Don, Jose, and gang

So today my friend Don, his friend Jose Gonzalez and a couple other musicians were in town to play a show at the Cabaret.
This show I was looking forward too for some time.
#1 because I would get too hang out with a very sweet man who I have spent many days with on tour over the last 4-5 years. he goes by Don but also referred too by some as the "swedish cowboy"
#2 I think that Jose Gonzalez is a musical genious.
#3 I think that the swedes (all of them) are all amazing amazing people.

The beginning of my day was spent at another venue loading in a band from the US named Mike Doughty.
I had agreed a couple days ago to "double dip" and take on 2 shows in 1 day which stoked me out due too keeping busy as well as making a couple extra dollars.
The first load in went well with only a couple heavy pieces of gear which took a good 4-5 people each.
After this load in was down I walked 2 blocks up the hill to the Cabaret to get ready for Jose Gonzalez load in and show. I showed up a lil early and found out from my friend Duncan that the clothes dryer in the venue was not working so i packed a garbage bag full of towels and headed to the laundry mat so the band/ and crew would have some nice fresh, fluffy towels after their showers.....That's even if they used the showers...Who knows?

I had agreed to do the 2 shows because last time I saw Jose he was just on stage with a guitar and that was it so my thinking was "this load in will be quick". Turns out I was a lil wrong. On this run Jose had 2 other band members plus a lil production going with a bunch of lights etc etc. It wasn't anything hard at all I just didn't want too screw up my 2 jobs for the day.

It was so nice too get too see Don. An amazing human being this man is and a total bad ass. Don does FOH for the (I)NC and him, the rest of those dudes, and myself have had some really really good times. Don is someone I consider a real true friend and is someone I definitely care about even though I don't talk too him that often and only see him every couple of years but everytime our paths cross there is a major embrace at first and then we just exchange stories and hang out. A definite fun time I just wish him and I were around all the other dudes in the INC as well....hehehe

The Jose show tonight was sold out in advance which was nice. Last time he played Montreal he played a bigger venue however it was seating only therefore the capacity is a little different. Tonight was a standing show in a smaller venue and it ruled.
The dude is an amazing guitar player who finger picks the whole time and plays in some weird tunings which I have never seen. I still can't put my head around the whole thing but its amazing to watch and the songs are all really soothing.

After the show was over my friend Oli, myself and there crew quickly broke down the stage and started packing things up. We actually broke the stage down really really really quick which was nice for me because I was on a tight schedule with my other load out a couple blocks away. After all their gear was in their bus/ trailer I headed down too Saints to load out the band I had loaded in there earlier in the day before my evening was done. When I arrived at the Saints all their gear was packed up and ready to get carried up the stairs which was nice. JUST IN TIME!!! It took about 20 mins to get them loaded up, I then got payed, and headed up into my neighborhood where Don, his boys Jose and gang were looking for a bar we had planned meeting at. I ran into them all on the the street I live on really close too my house which was nice so I could run upstairs, drop of my things, and take everyone to the correct watering hole they were trying to go.