Oct 9th, 2008
I am in Philadelphia at the moment where in 2 days this nut job Sarah Palin will be on hand for the Flyers, NY Rangers game where she will attempt to drop the game opening puck. What a disgrace!!! A complete load of turd this is and the only thing somewhat exciting about it will be the crowd response.
Oct 10th, 2008
Currently sitting in the back sit of this van while Ted is up front driving, and Scott is riding shotgun. A day off from driving-not by choice- which I am living it up. We have an Xbox here in the van soI did attempt to play some Pac-Man but ended up giving up quite quickly instead to surf the web-wireless in the van too- and pay attention to the news on the radio.
Two days ago we played the Black Cat in Washington DC which I have been to a handful of times and is a place I enjoy due to their Vegan Lasagna, Vegan Chocolate/ Peanut Butter Cake, and the Ginger Ale there. For this show I handed a guest list which included the fellows from Fugazi which was funny. Ted is old friends with all of them from his time in DC “back in the day” (haha) and from one of his prior bands Chisel touring with them. James’s brother in fact was the drummer of Fugazi who also produced the Pharmacists latest album “Living with the Living”. I am not someone who gets giddy around people in this little music thing because in fact this music is a small world so most of the time you cross paths with people/ bands that you personally like- and that have been inspirations/ influences. It happens and long story short it happens to those same people too. But yes it was cool that they came to the show and the band actually ended their set by covering an Ignition song “Kiwi Chant” with Alec Mackay doing his vocals. After Ted’s set I did go downstairs to grab some water and Ted introduced me to Ian and Guy-Fugazi who I had actually met years and years ago while helping a friend put on 4 of their shows in California.
The show in DC was also the Pharmacists show yet again. They played an amazing set once again and the fans agree as well from what I can tell by their reaction. Once they were done the temperature in the Black Cat actually seemed to drop and it turns out the reason why it did was because a lot of people left after the Pharmacists played which left Against Me! playing to a half full room.
Last night in Philly we were at the Electric Factory which is a huge room and again there weren’t that many people in it. I think the capacity of the Electrc Factory is around 1500 or so (I’d say) and there was probably 600-700 kids last night. We did get ourselves some Vegan Cheese Steaks from Govinda’s delivered which is always a must in Philly. With my order I added a slice of Pumpkin Cheese cake to enjoy the tastes of the fall/ festive season. My friend Jorge and his lady fried came out last night which is usually the case when I am in town so we had our usual “show hang” which consists of trying to talk over loud music in a venue the whole time while I am working. It sucks because I know some other people I knew wanted to come out and hang with me but our guest list last night was too big so it wasn’t possible. After the show Ted, Scott, and I drove to the Holiday Inn to lay our little heads while the other dudes went separate ways with their lady friends.
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Whirly Ball #2
Oct 4th, 2008
Here at the House of Blues in Orlando, FL or shall I say Disney World Florida where outside the weather is hot, sticky and inside this very stale venue the air conditioning is on full blast and I am in a hoodie.
We arrived here in Orlando earlier this afternoon after a 2 hour drive from St. Petersburg, Florida where this tour played last night at a outdoor venue named Janis Landing. The drive today was definitely quick compared to the last couple of drives so we were all able to sleep in and take it easy this morning. Some went to Starbucks while I myself went to fill my little pot belly with a burrito from a independent burrito joint modeled after Chipotle-McDonalds burrito’s. An indy food joint mondeling themselves after a humungous chain.
Yesterdays show was definitely the best show thus far of the tour (3 days of it). Against Me is from Gainesville, Florida which was only about 2 hours away from St. Petersburg so the kids came out in full force. About 45 mins after doors opened I was wondering how well the show would do because the turn out was low indeed however through out the night things changed and the venue was absolutely packed with crazy Floridians.
The Pharmacists definitely put on a great show and there was one song where Ted actually didn’t play guitar and just went nuts on the mic which added to their intensity. Totally cool. I guess there was some issues with the kids get crushed up front due to boneheads in the crowd not respecting peoples spaces. I missed all of this and what was said but I know the band was definitely super bummed.
All in all though the show was Against Me’s.
I met a couple from Edmonton which was cool and they definitely got a kick out of me being from Grande Prairie and now here I am on tour in Florida. Most people who I come across at shows who are from random parts of Canada definitely get a kick out of me being from G. P. Also last night I was able to have my first Thai Red Curry Tofu dish of the tour which is always nice except I have had way better in other parts. Cant win them all.
So Ted Leo is currently playing here at HOB and the show just seems weird. So stagnant and stale. When it comes to this particular venue we are still 20 miles away from Orlando and in the middle of the whole Disney structure which is completely disgusting. No rock band let alone “punk” band should ever play such a place but when you are on someone else’s tour you have to kind of go with the flow and go where the tour takes you.
Oct 5th
Sitting here in our hotel room with Chris, James and myself watching Saturday Night Live. Ted was with us until about 2 mins again when he bailed to probably go too sleep however someone just knocked on the door. Who is it? Marty has just arrived from an adventure downstairs in the bar so I am sure there will be some stories.
On SNL this evening the musical guest is the Killers who I will say yet again I am definitely a fan of. I back the Killers and will always back them. Sorry ya’ll. What was cool though is once this came up Ted started talking about them and it turns out he backs them too!! Right on. The others I don’t think are too familiar with them yet however by the end of this tour they probably will be.
Something I heard a couple years ago was that when the singer of the Killers got married in Hawaii he flew their entire touring crew out for the wedding with days off. These things stoke me out because there are many o many of bands out there who would ever do things as such #1 because they can’t which is completely understandable but there are many bands that could and don’t. So when a band who can do something as such and actually does this rules for everyone involved.
So with this conversation Ted mentioned a story about Pearl Jam who they just toured with and how the band has an actual profit sharing system set up for their crew which is a cool thing to hear and I guess if you are with them for 6 years you get actual investments in their band/ project- I guess you would call this a collective of sorts…?? Rad
Oct 7, 2008
So I should first and foremost introduce the Pharmacists
Ted Leo, Chris, James, Marty, with Scott moving the dials on the sound board and myself doing some other tasks in between.
Currently we are in Greensboro, North Carolina where we arrived a couple hours ago after a 6 hour drive from Atlanta where we had spent the night after a day off yesterday. The drive was pretty much the same as any other drive although I do remember seeing and passing the most amount of police I have ever seen on the highways. In about 1 hour I swear I visibly saw at least 20 cop cars on the side of the freeway, in the middle median and others who had pulled over vehicles. I couldn’t believe my eyes. What a complete bum out. The police do more harm then good. When you are driving and come across a cop car people instantly hit their brakes and when a cop is hiding some people actually freak out on the highway. Not good for anyone behind the wheel of a moving machine. It turns out that this lady who I have been hearing so much about lately named Sarah Palin was giving a speech in these parts so now it makes sense although there always seems to be WAY TO MANY cops in these area’s. Not NEEDED!!!
So we played Gainesville 2 days ago which was nice because I have actually never been to a show there before which is hard to believe. It’s a place I have only stopped through to eat, and spend the night. My roommate Yannick and friend Phillipe actually flew down for the show to film the show, do interviews with fans, and catch some moments with Tom-Against Me! for video stuff with his new upcoming solo record. A small world eh?
The show in Gville was a benefit for Civic Media Center in the city which is a independent media outlet. The show was at the Common Grounds which I am very familiar with due to the stories from Gville and it was a nice little punk venue. The show was sold out which probably made for a good benefit for the CMC seeing how no one else took any $$....Hence the benefit.
Yesterday we had a day off so drove to Atlanta where we stayed with this nice fellow named Henry who was a friend of the bands. Henry does a zine named Chunklet which seems to be a pretty well known zine however it wa the 1st I heard of it..Hahaha. Henry was a good dude and had 2 crazy ass dogs. The dudes had also planned on doing something named Whirly Ball which I had no clue as to what it was. So after grabbing a bite in which I consumed a nice Black Bean Burger with a nice IPA beer we hopped in the van and drove a little north of Atlanta to the sight of this Whirly Ball.
So Whirly Ball in a game played in a big court with 10 (5 to a team) bumper cars. On each end of the court you have a goal elevated up near the roof (like basket ball) with a target on it. Each player is in a bumper car holding the steering of device of the car with 1 hand while the other hand is holding a sort of paddle, basket, scoop, catching device in which you use to pass, scoop and shoot a wiffle ball into the goal. Totally mind blowing I know but beyond fun. I sit here with a sore body and a mind full of good times. I played every game there was and actually did fairly well. It’s the hockey player in me.
Here at the House of Blues in Orlando, FL or shall I say Disney World Florida where outside the weather is hot, sticky and inside this very stale venue the air conditioning is on full blast and I am in a hoodie.
We arrived here in Orlando earlier this afternoon after a 2 hour drive from St. Petersburg, Florida where this tour played last night at a outdoor venue named Janis Landing. The drive today was definitely quick compared to the last couple of drives so we were all able to sleep in and take it easy this morning. Some went to Starbucks while I myself went to fill my little pot belly with a burrito from a independent burrito joint modeled after Chipotle-McDonalds burrito’s. An indy food joint mondeling themselves after a humungous chain.
Yesterdays show was definitely the best show thus far of the tour (3 days of it). Against Me is from Gainesville, Florida which was only about 2 hours away from St. Petersburg so the kids came out in full force. About 45 mins after doors opened I was wondering how well the show would do because the turn out was low indeed however through out the night things changed and the venue was absolutely packed with crazy Floridians.
The Pharmacists definitely put on a great show and there was one song where Ted actually didn’t play guitar and just went nuts on the mic which added to their intensity. Totally cool. I guess there was some issues with the kids get crushed up front due to boneheads in the crowd not respecting peoples spaces. I missed all of this and what was said but I know the band was definitely super bummed.
All in all though the show was Against Me’s.
I met a couple from Edmonton which was cool and they definitely got a kick out of me being from Grande Prairie and now here I am on tour in Florida. Most people who I come across at shows who are from random parts of Canada definitely get a kick out of me being from G. P. Also last night I was able to have my first Thai Red Curry Tofu dish of the tour which is always nice except I have had way better in other parts. Cant win them all.
So Ted Leo is currently playing here at HOB and the show just seems weird. So stagnant and stale. When it comes to this particular venue we are still 20 miles away from Orlando and in the middle of the whole Disney structure which is completely disgusting. No rock band let alone “punk” band should ever play such a place but when you are on someone else’s tour you have to kind of go with the flow and go where the tour takes you.
Oct 5th
Sitting here in our hotel room with Chris, James and myself watching Saturday Night Live. Ted was with us until about 2 mins again when he bailed to probably go too sleep however someone just knocked on the door. Who is it? Marty has just arrived from an adventure downstairs in the bar so I am sure there will be some stories.
On SNL this evening the musical guest is the Killers who I will say yet again I am definitely a fan of. I back the Killers and will always back them. Sorry ya’ll. What was cool though is once this came up Ted started talking about them and it turns out he backs them too!! Right on. The others I don’t think are too familiar with them yet however by the end of this tour they probably will be.
Something I heard a couple years ago was that when the singer of the Killers got married in Hawaii he flew their entire touring crew out for the wedding with days off. These things stoke me out because there are many o many of bands out there who would ever do things as such #1 because they can’t which is completely understandable but there are many bands that could and don’t. So when a band who can do something as such and actually does this rules for everyone involved.
So with this conversation Ted mentioned a story about Pearl Jam who they just toured with and how the band has an actual profit sharing system set up for their crew which is a cool thing to hear and I guess if you are with them for 6 years you get actual investments in their band/ project- I guess you would call this a collective of sorts…?? Rad
Oct 7, 2008
So I should first and foremost introduce the Pharmacists
Ted Leo, Chris, James, Marty, with Scott moving the dials on the sound board and myself doing some other tasks in between.
Currently we are in Greensboro, North Carolina where we arrived a couple hours ago after a 6 hour drive from Atlanta where we had spent the night after a day off yesterday. The drive was pretty much the same as any other drive although I do remember seeing and passing the most amount of police I have ever seen on the highways. In about 1 hour I swear I visibly saw at least 20 cop cars on the side of the freeway, in the middle median and others who had pulled over vehicles. I couldn’t believe my eyes. What a complete bum out. The police do more harm then good. When you are driving and come across a cop car people instantly hit their brakes and when a cop is hiding some people actually freak out on the highway. Not good for anyone behind the wheel of a moving machine. It turns out that this lady who I have been hearing so much about lately named Sarah Palin was giving a speech in these parts so now it makes sense although there always seems to be WAY TO MANY cops in these area’s. Not NEEDED!!!
So we played Gainesville 2 days ago which was nice because I have actually never been to a show there before which is hard to believe. It’s a place I have only stopped through to eat, and spend the night. My roommate Yannick and friend Phillipe actually flew down for the show to film the show, do interviews with fans, and catch some moments with Tom-Against Me! for video stuff with his new upcoming solo record. A small world eh?
The show in Gville was a benefit for Civic Media Center in the city which is a independent media outlet. The show was at the Common Grounds which I am very familiar with due to the stories from Gville and it was a nice little punk venue. The show was sold out which probably made for a good benefit for the CMC seeing how no one else took any $$....Hence the benefit.
Yesterday we had a day off so drove to Atlanta where we stayed with this nice fellow named Henry who was a friend of the bands. Henry does a zine named Chunklet which seems to be a pretty well known zine however it wa the 1st I heard of it..Hahaha. Henry was a good dude and had 2 crazy ass dogs. The dudes had also planned on doing something named Whirly Ball which I had no clue as to what it was. So after grabbing a bite in which I consumed a nice Black Bean Burger with a nice IPA beer we hopped in the van and drove a little north of Atlanta to the sight of this Whirly Ball.
So Whirly Ball in a game played in a big court with 10 (5 to a team) bumper cars. On each end of the court you have a goal elevated up near the roof (like basket ball) with a target on it. Each player is in a bumper car holding the steering of device of the car with 1 hand while the other hand is holding a sort of paddle, basket, scoop, catching device in which you use to pass, scoop and shoot a wiffle ball into the goal. Totally mind blowing I know but beyond fun. I sit here with a sore body and a mind full of good times. I played every game there was and actually did fairly well. It’s the hockey player in me.
Saturday, October 4, 2008
Too Many Factors To Cover
Oct 1st, 2008-
I’m currently flying from Washington DC to Atlanta to join forces with Ted Leo and the Pharmacists who are supporting Against Me! on a 5 week tour across the troubled country known as the “United” States of America.
I have never met the Ted Leo folks before but know that they are good peeps and know that I will have fun. My good ol friend/ roommate from Richmond Mr. Nathan Plummer (comic genious folks!) has been touring with Ted Leo for the last couple of years and is responsible for this next adventure of mine. Nathan has decided to hit the books, dedicate himself more to school so he hooked me up with this tour which rules. Thanx bud! So I know due to Nathan, his vibes and the people he surrounds himself with I will be in good company.
Oct 2nd. 2008
So I sit here this evening in a bar named Stages in a city, town, weird beach community named Hilton Head, South Carolina which is located about 30 miles Northeast of Savannah, Georgia right on the coast.
Tonight is night #2 for myself on this tour and night #3 for the tour itself. On the TV screens at the bar in this venue are the Vice Presidential debates being played live. No clue what is being said, or for that matter what is even being asked but most likely nothing of any substance whatsoever. On the debate note Canada also tonight had it’s National debates which I missed and wont get to see. I have checked the Globe and Mail sight (not the best source whatsoever but I find myself checking this “news” source daily..weird) and you cant really tell anything from the article so I checked the “comments” section to read what the people are saying. Again doesn’t sound like anything of any substance whatsoever. We are in trouble people!!
Against Me! has just taken the stage and the kids are pumped as they were last night. I missed Against Me! in their “prime” which some would say was years ago however there are also a lot who would say their “prime” is now. I just know that I have heard many o many a stories about their shows “back in the day”. I know many personal friends of mine would tell me stories about when they went to see AM! and these stories always sounded so so amazing however it was something I missed and that’s how it is.
Currently they do have a good live show and I think that is a good thing when presenting live music to the fans. Are they relevant? Not sure. They are however very very sweet people which I have always thought and for that I respect them deeply.
Ted Leo and the Pharmacists on the other hand the last 2 nights have blown me away. This is the 3rd time I have ever seen them and it’s the raddest thing. Yes I think they are relevant very much so and YES I do think they have blown Against Me! away both nights. Again just a personal opinion. Against Me! dudes/ dudettes are some of the sweetest people out there and yes I do like them but I just feel that the Pharmacists have this tour in their hand and that’s a obviously a good thing. It was also pretty funny to watch them this evening while the debates were happening on every television screen in the house. No one cared whatsoever about the screens and people were just drawn into the music which is hard no to be with this band.
Thus far the shows have had a far different turn out then I expected. Tonights show is very ill attended as was last nights show and I am not sure why. I heard last night that the whole Atlanta/ Georgia area has a huge fuel crisis happening which I had no clue about. From what I was told you are only allowed 5 gallons of fuel at $5 a gallon and most gas stations are dry. Crazy!! Again We are in trouble!! It’s happening all around us. So that was definitely a factor last night in regards to the turn out and the reaction but as for tonight I am not sure. Yes we are in a place which seems very small and off the map but I still thought there would be a couple more people here this evening. However everyone is having fun as we all did last night and ultimately this is all the matters.!!
I’m currently flying from Washington DC to Atlanta to join forces with Ted Leo and the Pharmacists who are supporting Against Me! on a 5 week tour across the troubled country known as the “United” States of America.
I have never met the Ted Leo folks before but know that they are good peeps and know that I will have fun. My good ol friend/ roommate from Richmond Mr. Nathan Plummer (comic genious folks!) has been touring with Ted Leo for the last couple of years and is responsible for this next adventure of mine. Nathan has decided to hit the books, dedicate himself more to school so he hooked me up with this tour which rules. Thanx bud! So I know due to Nathan, his vibes and the people he surrounds himself with I will be in good company.
Oct 2nd. 2008
So I sit here this evening in a bar named Stages in a city, town, weird beach community named Hilton Head, South Carolina which is located about 30 miles Northeast of Savannah, Georgia right on the coast.
Tonight is night #2 for myself on this tour and night #3 for the tour itself. On the TV screens at the bar in this venue are the Vice Presidential debates being played live. No clue what is being said, or for that matter what is even being asked but most likely nothing of any substance whatsoever. On the debate note Canada also tonight had it’s National debates which I missed and wont get to see. I have checked the Globe and Mail sight (not the best source whatsoever but I find myself checking this “news” source daily..weird) and you cant really tell anything from the article so I checked the “comments” section to read what the people are saying. Again doesn’t sound like anything of any substance whatsoever. We are in trouble people!!
Against Me! has just taken the stage and the kids are pumped as they were last night. I missed Against Me! in their “prime” which some would say was years ago however there are also a lot who would say their “prime” is now. I just know that I have heard many o many a stories about their shows “back in the day”. I know many personal friends of mine would tell me stories about when they went to see AM! and these stories always sounded so so amazing however it was something I missed and that’s how it is.
