Back from the road
1. Montreal: Le Divan Orange. We played with The United Steelworkers of Montreal, and dear lord, the place was PACKED. Big ole' thrust stage, thrusting into the arms of drunk fans. We felt like Gogol Bordello. We were onstage for 30 seconds, and instantly drenched in sweat. Ah-mazing. Also amazing to note that we have fans in Montreal, because high school students we played for in Vancouver have migrated to Montreal to be college students! 9:00am shows at senior secondary schools are the seeds of screaming choruses in Montreal. We LOVE it.
2. Moosejaw (?), Truck-stop: Adrian, Babs and Steve are released from the car. Adrian and Babs buy big, fake ray bans, in red, and shiny, shiny black. The three then run a race from the gas station to the gas station sign, demonstrating their great hearts, and pitiful fitness. Afterward, they pretend to be airplanes. Knee-kicks! Jumping Jacks! Pretending to be horses! Brendan looks on in embarrassment, unsure if he will have to fight big, beefy truckers, to defend his weirdo band-mates.
3. The Canadian Spoken Word Festival. Oh, come on, how heart-warming to play for all of our friends from poetry across Canada, and to realize that we all have been hanging and traveling and knowing each other for years? Seriously amazing to perform for our community. And to eat 5 or 6 breakfasts a day.
4. Watching "Kissing Jessica Stein" with Elyse in London, Ontario. We took a rare night in after the show. Instead of boozing it up, we cuddled slumber party styles, as a neurotic Jewish girl flitted about with the hottest bisexual woman in the world. "Oooooh, I couldn't possibly kiss you, it repulses me...oooh, but I want to...no, I don't want to...I want to..." For chrissakes, have sex with the hot bisexual woman already, you neurotic, neurotic Jessica Stein!
5. Illan from Nanaimo feeding us pre-show at his restaurant, The Hungry Camel. Very possibly the best food of the tour. Hey! And it turns out that there are amazing, fun people to hang out with in Nanaimo, and that you can have great shows, and not go home lonely, and miserable, hating the world because no one came to your show...People came! THANK YOU, Ilan! And then we almost got into not one, but TWO fist-fights! Culture and violence, late night pizza, and cover bands! Nanaimo, we knew you not!
6. Brendan McLeod turning 30 in Midway, British Columbia. Brendan drove Babs through a snow storm on his 30th birthday so that they could perform a couple of high school shows in Grandforks and Midway. They had his birthday dinner at a fast food Greek place, guzzling souvlaki from plastic baskets... At the DQ, the ice-cream girl refused to guess his age, and then presented him his blizzard with a big, campy Happy Birthday song. Not bad.
7. Lydia’s, Saskatoon: By this point we are traveling with Kinnie Starr, who is HA-larious. We all start saying things like "it's time to shut'er down." "Ya, giv'er." "That's our 'effin' guitar, eh?" We play two bar-band sets, going on at midnight, playing 'til 2 am. Our encore is "Sandwiches," by Fred Penner, which the Saskatoon-ites manage to mosh to. Oh man, but they get'er done in Saskatoon. Best Saskatchewan show, EVER.
8. We DRIVE. We drive from Vancouver to Calgary. Calgary to Brooks, Alberta. Brooks, to Winnipeg. We drive from Winnipeg to Saskatoon. Saskatoon to Edmonton. Edmonton to Canmore. Canmore to Calgary. Calgary to home. By the time it's over, we rack up 5,300 k. According to mapquest, you could drive from Victoria to Fort St. John in just about that many kilometers (if you take a short-cut through Michigan). Into one, average-sized station wagon, we fit: 2 hard guitar cases, 1 hard banjo case, 2 soft guitar cases, one accordion, 1 merch bin, 6 suitcases, 4 lap-tops, a snack cooler, and 5 people. By the end of the trip, we have discovered that we are invincible and made of light. Or pain. Depending on the giddiness of the moment. Kinnie Starr does hilarious porn impersonations, Adrian does Werner Herzog, and Daniel Day Lewis in "There Will Be Blood."
9. We come home. We release our EP at the Biltmore. 300 people join us. Oh dear, we love you Vancouver.
10. Dylan Ballentyine ROCKS our new t-shirts. The Fugitives realize a months long dream, and have team t-shirts made. Fans can pick between supporting: Team Accordion, Team Banjo, Team Triangle-Thing, and Team Straight White Male with a Guitar. They are really cool, and we like the opportunity to compete and talk smack about each other. Obviously, Team Accordion is the best. Obviously.
Epilogue: December 7th finds us in the studio for a month making our next album, due out in March. We are delirious with the coolness of the people who will be playing with us on it: Veda Hille, Kinnie Starr, Jesse Zubot, Skye Brooks, endless gangs...And, Lordy, we are excited to work with Matthew Rogers for an entire month. Guys. Steve Charles is playing the banjo on "City of Rain" right now, and it is wicked. We are excited about the surprises we have in store for you. We are a little bit kooky. We are little bit lotta tired. We are very happy. See you soon, and Merry Holidays.
Hearts!
The Fugitives