You ever get those days where your mind goes “duuude, ain’t this going to be a perfect fucking day?” and you go “Yeah man, that’s what your mother told me… March 12 was one of them days.
Awake at 4:30 AM. Hop in/on the motorized horse. Full moon, air chilled but not ball freezing cold. Smokes, coffee, slight hangover, doing good road time on the way to Shawn’s to pack gear and haul ass. Get there and shit’s already packed cause Shawn probably had a sleepless night where the usual voices in his head torment him to watch porn and incessantly text message me with threats of collecting money and requests for sexual favors (or was it the other way around, since I was kinda drunk and I tend to send really weird messages at 2 AM after 8-10 Pabst Blue Ribbon? I digress…).
The rest of the band gets there a little earlier than expected so we double check gear, get in the van and get us some coffee and breakfast sandwiches (Conseil #1 sur un lendemain de brosse : Manger Gras.) . *Bucks seems to be the perfect place to breakdance in front of frightened old ladies at 6 o’clock in the morning (according to Dan anyways) and frightened old ladies don’t seem so frightened by breakdancing tattooed monkeys and wish them a good day with a smile that suggests they want to get it on ASAP before the National Geographic flashbacks dissipate (according to the look on her face). Dan is fun times, always.
Captain A (Shawn) get us to Peterborough so we can pick up Captain B (Bone, from Birthday Boys) who offered his services as roadie, road manager, driver, shit giver in case of need and all around comic relief. Thanks Bone, the cheque’s in the mail. (Conseil #2 sur un lendemain de brosse : Ouvrir les fenetres de votre vehicule, parce que ca risque de sentir la cheval mort apres 2 heures de route).
We get to the University of Toronto safe and sound, well at least safe, to play our one hour set on live college radio. CFRE were nothing but gents and dames before, during and after the interview/set. Oh, and thanks to the pub waitress for not judging the French talk in the bar before we got on the air, and thanks for making the beer cold and the service splendid. Thanks as well to the hot students who were staring at Dan (either because he’s a hot bastard, or because they thought the plate glass windows put up to prevent the monkey from escaping the zoo). So yeah, we play, we leave, we gotta get to Toronto to play at the Last Gang Records/Ideal Friends showscase event…
2 hours laters: We’re scarfing down pizza and fries and everything that makes you cornhole cry awaiting the opening of Wrong Bar, where we’ll be sharing our thoughts and feelings for a 45 minute set later in the evening. Phone rings, it’s David Bottril, he’s in town, we should visit he says, we agree. Phone rings again, it’s Vic Florencia, he’ll be at the show. “Why don’t you meet us so we’ll all meet David later?” “Sure” “Cool, laters” “Laters”, Click (do Iphones click? who cares). So we set up the gear, meet the ultimate gents Mr. Rob and Mr. Jesper, chat, soundcheck (you figure out the order) and leave to meet Mr. Florencia and Mr. Bottril and Mr. Brian. Visit of Mr. Bottrill’ new studio digs (sweet place David, btw and thanks for the hospitality and the free rare exotic animals. My kids love the pink glow in the dark ferret) and then we’re off to get some beers, poutine and sushi at the Delta (I think it’s called the Delta, nice place anyways). We’re done eating at the band’s expense (mmmmm, sorta free food) and we head back to the show to see some killer bands while we wait our turn to play.
As soon as we come in, I sense a disturbance in the force, or was it something calling my name. No more than 5 minutes in I get a tap on the shoulder from Mr. Jesper who tells me there are some beers and water (fish can have the water) for us backstage … Now, this is where I question the perfection of this day. Not in a negative way, but I start getting paranoid because it’s too perfect. I’m a Quebecer and I love my beer, but an assload of warm Labatt 50 (d’la 50 tablette) waiting for me? This is almost too good to be true. It isn’t, it’s real. While I’m whiping the tears off my face and I finish the first sip/beer, I take 2 more and bring one to Dan. This is a magical evening, I almost see rainbows and unicors, but someone killer them with a crowbar and icepick, thanks Sharon Stone. By the time we get on stage, I’ve had a few drinks (being classy, 4 at the most - Can you go to hell for lying? Anyways…) and the sound is killer, the crowd is killer and it’s almost a hot as at CFRE where I think they’d installed a sauna just before our performance. But heat causes me to lose my mind, so this’ll be a great show. Success, it is. What a fun evening. Thanks to the ladies on the left side of the stage for boosting Shawn’s ego and destroying mine. I don’t mind though, mother loves me (someone’s mother anyways). Thanks to all involved in putting on the showcase! And thanks to the crowd for being killer. Thanks to Labatt 50 for getting me smashed enough just before I got in the van so that I could sleep/fall into a semi-coma, to get back to work in the morning.
See you in 2010 CWM, see you much sooner Toronto and neighbouring cities (April 2009).
S. - APlotAgainstMe