Brendan WalterTrain‘s Play that Song tour kicks off tonight in Las Vegas with opening acts O.A.R. and Natasha Bedingfield. Train’s touring behind their current album a girl, a bottle and a boat, and frontman Pat Monahan says he’s thought a lot about how to blend the new material with 20 years of hits.
Monahan says on Train’s last tour promoting their 2014 album Bulletproof Picasso, they played too many new songs. This time, he says they’ll pull that back a bit.
“I think it’s probably a better idea at this phase to maybe do four, maybe five,” he tells ABC Radio. “But I have a feeling, because this is a much more pop-appealing album than Bulletproof Picasso, that we’ll end up doing more, just based on what people will want.”
Of course, in addition to new tracks like “Play that Song,” you’ll hear all the hits, and they’ll be as nature intended: Don’t expect any reggae versions of “Drops of Jupiter.”
“Just being a music lover, I kinda wanna hear it the way I sang it in my car, y’know?” says Monahan.
And as a music lover, he knows giving fans what they want is important.
“Sometimes I feel like I need to switch it up,” he tells ABC Radio. “And then other times I feel like that’s kind of [the] part of what we do that I should embrace.”
One thing that does change from year to year, though, is Train’s opening acts. Monahan says he’s looking forward to hitting the road with O.A.R., best known for their hit “Shattered (Turn the Car Around).”
“Marc from O.A.R. and I have become friends over the years, and he’s just gonna be nothing but a good time,” says Pat. “…Train fans are very excited about it, and hopefully O.A.R. fans will be as well.”
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