Said The Whale played The Mansion on Mar. 10 as part of their cross-Canada tour.
Formed in 2007 by Ben Worcester and Tyler Bancroft, Said The Whale is a Juno award-winning indie rock group based in Vancouver. The band is on the road supporting their seventh album, Dandelion, which they released in October 2021.
“We made this record through the pandemic, over a year and a bit of going in and out of the studio in chunks,” Worcester said in an interview with The Journal.
When Said The Whale performs for their fans, Worcester said he plays guitar while splitting singing duties with Bancroft depending on the song. He mentioned “Show Me Everything” and “Sweetheart” as two tracks from Dandelion he’s especially eager to play.
“We’re quite excited to get out and play the new material. It’s going to be awesome to play new songs for people. It’s going to be great to share.”
Said The Whale last played Kingston when they opened for Mother Mother in 2019, right before the pandemic began. Worcester’s partner had just given birth to their child at the time.
Last summer, the band played some one-off shows and were touring with Tokyo Police Club throughout November of 2021. Worcester raved about the experience, minus testing positive for COVID-19 after their final stop in Phoenix, that is.
“I was trapped in the US for two weeks in a hotel,” Worcester said.
“I’m forever grateful for vaccinations and modern medicine. Other people I know were hit hard by the Delta variant, but I was relatively okay, just exhausted [with no] sense of taste and smell. I just ate Chipotle every day for two weeks.”
As one of Said The Whale’s primary songwriters, Worcester explained how the pandemic influenced his and the band’s creative process.
“Personally, I feel I’ve done more song-writing during the pandemic than I have for a while,” he said. “Partially because my son is in daycare now, so during the week, I have actual free time to be creative, not just an hour here or an hour there. I’ve really been putting my nose to the grindstone and trying to [write songs] as an exercise.”
Worcester hopes the fruits of his creative streak will help him and the band reconnect with their fans after this prolonged period of separation.
“[The fans] allow us to live in this world where we get to be a band. During the pandemic, it was easy to lose sight of that—Zoom shows are amazing, but there’s nothing quite like playing in front of an audience and feeling the energy reciprocated between people.”
Avoiding a repeat of the Phoenix incident is also a priority.
“Above all, our goal is not to get COVID and have to cancel the tour,” Worcester said.
“It’s going to be a little different for us. We’re not going to be able to be as present with people after the show. We normally like to go out and meet people and sign stuff.”
More tour dates are available on Said The Whale’s website.
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