by Christine Povey
the Carillon

"We perform for the fans, always." -Jagori Tanna

If there is one thing I Mother Earth wants the fans to get out of a concert, it is to come back and tell their friends about it.

After their concert this past Monday, it is evident they have definitely done their work.

Lead singer Brian Byrne and guitarist Jagori Tanna both agree that the tour has been going very well so far. They don¹t mind the long days and the hard work they have to do. They also realize how lucky they are to be doing what they love so much.

³It¹s your living,² says drummer Christian Tanna.

³If you think about it, a lot of bands bitch about goin¹ on the road, and being in a bus...oh yeah, when you¹ve got a bus with satellite, a stereo, tons of booze and all your best buddies. Like, grow up!² Byrne adds. ³There is no true hard part of touring.²

After Edwin left, auditions for a new lead singer were necessary.

Enter Byrne, a young ³squeegie-kid²from Newfoundland looking for a band. Though they ignored his demo tape at first, they finally got around to listening to it.

Next thing Byrne knew, he was in Toronto jamming with I Mother Earth. The minute he left the room at the audition, the rest of the band knew Byrne was going to be the new singer. Byrne, however, had a rough time getting informed about being in the band.

They kept him in the dark for about five months after he first auditioned. He was finally told one night when they were hanging out at Christian Tanna¹s house and Byrne was told to take his shirt off.

Maybe being drunk was the only reason he did it, but it turned out for the best because they put an I Mother Earth shirt on him, informing him that he was in the band.

³They just put an I Mother Earth long sleeve shirt on me, and said ŒOpen your eyes! You made the team!¹ It was like getting onto a hockey team, it was pretty cool,² remembers Bryne.

The reaction to the new singer from the fans has been incredible. It shows that the true fans realize that they still ARE I Mother Earth, and they still perform for the audience even though the lead singer is different.

Jagori Tanna and Byrne are both very enthusiastic about touring, especially the two hours a night when they play. However, they do find it hard being away from family, and finding good sandwiches, though they comment the catering here seemed more than adequate.

³I like these buns...I don¹t know what kind of buns they are, but I like them,² Byrne comments while eating his third sandwich.

Perhaps it was their love of the catering but Byrne and Jagori Tanna, along with bass player, Bruce Gordon, and Christian Tanna put their hearts and souls into the performance Monday night.

Their high-energy show started with ³Cloudpump² a song off of their new album Blue Green Orange. As they alternated songs from Scenery & Fish and Blue Green Orange, they played the new single ³All Awake². During this a fan [the writer!] got kicked in the face by a crowd surfer, wound up with a bloody nose, and had to be hauled out of the room. She had a very quick recovery, and was back in the front row for the next song, ³Love Your Starfish².

Near the end of the concert, Byrne began to get rowdy by climbing on the speakers and on top of the barrier, enticing the audience. They finished the show off with yet another crowd favorite, ³One More Astronaut².

I Mother Earth put on an unforgettable show and it¹s apparent that they do perform for the audience, not for themselves.

Byrne and Jagori Tanna both said their goal in performing is to get people to say they¹d go to another show if they had the chance ‹ and for the audience to realize how much is being put into each show. They obviously won over the Regina crowd.

³We perform for the fans, always, I get in [the concerts] for free. We look at it like, if somebody is going to spend, especially a lot of students and stuff, they don¹t have any money to spend. But they¹re forking it over for you to come and do your best, we¹re going to play a full set. We¹re not going to cut out songs just Œcause we feel like it. That would be bad,² explains Jagori Tanna.

And if you¹re asking ŒWhy Blue Green Orange?¹ instead of another colour, like purple, Byrne has a very quick response to that.

³Purple is the colour of sexual frustration...none of us are sexually frustrated.²