Canadian rock group Billy Talent will be in town with My Chemical Romance and Drive By May 4 for an outdoor show at the Lifestyle Communities Pavilion.
Billy Talent fuses intense vocals with a crisp instrumental sound that could only come from a group of guys who have been playing together for 15 years.
The band got its start in Toronto in 1993 while the members were in high school. Originally known as Pezz until a lawsuit from an American band by the same name forced them to go back to the drawing board, the group borrowed its current name from a character in the novel and film "Hard Core Logo."
Billy Talent's 2003 self-titled debut album was a success in Canada, earning them Juno Awards for Group of the Year and Album of the Year.
The band's second album, "Billy Talent II," was released in 2006 and two more Juno Awards receiced.
Bass player Jon Gallant said although the awards are appreciated, they are not what is important to the group.
"Our goals are just to keep the band growing and to create amazing albums," he said. "Ultimately, it's just about continuing to write awesome songs and to challenge ourselves as a band."
Billy Talent's most recent project, a CD/DVD package called "666," which features live performances from the band's European tour, was released in late 2007.
Gallant said they were not planning to go on the road again so soon after working on a new album, but he and his bandmates knew they had been given the opportunity of a lifetime to play with My Chemical Romance.
"We got offered this tour and we just couldn't say no," he said.
Though the band has not grown as big in the U.S. as it has in Canada and Europe, it seems to be building a strong American following. The Billy Talent myspace.com page is full of compliments - and marriage proposals - from around the country.
"I saw you the last four nights with MCR, and I fell absolutely in love!" wrote a fan from California.
"Your music is my escape from this rush called life," wrote another from Arizona.
As for fans in Columbus, Gallant said he promises an awesome show from a band that loves what it does.
"We just rip it," he said. "We're just four guys who play rock."
The show begins at 6 p.m. May 4 at the Lifestyle Communities Pavilion. General admission tickets are $35 through Ticketmaster.
Kim Setliff can be reached at setliff.3@osu.edu.
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