Thursday: London

Thursday was our last-minute pick-up show at Call the Office, a London venue that is a piece of Canadian music history. The old stone walls are lined with show listings dating back to the 90s, where you can see bands like 54-40 and the Skydiggers making routine appearances. Radiohead showed up as well, and their setlist is immortalized on the board. I had been there myself many years ago to see Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet, and had been looking forward to the opportunity to play there ever since.

We got stuck in traffic on the 401 on the way out, but still when we got there there was no one around but the sound tech and one bartender. We waited a bit for the headliners, Tyvek, and then decided we might as well set up since they clearly weren’t planning to soundcheck. Got that out of the way and went for a bite to eat (an excellent Indian restaurant half a block away - yum).

We were due to go on at 10:30, and headed back to CTO… to find it still nearly empty, and Tyvek nowhere to be found, no word, no explanation. Given that they are from Michigan, our best guess is that they got held up at the border for some reason. I don’t think anyone at the bar was checking phone messages, so even if they were trying to get in touch they couldn’t have done so. There were still about a dozen people or so hovering around, so we shrugged and launched into our set.

The set actually turned out to be a lot of fun, despite the absence of the headlining band and their fans. We got to talk to everybody there, and had a good time joking around. (Me: “Observe the sound man in his native environment. Careful! Quiet! Don’t disturb him.” Joey: “GRRRRRR.” Me: “Oh dear, we’ve upset the balance of nature…") Actually, I think we played a lot better than we did in Toronto, because there was less to worry about and we had all the time in the world.

The Londoners all apologized for the poor turnout, but it was perfectly understandable to us given that we had only booked the gig twelve hours earlier and the headlining band didn’t show up. And it didn’t really feel like it mattered, because every single person there was enthusiastic and friendly and told us how much they enjoyed the show. I’ve often said I’d rather play to a handful of people who are really getting into the music than a packed room of people who are ignoring us; it is so much more rewarding.

So despite the weirdness of the night, we had a grand time and hope to be back someday under better circumstances.

Friday: Kitchener

Friday was another last-minute pick-up show, because we hadn’t actually had anything booked that day at all and a friend hooked us up with Bobby O’Brien’s, an Irish bar in Kitchener. They don’t normally have live music on weekends, but kindly offered us a place to play. They’ve got a good-sized stage and decent food, and are associated with Wax Nightclub upstairs which hosts bigger bands and DJs and things of that ilk.

Now, we’re not really what you’d call a bar band. We keep talking about learning some covers but just haven’t gotten around to doing it right. Our songs can be quite danceable, but in a pub environment people mostly just want to hear songs they know, or have music in the background while they talk to their friends. They aren’t there for the music.

We played our little hearts out as usual, and once in a while between songs, two or three people in the crowded restaurant even applauded. I don’t think we said a single word besides “Thanks” and “We’re ARCTIC” because we could just feel that nobody really wanted to hear anything else out of us. Oh, there was one guy who grumbled “Turn it down” between every few songs, and another calling out “play some Rush” towards the end. My amp blew a tube partway through the night and I had to play through the DI for the rest of the set. I wouldn’t say it was our finest hour.

We did notice a few people getting into it, at least; the one guy who actually came up and stood and watched for a while really made my night, as did another who came to talk to us afterwards and said he’d really enjoyed it.

And that was that.

Saturday: St. Catharines

And then this was a completely different type of show entirely. We weren’t playing in one of St. Catharines’ established music venues, but at Delyla’s, a pizza restaurant and bar run by our drummer Rob’s brother and his girlfriend. They started the place up last year after massive renovations and it’s been a growing part of the Port Dalhousie experience. Since they have a large patio with plenty of space for a band, they offered to host the show for us, and it turned out to be a pretty terrific experience.

A lot of work went into the show - unlike most venues that are set up for bands to just show up, plug in and play, Delyla’s had to hang tarps on the patio and get us set up with a PA for sound. Actually, we had some nervous moments in the afternoon, when we heard thunder and it started to rain for a little while. Luckily it cleared up and stayed beautiful all evening, with a full moon and everything, and wasn’t even too cold; a little chilly like you’d expect in October, but the patio heaters kept everybody toasty.

After soundcheck, I had to run down to Lakeside Park, where they are still operating an old and beautiful carousel for 5 cents per ride, as part of an agreement with the city. What can you even do for 5 cents any more?? I rode twice. It is so simple and lovely and real.

Yukon the Tourist (aka Graham) opened the night with a mix of covers and originals on guitar. He and Rob have been friends practically since they could walk, and Rob hopped up on the drumkit to accompany him for a while. The room was packed, and lots of Rob’s family and friends were eager to see him in his first return to St. Catharines in over two years.

Do I even have to tell you it was a fun show? A crowded room full of people who truly wanted to see us and get into the music? Oh yeah. Even our beloved amp maker Glen Morris was there, finally getting to see my wonderful bass amp in action (and he’d souped it up a little more, too, so I can play with a sub boost - wheeee!)

We decided tonight was a big giveaway night, and gave away an office voodoo kit, a Kim Mitchell record on vinyl, and the Indie Rock Colouring Book. We played just about everything we know, saving one song as an encore, and hung out afterwards for a few hours enjoying the night. Good times.

Sunday was a day off to catch up on sleep and laundry and errands and blogging and whatnot; Monday we’re off to Ottawa to play a famous free Monday showcase at Zaphod Beeblebrox, along with We Were Lovers, The Sheepdogs, and The Swingers.