It has been over fifteen years since we have played in Halifax or anywhere in the Maritimes. This use to be a fairly regular destination for us and back in the late 80’s it was not unusual for us to load up our van in Toronto, drive six hours to Montreal, play a gig that night and then leave early the next morning and drive the remaining 10 – 12 hours to Halifax. Our regular haunt was the Flamingo Club and we were always treated especially well by the owners who fed us, paid us decently and even billeted us at their homes or the homes of friends and parents. We would normally be booked to play three shows over three nights so we got to know the city fairly well. Once we “graduated” to tour busses and our touring overhead grew, it became progressively more difficult to get to the East Coast. Over the years we have tried, many times, to figure out a way to get back here but we could never find enough decent paying gigs to make it work. So when we received an email from the booker at the newly opened Niche Lounge, with an offer that made logistical and financial sense, we jumped on it.

It so happens that the Niche is located in the same building complex as the Flamingo (which is now a disco), although the building-complex, which includes a mall and six story hotel, is new. When it was built five years ago it absorbed the building that housed the Flamingo into its design. Aside from that, Halifax seems to be pretty much the same as it was when we last saw it. There is certainly a lot of construction going on and they are estimating that its population will double over the next decade, but it still has a small city feel, where things progress at there own pace and it hasn’t lost its friendly maritime character.

The club itself is an odd one. It is primarily a restaurant with a small space cleared in the corner for a stage. Upon arrival we weren’t quite sure how (or whether) the evening was going to work, but we were pleasantly surprise by both the on-stage sound and the club sound. We tried to keep our volume down and concentrated on dynamics. It seemed to work…and true to tradition we were treated exceptionally well.

It was a two show night which didn’t end until about 2am. A very long day considering we left our homes in Toronto at 6:30am. But well worth it. The audience was very appreciative and it was great to finally get back to Halifax. It might be the catalyst for us to figure out a way to do a full blown Maritime tour in the near future.

This was also our first gig without brother Pete on drums. Pete is sidelined for the next month or so by a bad back. Randal Coryell is subbing for him and, with just three rehearsals under his belt, did an amazing job.

On to Texas…..