ok, Alberta seems to be redeeming itself a little bit.

We’ve had some great shows over the past few days. We managed to snag a last minute afternoon gig at U of Calgary. What a great crowd:) They were dancing up a storm at 4pm!

Broken City in Calgary blew away our expectations. There was a line-up! Lots of new and familiar faces I never expected to see out here. Thanks to fellow Haligonian John McKeil and locals Gutter Awl for sharing the stage with us.

I did have one weird experience after the show, we loaded up the van to find a complete stranger (who was completely drunk) sitting in the driver’s seat. After we coaxed him out of the vehicle, he yelled “It doesn’t last forever rock stars!”.
Ouch. I hope this stage of our music doesn’t last forever. I want it to get better! I don’t think we can consider ourselves rock stars when we’re crashing on floors and sleeping in the van.

Saturday night was an all ages show, with some very talented local bands. Ian particularly liked ‘Lint’.

Last night we played at New City Compound in Edmonton. The staff there are super-friendly and very professional. It was a pleasure to play there.

So, Alberta may be back in my good books, but i still have a strong aversion to your police. They are NOT friendly.

We’re at OByrne’s tonight in Edmonton, then we’re bustin’ out to Thunder Bay. Almost home…..

-z

Ian and I have decided to weigh in on this blog as we feel the need for holistic representation of life on the road. Saturday night found us at The Railway Club here in Vancouver and thanks to St. Paddy and some good friends we had a line up down the block, but that was just the beginning. After sound check we were approached by the bar staff and told that an annonymous benefactor had called in and bought us dinner - the luck of the Irish was with us We were later to find it was a super-nice brother in-law. THANKS!!!!!!!!!!!

Sasha - Gates and my roommate from Dalhousie - joined us on stage and ripped the skins off his congas and Wendy (Sasha’s wife) celebrated her 29th. The end of the night found us in the band room (which looked somewhat like the door in Being John Malkovich) acting like true rawk stars - discussing our lovers and geeking out on music talk.

Since then we’ve formed a basketball team that has been taking on the locals in a park off Hastings and Nanimo. Needless to say we’re planning on a career change - I managed to dunk over one guy’s head and Ian went 3 for 3 from the three point zone. We went for a sweet hike yesterday and had the best donoughts EVER! Ian - despite his sugar aversion - even concurred.

Cheap mexican food, cheap sushi, spring weather, and great friends… We’ll be sad to leave Vancouver. But tomorrow we head East to find what new adventures await us.

Croi follain agus gob fliuch!

- Rebo and Ian

We have so many people to thank!
Seriously, we’ve had a lot of things go wrong on this tour (over $2000 in unforseen van expenses). BUT, we have been the recipients of much kindness. So thank you. To the the lovely folks who support us by coming out for a show, and recently, to others;

Thank You.

our guardian angel at the Railway Club, the Floating Beans and their Re-Fried Friends, Laura B., The Horton Clan (”cheers”, Baba), uncle Bill & aunt Peggy, Goat, Sasha & Wendy, ‘Mid-life Crisis’, and Kevin & Mary.

We are very appreciative:)

Oh our lovely van morrison. It’s our home away from home. Cozy, stinky, secure, and damned expensive. Here’s a list of transportation related ‘incidents’ since October (not including gas, fluid changes, and new tires):
1. A door fell off (completely).
2. new brake lines.
3. new engine sensors.
4. A hole in the gas tank.
5. broke down heading to calgary -another new engine sensor.
6. Chipped windshield outside of calgary.
7. impounded in calgary.
8. speeding ticket in calgary.
9. what’s up with calgary?

We don’t get paid. Van morrison gets paid;)

-zac

Hmmm, where to begin?
We left Halifax a little over a week ago, with an $1100 van repair bill, and driving into a snowstorm. We almost made it as far as Quebec City but we were diverted off the trans-canada by the RCMP. They shut the highway down due to poor visibility. So we spent the night in the van on the side of the highway.

After our show at the Bovine in TO, we made it as far as Dryden, ON. Where we enjoyed the comforts of our van yet again, in the hospitality section of the wal-mart parking lot, and -36 C temperatures. Isn’t life grand?

We made it to Saskatoon on time, where the friendly folks at Bud’s made us feel welcome. A cool city.
Then off to Lethbridge. Thanks so much to all the cool kids at CKXU for promoting the show! Also, thanks to The Darby and Joan Club and Gordie Tentrees for sharing the stage with us at Tongue N’ Groove.

Driving north on the 22, heading toward Calgary, we figured things were looking up. Just had a great show in Fernie, our cash flow was looking better, and the scenery is amazing. Then, in a span of 30 minutes, a rock chipped our windshield, the van started ramdomly stalling out on hills, and i was pulled over for speeding, and given a ticket for not producing proof of insurance.

Many thanks to police officer for his kindness and understanding. - Putz.

So, we limped into Calgary and holed up at Gates’ extended family for the night. I just got word of another $500 van bill. awsome.

I figure, it can only get better. We’re off to Kelowna next….hopefully we’ll see some of you there. Barring any alien abductions.

-zac

Ecma’s were awesome, we played three showcases and had an awesome time. We even managed to snake some recording time to demo some new songs.
Last night I had the privilidge of being in the Metro Centre to watch Peter Mckay stick his whole leg in his mouth. Nothing against Toronto, but do not expect a few thousand Maritimers to be told by their government representative that the ECMA’s are a great event in Toronto. Wow. I’ve never seen a room turn so completely on a speaker. Brilliant and painful indeed. I think the Liberals paid him to say it. I digress.

The ECMA gala was easily the best show I’ve seen in years. Rose Cousins and Old Man L., Jill Barber. My god. No east coast disclaimers on that show.

:: :: :: ::

Anyway, we are really excited to bring our show to Toronto, Calgary, Vancouver, and rest assured government men of the land, we will remember the name of the towns we are in.

We will kick things off at our new favorite bar in Toronto, The Bovine Sex Club, on Saturday, March 3rd.

Check our gigs page for the complete tour date list.

Cheers,
Gates

Photo: Rafal Andronowski

Well it seems that one of our favorite places to play in the city has closed its doors. As such we have rescheduled our upcoming gig for next weekend. Make sure you check out the article about Caledonia in HFX today!

Well we have just returned home from our first national tour. It was totally amazing. Thank you everyone who put us up for the night and fed us and of course thanks to everyone who came to the shows.�

It was really awesome to feel so welcome all across the country. �

Our homecoming show was at the Seahorse with the lovely and talented poet/musician� Tanya Davis this Saturday night and it was a great night. The place was packed and so many friends old and new came out to dance drink and fight.

We plan to take the next few weeks to rest and work on new material. Keep watching the stage page as we are now booking 2007.

Cheers,

Gates

PS- check out Carsten Knox’s new article about the band.