Bruce Peninsula was supposed to be on this tour last March. The record was done, the dates were booked, the celebrations had happened. And then frontman Neil Haverty was diagnosed with leukemia. After a hard winter, and teasing fans with videos for B-sides and covers (better known as the Bruce Peninsula Fire Sale) BP back to where it should have been last winter, piled into a van arguing over whether Iron Maiden of Les Mis should be their driving music. "It was always a really great goal for the future and having it to keep my mind on was very helpful," says Haverty, who's in remission now. "It feels almost like I'm officially in the clear 'cause i'm in the van." Rich with themes of redemption and letting go of the past Open Flames came together fast following their Polaris long-listed first LP A Mountain is a Mouth, which Haverty says took a very detailed oriented year-and-a-half to make. And while timing didn't pan out as planned this time, he says the distance may have worked in BP's favour. "It's like brand new when you listen to it again. We barely knew the songs at the time, we wrote and recorded them very quickly, so it has been really nice to try them on again."
Sat Oct 22, Bus Stop Theatre, 2203 Gottingen Street, 8:30pm, $10
