Red Deer, Red Deer, Red, Deer... apparently the place to be if you are a touring punk band.
We played Red deer last night at an Irish pub called O'Mally's and it was super kick ass!!
First off... we arrived and shown to our hotel room! Woah!! Then they prepared our homemade pizzas that we enjoyed in our room while we waited for the promoter to show up. The first band was called Midwest Mindset and they were a full band hip-hop act and holy crap were they ever good. Personally I think hip-hop and punk mix really well at shows and I wish that more promoters would do that. The second band was called Uncultured and they were some cool punk rock. The third band was called Shotty Out! And they were awesome also. Despite the fact that it was pretty late by the time we hit the stage (and by stage I mean corner of the floor that the bands played on) the crowd was 110% pumped. They were moshing and slam dancing and crowd surfing... everything. And because we were on the floor Jan, Will and Brando got the mic in the teeth a few times... ouch! Today though, everyone has all their teeth :) It was crazy and awesome! I suggest that every touring punk band make a stop in Red Deer.
I also got the chance to see my friend Kirsten whom I haven't seen since high school. She is living in Red Deer working at a radio station there. It was awesome to catch up.
I've been really lucky on this tour to have had the chance to see old friends and meet tons of new friends. We all have been. Will was able to catch up with an old friend in Calgary that he hasn't seen in over 5 years. Despite all the bitching and whining and fighting int he band I think we're all having one hell of a good time.
I just got off the stage in Regina and thought what a great time to blog. We played at a venue called O'Hanlons (another Irish pub I think but it reminds me of The Huether in Waterloo). We played first which was a welcomed change to the headlining slot we have had most of the tour. The bar was full of regulars but we had our own crowd that were digging our sound. It was a little awkward at first but we rocked the hell out of the bar.
The second band is just about done so we are gonna load out and head to Dillan's place to sleep. Another long day of driving tomorrow so we've gotta get some serious sleep tonight... for real.
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
April 20 - Calgary
Calgary was meh... and I don't like saying that about shows but its really was a meh show. We were on last and there were not too many people there. We were all really tired and just not digging the vibe. The best part about the show was that Missy (highschool friend and guitar player for Rassinet) came out to hang out. Haven't seen Missy in a couple years and never in her (new) hometown. We spent the night at this really cool punk house (in the sense that punks live there) but its was really nice and lots of places to sleep. Matty and Jo own the house and made us feel right at home. We had a good sleep, showers and even got to use their washer and dryer to clean our clothes. It was really great meeting them and I hope that we can cross paths again soon. They had a zoo of reptiles... snakes, gecko, chameleon, turtle and a rabbit. So... they weren't dogs but at least I got to fill a little bit of my pet void. I miss my doggies.
It was a short jaunt today to Red Deer and now I'm sitting in our promoter-supplied hotel room (above the venue) and waiting for our promoter-supplied pizza to arrive!
Looking forward to seeing some old friends that I haven't seen since high school tonight. Should be a good time.
It was a short jaunt today to Red Deer and now I'm sitting in our promoter-supplied hotel room (above the venue) and waiting for our promoter-supplied pizza to arrive!
Looking forward to seeing some old friends that I haven't seen since high school tonight. Should be a good time.
April 19 - Edmonton
We were at the DV8 again last night. It was awesome! If anyone is planning on being/playing in Edmonton visit the DV8. Rod, who promotes there, is really cool. Pop in and say hi!
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
April 16th and 17th - Vancouver
We were lucky to have the chance to hang out in Vancouver for 3 days and play 3 shows! I fell in love with Vancouver when I was there. I just love everything about it, especially the people.
