2009: The Year of the Hurricane; a Retrospective

(banner credit: Bryant! Thanks!)

Year in Review

2009. Gone too soon? Perhaps. What isn't going away anytime soon is Switchfoot. One of the most eventful years in Switchfoot's recent history, 2009 saw the arrival of "Hello Hurricane," a triumphant declaration by a band in transition and a record that marked Switchfoot's spirited return to the music industry.

But it's also important to remember that 2009 saw the release of Jon Foreman's side project with Sean Watkins called Fiction Family. Their debut record, also titled "Fiction Family," wowed casual fans and diehards alike by showcasing Foreman's lyrical and musical versatility - it's not often you see a singer of a multi-platinum rock and roll band put down the electric guitar and pluck through some folksy, bluegrass-tinged soul tunes. And yet, here it was.

2009 also saw Switchfoot return to mainstream rock radio with "Mess of Me," which on the very last day of the year, entered the Top 20 of Billboard's Modern Rock/Alternative Songs chart. A harbinger of things to come? A forecast of an even brighter future for the band in 2010? Only time will tell, but before we move forward into 2010 (which I will call "The Year of the Foot," a borrowed reference), here is a retrospective look into what's happened in the past year. And boy, it was a great one!



January

7th:
*Switchfoot first tweets on Twitter

20th:
*Fiction Family releases their debut album “Fiction Family.”

February

*Fiction Family’s record debuts at No. 71 on the Billboard 200, and charts well on several other charts. 1

7th:
*Fiction Family tour ends in West Hollywood.

13th:
*Switchfoot plays a show in Guatemala for the first time.

27th:
*Switchfoot launches new, temporary website. 2

March

5th:
*Switchfoot reports they are “rounding 3rd base” on the new record. 3

30th:
*Switchfoot heads to Los Angeles to begin mixing the new record. 4

April

7th:
*Switchfoot mixes first song, “Hello Hurricane.” 5

23rd:
*Switchfoot announces that they had actually been recording 4 studio albums in their time in the studio. 6

24th:
*Switchfoot releases the album names for their next two studio records: “Hello Hurricane” in 2009. “Vice Verses” in 2010. 7

25th:
*Switchfoot plays Kansas City and participates in The Invisible Children Rescue there. 8

27th:
*It is released on LOBH that Switchfoot plans on releasing an EP of unreleased material, titled “Eastern Hymns for Western Shores.” 9

28th:
*Jon Foreman plays the new Switchfoot song, “Yet” for the first time while at UCSD

May

4th and 5th:
*Switchfoot and Andy Barron go into the desert in Niland County for “Hello Hurricane” photo shoot. 10 11

8th:
*Switchfoot debut the song “Hello Hurricane” over the PA system after a concert in Visalia, California 12

26th:
*Switchfoot announces tour with Blue Ocobter

28th:
*Switchfoot/Blue October “Crazy Making Tour” dates are announced

June

16th:
*Switchfoot announces the official tracklisting for “Hello Hurricane” on their Twitter account 13

18th:
*Switchfoot debuts “Mess of Me” live at the Big Ticket Festival in Michigan. “Hello Hurricane” also makes its live performance debut, with Jon Foreman playing it solo acoustic on his Mandolin. 14 15

21st:
“Bullet Soul” is debuted live in Lancaster, PA at the American Music Theater 16

July

9th:
* “Needle and Haystack Life” is debuted live at Spirit Song in King’s Land, Ohio. 17

13th:
* “Mess of Me” is announced officially as the lead single for “Hello Hurricane.”

16th:
* Switchfoot plays “The Sound” live for the first time in Memphis, Tennessee. 18

26th:
* Switchfoot embarks on the Crazy Making Tour with Blue October, Ours, and Longwave in Council Bluffs, IA

August

7th:
* Switchfoot announces that lowercase people records have decided to partner with Atlantic Records and EMI CMG for the world-wide release of “Hello Hurricane” 19

26th:
* “Mess of Me” debuts on the radio, playing on Atlanta’s 99x Modern Rock/Alternative station. 20

29th:
* The Crazy Making Tour concludes at Hampton Beach, NH.

September

1st:
*Switchfoot commences the “Mess of Me” hunt, a worldwide “scavenger hunt” in which the band and fans hid copies of the single in locations across the globe.

8th:
*Switchfoot unleashes the first music video for “Mess of Me,” a live montage-styled offering set to clips from the Crazy Making Tour

12th:
*First of two shows in which Switchfoot opens for Dave Matthews Band in Chula Vista, CA

13th:
*Second show Switchfoot plays opening for Dave Matthews Band in Irvine, CA

16th:
*Pre-sale for “Hello Hurricane” begins.

23rd:
*Switchfoot announces dates for the Fall 2009 leg of the Hello Hurricane Tour. 21

November

3rd:
*The official "Mess of Me" video releases on Youtube, garnering multiple honors



8th:
*Switchfoot’s “Hello Hurricane” tour begins in El Cajon, CA.


photo credit: RCamWhite

photo credit: Max Roper

photo credit: Andy Barron





10th:
*“Hello Hurricane” releases; the #hellohurricane hashtag reaches the No. 6 slot in Twitter’s Trending Topics





12th:
*Switchfoot performs on Jimmy Kimmel Live



19th:
*“Hello Hurricane” debuts at No. 13 on the Billboard 200, selling 39,000 copies in its first week.

