First Binge of the Tour

I finally got a good night's sleep, and it was well-deserved. I got up around 1:00 in the afternoon, and after a quick shower and "breakfast", I found myself back on my way to Stiletto's with the intention of learning songs. I ended up drinking instead. Sheena was there in the afternoon, she greeted me warmly and placed a beer in front of me. Instead of "working", I was socializing with the staff. A Caesar came next, and then I decided to make a stop at the Royal Hotel and check out the afternoon jam.

The Royal isn't one of those places that you would consider a 4-star hotel... It probably does not even deserve a half-star, but it is "The Good Times Bar", where people from all walks of life hang out and drink copious quantities of cheap beer. I sat down with SF, who happens to be another drummer, and we talked a bit, mostly waiting for the jam to begin. The band opened the stage at 4:00, and by 4:10 there was already a drunk couple dancing. They were older, possibly in their thirties, and the woman appeared to either have a glandular problem, or a compulsive eating disorder. My guess would have been the latter. This woman, while dancing with this guy, lifts up her t-shirt, pulls it over this guy's head, exposing the shocking contents underneath -- no bra. I figured this was my cue to leave, so I quickly finished my beer, and decided to go back to a place where the women would be wearing a bit more clothing: Stiletto's!

I was back at the lingerie bar again, but this time I actually managed to listen to some songs, instead of drinking, since by this time I managed to be wearing a "healthy glow". I stayed at the bar for about an hour, and then went home for a home-cooked meal.

I returned to Stiletto's somewhere around 7:30, and somehow a Paralyzer would up in my hands. So much for learning a few more songs.

We began playing around 9:00. The band sounded more together than the night before, but the improvement wasn't considerable. At least there weren't any major train-wrecks. Dave was picking material they didn't normally play, so Dave and Arleen had a bit of a refresher course as well.

I shouldn't hesitate to mention that Stiletto's bar is located adjacent to a retirement condominium. In fact, the condominium is about fifteen meters from Stiletto's back door. As soon as we started playing, the old farts called to cops on us and complained about the noise. This little ordeal happened last night, but it didn't stop us from playing...

That is, until the police decided to show up and check out our volume situation. Those old buggers called the police on us four times that night, which basically denotes once for every 40-minute set we played. When we started to play our final set at 12:30, we had only played our second song when the police called the bar and informed them of more noise complaints. Dave, Arleen and I were doubled over laughing. We weren't even playing loud! Here were some old fogies, with nothing better to do with their time except bitch, bitch, bitch. You'd have thought that they turned up their hearing aids to aggravate themselves (and us) even more.

First of all, it's the weekend. Second of all, the noise bylaw doesn't come into effect until 11:00 pm, so why are they calling the police at 9:30? Third, and lastly, who goes to bed at 9:00 on a weekend? Needless to say, we finished our show a bit early, but we played a few songs extra loudly to grandma and grandpa could hear us loud and clear. I recall Dave shouting: "Wake up, Grandma!" during a few of our songs. It was a nice humourous touch.

I think Dave and Arleen are pleased with my progress. They will be rehearsing this upcoming week, which means they will be learning the songs they hadn't played in months, plus learning half a dozen new ones. If I wasn't up to speed, I guarantee that they wouldn't be learning a dozen new songs for this weekend. Maybe they will have a bit more fun if they play some new songs instead of the ones they normally play four nights a week.

The first week of the tour is now over, and I am 300 bucks richer. Too bad my pay was already spent before I even got it. Next week, we will be playing for three nights in Yorkton, Saskatchewan, wherever that is. Until then, I will become a drum teacher for a couple of days, and an unemployed bum for a few more. Not unlike a superhero, next weekend I will instantly change from a geeky nobody into the "rock star" that I am. But for now, chilling out is a necessity.

Rock n Roll, Thongs, and Stiletto Heels

I bought some new equipment today. I guess the money I was paid last night is already burning a hole in my pocket. I often think my desire for shiny new gear borders on addiction, and I have too many vices to worry about.

Tonight's show was at Stiletto's. It's kind of difficult to describe this bar. It's small, narrow and the main thing that gives this place a bad reputation is that all the waitresses sport (or shall I say, flaunt) the latest trends in ladies' lingerie.

I met "Sheena", (a bartender) while loading in equipment, and I would say she's a pretty cool person. She was tall, friendly, and if her hair were dark brown, she would look just like Sarah McLachlan. I've met her before, but I don't recall where. Perhaps she was a waitress at another establishment I have frequented in the past. I've killed too many brain cells during my alcoholic binges to know exactly where I first met her.

