Entertainment

A local band got a last minute surprise as they found out Friday night at 11 p.m. they were opening for rock group Stone Temple Pilots in Victoria Saturday.

Brendan Stoneman, guitar player for Run the Red Light and speaking from his hotel room in Vancouver, says his group's CD came across the desk of STP's guitar player Dean DeLeo at just the right moment.

"They were having trouble finding an opening act for Victoria," says Stoneman. DeLeo had listened to a number of bands, says Stoneman, and rejected them all before listening to Run the Red Light's self-titled EP.

"We were told on Friday morning that we were in the running, that this might happen," says Stoneman. "At 11 p.m. Friday night we were told it was going to happen."

Stoneman, who is a Kelowna realtor by day, booked an 8 a.m. flight to Vancouver to meet up with his band mates, only to discover he and several other passengers were actually booked for an 8 p.m. flight. Stoneman says he had no choice but to drive to Vancouver and managed to make it there for the 1 p.m. ferry to Victoria.

He says playing at the Save On Centre in Victoria was an experience like no other.

"We've played other large groups when we were Retrograde (Run the Red Light's former name) but an arena show is so different, the acoustics are so different."

Stoneman says he couldn't even describe the feeling of being onstage, opening for a band he respects.

"The adrenaline... we were so pumped. And to be in direct support for this show, it was an amazing experience."

Stoneman says they played a 45 minute set and were the only opening act for the show, which featured about 4,000 frenzied fans in the 6,000-seat arena.

Stoneman says while they're hoping a last minute-glitch means they get to play the Kelowna show on Monday, the show's opening act has already been confirmed.

The band got to chat with STP after the show for more than an hour, says Stoneman, an unusual experience for most opening bands. "Usually it's a wave or a hello or a 'Good set, guys', but we talked to them for more than an hour."

Stoneman says he and a few band mates will be at Monday's show at Prospera and have been invited backstage.

Run the Red Light has come off a fairly successful year, with the release of their self-titled EP, an award for Rock Song of the Year by the John Lennon Songwriting Competition, and are currently in the Top 20 for a local Vancouver radio station's Peak Performance Project, with a $150,000 marketing prize.

Watch for Castanet.net's review of STP at Prospera Place Monday.

Link: Run the Red Light's website Link: Run the Red Light on Facebook