*“Your Love Is a Song” features prominently at the end of an episode of “One Tree Hill.” The song lasts almost six minutes during that segment 23

December

2nd:
*Switchfoot performs on The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien



31st:
*"Mess of Me" hits the Top 20 on Billboard's Alternative Songs Chart

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We're Awakening's Hello Hurricane collaborative review with LOBH

The arrival of "Hello Hurricane" was obviously the highlight of 2009. My friend Jeanna from LOBH and I got our copies two weeks in advance, and we were so thrilled that we decided to share our thoughts with you all. Here is the review collab.

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Charts Summary

Albums
“Hello Hurricane”

Billboard 200: 13
Billboard Alternative Albums: 3
Billboard Christian Albums: 2
Billboard Rock Albums: 4

Singles
"Mess of Me"

Billboard Alternative Songs: 20
Billboard Rock Songs: 37
Billboard Christian Songs: 42

"Always"
Billboard Christian Songs: 20

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Switchfoot's 2010 Tour Dates

04/25/09
Kansas City, MS

05/08/09
Visalia, CA Fox Theatre

05/09/09
Santa Clara, CA Great America

06/18/09 Gaylord, MI The Big Ticket Festival

06/19/09
North Lawrence Ohio Clay's Park Resort

06/20/09
Toronto, ON
Phoenix Concert Theatre

06/21/09
Lancaster, PA
American Music Theatre

06/26/09
Del Mar, Ca Del Mar Fairgrounds

06/27/09
San Diego, CA Switchfoot Bro-Am

07/09/09
Kings Island, OH Kings Island: Timberwolf

07/10/09
Doswell, VA
King's Dominion

07/11/09
Kent, WA ShoWare Center (CANCELLED)

07/15/09
Willmar, MN Willmar Civic Center

07/16/09
Memphis, TN Minglewood Hall

07/17/09
Little Rock, AR Riverfest Amphitheater

07/18/09
Baton Rouge, LA Blue Bayou Water Park

07/24/09
Valparaiso, IN Porter County Fair

07/25/09
Des Moines, IA

08/07/09
Midland, TX Rock the Desert

08/12/09
Amarillo, TX John Stiff Memorial Park

Crazy Making Tour (W/ Blue October)











07/26/09
Council Bluffs, IA Stir Cove

07/27/09
Denver, CO Fillmore Auditorium

07/28/09
Salt Lake City, UT The Salt Air

07/31/09
Portland, OR The Crystal Ballroom

08/01/09
San Jose, CA San Jose Civic Auditorium

08/05/09
Los Angeles, CA The Wiltern

08/06/09
Las Vegas, NV House of Blues

08/08/09
Phoenix, AZ Marquee Theater

08/09/09
El Paso, TX Abraham Chavez Theater

08/13/09
Charles, LA L’Auberge Casino Lake

08/14/09
Houston, TX Verizon Theater

08/15/09
Dallas, TX House of Blues

08/16/09
Dallas, TX House of Blues

08/20/09
Louisville, KY 4th St. Live

08/21/09
Atlanta, GA The Masquerade

08/22/09
Myrtle Beach, SC House of Blues

08/23/09
Baltimore, MD Rams Head Live

08/27/09
Atlantic City, NJ House of Blues

08/28/09
New York, NY Terminal 5

08/29/09
Hampton Beach, NH Hampton Beach Casino

Other Tour Dates


09/04/09
Syracuse, NY New York State Fair

09/05/09
French Town, NJ RevGen Festival

09/10/09
Florida

09/11/09
Orlando, FL Universal Studios

Dave Matthews' Tour

09/12/09
Chula Vista, CA Cricket Wireless w/Dave Matthews Band


09/13/09
Irvine, CA Verizon Wireless w/Dave Matthews Band

Other Tour Dates

09/18/09
Son Fest Mount Vernon, OH Mount Vernon Nazarene University

10/30/09
St. Petersburg, FL Tropicana Field-UFL Game


Hello Hurricane Tour












11.8.09 El Cajon, CA - East County Performing Arts Center
11.11.09 West Hollywood, CA – The Roxy Theatre
11.13.09 Scottsdale, AZ – Martini Ranch
11.14.09 Tucson, AZ – The Rock
11.16.09 Oklahoma City, OK – Diamond Ballroom
11.17.09 Dallas, TX – House of Blues - Dallas
11.18.09 Austin, TX – The Parish
11.20.09 Houston, TX – Warehouse Live
11.21.09 New Orleans, LA – Parish @ House of Blues
11.22.09 Nashville, TN – Exit In
11.23.09 Nashville, TN – Exit In
11.24.09 Atlanta, GA – The Loft @ Center Stage
11.27.09 Anaheim, CA – House of Blues - Anaheim
11.28.09 Ventura, CA – Majestic Ventura Theater
12.03.09 Charlotte, NC - Amos' Southend
12.05.09 Richmond, VA - WDYL Snowball @ The National
12.07.09 Baltimore, MD - Rams Head Live
12.08.09 New York, NY - The Fillmore Irving Plaza
12.09.09 Boston, MA - Paradise Rock Club
12.19.09 Providence, RI Lupo's (WBRU Presents) [Non-HH Tour date]
12.11.09 Philadelphia, PA TLA (WRFF Presents) [Non-HH Tour date]
12.12.09 Hartford, CT Webster Theatre
12.13.09 Washington, DC 930 Club
12.14.09 Burlington, VT Higher Ground (WBTZ Presents) [Non-HH Tour date]

Other Tour Dates

2009-12-19
San Bernardino, CA X103.9's Very Merry Christmas Party @ Cal State
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So that's just about everything! Thanks for reading... this year saw us complete 2 full years of We're Awakening. And i've enjoyed just about every step of the way. Hope you've all enjoyed reading along as much as I've enjoyed writing. Here's to 2010!

Be sure to check out LOBH's far superior recap of 2009. :)