USA TODAY International Edition
Backstage with Christina, Colbie
They’ve already formed a sisterly bond while on the road with their Girls Night Out tour
It’s only been a week since they hit the road, but Christina Perri and Colbie Caillat already feel like sisters.
“( We) realized we’re identical. That’s what we keep finding out,” Perri says. “We’ll even walk out to meet- and- greets wearing the same outfits. We have so much in common, it’s hilarious and quite adorable, if I do say so myself.” Best known for hits Jar of Hearts and
Bubbly, respectively, Perri and Caillat have teamed up for the Girls Night Out, Boys Can Come Too tour, which kicked off last week and runs for 29 more dates through Aug. 30. Joining the singer/ songwriters on the nearly two- month jaunt is fast- rising star ( and Taylor Swift co- sign) Rachel Platten, whose Fight Song has charged to No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart.
Before showtime, Perri, 28, and Caillat, 30, caught up with USA TODAY:
Q. You’ve been on tour for a week. How’s it been so far?
C. C. It’s been going great. We’ve been prepping for the show for what, like four or five months now? And it’s finally here and everything’s coming together, and each show gets more and more fun. We’re supposed to start singing together soon, but we haven’t done all the girls singing together yet. Whoever’s closing that night is going to bring the other girls out, and all three of us will do a song.
Q. How long have you known each other?
C. P. Colbie and I met in passing a couple of times, and then it was more of an idea of us touring together that came from my camp. I was also thinking about what girls I wanted to tour with this summer. I knew I wanted to do a girl tour, and Colbie came to mind, and also Rachel, because of the messages in their shows. I just liked them as human beings, so I thought it’d be really fun to tour with them all summer.
Q. Do you have any backstage rituals before heading onstage?
C. P. Yeah, I have a ton. About 20 minutes before showtime, I’ve already gone through the meet- and- greet and the glam, and the band and I hang out. We have five or six songs we jam to. We get into the same vibe, because we’re all about to go onstage together, so we unify energy- wise. It sounds really cheesy, but it’s true. And then we go around and we stand in a Superman pose — this sounds super nerdy, but we do these breathing exercises and say a little prayer and then do a handstand. Then I go around and hug everybody and do another handstand at the side of the stage, and then we go out. It’s over the top.
C. C. I get super- nervous. Me and Christina have talked about this — we get a little stage fright, so I get calm, take deep breaths, have mellow music playing or candles to set the mood.
Q. What’s on your pre- show playlist?
C. P. We have our staples. We always listen to Beyoncé’s Love on Top as the last song. The song before that is always OneRepublic’s Something I Need. And then the other three songs we kind of swap out. ( Lately, it’s) Ariana Grande’s Break Free,
Runnin’ Down a Dream by Tom Petty and
Jealous by Nick Jonas. C. C. I have Coldplay’s Hurts Like Heaven playing before I go onstage and that gets me super amped up.
Q. It’s still early in this tour, but what’s one of the most embarrassing onstage mishaps you’ve ever had?
C. C. I was playing a show in Paris and I felt my guitar strap pop off. So I put my leg up like a flamingo, and I was like, ‘ I’m not going to stop playing! I’m just going to go on with the show!’ So I kept playing with my leg up and my guitar tech came over to me like, ‘ What are you doing?’ And everybody’s looking at me, and I’m like, ‘ How do you not see my guitar strap just flicked off?’ All of a sudden, the song’s almost over, I’ve successfully stood like a flamingo the entire time, and as soon as I put my leg down, I realize that my strap was just stuck and it was fine the whole time.
Q. With the tour just getting underway, how do you plan to stay healthy while on the road?
C. P. I SoulCycle. I’m just a huge fan and the company knows that, so they sent me the bikes and I have all these playlists from the instructors, so I try to spin every day, because it’s really hard to eat ( well). Eating ( real) food is an issue on show days, so sometimes I drink a smoothie instead. On days off, I eat cheeseburgers, and then on show days, I’ll spin and drink smoothies and fresh juices.
C. C. Me and Christina are healthy in our eating, so it’s having tons of fresh fruits, vegetables, salads, avocados and things that people might think are boring, but it really helps you feel good. And I usually do 30- minute jogs or go to the gym or do some sort of dance routine on my bus.
Q. Finally, how do you like to kill time when you’re traveling?
C. P. I take time to hang out with my band and crew, who I’ve been touring with for a really long time. I pretty much spend any time I’m not onstage or resting with them. We’re very uncool. We just sit around and watch Disney movies in our pajamas and glasses and pimple cream and face masks.