They also had no idea what they had signed up for.
"We got a call from our booking agent, and it was like, 'Do you want to do this?' And we were like, 'Yes'," lead singer Mitchy Collins said. "It was pretty straightforward."
Or so they thought.
After agreeing to perform at the Truly Hard Seltzer NHL PreGame on Saturday, they did some research. They then found out it was part of an outdoor NHL game between the Carolina Hurricanes and Washington Capitals (8 p.m. ET; ABC, ESPN+, SN360, TVAS2) at Carter-Finley Stadium, a college football venue, that country star Jake Owen would be playing at the same event and part of their appearance would air on ABC.
"I don't think we realized the magnitude of what was going on until after the fact that when we were already locked in and we were excited to do it," guitarist Jordan Greenwald said. "We kind of researched and we heard some more details, and now we're amped up.
"I've seen clips of [past outdoor games]. The atmosphere looks absolutely insane. I mean, people are fired up."
The fans at the Pregame should be too with a chance to see one of the hottest alternative-rock bands around.
Consisting of Collins, Greenwald and drummer Sam Price, the Los Angeles-based band made Billboard history in 2018 with its debut single, "broken," which charted for 76 weeks, hit No. 1 on multiple charts and was recently certified triple platinum. The band's third album, "if we're being honest," will drop June 2, followed by a U.S. Tour that starts four days later in San Diego.
"We're excited to just kind of get back to actual work because, you know, obviously with the pandemic and everything our second album, we weren't able to do what we do as far as promoting it and whatnot," Collins said. "So, we're just kind of excited to promote this new record and hopefully make it as big as the first one."
The show at the Pregame also provides them a chance to revisit their hockey roots. Greenwald said he's been to Kings games in Los Angeles, and Collins said he tried hockey on a pond once when he was younger but got beaten up, so he grabbed a microphone instead.
Price, however, has a serious connection to the NHL.
His grandfather, Bob Simpson, was mayor pro-tem (or deputy mayor) of the city of Anaheim when the Anaheim Ducks' arena, now known as Honda Center, was approved in 1990.
"My grandpa helped pass the Pond, the Honda Center," Price said. "His name's on a list of like five people on this section of the Honda Center, which is actually pretty cool. And so, I'm very connected to hockey. I love the sport. I think it's one of the coolest sports."
