Andrew McMahon of Jack’s Mannequin plays every show like its his last. The first time I saw this band was at Denver’s Mile High Music Festival in 2009. That festival included over 60 bands including some very major players like Tool, The Fray and Incubus and then there was this mid day show, a piano rock band with a bizarre name, Jack’s Mannequin. After the customary three songs, myself and the other photographers were ushered out of the photo pit and most of the others headed off to shoot the next band. I could not leave, I was mesmerized by this phenomenally talented young man, Andrew McMahon, he played his heart out from the moment he struck the first chord on his piano to the moment he took his last leap from the top of his piano. Seldom sitting for more than a few seconds, up then down, then up again onto his tip toes, veins bulging from his neck and forehead, he sang like a man possessed, and he is, he is possessed by the power of the present as only one who has been to the brink of this earthy plane can be.
I found after the show in Denver that Andrew had survived Leukemia in 2005 and it was then I had some insight into why this young man plays every show as if it were his last, he knows first hand how precious and unpredictable life is. The second time I saw Andrew was last week at a packed to the rafters venue called In The Venue in Salt Lake City, he poured his soul out again this night in a performance that must be witnessed to be appreciated. He announced to the throngs of fans that he had been in Utah several times before in his career when there were very few fans attending his shows, but tonight was different.
I am not sure I’ve ever heard a crowd sing so passionately, seemingly in direct response to power Andrew and his band put into the their music. Jack’s Mannequin is Andrew McMahon – Vocals, piano, Bobby "Raw" Anderson – guitar, backup vocals, Jonathan ‘Dr. J’ Sullivan – bass guitar and Jay McMillan – drums. Bobby’s classic guitar riffs seemed rooted in the heavy weights of Rock, I hear Led Zepplin, Cream, Petty and the Edge.
The band on this night played an array of songs from their discography including Everything in Transit and The Glass Passenger along with a fantastic U2 cover. Andrew made a couple classic rock and roll leaps from his piano bringing the already frenzied crowd to near pandemonium.
On this night, once again Andrew and crew left us all happy, sweaty and grateful. The future is bright for these young men and we the fans eagerly await their next CD and or concert. For a complete set of photos from this show see:
Jack’s Mannequin is an American rock band formed in 2004, originally hailing from Orange County, California. The band began as a side project of Something Corporate frontman Andrew McMahon, and comprises guitarist Bobby Anderson, bassist Jonathan Sullivan and drummer Jay McMillan.
In June 2005, McMahon was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), just months before the release of Jack’s Mannequin’s debut studio album. They released the album, Everything in Transit, in August 2005. The album peaked at number 37 on the Billboard 200.
McMahon made a full recovery and the band returned to touring. They released The Glass Passenger after a series of delays in 2008. It sold 49,000 copies in its first week and peaked at number 8 on the Billboard 200.
"The Resolution" was released as the first single and charted at number 27 on the Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart.
Andrew McMahon started out in music initially as the lead vocalist and pianist for the Orange County piano rock band, Something Corporate. The primary impulse behind McMahon’s solo project Jack’s Mannequin was a song he recorded in December 2003 titled "Locked Doors." He felt the song was too different from previous Something Corporate material to be one of their songs.
He realized that if he ever decided to release it, it would be on a solo album rather than a Something Corporate record.Exhausted from months of touring in late summer 2004, the band decided to take a temporary break. During his time off, McMahon laid down piano and vocal tracks for a song on Hidden in Plain View‘s Life in Dreaming and two songs on Tommy Lee‘s Tommyland: The Ride.
While Something Corporate’s other songwriter and lead guitarist Josh Partington created a side project of his own called Firescape, McMahon started writing his own songs. He did not expect the songs to be released. McMahon took a more therapeutic approach in writing these songs, resulting in a more personal and intimate testament of his songwriting.
They dealt with "coming home, and having home be way different than I had remembered it [...], abandoning a lot of people, and things, that I had normally been so attached to [...], exploring and being okay with myself, and not having to make excuses for who I am, and accepting who I am," McMahon stated in an interview.Although he just planned on recording them, the songs began to take shape collectively. He paid for the production out of his own pocket, which ultimately led to a record deal with Maverick Records.
