I know Sault Ste Marie is affectionately known as the Soo, but I feel weird calling it that. I think I’d need to get to know it better first before I can address it by a nickname.

This was a totally different experience than our last visit. When we played at Loplops in May, it was on a Friday night, and the place was really busy but nobody was paying us much attention; everyone was there to hang out and chat with their friends. This time, it wasn’t as packed, but it seemed like almost everyone who was there was there to see us and listen. It was a fun group, who we could joke around with (Marcus got one girl, who was there for her birthday party, to come up and actually sing herself happy birthday). He started off the night with a few songs solo, since Thursdays are usually more of a singer/songwriter night at Loplops. Stephen, the owner, said we coud do what we liked, though, so we thought we’d do some quiet versions of the songs with the full band. When Marcus asked the crowd if they wanted more slow and easy songs or if we should rock the house, the majority requested that the house be rocked. So we played our songs in their usual styles. I had a good wireless connection and tried incorporating audio from some quality 1950s educational videos, such as “Mind Your Manners” and “What to Do on a Date".

Stephen has opened up another place down the street called “Dish", which is more of a coffeeshop. We didn’t have time this morning to go into town and check it out, but if it’s anything like Loplops it should be good stuff.

It was a pretty long drive to Thunder Bay, dotted with a traditional stop in Wawa (just because it’s fun to say Wawa) and an entirely forgettable lunch somewhere further on that I’ve already forgotten. We stopped at a Tim Horton’s (the only chain food we’ve been allowing ourselves, and I’m sick of it) and saw a bear that had been captured and was to be released in the wild, being towed in a cage. We’ve also got a GPS now, which is mildly entertaining, especially when you mess with the settings like I did on the first day we had it:

In Thunder Bay it looked like there was a banquet about to start at the Apollo. Tina, Sheila’s mother, had put out tableclothes and placemats all over the bar. There was a huge pile of food already waiting for us - perogies and chicken and fried fish and mashed potatoes and green beans and more.

The Apollo has had a bit of a tumultuous history. The building has been in the family for many years, but three years ago the bar itself passed to Sheila’s hands. She clamped down on some of the unsustainble excesses and illegalities that were hurting the place, and there was a tremendous backlash among its former regulars. As a result, there’s been all sorts of unpleasant and untrue rumours spread about it, and it’s taken on a mixed reputation cross-Canada, just based on hearsay.

Among the bands who’ve played there though, there’s a lot of love and goodwill. Sheila feeds us (Tina does the cooking), puts us up, and provides one of the best stages and sound systems that you can find at our level (Alex does the sound). The Apollo is the only place for many miles around that supports independent bands, and when you see how hard they work and how much they sacrifice, you can’t help but admire and appreciate them. Things are turning around for the better; besides us touring bands, there’s beginning to be a new wave of local support, with respect from Lakehead campus radio, and word is starting to get around now that there’s good things going on at the Apollo.

So it was really good to see a decent Friday night crowd out supporting the place. I’d done a brief phone interview on LU Radio the day before, and some people found us through event listings. There was also a small crowd for a local band called the High Dials, who started the evening - sort of a country/jazz blend if you can imagine that. A third band was supposed to play but cancelled.

And it was a really good and fun show, again joking around with the crowd. Marcus found someone in the audience from Yellowknife. Astoundingly, Todd broke the head on his snare drum and had to borrow one from the other band.

We had a brief but solid sleep before getting an early start on the next drive. We need to make it there in time to get to a music store, or else our last show is going to sound a little funny without a snare. Sheila gave us some veggie burgers to take on the road with us, and we had them for lunch in Dryden. We’ve alternated sleeping most of the way; it’s been pretty quiet.

We’re about an hour from Winnipeg and the very last show of this tour. Supposedly there’s no punk bands at the Cavern this time ’round, but a local band called the Monty Yanks. I’m looking forward to the show - I’m ready to burn out my little remaining energy in one blast. It’ll be a few weeks until our next BC shows (November 7 at the Media Club in Vancouver, then November 8 at Doc Willoughby’s in Kelowna) so we’ve got some time to recover….