Currently they do have a good live show and I think that is a good thing when presenting live music to the fans. Are they relevant? Not sure. They are however very very sweet people which I have always thought and for that I respect them deeply.
Ted Leo and the Pharmacists on the other hand the last 2 nights have blown me away. This is the 3rd time I have ever seen them and it’s the raddest thing. Yes I think they are relevant very much so and YES I do think they have blown Against Me! away both nights. Again just a personal opinion. Against Me! dudes/ dudettes are some of the sweetest people out there and yes I do like them but I just feel that the Pharmacists have this tour in their hand and that’s a obviously a good thing. It was also pretty funny to watch them this evening while the debates were happening on every television screen in the house. No one cared whatsoever about the screens and people were just drawn into the music which is hard no to be with this band.
Thus far the shows have had a far different turn out then I expected. Tonights show is very ill attended as was last nights show and I am not sure why. I heard last night that the whole Atlanta/ Georgia area has a huge fuel crisis happening which I had no clue about. From what I was told you are only allowed 5 gallons of fuel at $5 a gallon and most gas stations are dry. Crazy!! Again We are in trouble!! It’s happening all around us. So that was definitely a factor last night in regards to the turn out and the reaction but as for tonight I am not sure. Yes we are in a place which seems very small and off the map but I still thought there would be a couple more people here this evening. However everyone is having fun as we all did last night and ultimately this is all the matters.!!
Sunday, August 24, 2008
PROPAGANDHI- EUROPE 2008
Monday, July 28th, 2008
I am sitting here in pretty new airplane over the Atlantic Ocean heading to Frankfurt, Germany where I will meet up with the fellows in the rock group Propagandhi where we all will catch a flight to Helsinki, Finland too begin a Scandinavian/Belgium/German tour. The lighting in the vehicle is a very nice blue/ purple and the entertainment system is a touch screen state of the art system….I guess?
The last 2 months have been extremely go, go, go and I think it is slowly catching up to me. Unfortunately I can not sleep on flights so all my body will have to take this a little more until we finally arrive in Finland later today (or tomorrow shall I say).
In the past 2 months I did a 3 week Canadian tour with my friends in Strike Anywhere from Richmond, VA. I was home in Montreal for a couple days when I then I hitched a ride for 3 days to Philadelphia, PA with my friends The Loved Ones. I got to hang out with these fine folks and manage to watch Snoop Doggy Dog from side stage as well on this trip. Once in the US I headed to DC where I went camping in the Appalachians with my friend Helene before heading up to New Jersey to start the Warped Tour with the Bouncing Souls. The Souls and myself only did 8 shows on the summer circus which was quite enough for sure. The last 2 times doing this tour I have been on the whole thing which is a full 2 months of brutal work, and conditions and these 8 shows sometimes felt like it was 2 months.
Warped Tour is a extremely whack tour to begin with but this year was totally bonkers. You had huge pop-artists on this tour who had their own security guards and entourages with them at all time. You had one artist who would clear the womens bathroom before her set so she could do her make up. Bonkers!!! Out of about 100 bands I only liked 3 of them. The Bronx, Against Me!, and the wonderful and always amazing Bouncing Souls.
Thanx always!!!
Warped ended about 3 days ago when I then flew home for 12 hours to wash clothes, wash the parking lots out of my body, before driving to Toronto-yesterday- for a Propagandhi show before our actual adventures “over the pond”.
This next tour seems like it is going to be completely INSANE!! Places we are visiting on this run are Finland, Sweden, Norway, Belgium, and Germany. I am pumped because it’s another visit to Scandinavia for me. A first to Norway!! Propagandhi hasn’t played Sweden in about 13 years from what Jord was saying last night and have never played Finland and possibly Norway either though I am not sure.
Last night’s show in Toronto was totally off the wall. It was a sold out show-1000 cap- at the Phoenix which is a bigger venue in the city. I knew the kids were going to loose their minds as they always do with this band from what I have seen from my last tour plus the few times I had seen them in the past. Since their touring is very seldom it makes for extremely special events and the whole thing is basically a spectacle of sorts.
This tour it seems is always going to be special because the set list from what I heard last night #1 RULED!!!! and #2 had about 4 new tight jams for everyone to take in. This is a band who takes their musicianship extremely extremely serious. Yes they do not tour that often- and who could blame them- so while at home they practice around 3-5 times a week, have been doing this for years and you can tell from their tunes (new and old). Practice makes perfect.
These days bands have the routine they stick too. Record a record, tour on this record for a good year and a half and then record another record, repeat repeat repeat until either everyone is burned out or the fans are over it. All good things come to an end always!!
There are some who can definitely pull it together and do this very very well but for the most part this isn’t the norm.
And then again on the other side of it you have bands who do not tour that much and don’t put out records that often and nowadays there shows aren’t what they used to be. So…..it just all depends… On what? I’m not sure.
WEDNESDAY- JULY 30, 2008- HELSINKI- FINLAND
So today I met Saku Koivu the captain of the one and only Montreal Canadiens!!!
Rad!!!
I went to the downstairs of our hotel to get a password for the internet and as I was walking inside the lobby I see Saku just sitting there. As soon as I saw him I knew it was him so I said “right on man!!. I’m from Montreal” and then we started talking for awhile about the Habs last year, how they are looking this year, who we may still get on our team and when training camp starts. He mentioned he was at the hotel because the Finnish National team was having a meeting. That means if this was the case tere was a lot more NHL players in the hotel but I didn’t see any of them. He asked what I was doing in Finland and I mentioned I was on tour with a band playing in town tonight and Turku tomorrow. It turns out his home town is Turk, Finland and he will be there tomorrow night. So he told me to put him on the guest list “plus a few guys” and he may show. YEEHAAW!!! After I mentioned I would put him on the list I asked for a signature and that was that.
I went up stairs and went straight to Chris and Beave’s room due to my giddiness and knowing they have the same giddiness. As soon as word came out that Koivu was in the building and the rest of the National team Chris seriously LEAPED out of bed and said “WHERE WHERE!!!? NO WAY!!!”
Classic!!!
Okay so we arrived in here in Helsinki yesterday afternoon after a long couple hours of plane rides and layovers. Flying into Helsinki ruled hard. I have been here once before but came by ferry which also rules but seeing the landscape, and the coast from the air is definitely amazing. Once we flew over Germany the flight path took us over the Baltic Sea towards the coast of I would say Eastern Sweden and then onto Finland. The coast of Finland is so absolutely beautiful with tons and tons of waterways, inlets with tons and tons of Islands everywhere. It’s really special. ITS FINLAND!!
We landed, gathered our gear and were picked up by a fellow named Janne who took us to the hotel. There wasn’t any sort of a border whatsoever which was funny to witness. We walked through 2 automatic doors to the main lobby of the airport and all joked “well that was the border”
Most of us were completely delirious with jet lag and exhaustion but all our stomachs were empty so after we dropped our bags off we headed our to a Nepalese restaurant to eat some pretty good food before heading back to the hotel to call it a night.
This morning I woke up from a knock from Chris who informed Todd and I that there was a really good breakfast downstairs that is worth checking out. I felt pretty weird-jet lag- but figured I needed to get up and get used to it. Walking into the banquet hall for breakfast was definitely interesting and crazy. Usually most hotels free breakfast are beyond basic and there is just a couple people eating. Well not here in Helsinki. The hall was filled with every seat taken-about 100 people id say- and there was about 4 buffet stations plus counters filled with stuff most of which non of us could eat but it was still amazing. There was tons and tons of fruit which we all piled onto our plates and a nice berry salad which was had native(Scandinavia) Lingonberries with strawberries.
After eating I went back up to my room where I did some yoga due to a sore back from the travels and exhaustion. I met up with Jord/ Sam where we cruised the streets of Helsinki, and ate before we had to head to the venue. I like Helsinki and I love Scandinavia!!. Always have. We stopped into a café and had ourselves and afternoon Finnish beer before heading back to the hotel.
Now I find myself at the venue where the doors are open and kids are filtering in.
Tonight’s show is going to rule hard as they all will. Propagandhi has never played in Finland before so it’s going to be a special night.
I must say their new songs completely destroy and I would say are the most technical to date which is insane too think about seeing how this band is already crazy technical.
Friday- August 1, 2008- in and airplane heading to Norway
Currently we are flying from Helsinki, Finland to Oslo, Norway where we then hop on another plane to Trondheim, Norway located on the west coast of Norway about half way up country. From there we will then hop in a van to drive 2 hours south for a fest this evening where we play at midnight. Other bands on this fest are bands such as Sons & Daughters/ Blondie/ and Lee Scratch Perry however due to our travels today and tomorrow I don’t think we will catch any of them which is fine. On our flight today is Blonde Redhead who are doing the same shows as us so we all talked in the security line about where we were heading, them, and about our shows.
We have played 2 shows (Helsinki, and Turku- Finland) so far on this adventure with more to come.
Helsinki’s show was at a venue named Tavastia’s Klubi which was around the corner from our hotel. A nice venue with a capacity of 450 or so I’d say. From what Barney said the venue had an incredible PA system which he was pumped on which ultimately pumps everyone up due to good sound. The show was sold out and was part of some festival however I am not sure of its name. This particular day there was 4 bands and 2 stages in the venue so while one band was playing downstairs a band would be setting up their stage upstairs and rotate like such. The show was sold out and the kids were pumped. It’s a lot of fun doing stage for this band and getting to see the show up close and the kids loosing their minds. The show went off without a hitch and everyone was content for their first show in Finland. After the show a couple of us joined Barney in his room for a coulple beers and laughs.
Yesterday Todd and I slept in right until check out so I am assuming that was the jet lag kicking in. We headed down stairs where Janne picked us up to drive to Turku, Finland the birthplace of Saku Koivu and Toskala (don’t know how to spell homeboys first name). On the drive we pulled over at a gas station to relief ourselves and they had vegan ice cream bars/ cones. RIGHT ON!! In the middle of Finland at some random gas station we could get a nice little treat on a nice sunny day.
We arrived in Turku where the venue manager greeted us and was a very nice fellow. The venue yesterday was also called Klubi and was the same situation as the night before with it being a festival with bands downstairs and upstairs. After we loaded in and soundchecked we all headed out to an Indian food joint to eat some dinner before the nights events. Some people went back to the hotel before heading to the venue for a quick nap while I cruised back to the venue to watch things go down. The band that played before us was a band named The Unseen who are from Boston and who I am somewhat familiar with. I have never ever heard them really but my friend Matt did play with them on a tour a couple years ago. They were nice dudes but not really my thing.
After they were done and the stage was clear we set up our gear and waited for the band downstairs to finish before we could start. The venue was packed with people waiting patiently for Propagandhi to take the stage. We used some of the backline that we brought with us from Helsinki and some of the backline that was at the venue.
I/ or non of us are fans of barricades at venues just due to them being pretty weird and “separating”. Last nights venue had a barricade however it wasn’t anything huge and was only about 1.5 ft from the stage plus was at peoples mid sections. I do think the show would have been the exact same vibe even if had the barricade not been in place and it definitely cut back on people getting on stage. When there are people jumping on stage from all directions sometimes it gets a little crazy.
Last nights show was a very hot show. The stage floor within the first couple songs become pretty damp/ slippery so much that Todd ditched his shoes/ socks and ended up putting towels under both feet to rock out. A sight too see! It looked as if he was mopping the stage floor. Later on in the set a beach ball came flying on the stage as one did in Helsinki however last night right after the ball an actual rubber raft came flying over the crowd and found its way on stage. A rubber dingy!!!! Funniest thing ever. So Chris hopped in it and played a song while standing inside this inflatable boat. Too funny. Towards the end of the set Beaves guitar started acting up so I ran over to try diagnose the problem the best I could. We couldn’t figure out the problem so we ditched all the patching and went straight into the amp which made things a little better but not how they should have been. Thankfully it was at the end of the set so nothing crucial was lost. After the show we checked things out and we are pretty sure it was the amp so fingers crossed.
We are now descending to Oslo, Norway!!! YEAH!!!
August 4, 2008- flying from Copenhagen, Denmark to Brussels, Belgium
The last couple of days have been pretty interesting with some crazy travels, 2 moose spottings in Norway and many sleepless hours. About 48 of no sleep at all. Fortunately yesterday was the first real day off of tour and today is a day off as well except for our flight from Denmark to Brussels.
We woke up in Finland a couple days ago around 9 AM to drive 2 hours from Turku to Helsinki to catch a 12:30 flight which took us from Finland, through Oslo, and then onto Trondheim, Norway which we arrived in the late afternoon. From there we jumped in a van and drove about 2 hours to Medal, Norway where we were playing a festival with Lee Scratch Perry, Blondie and some others.
When we arrived in Medal we went straight to the hotel due to the “hideous” travels ahead with no sleep in sight. The hotel in Medal was absolutely amazing. I’ll do my best to describe what I can. There were 3 different log cabins on the grounds which had probably 5 separate hotel rooms in them. Each cabin had grass, greenery, moss and even a tree growing on top and out of the roof. A very very outdoorsy feel it was. There was a huge herb garden on the ground’s which I think is used in the kitchen of the place. This hotel was literally in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the mountains. I think it was being used by the fest for all the bands. There was no time to sleep so wee killed a couple hours of rest by eating some pasta which the cook made for us, hanging outside trying out stilts that were there too be used, and playing badminton. The funniest thing ever was seeing Barney walk on these stilts while Chris and himself tried to have fight each other while on this wooden legs. The lady who ran the place was super nice and brought us out a huge bowl of strawberries and sugar while we waited to get picked up so we could head to the fest grounds.
A van arrived to pick us up and it had been decided to bring all our belongings with us because from the fest we would head straight to the airport instead of coming 30 mins back to the hotel which was in the opposite direction making. The drive then would be the 2 hours from Trondheim to Medal not 2.5 hours from out hotel. On the way back to the venue site Todd spotted 1 moose which I managed to catch after hearing “Moose!” and then within 5 mins I hear Todd again yell “Moose, Moose, Moose” and there was another wonderful beast of the north. In NORWAY non the less!!!
Once at the fest grounds we unloaded, and Barney and I headed to our stage to take a look at everything.
This fest was a first for Propagandhi. It is not too often where you will find these dudes playing an outdoor fest which has huge barricades which separate the crowd/ band and on a huge stage. But seeing how there was no corporate sponsors they had agreed to play such fest.
On this show we didn’t have any sort of a real set up or sound check. Once the band before was done we had 1 hour to set up our stage/ dial in everything/ and do a quick line change. All went smoothly and Propagandhi went on at midnight as soon as Lee Scratch Perry was done “jamming”. Kids were pumped but the energy was definitely separated due to the barricade however it made my job a lil easier at that moment due to no kids on the stage and seeing how tired I/ we were I was okay with it.
After the set which was good considering our tiredness and only a line check we waited until 2:30AM to get picked up and drive back to Trondheim where we had a 6 AM flight to Oslo, onto Stockholm and then hop in a van for 6 hours to drive to Lund, Sweden.
Pheeewwyy!! Crazy travels.
The trip from Medal to Trondheim was in this Ford van mini which only had room for 6 not 7 people which we are. So seeing how late/ or early it was and how completely insane we all felt with no sleep at that time I volunteered to sit on the floor so we could just get to the airport. This sucked big time and was definitely not comfortable but sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do. If it was more then 2 hours I probably would not have done this.
A couple days before these adventures took place the band had a meeting to decided quite what to do with all the travels. When the tour was first booked we had another fest in Sweden booked which got cancelled therefore this made all the travels completely crazy due to re-bookings of shows. The band voted for “hideous”.
We eventually arrived in Lund, Svergie (Sweden) around 6:30PM after being awake since 9AM the morning before.
The venue we played in Lund was a really nice place as they have all been but this particular show had only been booked a couple days before hand so we all knew the place wouldn’t be packed and considering everyone’s energy level I would say that it wasn’t a bad thing. We set up our stage, the band sound checked and then we were fed a nice home cooked vegan meal of chili, bread, and rice. It’s always a nice thing over here in Europe being cooked food with love from the kids at the venues.
The show in Lund turned out to be okay. My friend Robert made it out which was nice to see him and hang out. Robert and I toured together a couple years ago with the (I)NC. In fact on that tour years ago I went and bought Propagandhi’s latest album the day it came out and Robert and I one night listened to it in the back of the bus. Funny!
This show the band wasn’t stoked on their gear at all. I know Chris’s amp was just a total pile from what he was saying and he wasn’t able to get the right sound out of it from the first song. You could tell during the set that this all was an issue so with this plus the lack of sleep I know the band has had WAY WAY better shows. But again from being a fan I didn’t think the show was horrible at all and went off okay under all the strain/ stress.
After the show was done we all headed to the hotel where everyone was planning on having their first sleep in almost 2 days. I was on my 2nd wind as well as most others so Sam, Chris, Jord, Barney, and myself actually went out to some left wing bookstore which was having a “party” after the show. It wasn’t much of a party besides being a sausage party with about 15 dudes who some were pretty intense in your face type people. They did give us free beer so we hung out for awhile and just watched everything go down. It was definitely a little weird due to some of the people.
After hanging there for awhile we all cruised back to get that much needed sleep.
The next day which would have been yesterday we were supposed to have a show in Copenhagen, Denmark however that show was cancelled days ago so a group of kids somewhere else in Denmark were trying to put together a show. We ended up pulling the plug on this show because the promoters were not able to get us the right gear to pull off such a last minute show.
Jord on his drum set uses 3 rack toms plus a floor tom while Beave, and Chris have specific amps they like but still play on many others. For this show the promoters were only able to get a drum kit with 1 rack tom plus a floor tom. The dudes mentioned maybe they could play a “comedy” set however the type of songs these fellows play and the technicality of them there would be no way for Jord to pull this off. He mentioned he would not know how to play most songs with such a kit and therefore it wouldn’t even be funny so with that, plus our lack of sleep they decided to cancel the date that was already cancelled.
Canceling the show yesterday gave us 2 days off in a row- today being a travel day.
August 7, 2008- Bochum, Germany @ the Matrix
So we are on the last leg of the tour with 2 shows played and 3 more left. We were picked up at the airport by our driver/ now tour mate Thomas who is from the Czech Republic. We drove to Antwerp, Belgium where we had rooms booked for all of us for the next 2 nights. We got checked in and all went out too look for some food after a day of flying/ driving. The part of town we were staying in seemed like the suburbs and there was nothing at all to eat. Most of the gang settled for these vegie wraps from a donor place and I ended up searching out a falafel due to the vibe of the donor place which I wasn’t feeling. Turns out the donor place from what everyone said wasn’t that good however my falafel wasn’t super great either but I’m glad I made that choice.
After eating we all hung out on some patio and had beers in celebration of Barney’s 46 (I think..if not 45) birthday which was nice and fun. Our night was spent outside drinking Belgium beer’s in celebration of a good fellow’s day of birth.
