We are on the home stretch of our Canadian Tour, with just a handful of shows remaining. We’ll be winding the whole tour up with a special performance in Toronto on Saturday, July 14th at The Great Hall (Queen and Davenport). This is a benefit concert in support of the Parkdale Activity Recreation Centre (PARC) (http://parc.on.ca/) and community mental health. It’s an important cause and one which we are proud to be associated. It will be a great night of music. You can purchase tickets here:
July 1: We spent our two days off watching the Saint John River empty in and empty out, empty in and empty out of the Bay of Fundy…the water against the pier, rising and falling, rising and falling. What an amazing force of nature it all is: this huge and powerful tidal river that was central in the building of Canada, being pulled back and forth. Before Canada was Canada, St John was the center of the British Empires shipbuilding industry. When Canada was officially formed in 1867, a third of the ships sailing in the British Fleet were built in St John’s (I may have made that figure up). The river that bears the town’s name runs straight through the heart of the province providing easy access to the enormous forests that were felled to create the giant wooden sailing ships of the 18th century. This city was one of the financial engines for the new country and it has a rich and long history….in any case, Happy Canada Day!
We celebrated the day by watching the final game of the Euro Cup; the tournament favourite Spain versus the upstart Italy. The first fifty or sixty minutes of the game were very exciting. And even though Spain was up 2 –0 by the end of the half, one felt that, if not for the brilliant play of Spain’s goalie Casillas, it could have easily been a tie game. Italy kept up the attack at the start of the second half but then Spain subbed in Fernando Torres and his fresh legs were no match for the tired Italian defenders (who were also down a man due to injuries). Torres quickly made it 3-0 and then set up the crushing fourth and final, goal. All four goals were feats of unbelievable athleticism and skill: “The Beautiful Game” indeed. All in all it was a very good tournament, with a handful of upsets, many contested games, lots of scream inducing plays and in the end, the best team one. We’re already looking forward to the World Cup in two years.
July 2: I watched the fireworks from my room last night and today I did nothing…the town was shut down for the Canada Day long-weekend and so I just lay in my bed and watched the river flow. A much needed day of recovery.
We were thoroughly beat up by the time we reached Summerside: another 11 hour overnight drive. We were shared the town and the grounds surrounding the arena with Atlanticade (or something like that), a large motorcycle rally. Man those things are loud (and annoying). I made the effort to get off the bus and walk along the beach boardwalk and stick my feet in the red clay sand. Then it was back to the bus and a lot of waiting around. It was a nice venue with very good catering (including some very tasty PEI new potatoes). Just as showtime was approaching there was an area wide power failure. We waited for two anxious hours for the power to come back on. We were beginning to worry that the show might be postponed to the next night, robbing us of one of our much-needed two days off (just one more turn of the screw). Finally, the lights popped on and we were given our 30-minutes-to-showtime cue. It wasn’t a great performance. Half of the lights in the auditorium needed to stay on as they were still seating people because of the power outage. As a result there seemed to be more than the usual milling about during our set. We did our best, but this was our tenth show in ten nights, starting in Calgary and ending in Prince Edward Island…quite an epic run, time to shut down for a couple of days.
Last night we moved on to Sherbrooke, the Mellencamp crew still travelling between Sudbury and PEI. We were due for a let-down following the high that we experienced yesterday in Parry Sound. I stepped off the bus in my Canada t-shirt and was promptly yelled at from a passing car flying a fleur-de-lyse, “Fuck la Canada”. Oh right, I’m in a foreign country. When I returned to the bus to change my t-shirt Jared was also returning to change his Bruins shirt, he too had felt the hex. A few minutes later, just to reinforce our better judgement, a guy in a wheelchair comes cruising by the bus flying a quebec flag and wearing a Montreal Canadiens shirt. If it’s Friday it must be Quebec. The day could have disintegrated from there, but we all adjusted and enjoyed the “out of town” experience, using our pigeon French whenever needed. The venue, which we sat in front of all day happened to be on a very quaint street, with lots of typical French cafes and bistros. There was also a laundry-mat down the street which is always a bonus and to top it all off the venue was a really good sounding room. There wasn’t much of a turnout, but they were an intense and passionate audience. We played with the looseness and the confidence (and a touch of the exhaustion) of a band playing its ninth show in nine nights. It was a very good night.
