Mandevilles Land Prestigious Gig Opening for Heart and Joan Jett

Serena Pryne and the rest of her bandmates in the engaging roots rock band The Mandevilles have been writing, recording and performing original music for long enough to understand that the road to rock and roll success is rarely smooth.

Over the past couple of years, the talented quintet from Welland, Ontario has truly experienced the potholes, sharp turns, steep hills, and rollicking s-bends on their journey, but after a particularly rough patch in recent months, the group’s fortunes seem to be headed back onto the smooth flowing freeway (to thoroughly beat the ‘road’ metaphor to death.).

That’s because The Mandevilles have been selected to open for rock legends Heart and Joan Jett as they take a swing through the Great White North on their North American tour. The 10-show run begins March 7 in Abbotsford, BC, ending March 21, in Ottawa, with a March 20 date at the Sony Centre for the Performing Arts in Toronto.

The only hiccup marring what is a glorious opportunity is the fact that the entire band is not performing. Only vocalist Pryne and her long-time musical partner Nick Lesyk will be on stage, doing an acoustic set before Joan Jett’s set, with Heart capping the evenings off. Bandmates Taylor Laslo, Brett Bendo and Waylon Glintz will not be part of the tour, but certainly will be with Pryne and Lesyk in spirit as everyone connected with The Mandevilles understands what an amazing opportunity awaits.

“It is unfortunate that it can’t be the whole band, but we’re still going out there as The Mandevilles, and it was the music we made as a band that, I guess, caught the attention of Ann and Nancy Wilson (Heart’s founders) because they were the ones who chose us,” said Pryne, adding that the band’s booking agent submitted their name and samples of their music, including tracks from their most recent album, 2014s Windows and Stones in hopes of landing the gig.

“It’s kind of like applying for a job; you don’t know if you’re going to get it because you’re up against whoever else is being submitted. There could have been hundreds of other bands considered, we don’t know. But they picked us out of the lot and they really liked what they heard. And it was the Wilson sisters themselves who chose us, so that’s pretty cool.”

Pryne said she and Lesyk are obviously proud and excited to be chosen.

“It’s completely nuts. We couldn’t believe it at first because it wasn’t something we expected at all. When our name was submitted our agent was saying, ‘hey, they’re looking for an acoustic opener, do you want me to throw you guys into the pile just to see?’ And even though we’re a band and mostly play as a full band, we said sure, go ahead, what have we got to lose? And then we ended up getting it, which is just crazy! It’s so unbelievable,” Pryne said, admitting that the gravity and awesomeness of the opportunity probably won’t hit them until they walk into the venue in Abbotsford for the first time and see the big stage, the big sound and lighting rigs and the size of the audience that will be in front of them.

“We’ve been on tour before, but obviously because of the magnitude of the tour, it’s way more thrilling than anything else we’ve done. We’ve not done anything like this on this scale where it’s really professional and there’s a lot of money behind the production and staging and everything. And we know what a great chance we have to impress a whole lot of people. We’ve done lots of touring overseas where we’ve had to do the same kind of thing, play an acoustic set in front of a bunch of people who’ve never heard us before. So our job is to keep people entertained, get them excited for the show and not f***ing  bore them to death. But you know, that’s how we basically approach every show.”

Both Heart and Joan Jett are esteemed members of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and are considered pioneers and role models for thousands of female rockers who have followed in their impressive, chart-topping wake.

Heart has been a top recording act since their breakout 1976 debut Dreamboat Annie and have sold nearly 40 million albums worldwide, with hit songs like Barracuda, Magic Man, Heartless, These Dreams, Alone, and All I Want to do Is Make Love to You still staples of rock radio.

A former member of the punk-inspired all-female band The Runaways, Joan Jett also raced up the charts with her first album, I Love Rock And Roll, with the title track going on to be one of the biggest hits of 1981. She also hit the charts with a rockin’ cover of the 1968 classic Crimson and Clover as well as I Hate Myself for Lovin’ You later in the 1980s.

“Of course I understand their importance, not just to females in rock, but to rock music in general – how could I not? I would have to have been living under a rock and just not paying attention to music not to understand their impact. I remember seeing pictures of Joan Jett and thinking how badass she is.  And also knowing just the playing ability of the Wilsons, because they are phenomenal musicians – most guys couldn’t play and write like that. So it’s not even about being a woman or man any more, they’re all just great players. Of course they’re inspiring to me. They are people I very much look up to,” she said.

“We as a band are really influenced a lot by that 1970s rock vibe and the fact that Heart are such Led Zeppelin fanatics too is amazing. I just really gravitate to that sound. It was amazing watching them do Stairway to Heaven at the Kennedy Centre Honours a couple of years ago.

“I hope that we can definitely shoot the shit with them at some point on the tour. I know on the first night we go out there we have a rehearsal and I am hoping that we will meet everybody that night and just get on with it.”

Pryne, Lesyk and their bandmates are also hoping to get on with the process of writing and recording another album at some point in the near future.

The Mandevilles is the latest incarnation of the musical collaboration between Pryne and Lesyk, one that dates back to the turn of the millennium. After plying their trade in a number of cover bands throughout the Niagara region, the pair struck out on their own, first in an original hard-rock band called Oliver Black, which was signed to a record label in the U.S. But the vagaries of the fickle music industry struck hard: the label went belly up and Oliver Black was left in limbo, eventually folding. Pryne and Lesyk returned home and re-vamped the project into what became The Mandevilles.

Windows and Stones was an excellent album, but Pryne believes it wasn’t given the appropriate push by their label. In an article in the Niagara Falls Review, Lesyk said The Mandevilles had also gone through a rough patch, including splitting with their former manager.

“Yeah, we had been going through a rough patch this past year but I think we’re looking at this tour as kind of a life preserver that’s been thrown to the band. I think it could really get us back on track. We went through the usual industry woes. There’s a cycle – until you can finally break through to a certain plateau, there’s always going to be a lot of ups and downs. So we’re going to do our best to take advantage of this tour and see if it re-energizes the band,” Pryne said.

“I am always writing anyways. It’s now about going in and finishing the songs and getting into the headspace where we’re going to go in and make a record. And after this tour, we’re going to be open to any kind of touring possibilities. We will see what happens.”

For more information on The Mandevilles, visit http://heymandevilles.com/

• Jim Barber is a veteran award-winning journalist and author based in Napanee, ON, who has been writing about music and musicians for a quarter of a century. Besides his journalistic endeavours, he now works as a communications and marketing specialist. Contact him at jimbarberwritingservices@gmail.com.

 

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