The next day we had a show in Temse, Belgium which was about 25 mins away from our hotel. The venue was a sort of a community center and was really really nice as are most of the venues of this sort in these parts. This particular venue had a huge computer room (about 6 computers), a game room, hammocks everywhere outside, and a nice kitchen where we were cooked an incredible meal later in the evening of pastas, salads, garlic spreads, chili, and even desert after the show for Barney’s birthday….A vegan cake!!
Temse’s show was completely haywire. The kids lost their minds and their were bodies flying in every which direction on stage. It was nuts. I am still bruised and battered from the evenings events and my clothes are still damp. It was so hot I had to ditch everything but the shorts and shoes that night which is something I don’t do often if at all. Little me baring my hunk of a body. Aaahahahaha. Also for that nights show Chris had a bad cable which needed to be switched and Jord’s drums had to be taped down due to them moving. It is a very interesting thing being drenched, in a very humid venue, with dampness everywhere trying to tape things down in the middle of the set. Let’s just say under these circumstances nothing works. The band destroyed it this evening and the kids helped them out with their energy. It was funny after the show seeing the floor of the club covered in sweat, mud, and broken glasses/ bottles.
Yesterday we played in Trier, Germany which was quite different then the Belgium show. The venue (the Exhaus) was another sort of community center which was super nice and HUGE. However the crowd last night was super duper chilled out and not very energetic at all. As soon as the dudes walked on stage people just stood there and didn’t say a word. It was quite weird in fact. It made my night a little easier compared to the chaotic night before which was okay but I wouldn’t trade that in for anything. This band deserves and needs craziness every night to be honest. And last night due to their being none the show wasn’t what it should have been and you could tell even from the dudes set. Earlier in the day though it was quite fun due to a rad soccer game Chris, Barney, Thomas and I played (Chris and I on a team- we lost) inside the venue in the gym. Super hot work out but much fun. We had tried to go swimming at the pool across the street but they were closing when we arrived so we opted for a hot work out instead.
I am sitting here in pretty new airplane over the Atlantic Ocean heading to Frankfurt, Germany where I will meet up with the fellows in the rock group Propagandhi where we all will catch a flight to Helsinki, Finland too begin a Scandinavian/Belgium/German tour. The lighting in the vehicle is a very nice blue/ purple and the entertainment system is a touch screen state of the art system….I guess?
The last 2 months have been extremely go, go, go and I think it is slowly catching up to me. Unfortunately I can not sleep on flights so all my body will have to take this a little more until we finally arrive in Finland later today (or tomorrow shall I say).
In the past 2 months I did a 3 week Canadian tour with my friends in Strike Anywhere from Richmond, VA. I was home in Montreal for a couple days when I then I hitched a ride for 3 days to Philadelphia, PA with my friends The Loved Ones. I got to hang out with these fine folks and manage to watch Snoop Doggy Dog from side stage as well on this trip. Once in the US I headed to DC where I went camping in the Appalachians with my friend Helene before heading up to New Jersey to start the Warped Tour with the Bouncing Souls. The Souls and myself only did 8 shows on the summer circus which was quite enough for sure. The last 2 times doing this tour I have been on the whole thing which is a full 2 months of brutal work, and conditions and these 8 shows sometimes felt like it was 2 months.
Warped Tour is a extremely whack tour to begin with but this year was totally bonkers. You had huge pop-artists on this tour who had their own security guards and entourages with them at all time. You had one artist who would clear the womens bathroom before her set so she could do her make up. Bonkers!!! Out of about 100 bands I only liked 3 of them. The Bronx, Against Me!, and the wonderful and always amazing Bouncing Souls.
Thanx always!!!
Warped ended about 3 days ago when I then flew home for 12 hours to wash clothes, wash the parking lots out of my body, before driving to Toronto-yesterday- for a Propagandhi show before our actual adventures “over the pond”.
This next tour seems like it is going to be completely INSANE!! Places we are visiting on this run are Finland, Sweden, Norway, Belgium, and Germany. I am pumped because it’s another visit to Scandinavia for me. A first to Norway!! Propagandhi hasn’t played Sweden in about 13 years from what Jord was saying last night and have never played Finland and possibly Norway either though I am not sure.
Last night’s show in Toronto was totally off the wall. It was a sold out show-1000 cap- at the Phoenix which is a bigger venue in the city. I knew the kids were going to loose their minds as they always do with this band from what I have seen from my last tour plus the few times I had seen them in the past. Since their touring is very seldom it makes for extremely special events and the whole thing is basically a spectacle of sorts.
This tour it seems is always going to be special because the set list from what I heard last night #1 RULED!!!! and #2 had about 4 new tight jams for everyone to take in. This is a band who takes their musicianship extremely extremely serious. Yes they do not tour that often- and who could blame them- so while at home they practice around 3-5 times a week, have been doing this for years and you can tell from their tunes (new and old). Practice makes perfect.
These days bands have the routine they stick too. Record a record, tour on this record for a good year and a half and then record another record, repeat repeat repeat until either everyone is burned out or the fans are over it. All good things come to an end always!!
There are some who can definitely pull it together and do this very very well but for the most part this isn’t the norm.
And then again on the other side of it you have bands who do not tour that much and don’t put out records that often and nowadays there shows aren’t what they used to be. So…..it just all depends… On what? I’m not sure.
WEDNESDAY- JULY 30, 2008- HELSINKI- FINLAND
So today I met Saku Koivu the captain of the one and only Montreal Canadiens!!!
Rad!!!
I went to the downstairs of our hotel to get a password for the internet and as I was walking inside the lobby I see Saku just sitting there. As soon as I saw him I knew it was him so I said “right on man!!. I’m from Montreal” and then we started talking for awhile about the Habs last year, how they are looking this year, who we may still get on our team and when training camp starts. He mentioned he was at the hotel because the Finnish National team was having a meeting. That means if this was the case tere was a lot more NHL players in the hotel but I didn’t see any of them. He asked what I was doing in Finland and I mentioned I was on tour with a band playing in town tonight and Turku tomorrow. It turns out his home town is Turk, Finland and he will be there tomorrow night. So he told me to put him on the guest list “plus a few guys” and he may show. YEEHAAW!!! After I mentioned I would put him on the list I asked for a signature and that was that.
I went up stairs and went straight to Chris and Beave’s room due to my giddiness and knowing they have the same giddiness. As soon as word came out that Koivu was in the building and the rest of the National team Chris seriously LEAPED out of bed and said “WHERE WHERE!!!? NO WAY!!!”
Classic!!!
Okay so we arrived in here in Helsinki yesterday afternoon after a long couple hours of plane rides and layovers. Flying into Helsinki ruled hard. I have been here once before but came by ferry which also rules but seeing the landscape, and the coast from the air is definitely amazing. Once we flew over Germany the flight path took us over the Baltic Sea towards the coast of I would say Eastern Sweden and then onto Finland. The coast of Finland is so absolutely beautiful with tons and tons of waterways, inlets with tons and tons of Islands everywhere. It’s really special. ITS FINLAND!!
We landed, gathered our gear and were picked up by a fellow named Janne who took us to the hotel. There wasn’t any sort of a border whatsoever which was funny to witness. We walked through 2 automatic doors to the main lobby of the airport and all joked “well that was the border”
Most of us were completely delirious with jet lag and exhaustion but all our stomachs were empty so after we dropped our bags off we headed our to a Nepalese restaurant to eat some pretty good food before heading back to the hotel to call it a night.
This morning I woke up from a knock from Chris who informed Todd and I that there was a really good breakfast downstairs that is worth checking out. I felt pretty weird-jet lag- but figured I needed to get up and get used to it. Walking into the banquet hall for breakfast was definitely interesting and crazy. Usually most hotels free breakfast are beyond basic and there is just a couple people eating. Well not here in Helsinki. The hall was filled with every seat taken-about 100 people id say- and there was about 4 buffet stations plus counters filled with stuff most of which non of us could eat but it was still amazing. There was tons and tons of fruit which we all piled onto our plates and a nice berry salad which was had native(Scandinavia) Lingonberries with strawberries.
After eating I went back up to my room where I did some yoga due to a sore back from the travels and exhaustion. I met up with Jord/ Sam where we cruised the streets of Helsinki, and ate before we had to head to the venue. I like Helsinki and I love Scandinavia!!. Always have. We stopped into a café and had ourselves and afternoon Finnish beer before heading back to the hotel.
Now I find myself at the venue where the doors are open and kids are filtering in.
Tonight’s show is going to rule hard as they all will. Propagandhi has never played in Finland before so it’s going to be a special night.
I must say their new songs completely destroy and I would say are the most technical to date which is insane too think about seeing how this band is already crazy technical.
Friday- August 1, 2008- in and airplane heading to Norway
Currently we are flying from Helsinki, Finland to Oslo, Norway where we then hop on another plane to Trondheim, Norway located on the west coast of Norway about half way up country. From there we will then hop in a van to drive 2 hours south for a fest this evening where we play at midnight. Other bands on this fest are bands such as Sons & Daughters/ Blondie/ and Lee Scratch Perry however due to our travels today and tomorrow I don’t think we will catch any of them which is fine. On our flight today is Blonde Redhead who are doing the same shows as us so we all talked in the security line about where we were heading, them, and about our shows.
We have played 2 shows (Helsinki, and Turku- Finland) so far on this adventure with more to come.
Helsinki’s show was at a venue named Tavastia’s Klubi which was around the corner from our hotel. A nice venue with a capacity of 450 or so I’d say. From what Barney said the venue had an incredible PA system which he was pumped on which ultimately pumps everyone up due to good sound. The show was sold out and was part of some festival however I am not sure of its name. This particular day there was 4 bands and 2 stages in the venue so while one band was playing downstairs a band would be setting up their stage upstairs and rotate like such. The show was sold out and the kids were pumped. It’s a lot of fun doing stage for this band and getting to see the show up close and the kids loosing their minds. The show went off without a hitch and everyone was content for their first show in Finland. After the show a couple of us joined Barney in his room for a coulple beers and laughs.
Yesterday Todd and I slept in right until check out so I am assuming that was the jet lag kicking in. We headed down stairs where Janne picked us up to drive to Turku, Finland the birthplace of Saku Koivu and Toskala (don’t know how to spell homeboys first name). On the drive we pulled over at a gas station to relief ourselves and they had vegan ice cream bars/ cones. RIGHT ON!! In the middle of Finland at some random gas station we could get a nice little treat on a nice sunny day.
We arrived in Turku where the venue manager greeted us and was a very nice fellow. The venue yesterday was also called Klubi and was the same situation as the night before with it being a festival with bands downstairs and upstairs. After we loaded in and soundchecked we all headed out to an Indian food joint to eat some dinner before the nights events. Some people went back to the hotel before heading to the venue for a quick nap while I cruised back to the venue to watch things go down. The band that played before us was a band named The Unseen who are from Boston and who I am somewhat familiar with. I have never ever heard them really but my friend Matt did play with them on a tour a couple years ago. They were nice dudes but not really my thing.
After they were done and the stage was clear we set up our gear and waited for the band downstairs to finish before we could start. The venue was packed with people waiting patiently for Propagandhi to take the stage. We used some of the backline that we brought with us from Helsinki and some of the backline that was at the venue.
I/ or non of us are fans of barricades at venues just due to them being pretty weird and “separating”. Last nights venue had a barricade however it wasn’t anything huge and was only about 1.5 ft from the stage plus was at peoples mid sections. I do think the show would have been the exact same vibe even if had the barricade not been in place and it definitely cut back on people getting on stage. When there are people jumping on stage from all directions sometimes it gets a little crazy.
Last nights show was a very hot show. The stage floor within the first couple songs become pretty damp/ slippery so much that Todd ditched his shoes/ socks and ended up putting towels under both feet to rock out. A sight too see! It looked as if he was mopping the stage floor. Later on in the set a beach ball came flying on the stage as one did in Helsinki however last night right after the ball an actual rubber raft came flying over the crowd and found its way on stage. A rubber dingy!!!! Funniest thing ever. So Chris hopped in it and played a song while standing inside this inflatable boat. Too funny. Towards the end of the set Beaves guitar started acting up so I ran over to try diagnose the problem the best I could. We couldn’t figure out the problem so we ditched all the patching and went straight into the amp which made things a little better but not how they should have been. Thankfully it was at the end of the set so nothing crucial was lost. After the show we checked things out and we are pretty sure it was the amp so fingers crossed.
We are now descending to Oslo, Norway!!! YEAH!!!
August 4, 2008- flying from Copenhagen, Denmark to Brussels, Belgium
The last couple of days have been pretty interesting with some crazy travels, 2 moose spottings in Norway and many sleepless hours. About 48 of no sleep at all. Fortunately yesterday was the first real day off of tour and today is a day off as well except for our flight from Denmark to Brussels.
We woke up in Finland a couple days ago around 9 AM to drive 2 hours from Turku to Helsinki to catch a 12:30 flight which took us from Finland, through Oslo, and then onto Trondheim, Norway which we arrived in the late afternoon. From there we jumped in a van and drove about 2 hours to Medal, Norway where we were playing a festival with Lee Scratch Perry, Blondie and some others.
When we arrived in Medal we went straight to the hotel due to the “hideous” travels ahead with no sleep in sight. The hotel in Medal was absolutely amazing. I’ll do my best to describe what I can. There were 3 different log cabins on the grounds which had probably 5 separate hotel rooms in them. Each cabin had grass, greenery, moss and even a tree growing on top and out of the roof. A very very outdoorsy feel it was. There was a huge herb garden on the ground’s which I think is used in the kitchen of the place. This hotel was literally in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the mountains. I think it was being used by the fest for all the bands. There was no time to sleep so wee killed a couple hours of rest by eating some pasta which the cook made for us, hanging outside trying out stilts that were there too be used, and playing badminton. The funniest thing ever was seeing Barney walk on these stilts while Chris and himself tried to have fight each other while on this wooden legs. The lady who ran the place was super nice and brought us out a huge bowl of strawberries and sugar while we waited to get picked up so we could head to the fest grounds.
A van arrived to pick us up and it had been decided to bring all our belongings with us because from the fest we would head straight to the airport instead of coming 30 mins back to the hotel which was in the opposite direction making. The drive then would be the 2 hours from Trondheim to Medal not 2.5 hours from out hotel. On the way back to the venue site Todd spotted 1 moose which I managed to catch after hearing “Moose!” and then within 5 mins I hear Todd again yell “Moose, Moose, Moose” and there was another wonderful beast of the north. In NORWAY non the less!!!
Once at the fest grounds we unloaded, and Barney and I headed to our stage to take a look at everything.
This fest was a first for Propagandhi. It is not too often where you will find these dudes playing an outdoor fest which has huge barricades which separate the crowd/ band and on a huge stage. But seeing how there was no corporate sponsors they had agreed to play such fest.
On this show we didn’t have any sort of a real set up or sound check. Once the band before was done we had 1 hour to set up our stage/ dial in everything/ and do a quick line change. All went smoothly and Propagandhi went on at midnight as soon as Lee Scratch Perry was done “jamming”. Kids were pumped but the energy was definitely separated due to the barricade however it made my job a lil easier at that moment due to no kids on the stage and seeing how tired I/ we were I was okay with it.
After the set which was good considering our tiredness and only a line check we waited until 2:30AM to get picked up and drive back to Trondheim where we had a 6 AM flight to Oslo, onto Stockholm and then hop in a van for 6 hours to drive to Lund, Sweden.
Pheeewwyy!! Crazy travels.
The trip from Medal to Trondheim was in this Ford van mini which only had room for 6 not 7 people which we are. So seeing how late/ or early it was and how completely insane we all felt with no sleep at that time I volunteered to sit on the floor so we could just get to the airport. This sucked big time and was definitely not comfortable but sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do. If it was more then 2 hours I probably would not have done this.
A couple days before these adventures took place the band had a meeting to decided quite what to do with all the travels. When the tour was first booked we had another fest in Sweden booked which got cancelled therefore this made all the travels completely crazy due to re-bookings of shows. The band voted for “hideous”.
We eventually arrived in Lund, Svergie (Sweden) around 6:30PM after being awake since 9AM the morning before.
The venue we played in Lund was a really nice place as they have all been but this particular show had only been booked a couple days before hand so we all knew the place wouldn’t be packed and considering everyone’s energy level I would say that it wasn’t a bad thing. We set up our stage, the band sound checked and then we were fed a nice home cooked vegan meal of chili, bread, and rice. It’s always a nice thing over here in Europe being cooked food with love from the kids at the venues.
The show in Lund turned out to be okay. My friend Robert made it out which was nice to see him and hang out. Robert and I toured together a couple years ago with the (I)NC. In fact on that tour years ago I went and bought Propagandhi’s latest album the day it came out and Robert and I one night listened to it in the back of the bus. Funny!
This show the band wasn’t stoked on their gear at all. I know Chris’s amp was just a total pile from what he was saying and he wasn’t able to get the right sound out of it from the first song. You could tell during the set that this all was an issue so with this plus the lack of sleep I know the band has had WAY WAY better shows. But again from being a fan I didn’t think the show was horrible at all and went off okay under all the strain/ stress.
After the show was done we all headed to the hotel where everyone was planning on having their first sleep in almost 2 days. I was on my 2nd wind as well as most others so Sam, Chris, Jord, Barney, and myself actually went out to some left wing bookstore which was having a “party” after the show. It wasn’t much of a party besides being a sausage party with about 15 dudes who some were pretty intense in your face type people. They did give us free beer so we hung out for awhile and just watched everything go down. It was definitely a little weird due to some of the people.
After hanging there for awhile we all cruised back to get that much needed sleep.
The next day which would have been yesterday we were supposed to have a show in Copenhagen, Denmark however that show was cancelled days ago so a group of kids somewhere else in Denmark were trying to put together a show. We ended up pulling the plug on this show because the promoters were not able to get us the right gear to pull off such a last minute show.
Jord on his drum set uses 3 rack toms plus a floor tom while Beave, and Chris have specific amps they like but still play on many others. For this show the promoters were only able to get a drum kit with 1 rack tom plus a floor tom. The dudes mentioned maybe they could play a “comedy” set however the type of songs these fellows play and the technicality of them there would be no way for Jord to pull this off. He mentioned he would not know how to play most songs with such a kit and therefore it wouldn’t even be funny so with that, plus our lack of sleep they decided to cancel the date that was already cancelled.
Canceling the show yesterday gave us 2 days off in a row- today being a travel day.
August 7, 2008- Bochum, Germany @ the Matrix
So we are on the last leg of the tour with 2 shows played and 3 more left. We were picked up at the airport by our driver/ now tour mate Thomas who is from the Czech Republic. We drove to Antwerp, Belgium where we had rooms booked for all of us for the next 2 nights. We got checked in and all went out too look for some food after a day of flying/ driving. The part of town we were staying in seemed like the suburbs and there was nothing at all to eat. Most of the gang settled for these vegie wraps from a donor place and I ended up searching out a falafel due to the vibe of the donor place which I wasn’t feeling. Turns out the donor place from what everyone said wasn’t that good however my falafel wasn’t super great either but I’m glad I made that choice.