He formed the band under the name Jack’s Mannequin, which had come about after McMahon had considered the name The Mannequins. However, after growing "bored of the ‘the’ band names," he decided to "sandwich" it together with the title of a song he had completed for the record, "Dear Jack." Originally, there was said to be "not much significance behind the name," but upon McMahon’s diagnoses though, it became ironic as "the Jack I wrote the song for & ultimately named the project for after, had suffered from childhood leukemia."
Their first album, titled Everything in Transit, was released in August 2005 and received a positive response from fans and critics alike. A summer tour was scheduled to support the record release, but was canceled after McMahon was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia and had a bone marrow transplant.
Jack’s Mannequin featured in series three episode fifteen of the TV series One Tree Hill, performing at Peyton’s breast cancer benefit gig at Tric, the band performed "The Mixed Tape," "Holiday From Real," and "Dark Blue."
The band began recording their second album in the summer of 2007. In August 2007, McMahon posted the lyrics to the song "Cell Phone" on his blog, which the band played live at several shows in 2007 and 2008. Also, in February 2008, videos of live performances of two songs off the record ("Caves" and "Suicide Blonde") were uploaded onto YouTube for public viewing. McMahon then appeared on the cover of the January 2008 issue of Alternative Press.
The album was entitled The Glass Passenger, was originally set for release on April 22, 2008. The date was then tentatively set to June 3, but was eventually delayed to be released on September 30, 2008.
The Ghost Overground EP was released to iTunes on August 5, 2008. The EP contains two tracks from the second album, "The Resolution" and "Bloodshot," and two live tracks from Everything in Transit. Another EP, In Valleys, was released on iTunes on September 9, containing one song from the album, "Swim," and three b-sides, "Cell Phone," "Sleazy Wednesday," and "At Full Speed".
On August 28, 2008, in an interview with MTV, Andrew revealed that the author Stephenie Meyer had written the treatment for the music video for "The Resolution" and was set to direct it the following week.McMahon said of the filming, "It was a very cool shoot. Music videos are a tricky thing. They require a lot of trust in the team creating the visuals and that can be a little scary. That said, there was a great vibe on the set, and shooting by the water really made it an especially peaceful day, despite all the hard work that goes into it."
On September 3, 2008, it was announced that Jack’s Mannequin would be the headliner on a fall tour that featured the album. The tour was called "Hammers and Strings: An Evening with Jack’s Mannequin and The Glass Passenger." The band played much of the album at these shows, touring major cities. This much-awaited tour saw many of the shows sell out in a few days. It was the first tour after The Glass Passenger’s release.
On October 4, 2009, McMahon began a solo tour across the country to raise awareness of leukemia and to support the release of the Dear Jack documentary due out on November 3, 2009. On November 3, 2009, the EP associated with the Dear Jackdocumentary, also of the same name, was released, including the songs "Dear Jack," "Diane, the Skyscraper," "There, There Katie," and "Swim (Music Box)".
In a recent Alternative Press article, Andrew revealed that he is planning to return to the studio in Spring 2010 to record his third full studio album with Jack’s Mannequin. He hopes to release it in the fall.
In June 2005, Andrew McMahon was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, but made a full recovery. Jack’s Mannequin annually participates in the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society‘s Light the Night Walk. In 2008, they set a $100,000 fund raising goal which is collected through a personalized fund-raising page. The money raised goes towards fighting blood cancers and providing support to patients and their families. McMahon was recently named a Stand Up to Cancer celebrity ambassador.
Dear Jack Movie Trailer
Dear Jack opens on the day Andrew McMahon is diagnosed with Leukemia and continues on through the life-changing and intensely personal events that follow. The film also includes flashes back to Andrews childhood, the making of the Jacks Mannequin album and his collaboration with Tommy Lee, as well as rare live footage and the chronicling of his relationships with two very important people in his life, his sister and her best friend. Dear Jack is a raw look at the battle that is Leukemia and the hope that can be found in hard places.
Andrew Ross McMahon’s story
Andrew Ross McMahon was born on September 3, 1982 in Lexington, Massachusetts and has been playing the piano since he was eight years old. He briefly lived in New Jersey and in 1991 he moved to Bexley, Ohio where he attended Cassingham Elementary School for 5th and 6th grades and became a local legend by performing piano solos before he could even read music.