Today was an excellent day. Al found his trail; Pete and Marg found a path; Jeff found the water; Chris found his girlfriend; Jared found a new Bobby Orr shirt; and I found a few teeny-weeny, but ever so beautiful smallmouth bass. If you have never been to this part of our beautiful country, then you should visit (put it on your “bucket list” as they say….I detest that phrase). The Georgian Bay (Parry Sound is one of the Bays more active gateways) is a uniquely beautiful part of this world: standing on its rock, one feels in the presence of something enormous, powerful and overwhelming. Tonight’s gig was a fundraiser for the local hospital, put together by Joe Bamford, our bus company’s owner. Joe and his wife Fatima took us all out for dinner at a local restaurant before the gig (Glenn Burney Lodge) tucked away in a little bay, hidden by cedars and pines. I fished all afternoon, and a little in the evening and a little at night after the show, just off the rocks behind the theater. It was such a beautiful spot and there were lots of little guys that were game to play and, of course, always the promise that their big papa was cruising nearby. It was a beautiful little theater and a good audience and we had a very relaxed night on stage.
Unbelievably, I was having such a nice day on the rocks that I missed the Italy/Germany game. I saw a little bit of the second half and watched the Germans final push in extra time. I guess the German coach made a few controversial changes to the lineup and Balotelli was just too much to handle. Italy just seems to know how to win on the big stage, they move on to face Spain and at this point who dares guess what kind of game the final will be. I guess I’ll be rooting for Italy…I have to stick with my homeys (otherwise my house will be egged)….
I never left the parking lot today. Even Al couldn’t find a trail that excited him. We watched an excruciatingly boring game between Spain and Portugal, Spain winning a nil –nil draw on penalty kicks. This was the match-up that had everyone salivating: the reigning World and Euro Champions vs the most-handsome-man-in-the-world. There was suppose to be fireworks, instead, we got 90 minutes of very fit Iberians rolling around on the grass. The overtime had a handful of exciting moments, which just made you wonder why they hadn’t been playing like that all game….and then the dreaded shoot-out, in which the-most-handsome-man-in-the-world didn’t even get a chance to take a shot. It was almost as boring as the NHL finals. Tomorrow is the semi-final between Germany and Italy. Chances are that Italy is going to go into a defensive shell, try to survive the German onslaught, and play for the draw. Here’s hoping that Germany scores early and forces Italy to push forward a bit. Our neighborhood back home in TO must be insane with anticipation.
It was an odd day today because of the long overnight drive from Thunder Bay. The load-in was delayed by hours, so we had a perfunctory soundcheck. I had a completely unfocused gig tonight, perhaps the seventh show in seven nights creeping up on me. I’ll need to dig a little deeper to get through the next three. Despite the lack of snap in the show the audience was great and for that we are grateful. It’s a short ride tonight which means that the bus will be standing still for most of the night, which means there is a possibility of a few uninterrupted hours of sleep…it’s the little things.
The arena in Thunder Bay is old school…kind of like every rink built across Canada in the 50’s. Most of the buildings that we have been performing in, have been modern arenas based on designs of the big professional palaces, designed to look good and make money….and to make money they have to be easily configured for multi-use. The Fort William Garden is strictly a place to play hockey and curl, so it made the day a bit more complicated for the Mellencamp crew and it ended up sounding very much like a hockey rink. It was not great gig for us.
When we arrived at the back of the building, this morning, everyone took off; Al to find a bike trail; Margo to colour her roots; Jeff and Pete in search of a music store and me in search of the Kaministiquia River. I was told to avoid the river downtown and head up stream for the best odds of catching something, so I borrowed Pete’s bike and headed up river. The only problem was that the rail yards between the road and the river were a formidable obstacle. After a long ride along the tracks I came across an iron pedestrian bridge that I figured might get me across the tracks and closer to the water. It did, but it also brought me to a memorial park/spot for the First Spike, which was driven in that spot in 1875. In Canada we all learn about the Last Spike, hammered home in Craigellachie, BC in 1885: it signified the completion of the building of the Canadian Pacific Railroad, joining the East coast to the West coast of Canada. We consider it a major nation-building moment. Apparently we were being severely pressured by an expansionist power to our South who had a very large standing army that was in prime fighting shape. The physical bonding of our two coasts by the railway gave our claim to the Western lands some teeth in the eyes of international community. So we celebrate and learn about the Last Spike, but the massive ten year public-works project had to begin somewhere and, what-do-you-know, it began here.