After eating we all hung out on some patio and had beers in celebration of Barney’s 46 (I think..if not 45) birthday which was nice and fun. Our night was spent outside drinking Belgium beer’s in celebration of a good fellow’s day of birth.
The next day we had a show in Temse, Belgium which was about 25 mins away from our hotel. The venue was a sort of a community center and was really really nice as are most of the venues of this sort in these parts. This particular venue had a huge computer room (about 6 computers), a game room, hammocks everywhere outside, and a nice kitchen where we were cooked an incredible meal later in the evening of pastas, salads, garlic spreads, chili, and even desert after the show for Barney’s birthday….A vegan cake!!
Temse’s show was completely haywire. The kids lost their minds and their were bodies flying in every which direction on stage. It was nuts. I am still bruised and battered from the evenings events and my clothes are still damp. It was so hot I had to ditch everything but the shorts and shoes that night which is something I don’t do often if at all. Little me baring my hunk of a body. Aaahahahaha. Also for that nights show Chris had a bad cable which needed to be switched and Jord’s drums had to be taped down due to them moving. It is a very interesting thing being drenched, in a very humid venue, with dampness everywhere trying to tape things down in the middle of the set. Let’s just say under these circumstances nothing works. The band destroyed it this evening and the kids helped them out with their energy. It was funny after the show seeing the floor of the club covered in sweat, mud, and broken glasses/ bottles.
Yesterday we played in Trier, Germany which was quite different then the Belgium show. The venue (the Exhaus) was another sort of community center which was super nice and HUGE. However the crowd last night was super duper chilled out and not very energetic at all. As soon as the dudes walked on stage people just stood there and didn’t say a word. It was quite weird in fact. It made my night a little easier compared to the chaotic night before which was okay but I wouldn’t trade that in for anything. This band deserves and needs craziness every night to be honest. And last night due to their being none the show wasn’t what it should have been and you could tell even from the dudes set. Earlier in the day though it was quite fun due to a rad soccer game Chris, Barney, Thomas and I played (Chris and I on a team- we lost) inside the venue in the gym. Super hot work out but much fun. We had tried to go swimming at the pool across the street but they were closing when we arrived so we opted for a hot work out instead.
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
The GA's, TB, and the Souls
May 7, 2008
I have been home for a couple days now after the 2nd run of the “An Evening With The Bouncing Souls” shows. This last run was only 1 week long and went by fairly quickly. I didn’t do any writing this run due to being fairly busy driving and working. Fargo to New Jersey with 1 week of shows means a lot of over night driving, and early mornings which means no time to write.
This second run was
The Gaslight Anthem
Tim Barry
The Bouncing Souls
I just read a review of the show we played in Brooklyn and it brought back the evening of memories so I have decided to write a lil something something.
The Souls I have said many many times and will say many more times straight up rule. They are straight up the best but I am also able to say this about a couple other bands that take me out on their adventures. This is about the Souls so that’s what I’ll concentrate on.
We all flew into Minneapolis to pick up the trucks and head to Fargo where we would play the first show of the run. This evening there was a big hockey game on between the Flyers and the Habs and everyone knew I was super pumped on this so once we got our luggage we hauled ass to Fargo to catch the last 2 periods of the game. No one else in the gang really cares about hockey but this evening they were all pumped to go out, drink, and watch the game with me…..Habs lost and ended up loosing the entire series….
The next day we played in Moorhead, MN at the University there. The show was held in a huge gymnasium that ended up having only about 400 kids in it I would say. Again we were in the middle of nowhere and college shows are always weird to begin with. There were seriously more cops at this show, and around the venue then I have seen in most major cities. Totally weird. This was the first time I had seen GA however it was also in a huge empty room so I didn’t give them my full attention because I knew there would be more shows, and a real show vibe.
The next day we played Minneapolis where Tim Barry was meeting up with us which we were all excited about. I was pumped due to him being a friend/ old neighbor from Richmond and getting to spend a lot of time with him on the road. Also I was looking forward to it for Tim because I knew this would be a good thing/ experience for him during these times/ emotions for him.
I wont go fully into because he actually reads these writings. About 2 months ago Tim found his best friend hanging from a tree. His name was Travis Connor and was also a friend of mine too from thee ol RVA. I had talked to Tim a couple times since our loss but very short emails wishing him well. After Travis’s passing Tim left Richmond to clear his head and cruised down to North Carolina where then his best friend there passed a couple weeks later while Tim was there. Emotions I don’t think many people will ever experience.
So hearing about this tour and knowing Tim was going to be with us really stoked me out because I knew it would be a good thing for him and all of us.
The show in Minneapolis was at the one and only Triple Rock Social Club which is run by the fellows in the almighty Dillinger Four. The Triple Rock rules the house in so many ways. A club run by punks, who have made it an amazing place for bands to play, and the kids to hang. Minneapolis is also amazing due to their food situation. Pizza Luce and the Triple Rock both have the most amazing food ever. Pizza Luce I usually get mock duck pasta with cheese bread and at the Triple Rock I always get their mock meat loaf, mashed potates and gravy. WHOA!!! A must for any visitor to the Twin Cities.
The show this evening was amazing as was expected and it was the first show for Tim on this tour. Right away you could tell he was super super nervous and he had even mentioned to me that “this was the most social I (he) had been in 2 months”. So this show was the ice breaker for him and he did well.
The GA’s also played an amazing set as they always did.
Next we head to Chicago, onto Pittsburgh, thru Brooklyn and finally ended in a parking lot at Giant Stadium for Bamboozle Fest.
Brooklyn was the raddest show ever as I knew it would be. We played a venue named Europa which is very very small place. The cap is 550 but it seems like only 250 people could fit in there. The load in sucks because its all upstairs and the stair case is super duper small so there was definitely a couple cases which were pretty rough to get up.
GA opened the show and played another great set.
Tim Barry played after them like he did every night and had a great set himself. Hearing kids singing along as loud as he was to his songs was great and always is not matter who is playing.
The Souls then came on to a very excited crowd. Kids were already loosing it for GA and TB and now the main event. Whoa!!! I sell merch for the Souls so every night I get too see and talk too wild and crazy kids who are beyond pumped. It’s super amazing because I am on the same page as them so know exactly what they are feeling. It’s such a treat to witness this every night and this night was exactly that. The Habs were playing a do or die game that night so I had my Habs shirt on and had people all night coming up to the table letting me know the score of the game which ruled. Habs lost but it didn’t impact my night whatsoever. The Souls destroyed the place and left smiles on all our faces.
0. Hopeless Romantic
0. Say Anything
0. That Song
0. Cracked
0. -----
0. Lean on Sheena (Avoid One Thing cover)
0. The Something Special
0. Kid
0. The Freaks, Nerds, & Romantics
0. ?
0. Headlights Ditch
0. -----
0. Joe Lies (When He Cries)
0. I Like Your Mom (downbeat version)
0. -----
0. Good Lookin' Out (Sick of It All ukelele cover)
0. -----
0. Hybrid Moments (Misfits ballad cover)
0. -----
0. Gone (mostly acoustic)
0. -----
0. Argyle
0. No Security
0. -----
0. East Coast Fuck You! (karaoke)
0. -----
0. The Ballad of Johnny X
0. -----
0. Midnight Mile
0. -----
0. Quick Check Girl (request)
0. Private Radio
0. Sing Along Forever
0. True Believers
0. -----
0. Encore:
0. Kids and Heroes
0. -----
Night on Earth (Greg's acoustic accompaniment)
I have been home for a couple days now after the 2nd run of the “An Evening With The Bouncing Souls” shows. This last run was only 1 week long and went by fairly quickly. I didn’t do any writing this run due to being fairly busy driving and working. Fargo to New Jersey with 1 week of shows means a lot of over night driving, and early mornings which means no time to write.
This second run was
The Gaslight Anthem
Tim Barry
The Bouncing Souls
I just read a review of the show we played in Brooklyn and it brought back the evening of memories so I have decided to write a lil something something.
The Souls I have said many many times and will say many more times straight up rule. They are straight up the best but I am also able to say this about a couple other bands that take me out on their adventures. This is about the Souls so that’s what I’ll concentrate on.
We all flew into Minneapolis to pick up the trucks and head to Fargo where we would play the first show of the run. This evening there was a big hockey game on between the Flyers and the Habs and everyone knew I was super pumped on this so once we got our luggage we hauled ass to Fargo to catch the last 2 periods of the game. No one else in the gang really cares about hockey but this evening they were all pumped to go out, drink, and watch the game with me…..Habs lost and ended up loosing the entire series….
The next day we played in Moorhead, MN at the University there. The show was held in a huge gymnasium that ended up having only about 400 kids in it I would say. Again we were in the middle of nowhere and college shows are always weird to begin with. There were seriously more cops at this show, and around the venue then I have seen in most major cities. Totally weird. This was the first time I had seen GA however it was also in a huge empty room so I didn’t give them my full attention because I knew there would be more shows, and a real show vibe.
The next day we played Minneapolis where Tim Barry was meeting up with us which we were all excited about. I was pumped due to him being a friend/ old neighbor from Richmond and getting to spend a lot of time with him on the road. Also I was looking forward to it for Tim because I knew this would be a good thing/ experience for him during these times/ emotions for him.
I wont go fully into because he actually reads these writings. About 2 months ago Tim found his best friend hanging from a tree. His name was Travis Connor and was also a friend of mine too from thee ol RVA. I had talked to Tim a couple times since our loss but very short emails wishing him well. After Travis’s passing Tim left Richmond to clear his head and cruised down to North Carolina where then his best friend there passed a couple weeks later while Tim was there. Emotions I don’t think many people will ever experience.
So hearing about this tour and knowing Tim was going to be with us really stoked me out because I knew it would be a good thing for him and all of us.
The show in Minneapolis was at the one and only Triple Rock Social Club which is run by the fellows in the almighty Dillinger Four. The Triple Rock rules the house in so many ways. A club run by punks, who have made it an amazing place for bands to play, and the kids to hang. Minneapolis is also amazing due to their food situation. Pizza Luce and the Triple Rock both have the most amazing food ever. Pizza Luce I usually get mock duck pasta with cheese bread and at the Triple Rock I always get their mock meat loaf, mashed potates and gravy. WHOA!!! A must for any visitor to the Twin Cities.
The show this evening was amazing as was expected and it was the first show for Tim on this tour. Right away you could tell he was super super nervous and he had even mentioned to me that “this was the most social I (he) had been in 2 months”. So this show was the ice breaker for him and he did well.
The GA’s also played an amazing set as they always did.
Next we head to Chicago, onto Pittsburgh, thru Brooklyn and finally ended in a parking lot at Giant Stadium for Bamboozle Fest.
Brooklyn was the raddest show ever as I knew it would be. We played a venue named Europa which is very very small place. The cap is 550 but it seems like only 250 people could fit in there. The load in sucks because its all upstairs and the stair case is super duper small so there was definitely a couple cases which were pretty rough to get up.
GA opened the show and played another great set.
Tim Barry played after them like he did every night and had a great set himself. Hearing kids singing along as loud as he was to his songs was great and always is not matter who is playing.
The Souls then came on to a very excited crowd. Kids were already loosing it for GA and TB and now the main event. Whoa!!! I sell merch for the Souls so every night I get too see and talk too wild and crazy kids who are beyond pumped. It’s super amazing because I am on the same page as them so know exactly what they are feeling. It’s such a treat to witness this every night and this night was exactly that. The Habs were playing a do or die game that night so I had my Habs shirt on and had people all night coming up to the table letting me know the score of the game which ruled. Habs lost but it didn’t impact my night whatsoever. The Souls destroyed the place and left smiles on all our faces.
0. Hopeless Romantic
0. Say Anything
0. That Song
0. Cracked
0. -----
0. Lean on Sheena (Avoid One Thing cover)
0. The Something Special
0. Kid
0. The Freaks, Nerds, & Romantics
0. ?
0. Headlights Ditch
0. -----
0. Joe Lies (When He Cries)
0. I Like Your Mom (downbeat version)
0. -----
0. Good Lookin' Out (Sick of It All ukelele cover)
0. -----
0. Hybrid Moments (Misfits ballad cover)
0. -----
0. Gone (mostly acoustic)
0. -----
0. Argyle
0. No Security
0. -----
0. East Coast Fuck You! (karaoke)
0. -----
0. The Ballad of Johnny X
0. -----
0. Midnight Mile
0. -----
0. Quick Check Girl (request)
0. Private Radio
0. Sing Along Forever
0. True Believers
0. -----
0. Encore:
0. Kids and Heroes
0. -----
Night on Earth (Greg's acoustic accompaniment)
Monday, April 14, 2008
Middle Of Nowhere, Middle of Idaho, Middle of the Mountains
Monday, April14, 2008- the Rocky Mountains, Idaho
Just waking up here at Greg’s house. The most amazing thing ever is my little nook where I am sleeping which is overlooking the downstairs out through the main glass windows with a gigantic lake in the back ground and a huge mountain range behind that. NATURE!!!! I slept with ear plugs last night due to a movie being played below however I can assure you this is one of the quietest places ever.
So I do this writing for myself personally too collect and look back on but also for family/ friends to check out so they have somewhat of an idea of what I am up too. Most trips/ tours I take in everything pretty solo. Usually I am with tour buds etc etc but when tour is done we all go to our own places/ homes and get back to our normal lives. Sometimes it’s hard to come home and try to replay the adventures that were just experienced so the writing things down is the closest that I can get.
I just confirmed another tour on this tour which I am looking forward to.
It’s with an Austrailian band named Cut Copy and they have a nice electronic vibe too them. I am definitely all about the axes, skins and the thrash for sure but I have a soft spot for many many other types of tunes. This will be a change and I do actually really enjoy the tunes that I have heard from the CC. Plus my friend Heather needed someone to cover her so it’s helping her out and my friend and old tour mate Tito is going to be their tour manager. STOKED!!!
Just read an article in the Globe and Mail in regards to a major ice shelf in the arctic (Canada) has now split into 3 after discovery earlier this month by scientists on sno-mobile. “the map of Canada is changing”. Totally crazy.
So today has been a super chill relaxing day. Woke up, had some breakfast of raisin bran, soy milk and a couple red vines. Greg and K8 went into town to get groceries for our feast we will cook tonight while the others of us watched Cheech and Chong’s Up In Smoke. We planned on going to the Gold Fork Hot Springs so once the movie was finished we all hoped into the Castle and cruised back down the mountain through the back country onto a dirt road which about 30 mins later brought us to the Springs.
There was 4 good sized pool ranging from 109, 103, 97, and 92 degrees F surrounded by snow, trees, and gigantic rocks. The water from the Spring was coming from 5000 feet below ground and is actually about 150 degrees F when it’s coming out however there is a big trough that was built for the water to run through, and cool down before entering the pools.
I have been to other Hot Springs in the past and they all usually have the rotten egg smell from the sulphur and the other minerals coming through. Nothing major. Well Gold Fork didn’t have this scent because they are alkaline heated pools.
The fellow that was working there said the best thing for the body, and joints was to go from the 109 degree pool to the 103 pool back and forth every couple of minutes. I guess with all the minerals in this water and the heat this combination really helps break down lactic acid which I think is stored in joint.
Currently my skin has this very smooth feel too it and while swimming we all felt somewhat “slimy” which was a nice sensation because you knew it was from the minerals.
Thus far today has been an incredible day off/ chill today and im looking forward to our feast this evening and then having an incredible sleep.
Sunday. April 13, 2008- Middle of nowhere, middle of Idaho
Totally bummed. The last couple of days have been beyond amazing. With this I have also taken a lot of pics of the times however this evening my camera, and computer just didn’t seem to vibe with each other therefore the photos are gone.
Oh well. With toys as such problems as such are bound too happen.
So we are all just currently chilling out at Greg’s house in the middle of nowhere, in the middle of the rockies, in the middle of Idaho.
It’s completely out of this world actually. His house is located near a town named McCall, ID which seems too only have a population of about 3000 or so. Super small. We’ll Gregs house is about 20 mins away from McCall on a mountain side over looking Lake Payette with another mountain range behind this.
We came here today because Greg had set up a show at the local ski hill (Brundage) and then we have 2 days off in which we plan on staying here for most of it.
When I say “here” I mean in a house in the middle of the mountains. Totally amazing. Earlier Greg took Dubs, K8 and myself too his barn where we all grabbed bails of hay to bring outside to lay for the Elk this evening. Driving up the mountain about 5 mins down the road we passed a gang of about 10 elk eating in someone’s yard so they are bound to make their ways towards us.
The last couple days have been totally amazing.
We had a good show as well as good hang session in San Fran, CA. A friend of mine from Santa Cruz came out to the show as he always does due to his love for the Souls. I would too!. I saw my friend Heather who was in town before here return to her home in Gainesville. I had seen her a couple days prior at Bamboozle working for her dudes but we were both busy so seeing her at the show ruled. Anthony- Twan was also at the show which ruled!!. Twan tours with the Souls all the time except for this run. Dubs plays percussion on some songs which adds a little something too the show.
After the show we all went out to some local SF bar which was fun. I spent most of my night hanging with Twan and talking about adventures and what not.
The next morning the weather outside was an incredible Californian day with a nice warm temp and nice blue skies. I decided I would do my daily yoga routine outside in the courtyard, near the garden and pool. Amazing. The sun on my back and little birds cruising around the ground. The next thing in line was a ncie relaxing swim-again- in the pool before we checked out of the rooms. One last thing before leaving the SF area was too stop and get another great California burrito. Nothing compares!!
Before driving to Sacto we had planned a field trip at Muir Woods National Park.
This forest is one of the last forests of its kind due to a temperature that stays in the range of between 40 and 70 degrees. Due to it’s proximity to the Pacific Ocean the moisture in the area contributes too mass plant growth.
The redwoods are like no other tree’s I have seen. Living in Santa Cruz I was in the area of the Redwoods so am somewhat fairly familiar with them. Although this doesn’t matter because each time you are near 1 of these beast it’s mind blowing. The tree’s are so huge and there bark is so big that they are naturally fire resistant. However by logging such forests this opens them up to fires and due to the lack of tree’s the fire then over comes the other trees.
The trunks of the Redwoods are the biggest things ever and the air within the canopy of the forest was so smooth and calm.
We did our thing here for about an hour or so and then took the trucks back up the crazy super windy road to begin our journey too Sacramento.
In Sacramento we were playing Kevin Seconds (thee almighty 7 Seconds) coffee shop named True Love Coffee. The Bouncing Souls at a coffee shop.
The thing about this tour is other then Bamboozle all these shows have been in weird, small, peculiar places. A coffee shop is fitting and I know all the Souls and 7 Seconds folks have been friends for years and years.
