After years of driving through town on their way to Phoenix, the Nashville, Tennessee, Christian pop band Sidewalk Prophets is finally making its Tucson debut.
We’re the last stop on the first leg of the band’s 21-city spring “Smile” tour, a trek that has taken them to historic theaters and megachurches throughout the Midwest, West Coast and Southwest.
“We’re getting close to the end and you guys are the grand finale,” lead singer David Frey said last week from California and concert stop No. 15 of the tour that started on Feb. 14. “That’s going to be a good night.”
The band will play a show at the Eastside Assembly of God on Thursday, March 12, 10 days before they headline a sold-out show at Nashville’s storied Ryman Auditorium.
“We’re really, really excited,” a downright giddy Frey said of that show, which will preview the band’s long-awaited album “The Things That Got Us Here”; “Smile” is the album’s first single.
“It’s been four years since we had a new record and we’re really excited,” he said. “We wanted to make an album that people could put in their car and just drive to.”
The Ryman show, which was on the books since the last fall, also comes as the band’s hometown is recovering from last week’s devastating tornadoes that leveled Nashville neighborhoods and business districts and killed at least 19 people.
“It’s our home and it will be an extra special night no matter what,” said the 37-year-old Frey, whose wife is expecting their first child in May — the same month that they will release the album. “The tornadoes and knowing what our friends are going through, it adds another element of realizing this is our community; we’re all in it together. ... We’re so excited to basically have a gift to our (fans).”
Frey said none of the band members’ homes were affected by the tornadoes, although their manager’s wife’s school was leveled.
Frey said that at times of tragedy and with the division that has gripped the country, his band’s faith-based music resonates more than ever.
“We truly believe that Christ is all about ... forgiveness and love and kindness,” he said. “We kick the word kindness down and we make it seem weak. But kindness is a powerful thing and I think even on this tour that is one thing we try to drive home: We are called to be kind to each other, gentle-hearted and forgiving one another. That’s from Ephesians 4:32 and that’s so important. I think those messages are straight from the word of God and people are desperate to grab onto that more than ever in the midst of all the anger.”
