Saves the Day plays for the first time at Mr. Smalls

Saves the Day

Mr. Smalls Funhouse

September 30, 7:30 p.m.

$14

(412) 821-4447

With… Saves the Day

Mr. Smalls Funhouse

September 30, 7:30 p.m.

$14

(412) 821-4447

With three new members, an upcoming tour and an album out in the next few months, Saves the Day has a lot on its plate.

On Thursday, Mr. Small’s Theatre will host the band, along with River City Extension and Big Hurry, at an all-ages show.

Though Saves the Day has performed around Pittsburgh before, this will be the band’s first time at Mr. Small’s Theatre. Chris Conley, the band’s frontman and oldest member, said he is excited about performing again in Pittsburgh. For almost two decades, the band has been in and out of Pittsburgh for shows, he said.

“We’re dying to come back to play,” Conley said. “It’s time to get back and have a rockin’ night.”

Along with Conley, members Arun Bali, Rodrigo Palma and Spencer Peterson now make up the band. Over the past two years, former members David Soloway, Manuel Carrero and Durijah Lang dropped out of the group in order to pursue other projects. Yet Conley explains that the three newer members really bring out the evolution of Saves the Day.

“We became more of a traveling entity,” he said, “I needed people who liked to tour.”

With the group’s upcoming tour with Motion City Soundtrack and Say Anything kicking off in October, it’s necessary to have each member on the same page and willing to travel.

Conley expressed more than just contentment with the new members’ desire to tour. Each member has something different to offer the band, as well as the capability to hold onto the past sound of Saves the Day, he said. Conley believes the new arrangement provides a sort of fusion that is unlike before.

“The landscape of sound is very lush,” he said.

Bali, guitarist of Saves the Day for about two years, is also pleased with the current arrangement.

“It’s cool coming into a situation like this and getting to be creative on new stuff,” Bali said in an e-mail. “Chris and I are on a similar wavelength when it comes to music, so it’s been great for both of us.”

For the show at Mr. Small’s Theatre, the band plans on playing a variety of music. There will be songs from every album in order to please older and newer fans. Saves the Day tends to provide a good balance of music for its shows.

A few songs from Saves the Day’s new album Daybreak, which should be coming out in a few months, will also be included in Thursday night’s show. Daybreak is the third part of a trilogy that expresses a sort of acceptance for life.

“Daybreak is the album in the trilogy where I really come back to life,” Conley said.

Unlike the first two parts of the trilogy, the third has a much more upbeat and positive vibe to its lyrics. Conley explained that the whole trilogy acted in a therapeutic way for him as it helped him overcome certain obstacles in his past. The acoustic version of the new song “Let It All Go” is featured on Saves the Day’s website to give listeners a taste of the album.

“I’m excited for everyone to hear Daybreak and for what the future holds,” Bali said.