Truelove was definitely a small coffee shop with a patio in the back where the show was taking place. Dead To Me weren’t playing and neither was A Static Radio New Jersey. Just the Souls, Kevin Seconds and some other fellow on a guitar. I would say there was about 80 people total at this show who were super stoked as was I. At a coffee shop for a Souls show. Kevin Seconds did his jamming which was cool. I didn’t talk much to the dude but he seems like the nicest dude ever and from what I have heard he is this plus more. Always nice to know and hear.
The Souls came on and played almost there whole set acoustic due to the show being outside, on the patio of a coffee shop in a neighborhood.
Super amazing hearing all the kids singing along at the same level as the band but hearing them during “Gone” ruled the most.
The last 2 songs were played loud and 1 ended up being a cover. When Bryan said over the mic “Kevin? Where’s Kevin” I knew what was happening. A 7 Seconds cover with Kevin singing. “Young Until I Die”. Bad ass. Another addition to an already special night.
After the show we had a 10 + hour drive to Portland,OR so we quickly packed all our gear up and hit the highway. We ended up only driving a couple hours a little north of Redding,CA.
Waking up in the morning was yet another amazing California day with another warm temperature with blue skies. We drove through the mountains passing Mt. Shasta on the way as well as Mt. Rainer I think in OR.
I was looking forward to Portland because Portland is always a good time and a super nice city. Also though they do have Voodoo Donuts which is open 24 hours, and serves amazing vegan donuts of many different varieties. The venue we played was exactly right next door to Voodoo which was funny. Berbati’s Pan (venue) and Voodoo are neighbors. After loading in I went straight into the shop and bought a dozen. I would say I ate only about a ½ of the box which is quite a bit. So addicting but also after 6 you feel a little weird but they were vegan so I’ll take em when I can.
The Portland show was a good one which I expected. The venue was weird and had this funky barricade in the middle of the room separating the ages. The show went off well, band played well, kids were super pumped, and everyone left happy.
The Souls do pretty alright most places but there are always certain citites where you know it’s going to be a good good time. Portland being one of many.
After our show we went out too some bar which you could smoke in. Totally surprising seeing how Portland too me has this very liberal/ chilled out/ conscious vibe. Smoking in bars still!!?? Crazy. Get with it Portland.
In the morning we went to a breakfast spot I have been too now 3 times. Vita Café is it’s name and they have amazing food for everyone. I settle on their “Country Comfort” which was biscuits/ gravy, tempeh, steamed veggies, sausage, and a nice fresh orange/ carrot juice. Yeeeehaaaaaw!!!....oh I did finish off with a chocolate/ strawberry piece of cake. The best thing about traveling is food. Straight up!!!
The next stop on the list was Seattle at the El Corazon which is a nice little venue in Seattle. Driving to Seattle was easy and a nice drive. It’s only about 2.5 hours and it’s a pretty drive. ON all our drives I am constantly always behind the castle.
I go where the castle goes. K8 was changing lanes but I could tell that she was about to make another move by her flicker of the blinker and the breaks. Just like I hypothesized she changed lanes rapidly with a carcass of a dead dear coming from underneath the castle. The thing was flipped up and thrown against us in #2 which was brutal. Again the poor thing had already passed on the side of the freeway but it somehow wasn’t clear of the road. So yeah it was a little brutal too see, and be part of.
In Seattle we played the El Corazon. I have been here now about 5-6 times (used to be called Graceland).Another city that loves the Souls is Seattle so this was going to be another good night. Last time we played here was about 1 ½ years ago and did 2 nights which was off the wall.
Also in Seattle my friend Nathan (is in Dead To Me but is someone I grew up with in Richmond) and I knew a bunch of friends from RVA living in Seattle coming to the show.
Another great thing about Seattle and the El Corazon is every time you play at this place (or from what I have seen) there are always bottles and bottles of odwalla juices in the cooler. I would say about 20 bottles of orange juice, smoothies, pomegranate juices.
The show in Seattle was fun and seeing my friends K8, Carry, and Chappy is always nice-old homies from RVA who have all been part of each others chapters.
This was the last day with the Dead To Me’s so we all had a little goodbye session outside the venue, got in our trucks and began our journey to Idaho.
The drive was about 500 miles or so from Seattle to here in McCall< Idaho where we are all holed up currently. McD and Dubs were kind enough too take the first 2 shifts of driving which was also god for me because my little bum was a little tired. I crashed out and they did their thing up front.
This morning I was woken up after a nice, long refreshing sleep so Dub’s could pull over and now get his rest he rightfully deserved. At this time we were on a 1 way road beside a crazy wild rushing river in the middle of the mountains. A huge wide load was on it’s way down so we were asked to stop and wait for the load too pass by. I took over and continued the drive up the mountain, through McCall and too the ski resort we were playing at today.
This part of the trip I have been looking forward to because of where we are and the scenery.
We arrived at this ski hill and began try to figure out what was going on. There was a sno mobile being used to transport 2 PA speakers up the hill to the lodge. Seeing that I knew this whole day was going to be like no other. At a ski hill, using sno mobiles too transport everything.
K8 had told me there wasn’t much for me too do so go have fun. The ski hill was giving us all free passes, rentals if we wanted which I did so I headed straight inside and got myself hooked up with boots, poles, and skies.
This is the 2nd time in the last 15 years that I have been on skies but I was pumped and knew it wouldn’t be a problem.
How cool! Most of my day was spent skiing the slopes in Idaho. Pete rented skies so we paired up and went to the top. We were about 6000 ft up and the weather was really really nice and warm. No layers, no ski pants, no gloves needed.
So off we went down the slopes of Brundage Mountain. I had no problem at all and it came back to me instantly as I was cutting back and forth down the hill. Over and over we did this until about 10 runs later we all called it quits to get ready for the next adventure that was in store. The souls on the patio of a ski lodge with a PA for the vocals and that was that. PUNK!!!!
Again another super cool thing taking place. I would say there was only about 80 people again all sitting on lawn chairs/ picnic tables in the snow waching the Souls do their thing. A couple kids drove up from Boise and there were definitely some locals who knew the band too.
During the set there we many snowball fights witnessed and egged on by the band and everyone. No one was “up front” or near the band at all. They were all sitting ways away so when this next thing happened it ruled. There were a bunch of dogs running around the mountain and after the Souls played one of their songs one of the dogs cruised into the middle of everyone and just laid a loaf. Funniest thing ever.
The show continued on with more snow ball fight, people drinking major amounts of beer and being ultra crazy. Mountain people I tell you are a certain bunch. We are all crazy in our own right but this group of folks was totally hay wire. I was into it. Again it’s not things you see all the time so take it all in.
After the ski hill adventures we made ourselves up another mountain too Greg’s house where we all are now mending our sunburns and all relaxing as hard as we can.
Just waking up here at Greg’s house. The most amazing thing ever is my little nook where I am sleeping which is overlooking the downstairs out through the main glass windows with a gigantic lake in the back ground and a huge mountain range behind that. NATURE!!!! I slept with ear plugs last night due to a movie being played below however I can assure you this is one of the quietest places ever.
So I do this writing for myself personally too collect and look back on but also for family/ friends to check out so they have somewhat of an idea of what I am up too. Most trips/ tours I take in everything pretty solo. Usually I am with tour buds etc etc but when tour is done we all go to our own places/ homes and get back to our normal lives. Sometimes it’s hard to come home and try to replay the adventures that were just experienced so the writing things down is the closest that I can get.
I just confirmed another tour on this tour which I am looking forward to.
It’s with an Austrailian band named Cut Copy and they have a nice electronic vibe too them. I am definitely all about the axes, skins and the thrash for sure but I have a soft spot for many many other types of tunes. This will be a change and I do actually really enjoy the tunes that I have heard from the CC. Plus my friend Heather needed someone to cover her so it’s helping her out and my friend and old tour mate Tito is going to be their tour manager. STOKED!!!
Just read an article in the Globe and Mail in regards to a major ice shelf in the arctic (Canada) has now split into 3 after discovery earlier this month by scientists on sno-mobile. “the map of Canada is changing”. Totally crazy.
So today has been a super chill relaxing day. Woke up, had some breakfast of raisin bran, soy milk and a couple red vines. Greg and K8 went into town to get groceries for our feast we will cook tonight while the others of us watched Cheech and Chong’s Up In Smoke. We planned on going to the Gold Fork Hot Springs so once the movie was finished we all hoped into the Castle and cruised back down the mountain through the back country onto a dirt road which about 30 mins later brought us to the Springs.
There was 4 good sized pool ranging from 109, 103, 97, and 92 degrees F surrounded by snow, trees, and gigantic rocks. The water from the Spring was coming from 5000 feet below ground and is actually about 150 degrees F when it’s coming out however there is a big trough that was built for the water to run through, and cool down before entering the pools.
I have been to other Hot Springs in the past and they all usually have the rotten egg smell from the sulphur and the other minerals coming through. Nothing major. Well Gold Fork didn’t have this scent because they are alkaline heated pools.
The fellow that was working there said the best thing for the body, and joints was to go from the 109 degree pool to the 103 pool back and forth every couple of minutes. I guess with all the minerals in this water and the heat this combination really helps break down lactic acid which I think is stored in joint.
Currently my skin has this very smooth feel too it and while swimming we all felt somewhat “slimy” which was a nice sensation because you knew it was from the minerals.
Thus far today has been an incredible day off/ chill today and im looking forward to our feast this evening and then having an incredible sleep.
Sunday. April 13, 2008- Middle of nowhere, middle of Idaho
Totally bummed. The last couple of days have been beyond amazing. With this I have also taken a lot of pics of the times however this evening my camera, and computer just didn’t seem to vibe with each other therefore the photos are gone.
Oh well. With toys as such problems as such are bound too happen.
So we are all just currently chilling out at Greg’s house in the middle of nowhere, in the middle of the rockies, in the middle of Idaho.
It’s completely out of this world actually. His house is located near a town named McCall, ID which seems too only have a population of about 3000 or so. Super small. We’ll Gregs house is about 20 mins away from McCall on a mountain side over looking Lake Payette with another mountain range behind this.
We came here today because Greg had set up a show at the local ski hill (Brundage) and then we have 2 days off in which we plan on staying here for most of it.
When I say “here” I mean in a house in the middle of the mountains. Totally amazing. Earlier Greg took Dubs, K8 and myself too his barn where we all grabbed bails of hay to bring outside to lay for the Elk this evening. Driving up the mountain about 5 mins down the road we passed a gang of about 10 elk eating in someone’s yard so they are bound to make their ways towards us.
The last couple days have been totally amazing.
We had a good show as well as good hang session in San Fran, CA. A friend of mine from Santa Cruz came out to the show as he always does due to his love for the Souls. I would too!. I saw my friend Heather who was in town before here return to her home in Gainesville. I had seen her a couple days prior at Bamboozle working for her dudes but we were both busy so seeing her at the show ruled. Anthony- Twan was also at the show which ruled!!. Twan tours with the Souls all the time except for this run. Dubs plays percussion on some songs which adds a little something too the show.
After the show we all went out to some local SF bar which was fun. I spent most of my night hanging with Twan and talking about adventures and what not.
The next morning the weather outside was an incredible Californian day with a nice warm temp and nice blue skies. I decided I would do my daily yoga routine outside in the courtyard, near the garden and pool. Amazing. The sun on my back and little birds cruising around the ground. The next thing in line was a ncie relaxing swim-again- in the pool before we checked out of the rooms. One last thing before leaving the SF area was too stop and get another great California burrito. Nothing compares!!
Before driving to Sacto we had planned a field trip at Muir Woods National Park.
This forest is one of the last forests of its kind due to a temperature that stays in the range of between 40 and 70 degrees. Due to it’s proximity to the Pacific Ocean the moisture in the area contributes too mass plant growth.
The redwoods are like no other tree’s I have seen. Living in Santa Cruz I was in the area of the Redwoods so am somewhat fairly familiar with them. Although this doesn’t matter because each time you are near 1 of these beast it’s mind blowing. The tree’s are so huge and there bark is so big that they are naturally fire resistant. However by logging such forests this opens them up to fires and due to the lack of tree’s the fire then over comes the other trees.
The trunks of the Redwoods are the biggest things ever and the air within the canopy of the forest was so smooth and calm.
We did our thing here for about an hour or so and then took the trucks back up the crazy super windy road to begin our journey too Sacramento.
In Sacramento we were playing Kevin Seconds (thee almighty 7 Seconds) coffee shop named True Love Coffee. The Bouncing Souls at a coffee shop.
The thing about this tour is other then Bamboozle all these shows have been in weird, small, peculiar places. A coffee shop is fitting and I know all the Souls and 7 Seconds folks have been friends for years and years.
Truelove was definitely a small coffee shop with a patio in the back where the show was taking place. Dead To Me weren’t playing and neither was A Static Radio New Jersey. Just the Souls, Kevin Seconds and some other fellow on a guitar. I would say there was about 80 people total at this show who were super stoked as was I. At a coffee shop for a Souls show. Kevin Seconds did his jamming which was cool. I didn’t talk much to the dude but he seems like the nicest dude ever and from what I have heard he is this plus more. Always nice to know and hear.
The Souls came on and played almost there whole set acoustic due to the show being outside, on the patio of a coffee shop in a neighborhood.
Super amazing hearing all the kids singing along at the same level as the band but hearing them during “Gone” ruled the most.
The last 2 songs were played loud and 1 ended up being a cover. When Bryan said over the mic “Kevin? Where’s Kevin” I knew what was happening. A 7 Seconds cover with Kevin singing. “Young Until I Die”. Bad ass. Another addition to an already special night.
After the show we had a 10 + hour drive to Portland,OR so we quickly packed all our gear up and hit the highway. We ended up only driving a couple hours a little north of Redding,CA.
Waking up in the morning was yet another amazing California day with another warm temperature with blue skies. We drove through the mountains passing Mt. Shasta on the way as well as Mt. Rainer I think in OR.
I was looking forward to Portland because Portland is always a good time and a super nice city. Also though they do have Voodoo Donuts which is open 24 hours, and serves amazing vegan donuts of many different varieties. The venue we played was exactly right next door to Voodoo which was funny. Berbati’s Pan (venue) and Voodoo are neighbors. After loading in I went straight into the shop and bought a dozen. I would say I ate only about a ½ of the box which is quite a bit. So addicting but also after 6 you feel a little weird but they were vegan so I’ll take em when I can.
The Portland show was a good one which I expected. The venue was weird and had this funky barricade in the middle of the room separating the ages. The show went off well, band played well, kids were super pumped, and everyone left happy.
The Souls do pretty alright most places but there are always certain citites where you know it’s going to be a good good time. Portland being one of many.
After our show we went out too some bar which you could smoke in. Totally surprising seeing how Portland too me has this very liberal/ chilled out/ conscious vibe. Smoking in bars still!!?? Crazy. Get with it Portland.
In the morning we went to a breakfast spot I have been too now 3 times. Vita Café is it’s name and they have amazing food for everyone. I settle on their “Country Comfort” which was biscuits/ gravy, tempeh, steamed veggies, sausage, and a nice fresh orange/ carrot juice. Yeeeehaaaaaw!!!....oh I did finish off with a chocolate/ strawberry piece of cake. The best thing about traveling is food. Straight up!!!
The next stop on the list was Seattle at the El Corazon which is a nice little venue in Seattle. Driving to Seattle was easy and a nice drive. It’s only about 2.5 hours and it’s a pretty drive. ON all our drives I am constantly always behind the castle.
I go where the castle goes. K8 was changing lanes but I could tell that she was about to make another move by her flicker of the blinker and the breaks. Just like I hypothesized she changed lanes rapidly with a carcass of a dead dear coming from underneath the castle. The thing was flipped up and thrown against us in #2 which was brutal. Again the poor thing had already passed on the side of the freeway but it somehow wasn’t clear of the road. So yeah it was a little brutal too see, and be part of.
In Seattle we played the El Corazon. I have been here now about 5-6 times (used to be called Graceland).Another city that loves the Souls is Seattle so this was going to be another good night. Last time we played here was about 1 ½ years ago and did 2 nights which was off the wall.
Also in Seattle my friend Nathan (is in Dead To Me but is someone I grew up with in Richmond) and I knew a bunch of friends from RVA living in Seattle coming to the show.
Another great thing about Seattle and the El Corazon is every time you play at this place (or from what I have seen) there are always bottles and bottles of odwalla juices in the cooler. I would say about 20 bottles of orange juice, smoothies, pomegranate juices.
The show in Seattle was fun and seeing my friends K8, Carry, and Chappy is always nice-old homies from RVA who have all been part of each others chapters.
This was the last day with the Dead To Me’s so we all had a little goodbye session outside the venue, got in our trucks and began our journey to Idaho.
The drive was about 500 miles or so from Seattle to here in McCall< Idaho where we are all holed up currently. McD and Dubs were kind enough too take the first 2 shifts of driving which was also god for me because my little bum was a little tired. I crashed out and they did their thing up front.
This morning I was woken up after a nice, long refreshing sleep so Dub’s could pull over and now get his rest he rightfully deserved. At this time we were on a 1 way road beside a crazy wild rushing river in the middle of the mountains. A huge wide load was on it’s way down so we were asked to stop and wait for the load too pass by. I took over and continued the drive up the mountain, through McCall and too the ski resort we were playing at today.
This part of the trip I have been looking forward to because of where we are and the scenery.
We arrived at this ski hill and began try to figure out what was going on. There was a sno mobile being used to transport 2 PA speakers up the hill to the lodge. Seeing that I knew this whole day was going to be like no other. At a ski hill, using sno mobiles too transport everything.
K8 had told me there wasn’t much for me too do so go have fun. The ski hill was giving us all free passes, rentals if we wanted which I did so I headed straight inside and got myself hooked up with boots, poles, and skies.
This is the 2nd time in the last 15 years that I have been on skies but I was pumped and knew it wouldn’t be a problem.
How cool! Most of my day was spent skiing the slopes in Idaho. Pete rented skies so we paired up and went to the top. We were about 6000 ft up and the weather was really really nice and warm. No layers, no ski pants, no gloves needed.
So off we went down the slopes of Brundage Mountain. I had no problem at all and it came back to me instantly as I was cutting back and forth down the hill. Over and over we did this until about 10 runs later we all called it quits to get ready for the next adventure that was in store. The souls on the patio of a ski lodge with a PA for the vocals and that was that. PUNK!!!!
Again another super cool thing taking place. I would say there was only about 80 people again all sitting on lawn chairs/ picnic tables in the snow waching the Souls do their thing. A couple kids drove up from Boise and there were definitely some locals who knew the band too.
During the set there we many snowball fights witnessed and egged on by the band and everyone. No one was “up front” or near the band at all. They were all sitting ways away so when this next thing happened it ruled. There were a bunch of dogs running around the mountain and after the Souls played one of their songs one of the dogs cruised into the middle of everyone and just laid a loaf. Funniest thing ever.
The show continued on with more snow ball fight, people drinking major amounts of beer and being ultra crazy. Mountain people I tell you are a certain bunch. We are all crazy in our own right but this group of folks was totally hay wire. I was into it. Again it’s not things you see all the time so take it all in.