On Saturday we played at Pat's Pub with Loose Tooth and Raised by Apes. This was a full-out skater crowd and included some pro long-boarders. It was crazy fun! Loose Tooth and Raised by Apes put on an awesome show... they were hilarious! We were supposed to play a house keg party before the Pat's Pub show but everything got screwed up with that and the time-line. We opted to stay at Pat's Pub rather then risk missing our set time. After the Pat's Pub show just about everyone who was there went to the keg party... we of course went too. We were hoping to catch up with our good friend from back home, Cam, because his band Real Problems was playing at the party but we arrived too late to catch him. In fact we were so late that the kegs were empty when we got there. Dennis who lives at the house, let us stay over... People are so nice to touring bands :) Brando and Will stayed in the house and Jan and I stayed in the van... I'm really getting used to my gypsy lifestyle and I'm going to be sad to give it up when I get home. Brando said that just as they were trying to get to sleep there was this super drunk guy at the party and Dennis thought this guy might barf so he lead him to the toilet. Once at the toilet the guy pulled down his pants and starting pooping... in front of everyone... farting all slumped over. Brando said it was hilarious. Gonna be a while before that guy lives that one down. Jan and I woke up to banging on the van window... it was Dennis waking us up because there was a guy trying to give us a ticket for not parking on the right part of the street. Luckily Dennis talked him out of the ticket... and for the record I don't think there was anything wrong with where we parked. Dennis said that guy shows up every Sunday morning just to write tickets... GET A LIFE!
Our Sunday night show that was booked at a venue called Bully's was canceled... well it wasn't canceled but the venue backed out. Noelle, the promoter for that show, worked crazy hard trying to hook up another venue but nothing really panned out. Luckily Todd (The Rebel Spell) was able to hook us up with an existing bill at a place called The Railway Club. I was a little unsure about this show at first but since we were already in Vancouver might as well play as much as possible. We were on first at 8:15pm but surprisingly there were quite a few people there and people were really into it... I didn't think they were going to be into it at all, just a different kind of music and when we showed up there was an open jam going on full out blues. But our set was awesome and the show was awesome! Actually it was really cool... Loads of friends came out too. Noelle, Todd, Cam and Zack came out to show their support (Thanks guys!) but we also saw some old friends we haven't seen in as much as 8 years. The most surprising was the band Mongoose... We played with these guys about 8 years ago at this tiny venue at the University of Waterloo. The promoter was friends with Mongoose so when we were added to the bill she sent out a message that we were now playing. He said his jaw hit the floor when he figured out we were The Rotten from Ontario, the same Rotten from 8 years ago!!! It was really cool catching up with them... and learning that they opened, TWICE, for Steel Panther... I'm jealous
We stayed at Noelle's place in Surrey for the night. We spent all day today driving to Banff and right now I'm sitting in our hotel room with free wi-fi!! We opted not to stay in the van tonight as its -10 tonight! Oh, just as we were parking we were driving around the block to our spot and we saw about 5 deer grazing on the sidewalk! Can't wait to check out Banff tomorrow.
On Saturday we played at Pat's Pub with Loose Tooth and Raised by Apes. This was a full-out skater crowd and included some pro long-boarders. It was crazy fun! Loose Tooth and Raised by Apes put on an awesome show... they were hilarious! We were supposed to play a house keg party before the Pat's Pub show but everything got screwed up with that and the time-line. We opted to stay at Pat's Pub rather then risk missing our set time. After the Pat's Pub show just about everyone who was there went to the keg party... we of course went too. We were hoping to catch up with our good friend from back home, Cam, because his band Real Problems was playing at the party but we arrived too late to catch him. In fact we were so late that the kegs were empty when we got there. Dennis who lives at the house, let us stay over... People are so nice to touring bands :) Brando and Will stayed in the house and Jan and I stayed in the van... I'm really getting used to my gypsy lifestyle and I'm going to be sad to give it up when I get home. Brando said that just as they were trying to get to sleep there was this super drunk guy at the party and Dennis thought this guy might barf so he lead him to the toilet. Once at the toilet the guy pulled down his pants and starting pooping... in front of everyone... farting all slumped over. Brando said it was hilarious. Gonna be a while before that guy lives that one down. Jan and I woke up to banging on the van window... it was Dennis waking us up because there was a guy trying to give us a ticket for not parking on the right part of the street. Luckily Dennis talked him out of the ticket... and for the record I don't think there was anything wrong with where we parked. Dennis said that guy shows up every Sunday morning just to write tickets... GET A LIFE!