Andrew’s family moved frequently because his father worked in retail. Around 4th grade, they moved to California to support his mother’s family after the loss of her brother. The death had a large impact on the family, and Andrew even has a tattoo on his forearm in memory of his uncle. The family moved around more, but finally found themselves back in California at the start of Andrews eighth grade year. McMahon describes himself as a "pudgy, outgoing, artist little kid" who never quite fit into the California scene. He lived at his aunt’s house, because things were rough for the McMahon family, and Andrew quickly learned that things can easily be taken away.
Even though he lived on the west coast, he still considered himself a "Midwest kid" at heart. He made a friend in junior high who took him to many punk rock concerts. He never felt like he fit in, and certainly never thought he could play this type of music, especially on the piano. He attended Dana Hills High School in Orange County, California, and he started his first band Left Here with his high school friends and future Something Corporate bandmates Kevin "Clutch" Page on bass and Brian Ireland on drums in 1997.
Even though they won a local battle of the bands competition, they soon broke up. McMahon went on to record the self-released eponymous four-track demo CD Andrew McMahon with the aid of several friends of his, including guitarist Josh Partington, whom he had met his sophomore year in high school. Joined by rhythm guitarist Reuben Hernandez (who was later replaced by William Tell), the quintet formed the piano rock band Something Corporate in 1998.
Main article: Something Corporate
Fronted by McMahon, Something Corporate recorded their self-released ten-song demo album Ready… Break in 2000, which led to a record deal with the indie record label Drive-Thru Records. Drive-Thru released the band’s nationwide distributed debut EPAudioboxer the following year. McMahon’s vocals, songwriting skills and especially the incorporation of the piano earned the CD rave reviews and caught the attention of Drive-Thru’s distributor MCA (now Geffen). Due to the labels’ distribution deal, MCA was able to sign over Something Corporate and released their major label debut Leaving Through the Window in May 2002.
The band promoted the album by playing concerts across the United States (including the main stage at Vans Warped Tour) and supporting New Found Glory (whose vocalist Jordan Pundik used to be McMahon’s roommate) on their European tour. Something Corporate released their second full-length album North on Geffen Records in late 2003 and toured with 311, Good Charlotte, Yellowcard, and Jimmy Eat World. As of 2004 (and the signing of Jack’s Mannequin to Maverick Records), the band is no longer under contract to any label. However, on December 4, 2009, Something Corporate announced one reunion show at Bamboozle Left 2010.
Main article: Jack’s Mannequin
The initial impulse behind McMahon’s solo project Jack’s Mannequin was "Locked Doors", a song he recorded in December 2003, which he felt was too different from previous Something Corporate material to be one of their songs. He realized that, if he would ever decide to release it, it would be on a solo album rather than a Something Corporate record.
The idea seemed to be off the table, until in late summer 2004 both McMahon and his bandmates were exhausted from months of touring. They decided to take a temporary break. During his time off, McMahon laid down piano and vocal tracks for a song on Hidden in Plain View‘sLife in Dreaming and two songs on Tommy Lee‘s Tommyland: The Ride.
While Something Corporate’s other songwriter and lead guitarist Partington created a side project of his own called Firescape, McMahon started writing songs, knowing they would not see the light of day as Something Corporate songs. Soon McMahon would leave Something Corporate while they were starting to make it big, so he could follow his heart and go with Jack’s Mannequin.
McMahon took a more therapeutic approach in writing these songs, resulting in a more personal and intimate testament of his songwriting. They dealt with "coming home, and having home be way different than I had remembered it [...], abandoning a lot of people, and things, that I had normally been so attached to [...], exploring and being okay with myself, and not having to make excuses for who I am, and accepting who I am", McMahon stated in an interview.
Over the next couple of months, McMahon began recording the newly written songs with producer Jim Wirt, who would play guitar and bass over sampled drum tracks, while McMahon contributed vocals and piano. They later brought in additional musicians such as Bobby "Raw" Anderson (formerly of River City High) and Tommy Lee to add to the mix. The project’s name, Jack’s Mannequin, originated from one of McMahon’s songs called "Dear Jack", which was written about a friend of his whose brother was diagnosed with childhood leukemia, but ultimately did not make the album’s final cut. In March 2005, Jack’s Mannequin — now consisting of McMahon on vocals and piano,Jon Sullivan on bass, Anderson on guitar, and Jay McMillan (ex-River City High) on drums — played their first live show at Molly Malone’s Irish pub in Los Angeles, California.
