NEEDTOBREATHE’s next stop on their headlining tour, Tour de Compadres, will be at Marymoor Park (6046 W. Lake Sammamish Pkwy. N.E.) as part of its summer concert series.
The concert is Saturday and also features Switchfoot, Drew Holcomb and The Neighbors and Colony House.
Chad Butler, drummer for Switchfoot, described the tour as their dream tour as they love NEEDTOBREATHE and have always talked about touring with the Seneca, S.C.-based band.
“It just feels so right,” Butler said, adding that the name of the tour, Compadres (Spanish for friends or companions), “is fitting.”
Butler said they have gotten to know the guys from NEEDTOBREATHE and they have been talking about musical collaborations between the two bands. He added that there will also be some surprise elements in tomorrow’s concert, which begins at 6 p.m. (doors open at 5 p.m.), including all of them playing together in one form or another.
Switchfoot members, from left: Chad Butler, Drew Shirley, Jon Foreman, Tim Foreman and Jerome Fontamillas. Courtesy of Chris Burkard
Switchfoot, who are from San Diego, have played in the Pacific Northwest many times, but Butler said this will be their first time playing Marymoor. The band has played a number of Seattle venues including the Showbox and the Moore Theatre, as well as other venues around the state such as the Gorge Amphitheater in George.
“We love Washington,” Butler said. “I grew up listening to music out of Seattle.”
He listed Nirvana, Pearl Jam and Soundgarden — frontrunners in the 1990s grunge movement that put this area on the musical map — as some of the bands he enjoyed.
And while Butler has some really good memories of performing in the Pacific Northwest, such as hearing the entire crowd at one concert singing along to their songs, he is particularly looking forward to tomorrow’s performance. He said one of his favorite things to do is playing music outdoors during the summer.
“I like being underneath the stars,” he said. “Music sounds better outdoors.”
One outdoor performance in particular that Butler and his bandmates take part in every year is Bro-Am, an annual concert and surf contest Switchfoot puts on to benefit homeless youth and other local causes in their hometown of San Diego.
“It’s our favorite day of the year,” Butler said.
This year’s event was held July 11 and in addition to Switchfoot, included performances from the rest of the Compadres currently on tour with them as well as Brynn Elliott.