Our Sunday night show that was booked at a venue called Bully's was canceled... well it wasn't canceled but the venue backed out. Noelle, the promoter for that show, worked crazy hard trying to hook up another venue but nothing really panned out. Luckily Todd (The Rebel Spell) was able to hook us up with an existing bill at a place called The Railway Club. I was a little unsure about this show at first but since we were already in Vancouver might as well play as much as possible. We were on first at 8:15pm but surprisingly there were quite a few people there and people were really into it... I didn't think they were going to be into it at all, just a different kind of music and when we showed up there was an open jam going on full out blues. But our set was awesome and the show was awesome! Actually it was really cool... Loads of friends came out too. Noelle, Todd, Cam and Zack came out to show their support (Thanks guys!) but we also saw some old friends we haven't seen in as much as 8 years. The most surprising was the band Mongoose... We played with these guys about 8 years ago at this tiny venue at the University of Waterloo. The promoter was friends with Mongoose so when we were added to the bill she sent out a message that we were now playing. He said his jaw hit the floor when he figured out we were The Rotten from Ontario, the same Rotten from 8 years ago!!! It was really cool catching up with them... and learning that they opened, TWICE, for Steel Panther... I'm jealous
We stayed at Noelle's place in Surrey for the night. We spent all day today driving to Banff and right now I'm sitting in our hotel room with free wi-fi!! We opted not to stay in the van tonight as its -10 tonight! Oh, just as we were parking we were driving around the block to our spot and we saw about 5 deer grazing on the sidewalk! Can't wait to check out Banff tomorrow.
Saturday, April 16, 2011
April 14 - Victoria and April 15 - Vancouver
We arrived on the island at about 3pm (I think). That morning was foggy... I mean I was foggy. We had driven from Prince George the day before and made it as far as a town called Hope (about an hour from Vancouver) and decided to crash for the night. Thinking that even if we did get to Vancouver that night it would be too late to find a place to sleep so we'd be staying in the van anyway. Hope is a very small town and appeared to be a safe place to stay over. In Hope, we popped in for a pint at a local pub. The waitress asked us if we were a touring band (its that obvious eh that we don't come from Hope). We told her “yeah” and that we were called The Rotten. When she left the woman sitting by herself having a coffee at the table next to us asked us again what our band was called. Turns out that a show we played in Montreal a few years ago was actually a benefit show for her son. It was to raise money to send his remains back to Hope after he died of an overdose. She was so happy to see us and share some stories about Tom (her son). She said it was like all the starts aligned and sent us to that tiny pub in Hope, BC as a gift to her from Tom. I can see that. We sat with her for a couple hours then went to a truck stop for the night.
Although our van is equipped to sleep 4 people that does not mean that it sleeps 4 people comfortably. The weather was crap and raining and the bed were cramped. We all didn't sleep much that night and were super tired.
We woke up at 7am and decided to just start driving to warm up the van and ourselves. We caught a morning ferry to Victoria and were arrived at Hoon's place (Lesbian Fist Magnet) early afternoon. Hoon we met while he was on tour with Dayglo Abortions and have been friends ever since. It was really great to see him and catch up. We hung out for the day with Hoon and friends... and lots of dogs that helped me fill my doggy void. I miss my little munchkins. Everyone we met in Victoria was really awesome and we had a great time. The show was at Logan's pub. Awesome venue but not a great turn out. There was some confusion with this show and almost had it cancelled a few days before we left for tour so the fact that the show still happened, regardless of attendance, was cool. We played with two bands, Gastric Acid and Smoked Out Brainzzz. Really cool guys and good bands.