I did find the river and it was a little depressing, lined with functioning and crumbling industries, brackish and stressed. The most frustrating thing was that a twenty minute drive from here would place me in the middle of trees and rocks and rivers and lakes barely disturbed by us humans: perhaps on another day with a little more time. If you ever want a true wilderness experience come to Northern Ontario.
It was a relatively short and uneventful day in Moose Jaw. We stayed overnight in Saskatoon and did the three hour drive to Moose Jaw in the morning. Once we arrived; we sat behind the arena for a few hours; did some exploring of downtown Moose Jaw (not a whole lot happening on a Sunday in Moose Jaw); and watched Italy defeat England in a very uninspired nil-nil match decided by penalty kicks (both teams looking like future speed bumps in Germany’s march to the finals). Another hockey arena tonight, good catering, great sound on stage, great sound in the room and we put together a very good performance. The audience was a little more subdued than those in the BC interior, but they seemed to be listening and we had a pretty good response.
After the Moose Jaw show the Mellencamper’s headed out on a 1300+km drive to Thunder Bay. We cut our drive in half by booking a gig in Winnipeg at the West End Cultural Center. It’s been over fifteen years since we did a gig in downtown Winnipeg so we figured since we were driving by, we might as well stop and see what’s shakin’ in the ‘Peg. I know some people (mainly native Winnipeggers’) who love the city. They obviously know it way better than me, but I’m telling you, as someone just dropping in to town for a day, it’s not an inspiring place to visit. There is a lot of civic pride here and it looks like the past fifteen years has brought a bit more life to the downtown core, but much of the city looks like it did a decade and a half ago, sketchy (as my kids would say). The neighborhood around the venue (which isn’t that far from downtown) looks as depressed as it always did, despite the fact that the University of Winnipeg is only a few blocks away. On the up-side, one can apparently by a really nice house and property in the city for very little money and they have a brand spanking new NHL team with a very cool logo.
The audience at the show tonight was fantastic. They listened to the details and it was a great sounding room and stage so we were able to give them plenty of detail. We had a great night. Thank you Winnipeg. Go Jets go.
After the Calgary show the Mellencamp camp headed east to Moose Jaw and we headed north-east to Saskatoon. Over the past year or so we have been in touch with the producers of a very ambitious tv show that is filmed in Saskatoon called The Neighbours Dog. The basic premise is that the show sets up a house concert for a band coming through town and then records and films it. It’s a great idea because it puts the band and audience in an unfamiliar and unconventional environment which can lead in all sorts of unexpected directions. For our concert the producers decided to step it up a bit and found an old lodge set on a bluff above Blackstrap Lake, a fairly large man-made lake about 30 minutes outside of Saskatoon. I think the lodge itself was once a rehab center and there doesn’t appear to have been too much money invested in upkeep over the years, but it has a very funky old 1970’s vibe to it and what a pleasure to be out in the country all day surrounded by birds and prairie dogs. One of the producers of the show generously offered us his motor boat for the day so Jeff, Ed and I took him up on his offer (Ed and Margo’s husband Graham joined us in Calgary and will be with us through Winnipeg). It was the first Saturday of summer and a beautiful day so it seemed that everyone for many miles around had the same idea about going boating: we had to put up with a bit of a line-up at the boat launch. We finally launched without incident but the motor, which had been sitting all winter, sounded extremely sore when it was fired up…sore to the point of metal grinding on metal. So we un-launched the boat and put it all down to a valiant effort. Once back at the Lodge, Ed and I made our way down the bluff and cast a few off of the dock, just so that we could say that we fished in Saskatchewan. It was extremely shallow and extremely weedy and after quickly mastering the art of casting Ed got a bored, so we headed back up the bluff.
