing else was a breeze. When we were ready to play the crowd was full and the drinks were flowing.

We played some songs that we don’t usually play that night in honor of the previous LI members… You Got to… is 6 years old.

After the usual set we sold some CDs and hung out for the rest of the bands… well at least until Brody got kicked out for being toooo drunk. That was quite the experience. I swear to god the bouncer was going to kill him, but luckily I was there to save the day and get him the hell out of there before shit got outta hand.

Was definitely an interesting night.

If I could remember more I would write about it… hah…

Happy and Fulfilled,
Shane Lamotte