We went back to Hoon's place after the show and got to sleep in beds!! Yay!! We were so, so, so tired by that point and slept until 11am. We hung our for a bit in the morning then wandered Victoria for about an hour and then headed back to the ferry. I was excited on the ferry this time because they were doing a overboard rescue drill that was got to watch. Also, I watched the waters for any kind of sea life but didn't see anything aside from birds. That reminds, I still need to touch the ocean before we leave.
We arrived at Funky Winker Beans a little ahead of schedule and walked Hastings street for something to do. It is insanely depressing on Hastings with all the homeless addicts collecting bottles and asking for change. It is like nothing I've ever seen before (aside from on Hastings street as a kid).
The show we played was a 5 band bill (we got added to the bill last minute because we couldn't nail down a Vancouver date for Friday. Wendy13 and Hoon put us on last nights bill. Originally we thought we would have to play last and as a first time touring band its not always the best spot but one of the bands was late for their set so we played 2nd instead. It was really cool. There were lots of people there including our Rebel Spell friends, Cam and Marco (in Vancouver for a week vacation). I really like that bar.
We slept in the van last night again but Will was not with us because he stayed with a friend. The van is 1000000000 times more comfortable with just 3 people and we slept parked on the street by Stepha's house until 11am.
I wish I had more interesting things to blog about but its been pretty low key today. Just resting up for the long haul home... 8 shows in 9 days.
Although our van is equipped to sleep 4 people that does not mean that it sleeps 4 people comfortably. The weather was crap and raining and the bed were cramped. We all didn't sleep much that night and were super tired.
We woke up at 7am and decided to just start driving to warm up the van and ourselves. We caught a morning ferry to Victoria and were arrived at Hoon's place (Lesbian Fist Magnet) early afternoon. Hoon we met while he was on tour with Dayglo Abortions and have been friends ever since. It was really great to see him and catch up. We hung out for the day with Hoon and friends... and lots of dogs that helped me fill my doggy void. I miss my little munchkins. Everyone we met in Victoria was really awesome and we had a great time. The show was at Logan's pub. Awesome venue but not a great turn out. There was some confusion with this show and almost had it cancelled a few days before we left for tour so the fact that the show still happened, regardless of attendance, was cool. We played with two bands, Gastric Acid and Smoked Out Brainzzz. Really cool guys and good bands.
We went back to Hoon's place after the show and got to sleep in beds!! Yay!! We were so, so, so tired by that point and slept until 11am. We hung our for a bit in the morning then wandered Victoria for about an hour and then headed back to the ferry. I was excited on the ferry this time because they were doing a overboard rescue drill that was got to watch. Also, I watched the waters for any kind of sea life but didn't see anything aside from birds. That reminds, I still need to touch the ocean before we leave.
We arrived at Funky Winker Beans a little ahead of schedule and walked Hastings street for something to do. It is insanely depressing on Hastings with all the homeless addicts collecting bottles and asking for change. It is like nothing I've ever seen before (aside from on Hastings street as a kid).
The show we played was a 5 band bill (we got added to the bill last minute because we couldn't nail down a Vancouver date for Friday. Wendy13 and Hoon put us on last nights bill. Originally we thought we would have to play last and as a first time touring band its not always the best spot but one of the bands was late for their set so we played 2nd instead. It was really cool. There were lots of people there including our Rebel Spell friends, Cam and Marco (in Vancouver for a week vacation). I really like that bar.
We slept in the van last night again but Will was not with us because he stayed with a friend. The van is 1000000000 times more comfortable with just 3 people and we slept parked on the street by Stepha's house until 11am.
I wish I had more interesting things to blog about but its been pretty low key today. Just resting up for the long haul home... 8 shows in 9 days.
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
April 12 - Prince George
Its 10am and we are still in Prince George. We better hit the road soon if we hope to be in Vancouver by tonight. We have another day off so the plan is to find one of the ancient forests they have here in BC and explore a little bit. I would like to see one of those giant redwood trees.
