Banter In Review (2007)

Year Banter In Review (2007):

The Con leaked all over the Internet. Let's be honest -- some of us listened in but we vowed to buy legit copies once it was officially released.

Sara participated in rapid eye movement therapy during the rehearsal process. After 26 years, she had a third party confirm that Tegan exists and talked a lot about her Mom...and Tegan! (who really does exist).

They kicked off the tour on July 14, 2007 in Victoria, British Columbia. On this leg of the tour they played The Con from back to front.

Only a few days into the tour, Tegan was already finding Sara's constant talking to be nerve wracking. According to Tegan, they had a hella inappropriate and awkward evening in Seattle.

While in San Francisco, Sara remembered a traumatic moment from her 22nd birthday.

They encountered the "vagina" yeller at Amoeba Records.

The Con was officially released on July 24th. "The album debuted at number 34 on the U.S. Billboard 200, selling about 19,000 copies in its first week. On week 2, the album fell out of the top 50, at #69, selling about 10,000 that week, totaling at 29,000." [source]

It was a sad day when Sara and Emy's pet goldfish died. Sara dedicated a song to him.

They picked up a third vocalist at the Fingerprints In-Store.

Hunter visited Malibu to play the shaker.

They played at Old Fort York / Rogers Picnic despite their fear of outdoor festivals.

They played Back In Your Head on Conan. Holy, that dude is tall, eh?

Sara made up her own rule at Hiro Ballroom about camera usage.

Dan's hair looked awesome.

A rowdy crowd in Brooklyn made Sara sad.

They performed a concert from WXPN and World Café Live in Philadelphia.

Al threw up after drinking vodka red bulls.

They were playing 2 hour shows and the "talking tour" was still annoying Tegan and also tiring out the band.

Tegan confessed to being a picky eater and gagging when she eats certain foods. In Detroit, Sara made fun of the way Tegan pronounced ava-CAD-o. As a result, no one heard the end of the avacado story until later in the tour.

They started to work on momentum.

Off to Europe they went! They visited the United Kingdom, Germany, Sweden, and Denmark.

They got crazy and climbed on their amps.

Ted celebrated his birthday in Komedia, Brighton.

Tegan didn't accuse a former neighbor of breaking into her house.

An interview with Kim Stolz popped up on MTV.

Sara ran out of things to say "for once."

They found out how fit they are.

Sara got emotional (or was it fe-motional?) on the way to London.

Tegan refused to play "My Number."

They play at the Malmo Festival and admired the attractive people.

In Munich, Tegan confessed to going through a phase where she wore MC Hammer pants and dressed up as a clown. Hey, whatever.

The microphone malfunctioned in Germany.

The new Tegan and Sara website launched.

They took some time off. Tegan attended a couple of concerts by choice, saw an art exhibit, floated fully clothed in a lake, visited the Vancouver Aquarium, and otherwise had a good time. [see blog entry]

Dan (bass player) went MIA but Shaun appeared.

Tegan and Sara turned 27! and celebrated their birthday in Vancouver.

They covered Umbrella in Victoria. Fans everywhere went nuts looking for the clip on YouTube.

Tegan and Sara encountered "tweekers" at the Red Deer concert. Sara went "Alberta" after an audience member caused the microphone stand to hit her in the face.

Sara verbally spanked someone in Toronto.

Tegan finally finished the story about ava-cad-os.

Sara admitted to being "cruel" to a couple of birds. PETA went psycho. Okay, just kidding about PETA.

Tegan and Sara were the artist of the week on MTV.

The video of The Con was released.

The break up was announced.

Sara shot a video with The Reason.

They spent 24 long hours in the tour bus driving from Tuscon to Boulder.

Sara scared Tegan by rambling about a monkey study on college radio.

I'll Take the Blame EP was released digitally (in some countries) on November 13th.

They were featured on NPR's Bryant Park Project.

YeboTV streamed the Columbus, Ohio show.

A fan fainted in the audience. Tegan offered her water bottle and Sara directed security.

Tegan (and company) hauled ass out of a restaurant in Seattle.

Tegan wore blue flashing glasses during Floorplan.

They flew to Australia.

Some people were under the weather.

Kaki King played with them.

Chris (the sound guy) celebrated his birthday in Australia.

Tegan released her 2007 in Review.

Sara had a fun time in the Ice Bar but Tegan refused to pay the $40.

Finally, the last show after being on tour for six months.

Wow, that was one hell of a tour!

Other Random Tidbits:

There were some mistakes:
[link], [link], [link], [link], [link], [link], [link], [link]

Along the way, they came up with different methods of dealing with the audience:
the verbal sprinkler method, yelling song titles in a group, being a crowd specialist, a verbal spanking, and finally...going Alberta.

There were random yellers and other behavior from audience members:
[So Jealous Guy], [The Vagina Girl], [Where Did All The Trees Go?], [Cute/Hot], [Gigantic Man Voice], [My Number], [Living Room].

And sometimes they talked about this behavior- [I Love You], [The Whistle], [New Castle/Fucking It Up] [You're Hot].

Random items were thrown on the stage:
bras, gum, a ring, undies, hockey pucks, paper, glasses, flowers, water bottle, etc.

Plus, the spin-off of Forest Fone launched. Six episodes of Trailer Talk have aired but someone might be over it.

If you read this far --
What was your favorite banter clip from 2007?