Tour Diary – Prince George, BC (June 17, 2012)

The day started promising enough. Prince George sits on the confluence of the Fraser and the Nechako Rivers. So I headed out, on foot, for what looked like a relatively short walk to a river bank. Unfortunately, there is an enormous train yard between the town and the river and the only two overpasses were at the opposite ends of town….not so bad if you have a vehicle, even a bicycle, but a bit of a hike on foot. But I was determined. There was more bad news when I finally reached water: the rivers were raging. With all of the recent rain and the mountain run-off, the banks had flooded. So it was a challenge finding a spot along the river to stand and cast and it was even tougher finding a spot in the river that wasn’t churling and boiling. But I was determined. I walked the banks and cast a thousand casts with nary a nibble. There wasn’t even the small fry chasing my lure along the bank…nothing. Despite that, it was a nice way to spend a day, the rain came in spits and spurts and when the sun occasionally peaked through the clouds it was beautiful.
Tonight was another gig at a minor league hockey arena….this one is the home of the Prince George Cougars…launching pad for Eric Brewer and Daniel Hamhuis, among others. We had another really good show and it felt, as the set went on, that we were slowly making a convert or two. It’s fun playing through these big PA’s, you can really feel the energy being transferred from your fingers, to the guitar, to the amp, to the PA and out to the audience, quite a thrill. Pete’s son, Leo, joined us today and will be out with us for the next few days. We still don’t have satellite so we are falling behind a bit on our Euro Cup viewing. But, except for the early exit of the Dutch, it appears that things are playing out as they should.