He then proceeded to compose his second Jack’s Mannequin album, The Glass Passenger. The first single, "The Resolution", is the band’s highest-charting song to date
On May 27, 2005 (three months before the release of Jack’s Mannequin’s debut album Everything in Transit), McMahon was forced to cancel all of his upcoming concerts. After a medical examination in connection with a relentless case of laryngitis, McMahon was admitted to a hospital in New York City, where he was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia on June 1, 2005.
Since the illness was diagnosed in its early stages, McMahon’s doctors had high hopes for a full recovery. In the wake of this, many fans started projects to raise money for leukemia awareness. Most notably, the music website AbsolutePunk.net had orangewristbands specially made, reading "I Will Fight" (a line from a song only available on the British version of Something Corporate’s North, "Watch The Sky", which McMahon claims to be his favorite song he ever wrote). They sold close to 6,000 bands, raising over $20,000 which was donated to the Pediatric Cancer Research Foundation.
Over the following couple of months, McMahon received various types of treatment, all the while updating his blog, to keep his fans informed on the progress of his condition. August 23, 2005 marked a very significant date for him for two reasons: Firstly, it was the day his album Everything in Transit was released, debuting at #37 of the Billboard 200 with over 22,000 copies scanned within its first week.
Secondly, it was the day he received a bone marrow transplant, with his sister Katie McMahon serving as the donor. As a thank-you, he wrote and recorded a song called "There, There, Katie" for her. The song finally was played live at a Jack’s Mannequin concert on 7/11/2006 in Cleveland, Ohio. Katie was in attendance for the performance. In October 2005, McMahon recorded a Christmas song titled "The Lights and Buzz", which was released via the iTunes Music Store a month later.
On December 2, 2005, McMahon celebrated the 100-day anniversary of his stem cell transplant by playing his first concert in six months – a private invite-only show in a small venue in Los Angeles, California. His first public appearance followed ten days later at "Gimme Shelter ’05", an acoustic cancer benefit concert at the Roxy in Los Angeles, California.
Following these shows, Maverick Records finally started a promotion campaign for Everything in Transit, including TV appearances by McMahon onJimmy Kimmel Live, One Tree Hill (in the episode "Just Watch the Fireworks"), Last Call with Carson Daly, Steven’s Untitled Rock Show, and The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, as well as a second music video for "The Mixed Tape", which hit #1 onVH1‘s VSpot Top 20 Countdown on June 9, 2006. Simultaneously, Jack’s Mannequin embarked on a two-month tour across the United States supporting Of A Revolution.
In July 2006, McMahon founded a non-profit charity, The Dear Jack Foundation, to raise funds for cancer research. The organization’s primary beneficiaries are the Pediatric Cancer Research Foundation, the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and the regents of the University of California, Los Angeles.
On July 9, 2006, McMahon announced at his Summerfest Jack’s Mannequin concert that that night would be the last night he would have to take medication for his cancer treatment. Soon after, the second single from Everything in Transit, "Dark Blue", was released. It was followed by an opening slot on Panic! at the Disco‘s "Nothing Rhymes With Circus Tour" throughout the United States and Canada, starting November 7, 2006 in Florida and ending December 12, 2006 in New Mexico.
A documentary entitled "Dear Jack" was released on November 3, 2009 on DVD by Warner Bros, and was shown at theatrical screenings in New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles.[9] The film, which chronicles McMahon’s struggle with leukemia, features self-recorded footage in the hospital. It is narrated by his friend, Tommy Lee. The documentary was directed by Corey Moss and Josh Morrisroe, two former MTV News producers who covered McMahon’s story for the channel, although much of the intensely personal footage was shot by Andrew himself. Along with the "Dear Jack" DVD Jack’s Mannequin also digitally released the Dear Jack EP, with a recorded version of the song "Katie" Andrew wrote for his sister, along with three other tracks, titled "Diane, The Skyscraper," "Dear Jack" and a music box version on the pre-released song, "Swim."
Some Black and White
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