The Canadian 4-piece Alt Rock Band THE VEER UNION took the stage at the Curtain Club, one of the staples in Dallas live music venues, on Thursday, September 27, 2018. I have many fond memories and have seen some pretty kickass shows at this venue. It’s managed to survive the ebbs and flows of Deep Ellum, where other venues have come and gone with the tide. If you aren’t from Dallas and are planning to come to the area, you gotta check this venue out. One of the cool things about the Curtain Club is that upon selling out a show, a band will get a hand-painted placard that goes up on the wall at the club. Over the last twenty years, bands like JIBE, DROWNING POOL, REVEREND HORTON HEAT, FADED GRACE, DOOSU, ADAKAIN, SOUTH FM, and others. What’s so cool about these placards is many local bands and their members go on to do other things or they continue on to get signed.
In 2018, with the overhaul of the area and new venues, bars, restaurants, and shops coming into the area, a band can play on any night and have a decent night at any venue. The downside to this is that these other venues in the area and around DFW have the same outcome.
You may remember THE VEER UNION blasting the airwaves with their hit Seasons in 2009. I love this freakin’ song! Vocalist CRISPIN EARL delivered rock fans a mammoth hit with this song and put the band on the map. Fast forward to 2018, the band just released a new record in August, with electric and acoustic performances called DECADE II – ROCK AND ACOUSTIC. The band’s newest single Living Not Alive is the lead track and was just added to OctaneXM’s playlist.
This band is relentless as they committed to doing what they feel is their place or their destiny in life a few years ago when they were teetering on giving up music. CRISPIN told me before the show in Dallas, “We collectively bring our music as that thing that we do. We almost gave up but realized that this is what we want, it’s our work and so we do the work. We tour, interview, connect with fans, participate on social media, write music, and tour, hard.”
THE VEER UNION creates catchy hooks with guitar riffs from RYAN RAMSDELL and DAN SITTLER that alter themselves to the hook of CRISPIN’S voice. Through their performance, RICARDO VIANA maintains the bands racing tempo with his mad skills behind the skins which drive CRISPIN’S part of the performance to heights that can’t be reached by many. He is brilliant behind the mic and delivers just like you hear coming out from their records.
Now, I don’t mean this next statement in any ambiguous way or any offense to the band members or anyone that works with them. I mean this in a way that is sincere and just my own personal opinion, but I don’t understand why this band isn’t playing huge venues and touring with top bands. Maybe it’s because they’re more talented than some, maybe it’s because schedules conflict, or that they don’t want to, I don’t know. But their talent far supersedes a lot of mainstream bands and has over the last several years. CRISPIN has a strong, solid vocal range and pulls out some powerful performances anytime I’ve seen them play. Like I said before, RYAN, RICARDO, and DAN are in the same bracket because there’s no lackluster in their abilities on stage either. I enjoy this band and try to see them every time they’re in town.
THE VEER UNION recently recorded their version of Numb by LINKIN PARK. When I asked about how they picked the song Numb, CRISPIN commented, “Respect is exactly why we chose Numb. We identified with CHESTER BENNINGTON’S lyrics in the song. And we chose that song to memorialize him as well. Yes, “numb” can mean we all are numb with how much we rely on our phones and we aren’t connected to life around us. But we do love CHESTER and the legacy he left, and realize that we are numb to a lot of the things that are going on in the world today.” These guys are in tune with how they can continue to resonate LINKIN PARK’S message because they can share personal experiences. The connections they make through music and their willingness to use the talents they’ve been given to make differences in their world are what make these guys stellar musicians and people.
Not to mention, this band has a road warrior method of attacking music fans over Canada and the US. They are constantly on tour and appearing on radio stations, internet outlets, and satellite radio. If the band is going to be in your town, please make sure you go see them!
Tour dates are on the band’s Facebook page. Make sure you follow them on all of their social media outlets!
Here’s the video for their latest single Living Not Alive: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqxM9ir_zBI
Enjoy the pictures from their show in Dallas! All images © 2018 Cherri Bird/AntiHero Magazine