The gig was in the main dining/living room of the Lodge. An expansive space with low slung wagon-wheel chandeliers, blown out old comfy couches, a wall of windows overlooking the lake and Buffalo heads on the walls (at least pictures of Buffalo heads): as I said, a very cool, old, funky spot. The film crew was efficient and professional and the day moved along with few glitches (except for the mangled boat motor). The gig was fun, with a generous and enthusiastic audience. It was odd playing for two hours again instead of just forty-five minutes…odd and tiring. I think we lost a bit of focus as the night wore on (I know that I certainly did), but overall I think it was a very good show.
Over the past few days we’ve watched Portugal, Germany and Spain move through to the semi-finals of the Euro-Cup. Germany is looking unstoppable, Spain is looking a little bored (but dangerous as usual) and Portugal is riding high on the back of oh-so-handsome Christiano Ronaldo. Tomorrow, I root for the English to defeat Italy and claim the final spot in the semis. It feels weird to root against the Italians (Pete and I live in the heart of Little Italy), but blood is blood.
Jeff’s Golden Rule (see Dawson Creek entry) strikes again. A day off and two show days in Calgary so we all had lots of expectations about idly wandering around the downtown core looking for interesting places to eat and drink and maybe even doing a bit of window shopping. Calgary use to be a sleepy little cowtown, but all of that oil money and the migration to this part of the country has turned it into a hopping little city over the past several years. But as we approached the city and Jared called ahead to the hotel to see if our rooms were ready, he was told that they didn’t have any reservation in our name. Once the confusion was cleared up it was discovered that our travel agent had booked us into the Sheraton at the airport, not the Sheraton downtown. Shit. Expecfreakintations. So we walked the highway and visited the malls and took up residence in the hotel bar. One of the airport Sheraton’s drawing cards (in case you ever have a layover in Calgary) is the giant indoor waterslide….that’s right, a giant indoor waterslide. Pete and Leo put it to good use, and in the course of tumbling down the slide, Leo clocked Pete and gave him a beautiful black eye….fathers and their sons.
We felt that our mental health and our livers would be in danger if we spent two days in Calgary’s exurban wasteland so Pete, Margo, Jeff, Leo and I rented a car and took off for the mountains early the next morning: I in search of fish, they in search of a mountain ridge to walk along. I took some time yesterday to find a fishing shop in one of the malls and tried to get some local intel about the what, where and when of the local fishing holes. Unfortunately, I was treated like the amateur that I am and was given a lot of shrugged shoulders and half-assed answers. The general feeling that I got was that the intensity of the spring rains and run-off had “blown out” all of the rivers and lakes and that trying to catch anything until things settled down and cleared up would be pointless. Thanks, guys. When I finally arrived at my destination it appeared that they were right. I found a beautiful little lake but it was riding extremely high on the bank and the water was mud brown from the run-off. I tried a couple of others but with the same result. I went for a walk along the Elbow River, it was beautiful, but it was raging. Near the end of my day, despite a couple of half-hearted nibbles, I decided to abandon my battle of wits with fish and I headed off to seek out this nearby man-made pond, stocked with Rainbow trout. It was developed as a family friendly fishing hole to get your kids interested in fishing: we’re talking little tiny kids who only have to stick their pole in the water and a fish jumps on the hook. So I stood there casting from the bank for about 20 minutes catching nothing while an old Chinese man about 30 feet down from me hauled in five or six nice size rainbow trout. I finally couldn’t stand it anymore so I approached the old man and asked him what he was using. He looked at me and said, “cheese”. So I gave up….fucking cheese…….
The two shows in Calgary were at the Southern Jubilee Theater: a very beautiful looking and sounding room which also happens to be out in the middle of nowhere. In the three days that we were here we didn’t get a chance to explore one square block of downtown Calgary. We had two pretty good shows. It took us about halfway through our first show to realize that we weren’t in a hockey arena and that we could approach the music with a little bit more subtlety. It was good to be back in an acoustically friendly room for a couple of nights and the audience on both nights were great. This is the start of ten shows in a row for us: four of our own shows and six with Mellencamp….the cost of travelling across the beautiful giant wasteland that is Canada (and I mean that in the most flattering way).