After the ski hill adventures we made ourselves up another mountain too Greg’s house where we all are now mending our sunburns and all relaxing as hard as we can.
Sunday, April 13, 2008
The West Coast
Thursday, April 10, 2008- San Fran, CA
I have only been awake for a couple hours and thus far it’s been the most amazing day ever. We are staying at the Phoenix Hotel which I have stayed at numerous times in the past while here on tour. I think it’ the hotel where most bands stay while coming through this area thus giving it a nickname of the “rock hotel”.
The Phoenix Hotel
When I woke up I went out too the truck to grab my yoga and the weather was completely beyond. Clear blue skies, and had a nice warmth too it so I decided to do yoga right out in the court yard pool side. STOKED!!! In all honesty I think this is the first time I have ever done an actual yoga routine outside in the sun near a pool.
When we arrived here yesterday after driving up from San Luis Obispo where we were the day before there was about an hour or so too kill before heading to the venue (Great American Music Hall) too load in so I stuck my hand in the pool and found out it was more of a huge hot tub. The breeze outside was a little chilly as is usually the case here in San Fran however with the warmth of the pool It wasn’t an issus so Bryan, Dubs and I got on thee ol swim trunks and took a dip.
AMAZING!!!!
Seriously the pool was a heated pool however was definitely a lot warmer then your average pool so it made for an extremely relaxing swim.
So I just took another quick swim here this morning before we actually check out of our hotel. Today we are heading towards Sacramento but I think we are going to take a little detour. On our day sheet yesterday K8 mentioned something about a field trip so I asked her what this is going to entail. It turns out she is taking us across the Golden Gate bridge too the other side where we are going to have a field trip in a redwood forest/ national park which is one of the only forests of its kind. Should be fun fun fun funnnnnn!!
Yesterday in San Fran was the running of the Olympic Torch and this was the only place in North America where this was happening. Due to the current situations unfolding in China/ Tibet/ China’s involvement with Sudan and us being in San Fran there was naturally going to be a lot of outspokenness and demonstrations. K8 had in informed us the night before of the situation and mentioned that the traffic coming into the city may be pretty crazy due to the events. Upon arriving the sky was filled with helicopters, and planes doing circles around downtown. The traffic was definitely backed up but nothing too crazy for California so we made it quite easily too our hotel. Once we were checked in we had about an hour too kill so Dubs, Montaine, and myself wanted to try and walk towards the area where we thought the events were taking place. We just walked towards the eyes in the sky however the clser we seemed to get the farther away these flying machines were getting so we called off our search and headed back to the Phoenix.
***We now have Montaine on tour with us. She is from Portland and has toured with us before as FOH. She straight up rules and showed up the other day in San Luis Obispo with bright orange/ red hair (not in a cheesy way though-it looks good). Everyone was looking forward to her arrival and now she is here.
My friends Daniel, Kristy, and Mike
I have only been awake for a couple hours and thus far it’s been the most amazing day ever. We are staying at the Phoenix Hotel which I have stayed at numerous times in the past while here on tour. I think it’ the hotel where most bands stay while coming through this area thus giving it a nickname of the “rock hotel”.
The Phoenix Hotel
When I woke up I went out too the truck to grab my yoga and the weather was completely beyond. Clear blue skies, and had a nice warmth too it so I decided to do yoga right out in the court yard pool side. STOKED!!! In all honesty I think this is the first time I have ever done an actual yoga routine outside in the sun near a pool.
When we arrived here yesterday after driving up from San Luis Obispo where we were the day before there was about an hour or so too kill before heading to the venue (Great American Music Hall) too load in so I stuck my hand in the pool and found out it was more of a huge hot tub. The breeze outside was a little chilly as is usually the case here in San Fran however with the warmth of the pool It wasn’t an issus so Bryan, Dubs and I got on thee ol swim trunks and took a dip.
AMAZING!!!!
Seriously the pool was a heated pool however was definitely a lot warmer then your average pool so it made for an extremely relaxing swim.
So I just took another quick swim here this morning before we actually check out of our hotel. Today we are heading towards Sacramento but I think we are going to take a little detour. On our day sheet yesterday K8 mentioned something about a field trip so I asked her what this is going to entail. It turns out she is taking us across the Golden Gate bridge too the other side where we are going to have a field trip in a redwood forest/ national park which is one of the only forests of its kind. Should be fun fun fun funnnnnn!!
Yesterday in San Fran was the running of the Olympic Torch and this was the only place in North America where this was happening. Due to the current situations unfolding in China/ Tibet/ China’s involvement with Sudan and us being in San Fran there was naturally going to be a lot of outspokenness and demonstrations. K8 had in informed us the night before of the situation and mentioned that the traffic coming into the city may be pretty crazy due to the events. Upon arriving the sky was filled with helicopters, and planes doing circles around downtown. The traffic was definitely backed up but nothing too crazy for California so we made it quite easily too our hotel. Once we were checked in we had about an hour too kill so Dubs, Montaine, and myself wanted to try and walk towards the area where we thought the events were taking place. We just walked towards the eyes in the sky however the clser we seemed to get the farther away these flying machines were getting so we called off our search and headed back to the Phoenix.
***We now have Montaine on tour with us. She is from Portland and has toured with us before as FOH. She straight up rules and showed up the other day in San Luis Obispo with bright orange/ red hair (not in a cheesy way though-it looks good). Everyone was looking forward to her arrival and now she is here.
My friends Daniel, Kristy, and Mike
Sunday, April 6, 2008
Sunday April 6, 2008- Irvine, CA
So today is the first day I have had any sort of “free” time in about 5 days so I figured I would jot something’s down and go from there.
In the last 5 days I have seen myself sit in a box truck for 60 straight hours driving across the entire US of A, check out the sunrise in the Grand Canyon, break down in Kingman, AZ (not the first time), arrive way behind schedule in Los Angeles, and finally partaking in a huge show called Bamboozle yesterday in Irvine. Today we have a day off which will be spent going back to Bamboozle to check out another day of mostly crap bands except the Hot Water’s which I am super pumped on.
So this past Wednesday K8, Matt, DJ, Dubs and myself woke up early in the morning and hopped into the trucks to begin our journey across the country. The first section of drive took us through NJ, South West Pennsylvania, West Virginia,/ Virginia in which I was only about 100 miles from the ol RVA. This part of the drive we drove through the Appalachians and the Shenadoah National Park which is super beautiful and amazing. The Appalachians aren’t super huge mountains like you would see in BC/Alberta but they are still grand in their own right. A lot of mining goes on in these parts which is what PA, and West Virginia are known for.
We stopped in Harrisburg, VA so we could grab a bite to eat (Curry Tofu with Rice- definitely good considering we were in the middle of nowhere Virginia) and DJ could watch the Liverpool Football game.
Then back in the trucks to continue on through Tennesse and the Smokey Mountains in which at this time is when I pulled over. I figured when your eyes start going nuts as well as your head it’s a sign you’ve been driving too long and your time is done. Some 900 miles later. I crashed out and Dubs took over for the late evening/ early morning hours.
I woke up and we were continuing on thru Okalahoma towards the Panhandle of Texas in which we tried not to stop at all. Mission failed though. We couldn’t quite make it through Texas without diesel so we had to cave in and pull over in Amarillo, TX. We tried!!
Next it was onto New Mexico in which we drove through during sunset and the late evening hours.
The skies in these parts were beyond. 360 degrees of WIDE OPEN sky as far as the eye could see. When the sun went down and the stars came out was by far the treat of the day. Stars, stars, stars stars and more stars. Too think that there are many people who don’t get too see things as such. I am sure in most cities there are people who never ever leave their zones and too think there are probably cases of people who never leave their whole lives. Crazy. Cities and their lights (and many more things) completely changing our views on the natural world.
Anyhoo…I gave the wheel over to Dubs so I could grab another couple hours of sleep after another long day of driving.
When we pulled over we all decided that while driving through AZ we would take a slight detour and head to the Grand Canyon in the early morning hours. WOW!!! I had never been too the Grand Canyon ever so this was something that I was completely pumped on as was everyone else. Last year while on a flight I recall flying over the GC and the size of this Canyon from the air was BEEEEYOND! Now I was pumped about seeing it at the same level as myself. We drove to Flagstaff and parked #2 in some parking lot around 3 in the morning so we didn’t have to take both trucks on the trip to the Grand Canyon. I slept in the Castle for a couple hours on our drive too the GC and awoke from Kate telling us “Boys, we are at the Grand Canyon”. I put on my smelling shoes with my 3 day old soiled socks ( I had been in a truck for 48 + hours) and walked outside into the freezing cold. There was not a single person in sight and the sun was just starting to come up. Amazing. Here are the 5 of us in the middle of the Grand Canyon with not another person around.
I really can’t truly describe how amazing the Grand Canyon is/ or was. I was standing on the side of a cliff which over looked miles and miles of valleys, cliffs and canyons that extended as far as the eye could see with this bright brownish reddish rock…..hahaha….That pretty much describes it. Its crazy because the actually level of the ground- earth- not the canyon is completely level 360 degrees around you however then cut out is this Canyon which twists and turns through the Earth. Totally insane too think that thousands of years ago it was once a water way from Glaciers and the last Ice Age. Nature I tell ya nature.
We chilled here for awhile as the sun came up freezing our little behinds off and then got back into the Castle to go check out a couple different look out spots. Each spot we checked out had it’s own thing going on however was still part of the Canyon. After our sight seeing and our minds coming down from the amazingness of it all we hopped back into the castle and headed back towards Flagstaff for breakfast.
Kate knew of a vegi diner in town that we could get a nice little breakfast before our westward journey continued. The place was called Macy’s and was a nice little joint that had a kind of a chilled vibe too it as you would expect from Flagstaff. I will use the word…Hippy vibe. I had a nice glasss of fresh OJ and the Vegan Spelt Waffles topped with Blueberries, Strawberries and Bananas. A treat for sure seeing how the last good meal was a day and a half prior when I had the curry tofu. In between this I did have a Subway sandwich and even went as low as Taco Bell….Again there isn’t much too eat in the middle of nowhere.
After our breakfast I gave the wheel over too Dubs so I could continue on in my dreamland of sleep. I would say about an hour or so into the drive we pulled over for some fuel. I woke up too take a pee and went right back to bed while Dubs started driving again. Within about 2 mins I was already crashed back out when Dubs woke me up and said “Keebs. The truck is acting weird and won’t accelerate at all”. So I told him too pull over while I put on my shoes-sockless now….the socks became too crusty……I tried to drive the truck too see what was up and it was definitely acting REALLY funky. We were stuck on the side of the road with the castle gone way ahead of us. We popped the hood and still could’t see anything and there were no fluids leaking from underneath so I tried to start it again and it wasn’t doing anything. I kept trying to start it and finally after about 4 trys I finally got it running and put it in drive to try to get us somewhere. The truck would accelerate extremely slowly and would only top off at around 40 mph. We exited the first exit and as soon as we did the truck completely died loosing all power. The castle had turned around and met us at this exit. Both K8 and DJ looked over somethings and thought that the problem may lie with us not having a cap for the tank. You see the day before I lost the cap which was the 2nd one I lost on the trip. WOW!!! There is no excuse but honestly I never drive- at home (only on trips as such) so I am not used to things as such although it is common sense. So at first I was pretty bummed cause if that was the problem I would feel like complete crap and it would have put a huge dent in our travels. Turns out it wasn’t..Pheww. The castle drove too a mechanic shop that was thankfully off our exit in Kingman, AZ and had some mechanics drive over too our truck. At first they couldn’t tell what was going on with it either but definitely said it’s not the cap (or missing cap) that is the issue so we fired it back up and drove to the actual shop. At this time we did more investigating when someone smelt the actual tank and noticed that a big gas scent was coming out of it not diesel. Our trucks take diesel and not gas.
I was sleeping at the time of our last stop so I have no clue what went into it but as it turns out gas was what was injected into poor poor vehicle. Everyone was in shock and Dubs was completely out of his mind bummed which wasn’t nice too see but also understandable. The mechanic dudes didn’t speak English at all but you could tell form the laughing and what not that they were having a great time with this. So we ended up having to give our little #2 some major surgery and empty the whole tank which was just filled up at the exit a mile or so ago. That’s A LOT of petrol. 45 gallons to be exact. IThe dudes at the shop were scrambling for containers to put it all in. These dudes were bad asses and I hope they are getting paid a lot because each one of them were drenched from head too toe in gas and I mean drenched. After the tank was emptied, cleared out, a new fule filter installed, a new oil filter installed we filled the truck back up and there #2 was back in action 3 hours later.
We were now WAY behind schedule with all the flights coming arriving in LA 5 hours from then and us being 300 miles away.
Pedal too the medal with us doing about 85 mph the whole way to LA which wasn’t a fun thing because my truck was filled with gear but sometimes you have too do what you have too do.
We ended up making it too LA about 20 mins after the last flights came in so we piled everyone in the Castle and drove to Irvine to catch some sleep before Bamboozle the following day.
Monday April 7, 2008- Irvine, CA
So I just got back from day # 2 here at Bamboozle fest in Irvine. This whole thing was kind of a joke. It was pretty disorganized and I would personally say about 99.9% of the bands were poop. Yesterday I was pumped about seeing the Souls, Alkaline Trio, and Jimmy Eat World although I didn’t get too see much of any of them due to me working, my location and as for hearing them I had some radio tent beside me ALL DAY blaring horrible music. I don’t get it….You are at a show and some people feel the need to blare more music then there all ready is….BOOO!!!
Today I woke up to drive K8 and Matt to another hotel so they could pick up the Hot Water’s and head to the venue for day #2. I returned back to our hotel too meet up with K8’s brother Jon too head out with him to catch some vegan delights. We went to this place named Mother’s Kitchen somewhere near here in Irvine. It was a big natural foods grocery with a nice restaurant attached.
I had the tofu chilaquiles and too be honest the tofu was super super plain and the whole dish wasn’t that good. Live and learn live and learn. What made up for it though was my chocolate peanut butter soy milkshake…..YUM!!!
The one thing that was really what I was looking forward too with my day was seeing Hot Water Music which I did. It was super super amazing although I can’t wait too hopefully see them in a club one day again but for now I’ll settle with the festival setting. I would say that the crowd definitely was there for other bands but that’s again what made it even more special.
Well that’s really that. TOOOOOOUUUUUURRRR!!!
Keebler
http://thrashhard.blogspot.com/
So today is the first day I have had any sort of “free” time in about 5 days so I figured I would jot something’s down and go from there.
In the last 5 days I have seen myself sit in a box truck for 60 straight hours driving across the entire US of A, check out the sunrise in the Grand Canyon, break down in Kingman, AZ (not the first time), arrive way behind schedule in Los Angeles, and finally partaking in a huge show called Bamboozle yesterday in Irvine. Today we have a day off which will be spent going back to Bamboozle to check out another day of mostly crap bands except the Hot Water’s which I am super pumped on.
So this past Wednesday K8, Matt, DJ, Dubs and myself woke up early in the morning and hopped into the trucks to begin our journey across the country. The first section of drive took us through NJ, South West Pennsylvania, West Virginia,/ Virginia in which I was only about 100 miles from the ol RVA. This part of the drive we drove through the Appalachians and the Shenadoah National Park which is super beautiful and amazing. The Appalachians aren’t super huge mountains like you would see in BC/Alberta but they are still grand in their own right. A lot of mining goes on in these parts which is what PA, and West Virginia are known for.
We stopped in Harrisburg, VA so we could grab a bite to eat (Curry Tofu with Rice- definitely good considering we were in the middle of nowhere Virginia) and DJ could watch the Liverpool Football game.
Then back in the trucks to continue on through Tennesse and the Smokey Mountains in which at this time is when I pulled over. I figured when your eyes start going nuts as well as your head it’s a sign you’ve been driving too long and your time is done. Some 900 miles later. I crashed out and Dubs took over for the late evening/ early morning hours.
I woke up and we were continuing on thru Okalahoma towards the Panhandle of Texas in which we tried not to stop at all. Mission failed though. We couldn’t quite make it through Texas without diesel so we had to cave in and pull over in Amarillo, TX. We tried!!
Next it was onto New Mexico in which we drove through during sunset and the late evening hours.
The skies in these parts were beyond. 360 degrees of WIDE OPEN sky as far as the eye could see. When the sun went down and the stars came out was by far the treat of the day. Stars, stars, stars stars and more stars. Too think that there are many people who don’t get too see things as such. I am sure in most cities there are people who never ever leave their zones and too think there are probably cases of people who never leave their whole lives. Crazy. Cities and their lights (and many more things) completely changing our views on the natural world.
Anyhoo…I gave the wheel over to Dubs so I could grab another couple hours of sleep after another long day of driving.
When we pulled over we all decided that while driving through AZ we would take a slight detour and head to the Grand Canyon in the early morning hours. WOW!!! I had never been too the Grand Canyon ever so this was something that I was completely pumped on as was everyone else. Last year while on a flight I recall flying over the GC and the size of this Canyon from the air was BEEEEYOND! Now I was pumped about seeing it at the same level as myself. We drove to Flagstaff and parked #2 in some parking lot around 3 in the morning so we didn’t have to take both trucks on the trip to the Grand Canyon. I slept in the Castle for a couple hours on our drive too the GC and awoke from Kate telling us “Boys, we are at the Grand Canyon”. I put on my smelling shoes with my 3 day old soiled socks ( I had been in a truck for 48 + hours) and walked outside into the freezing cold. There was not a single person in sight and the sun was just starting to come up. Amazing. Here are the 5 of us in the middle of the Grand Canyon with not another person around.
I really can’t truly describe how amazing the Grand Canyon is/ or was. I was standing on the side of a cliff which over looked miles and miles of valleys, cliffs and canyons that extended as far as the eye could see with this bright brownish reddish rock…..hahaha….That pretty much describes it. Its crazy because the actually level of the ground- earth- not the canyon is completely level 360 degrees around you however then cut out is this Canyon which twists and turns through the Earth. Totally insane too think that thousands of years ago it was once a water way from Glaciers and the last Ice Age. Nature I tell ya nature.
We chilled here for awhile as the sun came up freezing our little behinds off and then got back into the Castle to go check out a couple different look out spots. Each spot we checked out had it’s own thing going on however was still part of the Canyon. After our sight seeing and our minds coming down from the amazingness of it all we hopped back into the castle and headed back towards Flagstaff for breakfast.
Kate knew of a vegi diner in town that we could get a nice little breakfast before our westward journey continued. The place was called Macy’s and was a nice little joint that had a kind of a chilled vibe too it as you would expect from Flagstaff. I will use the word…Hippy vibe. I had a nice glasss of fresh OJ and the Vegan Spelt Waffles topped with Blueberries, Strawberries and Bananas. A treat for sure seeing how the last good meal was a day and a half prior when I had the curry tofu. In between this I did have a Subway sandwich and even went as low as Taco Bell….Again there isn’t much too eat in the middle of nowhere.
