Ex-Train members revisit their Newport days with Lido Live concert Saturday
The rock-star guitar player dressed in tight denim, suede boots and colored sunglasses brushed past empty lunch tables and rows of lockers, reminiscing about the first venue he played during his rise to stardom.
It was no stadium, arena or amphitheater.
Charlie Colin, an original member of the band Train, was back at his high school alma mater, Newport Harbor, where he graduated 30 years ago.
“This school seems larger than I remember,” Colin said, scratching his head. “A song might come out of it.”
Colin, a musical force behind the band’s 2001 Grammy Award-winning single “Drops of Jupiter” and 2003 Grammy-nominated hit “Calling All Angels,” has joined a new group, Painbirds, with fellow Train founding members Rob Hotchkiss and Scott Underwood and mutual friend Tom Luce of San Francisco band Luce.
He and Hotchkiss, both graduates of Newport Harbor High, will have a homecoming Saturday, reuniting and entertaining classmates from the mid-1980s at Painbirds’ concert at Lido Live in Newport Beach.
Colin said the concert has begun to stir memories of friendship, fun and the bandmates’ humble beginnings.
“This show is very emotional for me,” said Colin, who lives in Newport Beach. “We have this heritage together, and this opportunity for us is very meaningful.”
Their musical connection began when Colin, then a seventh-grader at Ensign Intermediate in Newport Beach who delivered newspapers for the Daily Pilot, heard about a Newport High senior who played guitar during lunch.
“I was so impressed with this guy because he had no frills,” Colin said of Hotchkiss. “And nobody threw anything at him too.”
The two later went to Boston’s Berklee College of Music at separate times, then reconnected when Hotchkiss formed the band the Apostles. The group got a record deal, but when the label folded, the members went their own ways. But they had a hunch that one day they would end up back together.
Hotchkiss headed to San Francisco and met Pat Monahan, Train’s lead singer. The two collaborated on songs in the Bay Area and invited Jimmy Stafford to be the guitarist and Colin as the bassist. Colin brought in Underwood to play drums.
“We’d play anywhere, even in laundromats,” Colin said. “Train became very successful.”
The group toured nationally, opening concerts for Hootie & the Blowfish, Counting Crows and Barenaked Ladies. “Drops of Jupiter” won two Grammy Awards, including Best Rock Song.
But in 2003, Colin left the band because of substance abuse.
“I had a really great run, but it was difficult,” said Colin, who recovered and began writing songs for films.
Hotchkiss left the same year, citing creative differences. He pursued a solo career and released albums.
The two stayed in touch, and Colin wanted to collaborate on a new venture with Hotchkiss and Underwood, who left Train last year to spend more time with his family and to pursue new musical directions in songwriting and producing.
“Charlie called me up and said, ‘It’s been this weird synchronicity where we’re not even willing to consider quitting,’” Hotchkiss said by phone from his family’s home in Vashon Island, Wash. “First and foremost, our priority is writing songs, and we really enjoy playing live.”
The three began collaborating with singer-songwriter Luce on lyrics, writing their first album with songs called “Cold Chicago,” “I Was Only Waiting” and “First Big Flight.” They’re all likely to be performed Saturday.
Newport Harbor High alumni groups and local businesses and organizations have come together to support the band.
Arthur Jeppe, founding director of The Alumni Collective, a group that engages Newport Harbor alumni socially and gives to the community philanthropically, said he first met Colin at a concert last year at Pierce Street Annex in Costa Mesa. He has helped spread the word to former classmates about the musicians’ upcoming show.
“Everyone is really excited to have them back,” Jeppe said. “It’s like we are tightening up our family of friends. It’s like a huge reunion for us.”
Saturday will be Painbirds’ fourth show, and the band is recording its debut album. Tracks can be heard on the group’s website, painbirds.com.
Performing at the recently renovated Lido Live will be special, Colin and Hotchkiss said, since Hotchkiss hasn’t stopped in the city for 15 years.
When seeking inspiration for the band’s name, Colin remembered his grandmother’s house decorated with bird-and-flower prints by Japanese artist Utagawa Hiroshige. The birds, Colin said, were of a breed that couldn’t navigate without one another.
“I need these guys,” Colin said of his bandmates, noting that he has a tag reading “Deisolation” on his guitar’s headstock.
“We’re really looking out for each other in this band,” said Colin, who was voted “Most Friendliest” in his senior class. “Our values are aligned, and our friendship is more important than success.”
If You Go
What: Painbirds
When: 8 p.m. Saturday
Where: Lido Live, 3459 Via Lido, Newport Beach
Cost: $35
Information: (949) 723-0250, lidolive.com