This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
SafetySuit frontman Doug Brown has a rather distinct memory of a previous visit to Utah.
"We were opening for Daughtry in Salt Lake, and … I threw a pick out into the crowd, and my arm just flew out of the socket, dislocated [my shoulder] onstage," he recounted in a phone conversation earlier this month. "That was during the second-to-last song, so I sat down on Tate [Cunningham]'s drum riser and sang 'Stay' as the final song with my arm hanging out. I thought I was being courageous, but I think most of the people were pretty grossed out!"
With anecdotes such as that, you'd be hard-pressed to dispute his subsequent claim that "I think — I hope — that we have earned the reputation of a great live show."
Brown & Co. will be out to prove it yet again when SafetySuit emerges from a three-year-plus hiatus to play The Complex in Salt Lake City on Tuesday.
And fear not, ye squeamish would-be concertgoer — "We'll keep all of our appendages attached" this time, Brown promised.
He figures, after all, that fans of SafetySuit have been left hanging quite long enough.
The alt-pop band has not had a full-length studio album since 2012's "These Times." Since then, the musicians left their label and planned on a yearlong hiatus to restructure their organization, plus another extended period of time off to write and record their follow-up. When they relaunched their website almost a year ago, and it displayed only a line from an LL Cool J song — "Don't call it a comeback" — fans were certain a return to touring and a new album were imminent.
And then … nothing.
Brown said the band encountered unanticipated legal entanglements in extricating itself from the contract with Universal Republic and altering the management situation, then saw negotiations with another label it had expected to join ultimately disintegrate. On top of that, after spending the bulk of six straight years touring nearly nonstop, there was a desire in the ranks to further delay the return to the grind.
"Once you kind of get out of it for a second, it's almost like we all took a breath," Brown said. "Guys had started families. … We really took advantage of the time at home, and spending time with family and friends, and making sure that we were juiced up, ready to go, had something to say."
Apparently, there's been no shortage of that.
Brown said, "We have more songs than we know what to do with, as far as songs for an album," though he still has no firm timetable on a potential release date, noting it "really just hinges on making sure we have enough momentum on a single to support that release."
For what it's worth, he suggests, "It'll be coming sooner than you think," pointing out that the band's most recent single, "Looking Up," has been getting airplay exclusively on XM radio since its October release, but is soon to transition to the FM airwaves.
All that said, he's cognizant of appeasing what he acknowledges has been a loyal-albeit-restless fanbase. He recognizes SafetySuit is lucky to still have a fervent following in this "what-have-you-done-for-me-lately business."
"For the most part, our core fans, the army that they are, have been in full force. And they've been badgering us every day! There's one guy who tweets us almost every day — almost angrily! — about, 'When's the new record coming out?!' So we hope to give him some good news soon," Brown said. "… It's funny, man. They are invested, and they want answers. We'll post pictures of us eating at Cheesecake Factory or something, and most people are like, 'Cool! I wanna go, too!' And then there's one guy: 'But where's the album?!' They don't want us eating, sleeping, having any sort of interaction until that album's done."
The particularly fanatical will have to settle in the interim for catching new tracks at the live shows, where Brown promises "an equal spread between the three albums."
He also promises SafetySuit's return will have been worth the wait.
"We bring a bunch of energy, a bunch of passion. We've been playing a bunch of these songs for 10, 12, 13 years, but we try to play 'em like it's the first time every night. Fans should expect that same level of intensity and energy, and great new songs that they've never heard but hopefully are gonna love on the first listen," he said.
"Everything should be looking up, and it should be a strong start to what's going to be a really great year for this band."
Provided, of course, no one dislocates a shoulder onstage.
Twitter: @esotericwalden —
With Connell Cruise.
When • Tuesday, Feb. 2; doors at 7 p.m.
Where • The Grand @ The Complex, 536 W. 100 South, Salt Lake City
Tickets • $17 advance, $20 day of; Smith's Tix, showclix.com