The show last night was killer! It was at a place called Third on 3rd. It is an anarchist collective run by an awesome bunch of anarchist punks. The place is set up really cool. There is a single entrance with doors to the right and to the left. The door to the right leads into a lounge area with books and supplies to make tea and coffee. It was a nice and relaxed environment to hang out in. The door to the left led to the venue... a really cool venue. I was noticing that when a venue is set up by musicians everything is exactly the way it should be. The stage is the right size, the PA has plenty of power, everyone gets a monitor, there are lights on the stage, etc. When a musician gets to set up a venue its easy because they just think about how they would want the venue to be and make it just like that. Its not like that when a non-musician sets up a venue... at all. This place was really kick-ass though. There was even a green room in the back for the bands. There was a back load in door, no stairs and actual parking behind the venue. Its the little things that make the evening flow a little easier.
Before the doors open Jeff (the promoter for the night) supplied us with loads of delicious homemade pizza. There was so much of it that we will be enjoying the left overs on our travels today. Until you are on the road you don't really realize how incredibly important feeding the band is. We really appreciate it.
It was a three band bill. In my opinion three bands is a perfect show. Just short enough to not get bored but long enough to get your moneys worth. Three bands is the way to go. The first band called Nonshalant was a punk/ska sort of Leftover Crack sound. They were really cool and it was their first real show (they said they played New Years somewhere but where too drunk to play well or even remember). They ruled though! They did covers of NOFX and really got the crowd pumped. They said they played in lots of different bands but think that they finally found that winning combination with this trio... I totally agree! The second band up was called Illicit Dissent and they were also really wicked. Sometimes you play a show and you don't always dig all the bands but last night wasn't one of those nights. Actually, the whole tour has been pretty good. I can't think of any bands we've played with that I didn't dig. Awesome! We played after Illicit Dissent. The crowd response was great. When we were booking this tour everyone told us to play Prince George even though its a little outta the way its worth it.... and they weren't lying. For a town of only 80 000 or so there was a big crowd and everyone was really into it. And we played a killer set!
After the show we packed up our gear and headed out to Jay's place for a chill, wind down night. We've been going strong for a week now so it was nice to have a chill night for a change.
I just want to say this about Prince George. I've never seen so many second hand stores in one area in my whole life. I would need a few days to go through all of them (too bad I don't have that kind of time). We went into a few when we first arrived and Brando picked up 6 or so classic books for 50 cents each like To Kill a Mockingbird and Huck Finn. Great deal! Other notable things about PG... Jan, Will and Brando walked to the liquor store before the show started and they said that everyone on their walk was really friendly smiling at them and saying hello. One well dressed guy, they said, nodded at them and simply said “yeah, beer!” As they were on their way back to the venue. Lol. Even this morning at Tim Hortons people were going out of the way to hold the door for us. Amazing!
If you are a touring band and are going through BC I would recommend looking up Third on 3rd and booking a show with them.
The show last night was killer! It was at a place called Third on 3rd. It is an anarchist collective run by an awesome bunch of anarchist punks. The place is set up really cool. There is a single entrance with doors to the right and to the left. The door to the right leads into a lounge area with books and supplies to make tea and coffee. It was a nice and relaxed environment to hang out in. The door to the left led to the venue... a really cool venue. I was noticing that when a venue is set up by musicians everything is exactly the way it should be. The stage is the right size, the PA has plenty of power, everyone gets a monitor, there are lights on the stage, etc. When a musician gets to set up a venue its easy because they just think about how they would want the venue to be and make it just like that. Its not like that when a non-musician sets up a venue... at all. This place was really kick-ass though. There was even a green room in the back for the bands. There was a back load in door, no stairs and actual parking behind the venue. Its the little things that make the evening flow a little easier.
Before the doors open Jeff (the promoter for the night) supplied us with loads of delicious homemade pizza. There was so much of it that we will be enjoying the left overs on our travels today. Until you are on the road you don't really realize how incredibly important feeding the band is. We really appreciate it.