Dave and I moved our gear into Stiletto's at 2:00 in the afternoon. Stiletto's has stage lights for us, so setting up was much easier than the Alamo two days prior. The stage lights we lug around on tour are a major pain in the rear. We had all our equipment set up by 3:30. I remained at the bar, set up my drums, and then sat down for a quick beer. I then left for home (which is incidentally, two blocks away) and made dinner.

I found myself relatively bored at home, so within an hour I was back at Stiletto's listening to songs I was having trouble with, making mental notes, and tuning my drums. I wasn't until 8:50 that Dave and Arleen arrived to play the gig. In other words, I spent quite a few hours listening to those songs.

Tonight was mostly a rock gig, thank the maker. If I played another country gig I'd have to go home, play some Black Sabbath really loud, and cleanse my soul. Our performance tonight improved drastically. We, as a group are beginning to click musically, and the music is beginning to tighten. Dave and Arleen are quite happy with my amount of preparation and dedication to the band. Maybe I'm trying to earn myself a raise. Then again, maybe I'm trying to win myself a few new friends. I guess I want to show them that I take my music very seriously, and I don't want to be holding them back. If anything, I want to be pushing them.

Other than that, the rest of the night was uneventful. It was a good, solid night, there were no major screw-ups, and the bar was packed. In fact, Dave and Arleen were making mistakes, at least ones that I could identify after three days of playing with them. If this is a sign of things to come, by next week I'll know all the material, which is in excess of 150 songs. There might be a few more to add if I start singing, and it sounds like Dave and Arleen want me to start singing shortly.

Dave is excited about this summer. Next week, we are headed to Yorkton, Saskatchewan. The week after that, we are in Manitoba. Dave is also talking about the week we are going to play in Thunder Bay, Ontario. He informed me that the bar is huge. As far as I know, that won't happen until June, but I sure don't know how busy our schedule is going to be -- at least, not yet.

Two-Steps Back

I managed to sleep in today. I woke up without my headache, and felt like a million bucks.

I went back to the Alamo around 2:00 in the afternoon. I spent some time listening to tracks I was not terribly familiar with, and made a few notes in an effort to speed up my learning. I want to know my material inside & out and in record time. Some of the keyboard tracks have been recorded very well -- for example, Phil Collins' In the Air Tonight sounds better than the original. On the other hand, Enter Sandman sounds like a bastardized version -- and in my opinion should never be played.

After listening to two dozen country songs, my brain was beginning to feel like mush. I took a quick break, tuned my drums, and made a few adjustments to the hardware. I left the Alamo at 4:30 feeling like I made some progress that afternoon. All I needed was to put my knowledge to the test -- and that would happen in a few hours.

I returned back to the gig a little after 9:00 pm, and made sure everything was on and working properly. There were already a few patrons there, but you will only find out if they are there to listen to you until you start playing.

By 9:30 we were playing our first set of the evening, and it felt rough. I was missing fills, cymbal crashes, starts and stops. I was getting a little frustrated. To make things worse, I was still messing up the songs that I had paid particular attention to earlier that afternoon. Sheryl Crows' My Favorite Mistake and Shania Twains' Honey I'm Home sounded disastrous. I felt like a first-class ass.

We crashed through the first set, and took a break to clear our heads, and rest our vocal cords. My friends DG and KH were there, sipping on a few beers. So I sat down with them and discussed "musical things", such as the PA sound, song choice, etc. They stayed for a few songs in the second set, but left soon after.

The rest of the night seemed to go by much smoother. Maybe I was more relaxed. Maybe it was because we were playing more rock music. The one thing that did change, was as the night went on, people became more receptive and responsive to our music. Even though there might have been only forty people in the bar, half of them occupied the dance floor.

We even got two encores! They wouldn't let us off the stage. We played a half hour longer than we were supposed to, and it was like we could do no wrong in their eyes. We finally managed to call it quits, and the house lights came on. Dave and I started discussing what the summer had to portend, about some of the bars we will go to, and some of the sights we will get to see. Arleen was busy talking to about half a dozen girls aged around 18-20. They kept telling her "You sound just like Sheryl Crow!"