After our breakfast I gave the wheel over too Dubs so I could continue on in my dreamland of sleep. I would say about an hour or so into the drive we pulled over for some fuel. I woke up too take a pee and went right back to bed while Dubs started driving again. Within about 2 mins I was already crashed back out when Dubs woke me up and said “Keebs. The truck is acting weird and won’t accelerate at all”. So I told him too pull over while I put on my shoes-sockless now….the socks became too crusty……I tried to drive the truck too see what was up and it was definitely acting REALLY funky. We were stuck on the side of the road with the castle gone way ahead of us. We popped the hood and still could’t see anything and there were no fluids leaking from underneath so I tried to start it again and it wasn’t doing anything. I kept trying to start it and finally after about 4 trys I finally got it running and put it in drive to try to get us somewhere. The truck would accelerate extremely slowly and would only top off at around 40 mph. We exited the first exit and as soon as we did the truck completely died loosing all power. The castle had turned around and met us at this exit. Both K8 and DJ looked over somethings and thought that the problem may lie with us not having a cap for the tank. You see the day before I lost the cap which was the 2nd one I lost on the trip. WOW!!! There is no excuse but honestly I never drive- at home (only on trips as such) so I am not used to things as such although it is common sense. So at first I was pretty bummed cause if that was the problem I would feel like complete crap and it would have put a huge dent in our travels. Turns out it wasn’t..Pheww. The castle drove too a mechanic shop that was thankfully off our exit in Kingman, AZ and had some mechanics drive over too our truck. At first they couldn’t tell what was going on with it either but definitely said it’s not the cap (or missing cap) that is the issue so we fired it back up and drove to the actual shop. At this time we did more investigating when someone smelt the actual tank and noticed that a big gas scent was coming out of it not diesel. Our trucks take diesel and not gas.
I was sleeping at the time of our last stop so I have no clue what went into it but as it turns out gas was what was injected into poor poor vehicle. Everyone was in shock and Dubs was completely out of his mind bummed which wasn’t nice too see but also understandable. The mechanic dudes didn’t speak English at all but you could tell form the laughing and what not that they were having a great time with this. So we ended up having to give our little #2 some major surgery and empty the whole tank which was just filled up at the exit a mile or so ago. That’s A LOT of petrol. 45 gallons to be exact. IThe dudes at the shop were scrambling for containers to put it all in. These dudes were bad asses and I hope they are getting paid a lot because each one of them were drenched from head too toe in gas and I mean drenched. After the tank was emptied, cleared out, a new fule filter installed, a new oil filter installed we filled the truck back up and there #2 was back in action 3 hours later.
We were now WAY behind schedule with all the flights coming arriving in LA 5 hours from then and us being 300 miles away.
Pedal too the medal with us doing about 85 mph the whole way to LA which wasn’t a fun thing because my truck was filled with gear but sometimes you have too do what you have too do.
We ended up making it too LA about 20 mins after the last flights came in so we piled everyone in the Castle and drove to Irvine to catch some sleep before Bamboozle the following day.
Monday April 7, 2008- Irvine, CA
So I just got back from day # 2 here at Bamboozle fest in Irvine. This whole thing was kind of a joke. It was pretty disorganized and I would personally say about 99.9% of the bands were poop. Yesterday I was pumped about seeing the Souls, Alkaline Trio, and Jimmy Eat World although I didn’t get too see much of any of them due to me working, my location and as for hearing them I had some radio tent beside me ALL DAY blaring horrible music. I don’t get it….You are at a show and some people feel the need to blare more music then there all ready is….BOOO!!!
Today I woke up to drive K8 and Matt to another hotel so they could pick up the Hot Water’s and head to the venue for day #2. I returned back to our hotel too meet up with K8’s brother Jon too head out with him to catch some vegan delights. We went to this place named Mother’s Kitchen somewhere near here in Irvine. It was a big natural foods grocery with a nice restaurant attached.
I had the tofu chilaquiles and too be honest the tofu was super super plain and the whole dish wasn’t that good. Live and learn live and learn. What made up for it though was my chocolate peanut butter soy milkshake…..YUM!!!
The one thing that was really what I was looking forward too with my day was seeing Hot Water Music which I did. It was super super amazing although I can’t wait too hopefully see them in a club one day again but for now I’ll settle with the festival setting. I would say that the crowd definitely was there for other bands but that’s again what made it even more special.
Well that’s really that. TOOOOOOUUUUUURRRR!!!
Keebler
http://thrashhard.blogspot.com/
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Here we go here we go here we go
Tuesday April 1, 2008
Well it is almost bedtime here at Souls headquarters (Kate is Great’s house). It’s been a long day thus far but it’s finally finished up in a very good good way. Before I continue I will drop the names of all the fine people on this run.
Souls:
Pete, Bryan, Greg, and McDermott
Souls buds:
Kate, DJ, Dubs, Matt, and myself
So I arrived in Asbury around 5:30 and came straight to Kate’s house to begin the evening of getting everything sorted and packed. Dubs and DJ were already in the basement with the gear packed and ready so once I arrived we got straight to work loading # 2 (our trucks are….The White Castle-our home, and #2 which carries all gear/ merch- Dubs and myself will be driving #2) in the rain non the less. Thankfully though while we were loading the rain was at it’s lightest downfall.
After this was done I headed into the Chunksaah Records space to take care of merch and listen to the Habs hockey game on the radio (internet).
The Habs won 3-0 which had them winning their division for the first time in 15 years….GO HABS GO!!!!
After the game I had a dinner of vegan perogies with Kate which ruled. This was the first time I have had perogies in seriously about 15 years. YUM!!!
In grade 7 I took home economics and made learnt to made perogies which I would make as a young teenager for my Dad and myself however once thee ol vegan diet took on I stopped.
Monday, Mar 31st
So today I woke up earlier then I usually do so I could get all of my errands done before I depart for Jersey tomorrow.
The day was spent shopping, and riding the subways all over this huge metropolis. I do like NYC for sure however now that I live in the Mont Royal I must say that NYC just is a little too much for me. Don’t get me wrong because it completely rules but it’s just a little much for yours truly. I like the size and the speed on home.
Anyhow I saw the funniest thing today in the subways. This dude was definitely in a fast paces walked/ rush and ran onto one of those moving walkway contraptions. I know the dude definitely thought it was going to help him out in his dash for whatever train he was about too hop on however the walkway was going the opposite direction and he couldn’t tell. So he walked onto the thing pretty fast (he didn’t fall though thankfully because he may not be as funny) and was a good couple meters on the thing so just committed and kept going. I seriously could not stop laughing (too myself of course) cause right when he stepped onto the thing he quickly looked around to see if people saw what he just did then totally tried to play it off by committing and walking along the whole thing which must have been a mission at his speed…..Classic!!!!
March 30, 2008- Brooklyn, NY
I am sitting here at my friend James house in Brooklyn this evening after a 9 hour bus (dog) ride from Montreal. I had planned on leaving Montreal this morning on the 9:15AM bus however due to another-late-night of working a show and hanging with friends for my last night in town my hours of sleep were very very few. So when the alarm went off I had only about 3 hours of sleep and knew there was a bus leaving a couple hours later so I just reset the sucker and off too sleep I went.
Back in the Empire I am. Crossing the border is always such a crock on both ends. I know the routine now due too crossing pretty often but it’s still always a joke to be apart of and watch go down. The whole bus was emptied and about 50 of us were in the customs building for a good 5-10 mins before any of these goofs started running us through. Seriously there was probably 10 agents just sitting there talking, staring at us and by the looks of things not really working at all. It just had a very sort of “power trip” feel too it. “Let’s just make them all wait for awhile because we can” What a joke this is?
Tomorrow I plan on running some errands in the city and eating as much food as I possibly can before I head to Jersey on Tuesday too begin our 36 (straight) hours of driving from NJ to Irvine, CA to begin another tour with thee almighty Bouncing Souls.
Fun Fun Fun!!!!
Well it is almost bedtime here at Souls headquarters (Kate is Great’s house). It’s been a long day thus far but it’s finally finished up in a very good good way. Before I continue I will drop the names of all the fine people on this run.
Souls:
Pete, Bryan, Greg, and McDermott
Souls buds:
Kate, DJ, Dubs, Matt, and myself
So I arrived in Asbury around 5:30 and came straight to Kate’s house to begin the evening of getting everything sorted and packed. Dubs and DJ were already in the basement with the gear packed and ready so once I arrived we got straight to work loading # 2 (our trucks are….The White Castle-our home, and #2 which carries all gear/ merch- Dubs and myself will be driving #2) in the rain non the less. Thankfully though while we were loading the rain was at it’s lightest downfall.
After this was done I headed into the Chunksaah Records space to take care of merch and listen to the Habs hockey game on the radio (internet).
The Habs won 3-0 which had them winning their division for the first time in 15 years….GO HABS GO!!!!
After the game I had a dinner of vegan perogies with Kate which ruled. This was the first time I have had perogies in seriously about 15 years. YUM!!!
In grade 7 I took home economics and made learnt to made perogies which I would make as a young teenager for my Dad and myself however once thee ol vegan diet took on I stopped.
Monday, Mar 31st
So today I woke up earlier then I usually do so I could get all of my errands done before I depart for Jersey tomorrow.
The day was spent shopping, and riding the subways all over this huge metropolis. I do like NYC for sure however now that I live in the Mont Royal I must say that NYC just is a little too much for me. Don’t get me wrong because it completely rules but it’s just a little much for yours truly. I like the size and the speed on home.
Anyhow I saw the funniest thing today in the subways. This dude was definitely in a fast paces walked/ rush and ran onto one of those moving walkway contraptions. I know the dude definitely thought it was going to help him out in his dash for whatever train he was about too hop on however the walkway was going the opposite direction and he couldn’t tell. So he walked onto the thing pretty fast (he didn’t fall though thankfully because he may not be as funny) and was a good couple meters on the thing so just committed and kept going. I seriously could not stop laughing (too myself of course) cause right when he stepped onto the thing he quickly looked around to see if people saw what he just did then totally tried to play it off by committing and walking along the whole thing which must have been a mission at his speed…..Classic!!!!
March 30, 2008- Brooklyn, NY
I am sitting here at my friend James house in Brooklyn this evening after a 9 hour bus (dog) ride from Montreal. I had planned on leaving Montreal this morning on the 9:15AM bus however due to another-late-night of working a show and hanging with friends for my last night in town my hours of sleep were very very few. So when the alarm went off I had only about 3 hours of sleep and knew there was a bus leaving a couple hours later so I just reset the sucker and off too sleep I went.
Back in the Empire I am. Crossing the border is always such a crock on both ends. I know the routine now due too crossing pretty often but it’s still always a joke to be apart of and watch go down. The whole bus was emptied and about 50 of us were in the customs building for a good 5-10 mins before any of these goofs started running us through. Seriously there was probably 10 agents just sitting there talking, staring at us and by the looks of things not really working at all. It just had a very sort of “power trip” feel too it. “Let’s just make them all wait for awhile because we can” What a joke this is?
Tomorrow I plan on running some errands in the city and eating as much food as I possibly can before I head to Jersey on Tuesday too begin our 36 (straight) hours of driving from NJ to Irvine, CA to begin another tour with thee almighty Bouncing Souls.
Fun Fun Fun!!!!
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Quick Chek Girl
So today I received a email from the one and only Kate (is Great) in regards to the next set of adventures that the Bouncing Souls have in store. I can not wait too get back out on tour with them, everyone else, and the kids.
Honestly the Souls shows, fans, and adventures rule hard. It's amazing too see them every night and witness it all go down.
"Live to fight. Fight too live. Tonight were alone and the music is right. Tonight! Do you feel good do you feel alright"
Right there.....That is what it is all about. There is nothing that I have come across that can replicate the feeling of an amazing band/ and live show.....nothing.
So it looks like I will probably hop on the "dawg" (Greyhound) to head to the city of NYC for a day or 2 to visit my buddy James before the adventures start. Probably sometime on the 1st of April I will head to Asbury Park, NJ (hopefully spot the Boss walking aroiund...hehehe) load the trucks that evening, sleep, and the wake up on the 2nd of April and being our trip across country too be in Irvine, CA on the evening of the 4th of April.
"Highway Kings"
On the 5th tour actually begins at Bamboozle "Left" in Irvine with the Alkaline Trio and many others. I am stoked too see the Trio and the Souls-obviously- but as for everything else......blah!!......oh. Actually Jimmy Eat World is playing too so I hope too see them too but thats really it.
Okay there i more I want to write but that will come with time. I need to get too sleep so I can wake up for a game of street hockey tomorrow.....I bought my first hockey stick in about 15 years yesterday....S T O K E D!!!!
Honestly the Souls shows, fans, and adventures rule hard. It's amazing too see them every night and witness it all go down.
"Live to fight. Fight too live. Tonight were alone and the music is right. Tonight! Do you feel good do you feel alright"
Right there.....That is what it is all about. There is nothing that I have come across that can replicate the feeling of an amazing band/ and live show.....nothing.
So it looks like I will probably hop on the "dawg" (Greyhound) to head to the city of NYC for a day or 2 to visit my buddy James before the adventures start. Probably sometime on the 1st of April I will head to Asbury Park, NJ (hopefully spot the Boss walking aroiund...hehehe) load the trucks that evening, sleep, and the wake up on the 2nd of April and being our trip across country too be in Irvine, CA on the evening of the 4th of April.
"Highway Kings"
On the 5th tour actually begins at Bamboozle "Left" in Irvine with the Alkaline Trio and many others. I am stoked too see the Trio and the Souls-obviously- but as for everything else......blah!!......oh. Actually Jimmy Eat World is playing too so I hope too see them too but thats really it.
Okay there i more I want to write but that will come with time. I need to get too sleep so I can wake up for a game of street hockey tomorrow.....I bought my first hockey stick in about 15 years yesterday....S T O K E D!!!!
Saturday, March 22, 2008
A "Fly In" Only Place
So I am currently sitting here in my bedroom thinking about my current home (Montreal), my other homes (Richmond, Santa Cruz, and Oxnard) and the country I actually consider "home" (Canada-although half my life has been spent outside of this land in the US)
I just came across this piece that someone wrote in regards to term "Aboriginal/s" and how this term can/ is used for generalization. "The truth is lost in generalization and assumption"
This piece is definitely good and gets you thinking but one thing that really hit me was the fact that 90% of the Inuit communities
are "fly-in" only.
Very interesting indeed.
Anyhoo to get a complete picture of the piece I am talking about here it is stolen kindly from rabble.ca.....enjoy the reads
"Rethinking the word "Aboriginal"
Aboriginal – "original or earliest known; native; indigenous."
"Recognized in the Canadian Constitution Act, 1982, sections 25 and 35, respectively as Indians, Métis, and Inuit. It also refers to self-identification of Aboriginal People who live within Canada, but who have not chosen to accept the extinction of their rights of Sovereignty or Aboriginal Title of their lands."
Okay. So now that I have finally looked it up, I can try to understand the term that I have been categorized under as Mohawk. Although, to be honest, when my family and friends in the community are referring to each other, we don't use this word. We're just us, we're Native if anything.
So yes, the term Aboriginal does mean the First Peoples of this land. For my part, it seems that it has become the norm to use this term frivolously, without restraint, and without giving particular attention to what this word encompasses. It is a freebie for the government.
Using an "umbrella" term removes their obligation to have to individually identify each of the federally recognized Indigenous "bodies" in this country. Which I guess is a tiresome task – having to actually name Native peoples, who really warrant recognition in all of our entities of being. Nationally the word has become a way to lump everybody together into one melting pot, dangerously in that the assumption is that as First Peoples, we're really all similar. And we're really not.
This rings especially true when talking about the Inuit. Having recently returned from Inuvik in the Northwest Territories, I myself was not even entirely aware of the uniqueness of the Inuit until I got there. Inuvik is located on the East Channel of the Mackenzie Delta, approximately 100 km from the Arctic Ocean and approximately 200 km north of the Arctic Circle. The population includes Inuit (Inuvialuit), Dene (Gwich'in) and Métis. Close to 90 percent of all Inuit communities are fly-in only. So needless to say, because of my geographic isolation while in this area, I embarked on a deep learning journey as soon as I got there.
I joyously discovered the distinctive culture of the Inuit from the drumming, dancing, and singing, to the life cycle teachings and forms of governance. There is not really a separation of men and women so much as there is a focus on family and the realities of the roles that have to be taken on accordingly.
There is a generalization in some history that all Indigenous peoples have identical systems of nationhood and understand the same philosophies, which is completely false, and differs greatly amongst the Inuit as well. They are community-based peoples and have so much strength in their lifestyle and heritage. Colonization is much more recent for the Inuit, yet resiliency remains and many have kept their language, Inuktitut, alive and well.
So I thought I'd ask my Inuk youth activist friend Allen Auksaq what he thought. "The word Aboriginal to me is a word that marginalizes other races within the dominant mainstream society. It's a way to divide how our government services us. Personally I don't like the word, I prefer to call people who are Aboriginal what they like to be called. For example Inuit love to be called Inuit; not Aboriginal, not Eskimo, just Inuit. Inuit means people, and Inuk is a person. So I prefer to not use the word, but I can’t do anything about it because it's used by everyone and it seems like everyone just accepts it."
And Allen is quite right. Any Inuk who goes down south has one option for Inuit-specific services, which are only located in Ottawa. Everyone else has to go to the Native Friendship Centre, or somewhere else and hope that services will include them or that someone might speak their language.
Winnipeg alone has close to 1,000 Inuit living in the city, but there are no culturally competent programs available. Funding that is directed at Aboriginal initiatives is now going towards blanketed uses, without looking specifically at the various needs of the diversity of cultures.
The time has come to re-think how we are using the word Aboriginal. I too have to use it outside the community in official capacities, but I know that when I look around the country at "Aboriginal" programs, they're really First Nations and Métis centric. Recent articles I have read use the term quite frequently, particularly to reference cultural perspective and substance, yet there is no way for the reader to know who and what exactly they are talking about in the first place. The truth is lost in generalization and assumption.
It's quite far-fetched to think that they received a consensus from all of us, and that where we are coming from is all the same. For example, if I was reading an article about an "Aboriginal" defending their land in Saskatchewan, I should know that the person speaking up might come from a strong Cree family. We are all entitled to be known for who we are!
So is it really fair to use the word "Aboriginal" in the public sector? Do we really include, or have enough, information about the Inuit to truly use it? And what's more, is it really understood that even within "First Nations" every nation itself is distinct? While we have unity as Native peoples, we each have different traditions, customs, and languages. (I mean, I'm getting kind of tired of being told "miigwetch" all the time when I'm not actually Ojibway).
We have quite a long way to go before any of our peoples have fair representation and equality in services, as well as culturally appropriate programs in any capacity in Canada. Yet it is essential to acknowledge that as First Nations, Inuit and Métis, we deserve the fundamental comprehension of our diverse identities and ways of life before the "Aboriginal" label is thrown into the mix.