It was a three band bill. In my opinion three bands is a perfect show. Just short enough to not get bored but long enough to get your moneys worth. Three bands is the way to go. The first band called Nonshalant was a punk/ska sort of Leftover Crack sound. They were really cool and it was their first real show (they said they played New Years somewhere but where too drunk to play well or even remember). They ruled though! They did covers of NOFX and really got the crowd pumped. They said they played in lots of different bands but think that they finally found that winning combination with this trio... I totally agree! The second band up was called Illicit Dissent and they were also really wicked. Sometimes you play a show and you don't always dig all the bands but last night wasn't one of those nights. Actually, the whole tour has been pretty good. I can't think of any bands we've played with that I didn't dig. Awesome! We played after Illicit Dissent. The crowd response was great. When we were booking this tour everyone told us to play Prince George even though its a little outta the way its worth it.... and they weren't lying. For a town of only 80 000 or so there was a big crowd and everyone was really into it. And we played a killer set!
After the show we packed up our gear and headed out to Jay's place for a chill, wind down night. We've been going strong for a week now so it was nice to have a chill night for a change.
I just want to say this about Prince George. I've never seen so many second hand stores in one area in my whole life. I would need a few days to go through all of them (too bad I don't have that kind of time). We went into a few when we first arrived and Brando picked up 6 or so classic books for 50 cents each like To Kill a Mockingbird and Huck Finn. Great deal! Other notable things about PG... Jan, Will and Brando walked to the liquor store before the show started and they said that everyone on their walk was really friendly smiling at them and saying hello. One well dressed guy, they said, nodded at them and simply said “yeah, beer!” As they were on their way back to the venue. Lol. Even this morning at Tim Hortons people were going out of the way to hold the door for us. Amazing!
If you are a touring band and are going through BC I would recommend looking up Third on 3rd and booking a show with them.
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
April 11 - Jasper
We spent last night in Jasper... what an amazing place. Since we didn't have a show I was sure we didn't have a place to stay when we got to Jasper but held on to the idea that maybe we would meet someone that might give us a place to stay.
Approaching Jasper was amazing. I have been through the mountains before but never really appreciated them like I do now. They are huge and incredible! When we got to the Jasper National Park border we had to pay $20 to get in for the night. I was unaware of this fee and at first like “WTF? Why do we have to pay to get in” but as we drove towards Jasper it became more and more apparent why it might cost to visit. Within 5 minutes of being in the park we saw a herd of elk. Its hard to describe the reaction you have seeing something like that. Like you want to stop and make friends with the animals. Brando said “I just want to get out and hug them”. Its exactly the kind of reaction I'm talking about. We saw another herd about 10 minutes up the road. I'd pay $20 just for that!
We also saw a bunch of deer but ye ole moose still eludes me :( Not even today during our drive out of Jasper to Prince George... Where there are constant moose warnings did I see one. I just wanna see a moose.
Anyway, when we got to Jasper we did a short tour of the town... I mean its really, really a tiny town so the tour is very short and ended up at a pub called The Whistle Stop. It was nice to just sit down and share a pitcher without worrying about when we are playing, where is the promoter, who is watching the merch. Also, we could have a conversation without loud music drowning us out.... Don't get me wrong, we love loud music but a break from it is sometimes a nice change.
I love the idea of Jasper. It seems like a really laid back town where no one is in a great rush. There also seems like there should be a lot of interesting people there. I mean we have all heard the stories about how people have left to visit a place like Jasper and got a job there and never went home. I figured we might meet some people like that. First guy that sat at our table was not one of those people however he was an interesting dude. He was a train conductor and has been for the last 31 years but he was also D-R-U-N-K!! He offered for us to stay at his place but we were a little reluctant about that. Shortly after Jan met a guy our age at the bar named Jeff. He was really awesome and offered to have us stay at his place. OF COURSE!!! As the temperatures were dropping to -6 last night in Jasper we weren't really looking forward to sleeping in the van and we were a little worried about getting caught by the RCMP. I'm not sure if you are allowed to sleep in your van or not.. we obviously do anyway but we have no idea the laws on that. We went back to Jeff's place and hung out a little. We listened to some of his records on vinyl then we all crashed. Another nice and warm sleep on a bed. We are spoiled. I slept almost the whole night through and only woke up to Brando saying “stop fucking snoring!” and pushing Will around. I also watched him move to sleeping on the floor rather than the love seat he was on. I wanna add that I offered him my bed and I could have the love seat but he declined. I learned also in the morning that not only did he tell Will to shut the fuck up and throw pillows and blankets at him but he punched him a few times.... And the punches made Will stop snoring. Hahahaha
We woke up to fresh coffee brewing! Thanks a million Jeff. And again I will say, you meet the most amazing people on the road. We had a quick breakfast in a little Jasper cafe and wandered around a little bit before we hit the road again.
