We were able to lose the black vans and make our way to Ottawa undetected on Friday, where Westfest was still setting up. I’d been a bit worried about the weather earlier in the week, since it was calling for rain, but the day was sunny and hot and bright and perfect for an outdoor festival. We lounged around and chatted with people in the artists’ area while we waited for soundcheck, and took a little walk around Ottawa’s Westboro Village. The festival is the brainchild of Elaina Martin, part of Westboro’s Business Improvement Area, and has been a big part of the neighbourhood in its six years, attracting artists like Jane Siberry, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Julie Doiron, Joel Plaskett, Leela Gilday, and more. This year we’d be opening the festival and followed by Jenn Grant, performance artist Cara Tierney, and Danny Michel. In between acts were DJs called The Latest Artists.

The evening started off with Westfest Tam Tam, a gigantic public drum circle on the lawn. This made me feel quite at home, since in the summertime you can’t throw a rock in Vancouver without hitting a dozen djembe players - on the beaches, in the parks, outside cafes, hand drummers are everywhere. The tam tam group got bigger and louder for the hour before we played, announcing the start of the festival and drawing people in from all over. It was still pretty early and people were taking advantage of this to sprawl on the lawns, kids and dogs running around in the park, enjoying the sunshine.

We were introduced by CBC’s Alan Neal and dove into our set, which went beautifully apart from one technical hiccup in “Through the Spaces". The sound was great, on stage and apparently off as well. Cameras snapped and little kids shimmied and a woman in the beer tent area was totally grooving out.

I haven’t taken many pictures on this trip, because I brilliantly left my camera battery charger at home. But I’d been saving my battery for this shot from the stage, as I asked people “Can I take your picture?” so we’d have this to remember:

You can see some photos from the event at this Flickr page.

I didn’t want the set to end, but it was still great to hang around afterwards. We went out into the crowd, caught up with some friends, and wandered around to watch the other artists. I think the highlight of my evening (aside from the show) was when two young girls, probably about 11 or 12, stopped me breathlessly to tell me how much they loved our show. Marcus happened to wander up at the time, and asked if they wanted a guitar pick - they went googly-eyed with joy. We chatted with them for a bit and gave them some stickers too, and they took off to tell their other friends who had been too shy to talk to us. I remember being that age and feeling like that about my favourite bands - it’s funny and wonderful to see it from the other side now.

Westfest fed us well, too - delicious salmon and salads behind the scenes. Everyone was beyond helpful and friendly and considerate. It was an idyllic day, overall - I kept saying I wished I could live AT Westfest and play every day. The last few months have involved a lot of work and planning, for us and them, and it was completely worth it and reminded me why we do what we do: because when it all goes well, the feeling you get just can’t be matched.

Right now we’re on the long drive down to Windsor, about 9 hours from Ottawa. Ordinarily we wouldn’t do a 9-hour drive for a show unless it’s on the cross-country drive where you don’t have a choice, like Winnipeg to Thunder Bay. But the Phog is special, and we love playing there, especially on a Saturday night. It’ll be a fine way to end our little mini-tour.

BTW, Marcus’s interview in the Ottawa Xpress is online - have a look here!

We’re on the road! Though not quite as literally as usual; we all flew out to Toronto earlier this week for this trip, so we’re in a rental van instead of our own beloved van, and using borrowed amps instead of shipping out our own. It’s a short run, just three shows.

Thursday night we played the Living Room in Kingston. This is the upstairs area of The Mansion, which is a relatively new venue on Princess Street. Up until a few months ago it was Philthy McNasty’s. We like the new name better.

I hadn’t seen Kingston before, and I was surprised by how much I liked it. It’s nice to see a town with a really vibrant downtown core, lots of people walking about, restaurants doing well. There’s also lots of gorgeous old historic buildings and it has a slightly European feel to it here and there.

The show itself was a bit odd, because earlier in the evening Fred Eaglesmith was playing a sold-out early set. He has a huge following of dedicated folk fans called “Fredheads", mostly an older, sit-down crowd, not so much of the student crowd that the Living Room usually attracts. There wasn’t a lot of overlap between our crowds, and the Fredheads didn’t stick around to see who was up next (though one woman caught our soundcheck and came over to compliment us, which was nice). So it was a strange contrast, but we played a decent show nonetheless. It’s a nice room, good vibe to it, and hopefully it keeps going strong.

We stayed at a hotel near the highway, and were a bit confused by the presence of big black vans from The Atlantic Paranormal Society in the parking lot. We’re not quite sure what they were investigating; perhaps reports of a local ghost that knocks on guests’ doors and calls “Housekeeping!” in a mournful voice? In any case, we found no ectoplasm and had a good night’s sleep.

Friday was Westfest in Ottawa, but right now we have to leave our lovely internet connection so I will write it up on the road to Windsor and post it later. Quick preview: it was a whole lot of AWESOME.

Tune in at ustream.tv this Saturday, June 13 to see our show at the Phog Lounge in Windsor, with Language-Arts! The show will begin at around 11:00PM EST and we will be on around midnight.

ARCTIC will be featured at National Night at Westfest 2009, on Friday, June 12. Held in the Westboro Village neighbourhood of the nation’s capital, Westfest has become one of the city’s premiere summer festivals over the past six years, attracting up to 100,000 people over the course of the three-day event. We are one of four artists making an appearance on National Night, along with Jenn Grant, performance artist Cara Tierney, and headliner Danny Michel.

We will also be appearing at the Living Room in Kingston on Thursday, June 11, as well as our beloved Phog Lounge in Windsor on Saturday, June 13.

See you there!