New Brunswick act steals to Jasper

Jasper has hijacked a performance date by Grand Theft Bus on June 25 at the Atha-B, as the band tours Western Canada promoting its new album Made Upwards.

Though the New Brunswick band has toured Alberta in previous years, this will be its first performance in town and bassist Graeme Walker said the guys are looking forward to taking in the scenery.

“We’ve always heard awesome things about Jasper, that it’s potentially the most beautiful town on the West coast,” he said. “And with lots of people travelling, it’s a big opportunity for us to play for people from all over.”

Marc LeBlanc, owner of Liquor Lodge, was instrumental in bringing the band to town.

“They’re from my hometown and I knew they were putting out a new album,” he said. “The reality is they’re super popular out east and it was an opportunity to bring a great band to Jasper.”

The band released Made Upwards on April 1 after working on it for a little over a year, and Walker said the album is very fresh.

“If the listeners dig into our back catalogue they’ll realize this one sounds a lot different than the previous two,” he said. “We really wanted to step outside what we’d done before.”

Described as playing a mix of genres ranging from pop to progressive rock, Grand Theft Bus’ sound is across the board, and concert-goers can expect an equally interesting performance.

“It’s going to be action-packed, one 90-minute set,” Walker said. “It’ll be a high-energy kind of rock show.”

The show is Wednesday, June 25 at 10:30 p.m. Tickets are $5 at the door.