Education is the key to affect positive change. When we actually take the time to learn about the culture of Indigenous peoples and then respect it, we have a duty to ensure that all of our First Peoples are equally recognized.
Our right to self-determination doesn't hurt either.
Jessica Yee is a youth activist, facilitator, and community organizer. She resides in Toronto.
Keep on
I just came across this piece that someone wrote in regards to term "Aboriginal/s" and how this term can/ is used for generalization. "The truth is lost in generalization and assumption"
This piece is definitely good and gets you thinking but one thing that really hit me was the fact that 90% of the Inuit communities
are "fly-in" only.
Very interesting indeed.
Anyhoo to get a complete picture of the piece I am talking about here it is stolen kindly from rabble.ca.....enjoy the reads
"Rethinking the word "Aboriginal"
Aboriginal – "original or earliest known; native; indigenous."
"Recognized in the Canadian Constitution Act, 1982, sections 25 and 35, respectively as Indians, Métis, and Inuit. It also refers to self-identification of Aboriginal People who live within Canada, but who have not chosen to accept the extinction of their rights of Sovereignty or Aboriginal Title of their lands."
Okay. So now that I have finally looked it up, I can try to understand the term that I have been categorized under as Mohawk. Although, to be honest, when my family and friends in the community are referring to each other, we don't use this word. We're just us, we're Native if anything.
So yes, the term Aboriginal does mean the First Peoples of this land. For my part, it seems that it has become the norm to use this term frivolously, without restraint, and without giving particular attention to what this word encompasses. It is a freebie for the government.
Using an "umbrella" term removes their obligation to have to individually identify each of the federally recognized Indigenous "bodies" in this country. Which I guess is a tiresome task – having to actually name Native peoples, who really warrant recognition in all of our entities of being. Nationally the word has become a way to lump everybody together into one melting pot, dangerously in that the assumption is that as First Peoples, we're really all similar. And we're really not.
This rings especially true when talking about the Inuit. Having recently returned from Inuvik in the Northwest Territories, I myself was not even entirely aware of the uniqueness of the Inuit until I got there. Inuvik is located on the East Channel of the Mackenzie Delta, approximately 100 km from the Arctic Ocean and approximately 200 km north of the Arctic Circle. The population includes Inuit (Inuvialuit), Dene (Gwich'in) and Métis. Close to 90 percent of all Inuit communities are fly-in only. So needless to say, because of my geographic isolation while in this area, I embarked on a deep learning journey as soon as I got there.
I joyously discovered the distinctive culture of the Inuit from the drumming, dancing, and singing, to the life cycle teachings and forms of governance. There is not really a separation of men and women so much as there is a focus on family and the realities of the roles that have to be taken on accordingly.
There is a generalization in some history that all Indigenous peoples have identical systems of nationhood and understand the same philosophies, which is completely false, and differs greatly amongst the Inuit as well. They are community-based peoples and have so much strength in their lifestyle and heritage. Colonization is much more recent for the Inuit, yet resiliency remains and many have kept their language, Inuktitut, alive and well.
So I thought I'd ask my Inuk youth activist friend Allen Auksaq what he thought. "The word Aboriginal to me is a word that marginalizes other races within the dominant mainstream society. It's a way to divide how our government services us. Personally I don't like the word, I prefer to call people who are Aboriginal what they like to be called. For example Inuit love to be called Inuit; not Aboriginal, not Eskimo, just Inuit. Inuit means people, and Inuk is a person. So I prefer to not use the word, but I can’t do anything about it because it's used by everyone and it seems like everyone just accepts it."
And Allen is quite right. Any Inuk who goes down south has one option for Inuit-specific services, which are only located in Ottawa. Everyone else has to go to the Native Friendship Centre, or somewhere else and hope that services will include them or that someone might speak their language.
Winnipeg alone has close to 1,000 Inuit living in the city, but there are no culturally competent programs available. Funding that is directed at Aboriginal initiatives is now going towards blanketed uses, without looking specifically at the various needs of the diversity of cultures.
The time has come to re-think how we are using the word Aboriginal. I too have to use it outside the community in official capacities, but I know that when I look around the country at "Aboriginal" programs, they're really First Nations and Métis centric. Recent articles I have read use the term quite frequently, particularly to reference cultural perspective and substance, yet there is no way for the reader to know who and what exactly they are talking about in the first place. The truth is lost in generalization and assumption.
It's quite far-fetched to think that they received a consensus from all of us, and that where we are coming from is all the same. For example, if I was reading an article about an "Aboriginal" defending their land in Saskatchewan, I should know that the person speaking up might come from a strong Cree family. We are all entitled to be known for who we are!
So is it really fair to use the word "Aboriginal" in the public sector? Do we really include, or have enough, information about the Inuit to truly use it? And what's more, is it really understood that even within "First Nations" every nation itself is distinct? While we have unity as Native peoples, we each have different traditions, customs, and languages. (I mean, I'm getting kind of tired of being told "miigwetch" all the time when I'm not actually Ojibway).
We have quite a long way to go before any of our peoples have fair representation and equality in services, as well as culturally appropriate programs in any capacity in Canada. Yet it is essential to acknowledge that as First Nations, Inuit and Métis, we deserve the fundamental comprehension of our diverse identities and ways of life before the "Aboriginal" label is thrown into the mix.
Education is the key to affect positive change. When we actually take the time to learn about the culture of Indigenous peoples and then respect it, we have a duty to ensure that all of our First Peoples are equally recognized.
Our right to self-determination doesn't hurt either.
Jessica Yee is a youth activist, facilitator, and community organizer. She resides in Toronto.
Keep on
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Gutter, Justice, and the Fooooo
So I have myself a couple days off which is nice thing to have at the moment although the weather outside is a lil rainy. What can you do?
The last 6 days have found me working shows everyday with at least 1 of those days "double dipping" (2 shows) and another day a very intense work load.
The next day after the Jose Gonzalez show the Guttertwins played the Cabaret in which I worked as well. I had never heard the Guttertwins before but knew it was Greg Dulli from Afghan Whigs and Mark Lanegan from Screaming Tree's.
The load in for this show wasn't anything too too crazy and ran fairly pretty smoothly with their crew who were nice fellows. The show did okay but wasn't sold out as it was the night before for Jose. I had also been hired by the band too sell their merch so I did end up watching the whole show. The opening band was named Great Northern and for some reason I swear that I had seen them before but can't pin point where. The Guttertwins were god but definitely weird as well. About half way through the set Greg Dulli told his band over his mic "I want this too sound like it did at soundcheck. Do what you have to do to make it that way and I don't want to say this again"...!!??...Wow! Way to harsh the mellow. I completely understand there are times where the sound is messed up, or a band member drops the ball here and there but my opinion is YOU DO NOT bring this into the show and expose the audience too this. It's just respectful. For me personally it definitely bummed me out. Then you have Mark Lanegan whom I have never met but the whole show the dude didn't say one word excepts the words he was singing. I know man I know that you have this certain persona/ image but come on......Say hello, or thanx, or rock on, or something....Just standing in the middle of the stage, with your eyes closed holding onto the mic stand is a lil funny. Let Loooooose!!!
After this show was over my little bum sped home too try and catch at last an hour or 2 of sleep before rising at 4:45am to go work another show.- I ended up only getting about 1 hr of sleep.
We had Justice in town who is from France and has a very Daft Punk vibe to them and are fairly big.
They were playing Cepsum which is a 5000 capacity hockey arena in the University of Montreal. This day started so early because we were building the whole show from the beginning too the end. The first thing that we did was unload a semi truck which was carrying all the staging, and all the barricades. I had never been part of a production as such from that level. Yes I have worked many shows, have been to many shows, but I have never built a stage before so I was looking forward to it. There was about 10 of us and we had the 38 ft by 38 ft stage up in about an hour. It was definitely manual work but nothing that we couldn't do...obviously because we did it.
After the stage was set up we then unloaded the Solotech truck (another semi) which was carrying all the sound gear, all the lighting gear, and all the tressels to hang everything on. At this time Solotech also brought in their crew so there was definitely around 30 people there unloading the truck, building tressels, and getting things organized on the floor too make it easier for everyone.
By the time we were done all of this most of the dudes I was working with were let go for the day while a couple others including myself waited around for Myspace too show up.
This tour was a Myspace sponsored tour (geeks!!). Once they arrived we went and helped them unload their gear before being cut for the day to go home.
I came back to the venue around 9:30 because I wanted to check Justice out and see the whole operation in action. The only time I have really heard Justice is here at home when Yannick has his music on. So I was familiar with both of the real big hits which was nice and I actually liked them as well.I do have a soft spot for real controlled electronic music.
Their show was definitely fun too watch and people were loosing their minds mostly I would say because most were probably on some really crazy drugs. I walked up top too the stands to look down at the floor and seeing a about 4000 people loosing it wit some holding crazy glow in the dark toys was crazy too see plus with the lights from the production of the show added a lil extra. Justice had on each side of the stage of them had 9 marshall cabinets (18 total) that were obviously dead and then center stage they had this huge wall/ dashboard of electronics also dead too.
After the show was over we waited for the venue too clear and began the next 5 hours of work.
First we helped get the band gear off the stage and then started actually doing our work by breaking down the sound gear, lights, and finally the stage. After everything was done we loaded the trucks around 2:00AM and a couple others plus myself were then asked to head too the Bell Center with the truck to unload all the staging, and barricades. My ass was definitely tired but also I am stoked to be doing what I am doing and will do what it takes to get shit done.
I ended up getting home at 4 in the morning almost 24 hours after the beginning of the adventure and CRASHED OUT!!!!
March 19th, 2008
The next day I yet another show up the street from my house at a venue named Sala Rosa which is owned by one of the fellows in the MOntreal band known as God Speed You Black Emperor. This show was only a load in/ load out which was nice because at the Bell Center the Foo Fighters were playing with Against Me! which I was pumped about. Both bands I am definitely a fan of and the AM! dudes are friends from touring etc etc so I was a guest of theirs.
AM! played a good set and there were definitely kids into them but over all it was for sure a Foo Fighters crowd.
After the AM!'s played the Foo's then came on and lit up the house. For the first section of their set they had the 4 band members plus Pat Smear and also a keyboard player, violin payer, and percussion player.
I watched about 45 mins of their set and then had too head back to the venue I was working at for load out there which was fine.
The band that was playing at Sala was named A Fine Frenzy but I didn't really watch them so I have no clue what they were about. Their load out took about 15 mins which was nice so I headed across the street to Casa which is Sala's sister bar/ venue. I had 2 friends from California staying with me who were there so I cruised over to have a beer with them.
We stayed there for awhile hanging out, listening to the DJ spin tunes before we headed down too my hood.
Before actually heading home we stopped off at Bif Tek for one last beer which ended up turning into a couple more.
It turns out the Foo's and the AM!'s were at this bar which meant alot of people. As you could imagine people were freaking over Dave Grohl and the others. Yes it was cool too see everyone in the bar but honestly it's no big thing to me personally because I've been around some of these peeps before and I am not someone too really loose their shit over it.
So I was sitting there for awhile with different friends when my friend Dustin came up too me and said I want to introduce you too Dave.
-Dustin is a photpgrapher from Toronto who I have met with the (International) Noise Conspiracy. Dustin also has taken alot of photos of the INC, the Foo's and may many others.....DustinRabinPhotography-
Anyhoo my first reaction was "Why?" and "It's okay man. I am just chilling". Things like this are always a little weird but I rolled with it. Dustin said something in his ear after introducing him too me and so I asked Dave "What did he say?".
Turns out Dustin mentioned I tour with the (I)NC so Dave and I started talking about them as a band etc etc.
I asked him if he was a fan and he mentioned he wasn't that much but kind of used to be. He then started talking about Dennis and Refused etc etc and I said "INC is way better then Refused man". He was like "Being in Refused is kind of like being in Nirvana....there is nothing that is comparable" I am not sure if I agree but it was definitely neat having the drummer of Nirvana say something as such to me....Kind of cool. It was a nice little chat we had all intiatted by his drunk ass. I even kind of grabbed a beer someone had bought and was offering to him out of his hands.....At first I thought it was empty and the dude was passing it over to put on the bar...Wrong. The dude was buying it for Dave but I grabbed it so Dave was already completely hammered and said "no you take it, ive had way too much" which was funny. The dude is a good dude and I have always thought he was real punk which is always nice. I still think that after a real encounter which is always nice.
Keep on
The last 6 days have found me working shows everyday with at least 1 of those days "double dipping" (2 shows) and another day a very intense work load.
The next day after the Jose Gonzalez show the Guttertwins played the Cabaret in which I worked as well. I had never heard the Guttertwins before but knew it was Greg Dulli from Afghan Whigs and Mark Lanegan from Screaming Tree's.
The load in for this show wasn't anything too too crazy and ran fairly pretty smoothly with their crew who were nice fellows. The show did okay but wasn't sold out as it was the night before for Jose. I had also been hired by the band too sell their merch so I did end up watching the whole show. The opening band was named Great Northern and for some reason I swear that I had seen them before but can't pin point where. The Guttertwins were god but definitely weird as well. About half way through the set Greg Dulli told his band over his mic "I want this too sound like it did at soundcheck. Do what you have to do to make it that way and I don't want to say this again"...!!??...Wow! Way to harsh the mellow. I completely understand there are times where the sound is messed up, or a band member drops the ball here and there but my opinion is YOU DO NOT bring this into the show and expose the audience too this. It's just respectful. For me personally it definitely bummed me out. Then you have Mark Lanegan whom I have never met but the whole show the dude didn't say one word excepts the words he was singing. I know man I know that you have this certain persona/ image but come on......Say hello, or thanx, or rock on, or something....Just standing in the middle of the stage, with your eyes closed holding onto the mic stand is a lil funny. Let Loooooose!!!
After this show was over my little bum sped home too try and catch at last an hour or 2 of sleep before rising at 4:45am to go work another show.- I ended up only getting about 1 hr of sleep.
We had Justice in town who is from France and has a very Daft Punk vibe to them and are fairly big.
They were playing Cepsum which is a 5000 capacity hockey arena in the University of Montreal. This day started so early because we were building the whole show from the beginning too the end. The first thing that we did was unload a semi truck which was carrying all the staging, and all the barricades. I had never been part of a production as such from that level. Yes I have worked many shows, have been to many shows, but I have never built a stage before so I was looking forward to it. There was about 10 of us and we had the 38 ft by 38 ft stage up in about an hour. It was definitely manual work but nothing that we couldn't do...obviously because we did it.
After the stage was set up we then unloaded the Solotech truck (another semi) which was carrying all the sound gear, all the lighting gear, and all the tressels to hang everything on. At this time Solotech also brought in their crew so there was definitely around 30 people there unloading the truck, building tressels, and getting things organized on the floor too make it easier for everyone.
By the time we were done all of this most of the dudes I was working with were let go for the day while a couple others including myself waited around for Myspace too show up.
This tour was a Myspace sponsored tour (geeks!!). Once they arrived we went and helped them unload their gear before being cut for the day to go home.
I came back to the venue around 9:30 because I wanted to check Justice out and see the whole operation in action. The only time I have really heard Justice is here at home when Yannick has his music on. So I was familiar with both of the real big hits which was nice and I actually liked them as well.I do have a soft spot for real controlled electronic music.
Their show was definitely fun too watch and people were loosing their minds mostly I would say because most were probably on some really crazy drugs. I walked up top too the stands to look down at the floor and seeing a about 4000 people loosing it wit some holding crazy glow in the dark toys was crazy too see plus with the lights from the production of the show added a lil extra. Justice had on each side of the stage of them had 9 marshall cabinets (18 total) that were obviously dead and then center stage they had this huge wall/ dashboard of electronics also dead too.
After the show was over we waited for the venue too clear and began the next 5 hours of work.
First we helped get the band gear off the stage and then started actually doing our work by breaking down the sound gear, lights, and finally the stage. After everything was done we loaded the trucks around 2:00AM and a couple others plus myself were then asked to head too the Bell Center with the truck to unload all the staging, and barricades. My ass was definitely tired but also I am stoked to be doing what I am doing and will do what it takes to get shit done.
I ended up getting home at 4 in the morning almost 24 hours after the beginning of the adventure and CRASHED OUT!!!!
March 19th, 2008
The next day I yet another show up the street from my house at a venue named Sala Rosa which is owned by one of the fellows in the MOntreal band known as God Speed You Black Emperor. This show was only a load in/ load out which was nice because at the Bell Center the Foo Fighters were playing with Against Me! which I was pumped about. Both bands I am definitely a fan of and the AM! dudes are friends from touring etc etc so I was a guest of theirs.
AM! played a good set and there were definitely kids into them but over all it was for sure a Foo Fighters crowd.
After the AM!'s played the Foo's then came on and lit up the house. For the first section of their set they had the 4 band members plus Pat Smear and also a keyboard player, violin payer, and percussion player.
I watched about 45 mins of their set and then had too head back to the venue I was working at for load out there which was fine.
The band that was playing at Sala was named A Fine Frenzy but I didn't really watch them so I have no clue what they were about. Their load out took about 15 mins which was nice so I headed across the street to Casa which is Sala's sister bar/ venue. I had 2 friends from California staying with me who were there so I cruised over to have a beer with them.
We stayed there for awhile hanging out, listening to the DJ spin tunes before we headed down too my hood.
Before actually heading home we stopped off at Bif Tek for one last beer which ended up turning into a couple more.
It turns out the Foo's and the AM!'s were at this bar which meant alot of people. As you could imagine people were freaking over Dave Grohl and the others. Yes it was cool too see everyone in the bar but honestly it's no big thing to me personally because I've been around some of these peeps before and I am not someone too really loose their shit over it.
So I was sitting there for awhile with different friends when my friend Dustin came up too me and said I want to introduce you too Dave.
-Dustin is a photpgrapher from Toronto who I have met with the (International) Noise Conspiracy. Dustin also has taken alot of photos of the INC, the Foo's and may many others.....DustinRabinPhotography-
Anyhoo my first reaction was "Why?" and "It's okay man. I am just chilling". Things like this are always a little weird but I rolled with it. Dustin said something in his ear after introducing him too me and so I asked Dave "What did he say?".
Turns out Dustin mentioned I tour with the (I)NC so Dave and I started talking about them as a band etc etc.
I asked him if he was a fan and he mentioned he wasn't that much but kind of used to be. He then started talking about Dennis and Refused etc etc and I said "INC is way better then Refused man". He was like "Being in Refused is kind of like being in Nirvana....there is nothing that is comparable" I am not sure if I agree but it was definitely neat having the drummer of Nirvana say something as such to me....Kind of cool. It was a nice little chat we had all intiatted by his drunk ass. I even kind of grabbed a beer someone had bought and was offering to him out of his hands.....At first I thought it was empty and the dude was passing it over to put on the bar...Wrong. The dude was buying it for Dave but I grabbed it so Dave was already completely hammered and said "no you take it, ive had way too much" which was funny. The dude is a good dude and I have always thought he was real punk which is always nice. I still think that after a real encounter which is always nice.
Keep on
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