So we have now made it to Toronto and I have some time to recap our trip across. We played a handful of shows on the way out to Ontario, stopping in Kelowna, Olds, Calgary, Saskatoon and Thunder Bay. Kelowna was a bit of a warm up after being in the studio and we hadn’t rehearsed as a band for a few weeks. Our involvement in the show was also unknown as we got added to the bill last minute. We were happy to take part though thanks to our friends in the band TV Heart Attack. We stayed at my folks place and had a nice breakfast before heading out early in the morning.
When we got to Calgary it was the usual long drive through the mountains and then we had to head right to the university for a radio interview. The show was awesome too, especially for a Wednesday night. We were the only band and the rest of the time it was a rock n roll dj pizza party. But I think the funnest of the bunch was definitely Saskatoon where we played with the Calgary band The Dudes. They really got the place going, and I stepped in to do their light show which was a lot of fun.
Traveling in a van about two days and 16 hours later, we got to Thunder Bay only to find that the promoter screwed up and had our show advertised a day later then stated on all the contracts. We had given ourselves two days to get to the next show in Peterborough where we were connecting with Hot Hot Heat for some dates, so we decided to stay an extra night in Thunder Bay and leave directly after the show at midnight to drive 16 hours through the rocky Canadian Shield. The promoter guilted us into staying with talk of all the promotion he had done but we should have know better then to expect much from a Monday night anyway. Nevertheless, the 15-20 or so people that were there all came right up front and danced so it was still a good time.
By the time we got to Peterborough to meet with Hot Hot Heat, we were all exhausted. After each evening show the following two days (Peterborough and Kingston) we had to drive back to Toronto to be at CBC Toronto for a 9:30 am call time. It was a split venture between Bande Apart and CBC Radio 3 where they connected French singers and English bands to collaborate on sets filmed live to air for the show in Toronto, Montreal, and Halifax. We were working with French singer Antoine Gratton (who was great) and there was also the Toronto band Fucked Up playing with Marie Claude of the Montreal band Duchess Says.
We had one day of rehearsal with Antoine before heading to Kingston to play another Hot Hot Heat show. Then we were back the next morning for several dress rehearsals and the show live at 7 pm. It was a real trip for me to hear our songs sung in French but Antoine did an amazing job and had all the piano parts down too. I’d also recommend everyone to listen to his tunes as he is a great songwriter. Check out these short clips here of our set and of Fucked Up:
After the dress rehearsal I played a solo show at the supermarket for CMW and then got a chance to check out Timber Timbre and Dan Mangan at a beautiful venue of which I forget the name.
The next day after the first good sleep in a while, we got to play our Horseshoe showcase for CMW. I was worried that people might not be there at 8:30 pm but as soon as they opened the back room it filled to almost capacity. Dana was having some drum issues before the set which stressed everyone out but as soon as we hit the stage it was all good (apart from the power bar on Henry and my amp crapping out during the second song).
After the set and some hellos and all that jazz, I booked it over to the Drake to check out our friend Edo’s band Brasstronaut and then booked it over to the Bovine to see our old drummer Kevin Keegan’s band Barn Burner play with fellow Vancouverites Bison B.C..
It was the first night I really partied cause we only had one show left and I didn’t have to worry about my voice giving out. I stayed out until around four and woke up the next morning with a bad hangover, just in time to head to our show at Call the Office in London. Of all the Hot Hot Heat shows, this was definitely the best and we ended up selling loads of merch and selling out of our cds too. After the show we had one last hurrah with Steve Bayes and the boys in our room at the Comfort Inn, but soon the night escalated (or retracted rather) into a giant YouTube party until 6 am in the morning. Sound pretty rock star?
Anyway I’ll fill everyone in on more times in Toronto and what’s been going on recently. Highlights include trying to learn some Rush songs to play solo on piano at a gala next week where Rush will be in the audience and a trip to Niagara Falls. Our next actual show is the 25th at the Rivoli and then we are doing some dates with Dragonette through late March/early April!
Cheers,
Dan