We also heard quite a bit of "You guys rock", and "You guys kick ass!" This particular cute brunette was saying this to all of us when she turned to me and said "And you... You are soo cute!" All I could mutter was a modest "Thank you," before she walked away. Maybe she was embarrassed. There wasn't much I could do. I had work to do -- a PA system to deconstruct.

All the patrons were kicked out of the bar, and Dave and I got back to work, ripping down 2 tons of wire, magnets, metal and glass. It wasn't until 3:30 in the morning that we had all the equipment loaded up. We took a half-hour break and had a non-alcoholic beverage with the bar staff. The staff always seem to have stories to tell. They usually center around all the dumb drunken boobs that saunter in and stumble out of the establishment. Not us; we work, and we get drunk on adrenaline. Let the lushes have their booze, and we can have our music.

The Day I Became A Rock Star...

Or was it a Country Music Star? I can't remember.

It has been a long day. I got the call from Dave at 2:00 pm. At his place is where our story begins. We packed up and loaded our equipment into his truck. Damn those road cases. Carrying all that stuff up a flight of stairs is definitely not my idea of a good time. Those things must weigh at least 200 pounds.

Somehow, we managed to pack all the equipment into his truck, avoiding injuries at the same time. I nearly broke my leg carrying that junk up the stairs. Luckily, I only managed to receive a couple scrapes and bruises though. We pulled up to the Alamo Saloon by 3:00.

So Dave and I set up the equipment in the afternoon. It took us longer than expected. While assembling this massive puzzle, I was apparently introduced to the owner of the "'Mo", although I never would have guessed that he'd own anything more than a beat-up trailer and a rusty old Impala. He looked more like a farmer or a bum with a drinking problem. He made some small talk with us between gulps of beer, and finally decided to let us get back to work within a few minutes. An hour or two had passed. We managed to set everything up, but we were still making a few adjustments to the PA, and making sure all the components were connected properly and not broken. Micing the drums turned out to be a little more tedious than we expected. There were feedback problems, and on top of that, we were having trouble obtaining a good drum sound.

You can probably imagine me, sitting behind my drumkit, incessantly hitting drums, while Dave is fooling around with a myriad of buttons and switches, trying to do some sound-engineering magic. While we were at this, and beginning to make some progress, the owner approaches us again and asks: "Could you guys cut that out? You're driving us crazy over there. If you guys wanna fool around, do it at 3:00 in the afternoon."

I was fuming. Thanks buddy. We were here at 3:00. When did you arrive? 10:00 am when the bar opened? I really wanted to give this ass-head a piece of my mind, but my better judgment told me to keep my mouth shut. Dave suggested we leave for the time being, and return at 9:30 to play the gig.

Wednesdays must be a lousy night at the 'Mo, since there weren't that many people there. My Mom & Dad showed up for a couple sets to show their support.

We played until the bar closed, and honestly, the night was uneventful. There were certain troubles with some songs, and a lot of the Country songs I'm not familiar with. Dave has assured me that things are going to change in the coming weeks. I certainly hope so. Right now, I have a headache the size of Gibraltar, and my ears are ringing incessantly. I am hoping that tomorrow's show will be better than today's.

The Day Before I Became A Rock Star...

...And what a day it has been. I'm exhausted. I woke up in Lethbridge, now I am at home in good ol' Medicine Hat. Packing up took me longer than I had anticipated -- so did the cleaning -- and I didn't manage to get on the road until 6:00 pm. Strangely enough, I left the university nary a look back. Maybe I just wanted to get "outta there".

When I got into town, it was raining -- but a beautiful rain at that. It was warm, the air was humid, the sun shone through the clouds, and the brightest rainbow that I could ever remember arced its' colors across the grey-blue sky. I must admit, that moving all my belongings inside wasn't all that much fun. In fact, I don't expect to be fully unpacked until mid-next week. Either I'm too busy or too lazy -- it's your call.

Somehow, in the midst of things, I have managed to escape this house for an hour or two to have a beer with a few friends; the celebration of the end of an era, and the beginning of a new one.

So now I am in my room, my drums lay broken on the floor in their cases, awaiting to bless and curse the ears that may listen tomorrow. As I am writing, I am nursing a Grasshöpper, inspiring myself by listening to Led Zeppelin and Counting Crows. This is the first time I have been able to relax all day, perhaps all week.

Tomorrow, we play the Alamo Saloon. I do not recall how busy Wednesday nights are, but my parents said they would show up and bring 20 of their friends. Maybe it won't be so bad of a gig after all.