Location: Nanaimo
No, the band isn't in Nanaimo -- I am, after flying back for my grad. An awesome time, and I'm glad I came back to be part of the ceremony. For that, I give the band huge thanks for driving straight from Edmonton to Elliot Lake...36 hours of driving. Apparently, there has been no strangulations or stabbings involved. Phew! Hopefully BBQ Man is rallying up the burgers and Blue for 'em right now...
So five of us left on the last Duke Point ferry, Thursday night. We spent most of the ferry sitting and talking in the Suburban, which was a little odd; I figured they didn't realize how much more of this exact activity we'd be doing over the next 2 weeks.
The ceremonial first beer, marking the start of a Kiltlifters tour, was cracked. It was a Sleemans Honey Brown, and They were Happy.
Picked up the Elixxxirs in White Rock at a little before 1AM. Bobbi Jo is the only one of us with a suitcase, heh heh, it's backpacks for everyone else. Methinks she can get away with it, though; Corrinne from the Skatomatics/Furios gave her some tips on what to pack for touring, especially with guys (who knew a hair dryer would be so essential?)
Off we went. I drove from Chilliwack, and did most of the Coquihalla. Blue sky started appearing a little after 3:30AM; a beautiful sight through the mountains. Brodie and I rallied the Suburban through the early morning as everyone slept. For such a loud band, the snoring was wonderfully quiet. It always amazes me the angles at which some people can sleep.
Breakfast at Humpty's in the Rockies. Yay for orange juice and napkins. This particular one had a space for bands to put up their stickers! The Elixxxirs represent there now, and the Kiltlifters learned not to pack their merch so far back in the trailer, under trombones and tom toms.
The Rockies were cool, as always. We did see a massive elk -- probably 12 feet tall, I tell ya -- along with some tourists who thought it was a good idea to walk up to it for a closer look. No maulings were witnessed as we cruised by.
Got to Calgary a little after 3pm, and headed to the airport to pick up the Swedish Meatball. He had arrived at 1pm, and spent most of the afternoon drinking at Moxies and inviting waitresses to our show there on the 16th.
Calgary rush hour traffic sucks. Avoid the Trans-Canada at all costs. Kayle was having a blast pointing out all of the liquor and porn stores, and was downcast at the lack of gun stores.
Now, a full Suburban; 6 'lifters, 2 'lixxxirs. Let the durrrrrrs commence.
No one is arguing over the stereo as much as I had predicted. This is because everyone has MP3, DVD, and CD players. They have been the cause of our battery dying twice. Time to get some Duracells, boys. Food mess has been kept to a minimum, and I managed to sweet out all of my spilled wheat puffs off the floor before anyone noticed. Once again, the back seat has been dubbed "The Penalty Box."
Gig in Lethbridge, at the Tounge N Groove. Lethbridge is even windier than we thought it would be. Dust wails through the air outside, and people smoke at the bar on the inside. We all are dehydrated, which makes things worse. Scot pops two allergy pills and can't figure out why he clogs right up when he has a beer; I point out that his pills are 24hr-lasting. Brodie's mini-football is getting a good workout, but is a challenge to throw around the gusty streets.
The gig goes pretty well. The crowd is small but enthusiastic. The TNG is kinda like the Cambie back in Nanaimo, but thinner. Someone bought the band 2 extra rounds of Sleemans Honey Brown...seems to be the official beer so far. My aunt Debbie shows up, and we have a great chat outside the venue... this should be the first of many Kiltlifter/Elixxxir relative appearances.
Later on, Dave nearly falls off the roof.
In the morning, a few bananas and peanut butter sandwiches later, we're off to Edmonton. Quick and easy drive, but we're even more dehydrated.
Edmonton is beautiful today; sunny, 27 degrees, nice breeze, and very, very clean. We soon realize that it is clean because...there's nobody out on the streets...anywhere! Everyone is on Whyte Avenue, go Oilers go. (Poor Roloson.)
We are treated to a wonderful meal by Chris's (Elixxxirs) family; BBQed burgers and chicken, oriental salad, chips, veggies and dip, beer (Dave, Kayle and I snaked the last Kilkennys, sorry Brodie.)
For the most part, the Edmonton gig sucked.
1-we tried for days to find out when soundcheck was; got no response, so ended up showing up 2 hours late for it. Arguing ensues for a while before cooler heads prevail. (Mike, the sound guy at the Starlite Room, is a pretty cool guy.)
2-it's a big massive room with a killer system... but it's nowhere near Whyte Avenue. Because we were away from the hub, there's wasn't much of a crowd expected...and thus, it came true.
However, tons of Chris's relatives showed up gave awesome support. Good prairie folk, they are!
After the gig, Scot had to be rushed to the airport to catch a 12:30 AM flight to Sault Ste. Marie to meet up with family. Dave and BJ got a little lost on the way -- the airport is wayyy out of the city core -- but rumour has it that Scot made it, heh heh. They got back, we packed up, and we're ready to leave before 1 AM.
So...off to a pub!
Chris recommended one on Jasper Ave., and we went in and had a good time. Good amount of cravers; one grabbed Brodie in the goolies. I did a solo Sheepwash dance (read: goofy) and ran around the dancefloor. I told some old guy that Brodie got his anime-style haircut by sticking his finger in a socket, and the old guy got in my face and told me that was a horrible thing to say. Oops.
After most of us headed back, Dave and BJ walked down to an after-party that turned out to be an all-night rave, with tons of stoned people that couldn't even talk straight. Crazy dancing, apparently. With no more beer in sight, they went to Chris's friend's house and got 1 hour of sleep before meeting us for breakfast.... bacon, waffles with fruit and whipped cream, yogurt, juice, etc. etc.... once again, huge big ups to the King family!!!
So, not sure how the rest of the guys are doing; I'm back home after an excellent flight (WestJet: well recommended) and a good afternoon spent in Vancouver with Lauren. (Sandeep, sorry we didn't make the pub -- but I nearly passed out and fell on the bus floor. Erf.)
The variety of footwear in big cities is amazing, especially Vancouver.
The rest of them are in Elliot Lake, I'm in Nanaimo, tomorrow we meet up in Toronto and re-rally the tour (and finally get more stories to tell.) I'm hoping to get to the Hockey Hall of Fame, wish me luck. I'm really optimistic about the rest of this week..Toronto, Ottawa, Sudbury. Bring it on!
After a stunning drive through the Rockies and (good ol') BC -- where we shaved about 2 hours off of the expected driving time, and rallied Wendy's for lunch for one last heroic time -- we arrived in Vancouver and freshened up at Bobbi Jo's apartment before getting to the Railway Club... just in time to watch the last few minutes of the Oilers 4-0 win in Game 6. Calls for a beer, so more Big Rock Trad did we drink.