We took our time driving today... basically looking for Moose the whole time and arrived in Prince George at around 3pm and we've been here at the venue since. Its called Third on 3rd and its an anarchist center with a really cool venue attached to it. The first band is about to go on so I think I will post this and get inside.
Approaching Jasper was amazing. I have been through the mountains before but never really appreciated them like I do now. They are huge and incredible! When we got to the Jasper National Park border we had to pay $20 to get in for the night. I was unaware of this fee and at first like “WTF? Why do we have to pay to get in” but as we drove towards Jasper it became more and more apparent why it might cost to visit. Within 5 minutes of being in the park we saw a herd of elk. Its hard to describe the reaction you have seeing something like that. Like you want to stop and make friends with the animals. Brando said “I just want to get out and hug them”. Its exactly the kind of reaction I'm talking about. We saw another herd about 10 minutes up the road. I'd pay $20 just for that!
We also saw a bunch of deer but ye ole moose still eludes me :( Not even today during our drive out of Jasper to Prince George... Where there are constant moose warnings did I see one. I just wanna see a moose.
Anyway, when we got to Jasper we did a short tour of the town... I mean its really, really a tiny town so the tour is very short and ended up at a pub called The Whistle Stop. It was nice to just sit down and share a pitcher without worrying about when we are playing, where is the promoter, who is watching the merch. Also, we could have a conversation without loud music drowning us out.... Don't get me wrong, we love loud music but a break from it is sometimes a nice change.
I love the idea of Jasper. It seems like a really laid back town where no one is in a great rush. There also seems like there should be a lot of interesting people there. I mean we have all heard the stories about how people have left to visit a place like Jasper and got a job there and never went home. I figured we might meet some people like that. First guy that sat at our table was not one of those people however he was an interesting dude. He was a train conductor and has been for the last 31 years but he was also D-R-U-N-K!! He offered for us to stay at his place but we were a little reluctant about that. Shortly after Jan met a guy our age at the bar named Jeff. He was really awesome and offered to have us stay at his place. OF COURSE!!! As the temperatures were dropping to -6 last night in Jasper we weren't really looking forward to sleeping in the van and we were a little worried about getting caught by the RCMP. I'm not sure if you are allowed to sleep in your van or not.. we obviously do anyway but we have no idea the laws on that. We went back to Jeff's place and hung out a little. We listened to some of his records on vinyl then we all crashed. Another nice and warm sleep on a bed. We are spoiled. I slept almost the whole night through and only woke up to Brando saying “stop fucking snoring!” and pushing Will around. I also watched him move to sleeping on the floor rather than the love seat he was on. I wanna add that I offered him my bed and I could have the love seat but he declined. I learned also in the morning that not only did he tell Will to shut the fuck up and throw pillows and blankets at him but he punched him a few times.... And the punches made Will stop snoring. Hahahaha
We woke up to fresh coffee brewing! Thanks a million Jeff. And again I will say, you meet the most amazing people on the road. We had a quick breakfast in a little Jasper cafe and wandered around a little bit before we hit the road again.
We took our time driving today... basically looking for Moose the whole time and arrived in Prince George at around 3pm and we've been here at the venue since. Its called Third on 3rd and its an anarchist center with a really cool venue attached to it. The first band is about to go on so I think I will post this and get inside.
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