Credit: Jesse JenkinsBastille, the band who brought you the smash hit "Pompeii," is one of several acts participating in this year's Mercedes-Benz Evolution Tour, which offers fans the chance to see free concerts and check out the car company's new models in select cities. The British group says participating in the tour gives them the opportunity to do at least a few shows this summer where they won't be playing outdoors in a muddy field.
"This summer is quite busy for us. We’re doing 30 or so festivals around the world and it’s really cool to just come and do a headline show again inside, not in the middle of the day in a field somewhere covered in mud -- actually in a venue with seats," laughs lead singer Dan Smith. "It’s cool. I mean, it’s really cheesy but we just really like playing gigs -- so any opportunity to do that is pretty fun."
In addition, Dan tells ABC Radio that during these shows, they're looking forward to introducing fans to some of the songs that will appear on their sophomore album, the follow-up to their debut, Bad Blood.
"We’re...coming to the end of the first album cycle and we’re writing our record, so it’s quite a nice excuse for us to go and play shows to fans where they can come for free and we can road test new tunes and see what they think," the singer explains.
"We haven’t been to America for a while so I think that’s quite cool to have an opportunity to come back over to the States, ‘cause it’s always fun to get back over here," bass and keyboard player Will Farquarson tells ABC Radio about another advantage of doing the Evolution tour.
As for when we can expect the new album, Dan tells ABC Radio that they're "quite far along" in the process, but he notes that at first, they were "sort of rushing to get things out." Then, he says, they "realized it would probably be a bit of a mistake to rush just for the sake of it. So we’ve got a lot of material and now it’s just about, I guess, curating the album ourselves."
Some of that curating will take place this summer as the band tests out their new songs on the crowds on the Evolution tour, and at all the festivals they've been doing.
"It’s been really, really cool getting to play the tunes at festivals and stuff," says Dan. "I always say, 'Right guys, I know you don’t know this, but let’s pretend that you do. So if you jump, it makes us feel slightly better about playing something no one’s ever heard before!'"
Sadly, the deal to participate in the tour doesn't come with a guarantee of free Mercedes for everyone, but Will says a fancy car like that would be wasted on him, anyway.
"I’m not a huge car man...‘cause I only learned to drive really recently," he laughs. "So I’m putting off getting a car that’s worth more than $500 until I [know I won't] crash it!"
Look for Bastille to perform on the Chicago and L.A. stops on the Evolution tour on July 29 and August 4. Visit MBEvolutionTour.com to find out how to get tickets.
Copyright © 2015, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.