Their Van Was Wrecked,

But Not Their Hopes

A band can only play hometown shows for so long before they need to spread their sound into the unknown — and that first tour can be a miserable failure or a first step into rock stardom. Taking it in stride is the only way to stay sane when you’re out there risking it all for a chance at winning over a few more fans.

Two short hours into their first jaunt outside of Alberta, a mishap befell The Raptors that would have caused more faint-hearted bands to turn around and call it a day. “We’re, like, 10 minutes outside of Edson and we hit some ice, and ... demolished our trailer,” says Raptors frontman Jon Lovell with a laugh. “Right out of the gates we ran into trouble. We barely made it to our first show in Victoria. But we’re committed to doing this. We’re not slowing down. As long as no one got injured or killed, we’re good. The show must go on.”

The band has chosen not to take that accident as a bad omen. Sure, their trailer got destroyed, but that’s only a tiny setback on their road to success — their definition of success, anyway. “I suppose your definition of ‘making it’ depends on many things. Is it selling millions of records, being world-tour famous and opening up for U2? That’s maybe something I thought about when I was maybe 16, but now that I’ve been playing music and playing in bars for 10 years, it’s not really what I aspire to do. Maybe I aspire to be potentially making my living doing this, but we take it in little steps. For our first full-length, my goal was to sell 1,000 records, and we did that. Now we want to take it on tour and see if people are receptive to it. It’s important to take positive steps forward and try not to become stagnant.”

The drive to get outside of Edmonton is a big step for Lovell and The Raptors, who are rounded out by Terence Sanan and Orion Schelle. They cut their teeth playing shows in Edmonton, but now it’s time to venture outside their comfort zone.

“A lot of bands that play for a while see a bit of success with all of their friends coming out and then they sort of stop,” Lovell says. “But there’s a huge difference between friends and fans. In your own city, you can always get friends to come out and see you play, but when you tour, you have to develop and find people that honestly appreciate and love music and not just be your friends. When we’re playing, I don’t care if it’s for 100 people or it’s for one. The show must go on. It has to go on!”