Tour Diary – St. Albert, Alberta (April 19 and 20, 2013)

Pete's ipad sketch of the Alberta landscape (part 2):

The drive between Calgary and Edmonton has always been one that I dread. It always feels much longer that it should. It's kind of like the middle part of the drive along the 401 between Toronto and Montreal, it just goes on and on….Gasoline Alley, the oasis of gas stations and fast-food joints that sits on the outskirts of Red Deer, is almost a welcome respite, a break in the bleak sameness of the landscape.

We did the drive early this morning in order to get to a live radio interview with CKUA in Edmonton. CKUA is a small gem. It is a publicly funded and listener supported radio station that broadcasts throughout Alberta and its prime focus is arts and culture. They have been big supporters of the Canadian independent music scene for many, many years. If every province had a CKUA, life would be just a wee bit fuller.

We had two shows over two nights at The Arden Theater in St Albert, which is a small mall encased community just north of Edmonton. These are the two shows that this entire tour has been built around. They have been on our books for about two years and thankfully, with all of that lead time, they were both very sold-out. We had two extremely satisfying shows. The first night was excellent and the second night was very, very good (maybe a wee bit less intense than the first night). A great sounding theater and stage and two very engaged audiences. Sometimes all those highway miles pay off in a very nice way.