We played the Dakota in Toronto, an outdoor festival for a Christian all girls school in York, St. Catharines, Hamilton, Kingston, London, and Peterborough. On our return to Toronto from our Peterborough show with the Spades, the van issues finally escalated to a massive shake which made us pull over on the 401 at 3 am. We sussed it out but with no sign of anything, we continued driving slowly. Minutes later the rear tire blew out and got torn to shreds. We were stuck on the highway til around 6 am when a flatbed tow truck could be coordinated. We got the van back to Toronto to a 24 hour garage by 8 am. It was a bit of an ordeal to say the least, but we were all glad it happened when we had a day off the next day instead of en route to New York.

After sleeping the day away, we met at 6 pm. The van was given a new set of tires to venture to New York. First we did a complete detail of the van to ensure no unsavoury evidence of any sort for our border crossing. Turns out we got into the States with ease, crossing at Niagara Falls. We just showed them our passports and the paperwork we had explaining our showcase and they let us through without even a search. We got to spend a few extra nights in New York and the band all went off to explore and meet up with some of our ladies who decided to fly out to meet us in the Big Apple. We saw lots of sights and I must say that NYC is truly one of the raddest places in the world.

Our showcase, which was primarily a show for American labels, booking agents, and industry folk, was at a really hip bar called Pianos in the Lower East Side of Manhattan. We destroyed our set, with all the guys intent on performing the best set possible. While I haven’t heard from our management about anything specific, we certainly turned some heads down there and are planning to return soon in the fall.

After the show we had to do the nine hour drive to Quebec City for another show. We left around 2 am to avoid traffic and get there in time. Again we were able to glide through the border with just a few questions and we were very surprised that we never got searched. When we arrived in Quebec City at 11 am we all crashed hard in our hotel room, getting up just in time for early soundcheck at 4. Because it was our first time in Quebec City, we didn’t expect the greatest show, but it turned out amazing. The folks there went crazy for our music and we sold out of every cd we had with us.

After the show and many handshakes and chats with the crowd, we got wind of Quebec’s best poutine and so we went to grab one before heading back to our hotel room. It was pretty good, but I think I’ve had better at La Belle Province around Montreal. Anyway, we had one more long drive back to Toronto where we played last night at the Rivoli. The show was almost like a homecoming as the place was packed and the crowd incredibly receptive. We had an amazing time. Pete Nema was there photographing the show and should be posting photo’s shortly.

Now we begin on final journey back to Vancouver and the guys should arrive home on June 13th… I, however, am going to get dropped off in Kelowna for a friend’s wedding and some rest and relaxation up at my folks cabin. It’s not like I have a job to come home to anyway, lol!

So stay tuned for more news and an update of our travels across the country, I will also post a selection of photos from the last few weeks! Cheers.

We will now be hanging in Toronto and touring around Ontario the next few weeks and then we are heading to New York to play a showcase on June 2nd. We were suppose to head to Montreal this Wednesday but unfortunately the Green Room had a fire and our show got canceled. Now we’ll be in TO until our show at the Dakota this Friday, May 21st and we will also be playing the Cherry Cola (Queen and Bathurst) again on the 22nd! Stay tuned for more updates, and expect to see us back in Vancouver mid to late June, just in time for some killer beach weather.

PS – Also before I left Vancouver I had a party/show at my apartment. I invited some friends to play sets on my piano and had myself, Dan Werb (Woodhands), Tariq (Brasstronaut), Jody Glenham, and my friend Jordan Daniels all play. It was an amazing night and after the more intimate show, it became a raging party with a fridge I packed full of 150 beers going way too quick but at least I made my money back.. Anyway here’s a photo or two, I will throw another show/party when we return in the summer, I want friends Headwater to play!

To be perfectly honest we were a little surprised at being announced in third place. After all, you are crossing your fingers and hoping so much to win that anything else seems slightly disappointing. Nevertheless, I am very excited for We Are The city because I think they are amazing and regardless of the results, it was a great accomplishment to get into the top three. Plus we still have $50,000 to play with for the next year.

So that leads me to the latest news update of whats next for the band. I speculated in my last blog about our plans, but now we have a pretty concrete plan to set in motion!

It was a bit of a whirlwind after the show on the 22nd as we decided to go into the studio as soon as possible to start work on a new album with Howard Redekopp. We made plans to finish three songs before we are going to move to Toronto temporarily for three months. It seems only suiting that we focus for a while on Eastern Canada and set up camp in Canada’s biggest city. We will be playing shows all around Ontario and Quebec, March through May and heading down to the States as well to play New York. It will be an exciting time for the band, and especially for me, as it has always been a goal to quit the day job and focus on the band… even if for only three or four months. It will be a refreshing change from the grind of working to save for tour and then coming home broke.

So stay tuned for news from the studio and to hear these new tracks. I hope to go in and do a full album really soon, but due to timing we decided to focus on a few tracks to start with but have plans to return later in the spring! Thanks again to everyone who helped and supported us along the way with the Peak Performance Project!

Dan