We're all back in Vancouver now, pretty exhausted but in one piece (well, actually, three pieces). I feel like I've been on another planet for the past week and a half...

This blog will sit quietly here waiting for the next tour, whether it's Marcus Martin solo or with the full band. If you'd like to find out when that is, you can join the mailing list and we'll let you know every time there's more show dates and cool things happening. And oh there will be.

Here's a few more photos from the trip back. Stay tuned to the gallery for more pictures and video from ARCTIC's NXNE and London shows, and photos from Marcus as well.

Thanks for visiting.

Kirsten

I think we put a little weight on along the way... must be all the fast food.

Sunset outside of Calgary, Alberta

Glacier National Park, BC

In transit. We stayed in Thunder Bay, Ontario last night, and we're in Brandon, Manitoba tonight. Oddly enough, on the way here this afternoon, one of the songs that came up on shuffle on my iPod was "Brandon" by the artist formerly known as Manitoba. Spooky.

One drawback of playing those other two shows was that we didn't get to see any of the NXNE showcases besides the other ones at Clinton's on our night. We got a chance to at least catch up on some live music over the past few days.

NXNE may be over, but the music keeps going. There was a NXNE wrapup party at El Mocambo, mostly bands and volunteers. I stopped by for a little while. Stinkmitt, a Vancouver rap act, was playing at the time, and there was supposedly another band after them but nobody seemed to know who it was going to be.

I met up with Marcus and Max at the Horseshoe Tavern. Pink Mountaintops, another Vancouver band, were the headliners for the night. The sound system at the Horseshoe is fantastic - it's loud but crystal clear, and even when there were fourteen (fourteen!!) people up on stage you could actually get by without earplugs. Some Vancouver venues could learn a lesson or two.

I find it funny that we traveled from Vancouver to Toronto, and saw more Vancouver bands on this trip than anything else.

Monday night we went to see Kevin Breit and the Sisters Euclid, Toronto staples who've been playing the Orbit Room for about the past ten years. Kevin is an absolutely incredible guitarist, and the band plays together as easily as breathing. At one point two people requested two different songs, and Kevin decided that in order to fit both requests they'd play both songs at the same time. He and the drummer played one song, and keyboards and bass took the other, and somehow they made it all work for a little while. Terrific show...

Yesterday we headed back in to Toronto and got stalled by an unexpected Portugese Day parade blocking the path. Finally made it back to NXNE in time to catch part of a panel and attend the mentor sessions, where you get fifteen minutes to talk to an industry person about what you're doing and where you're going. Max headed over to a barbecue to network for S/N Ratio, too; we all got something out of the conference. At a panel on Friday, Moe Berg had a good quote about how there's no "white knight" who's going to come along and make your band famous, no manager or agent or label who can make it all happen at once. Meeting people at NXNE isn't about finding someone who'll come in and do the work; it's more about raising awareness, getting ideas, and continuing to find ways to do it better yourself.

The show last night in Cambridge, Ontario was a bit of a surprise. Cambridge itself is actually surprisingly lovely - like its namesake, it's filled with beautiful old stone buildings and cathedrals. Our first impression of Stephanie's was confusion - by day it's a Caribbean restaurant, with a slightly rough feel. Apart from the PA system, it didn't look like a band venue at all. Plus, we were absolutely exhausted already, weren't supposed to go on for another five hours, and had a potentially long drive ahead of us - we were on the shortlist for a festival show if there was a cancellation. We also discovered that the small wedge monitor, which Max needs to hear the loops properly, was missing and probably still in London.

But Matt (from Persona), who organized the bill, said we could go on first instead if we liked. And as we loaded the gear, the restaurant began to transform. The restaurant tables moved off to the side, the gritty older clientele were replaced with a young, hip crowd, and by the time we were set up and ready to go, it was a very different picture.

And it may have been the best show of the week. The room filled up and people crowded closer to us and sat on the floor and watched us with bright eyes, and the vibe was warm and friendly. It was relaxed, fun, and felt great. We sold out of the CDs we had in the merch box and had to go back to the car to find whatever we had left. The mailing list signup sheet filled up.

People were so nice and so enthusiastic, I was a bit sad to leave. I wish we could've stayed around to hear the other bands - I hate to play and run. We caught some of You, Me and the Machine, an intense five-piece - they sounded great, really dynamic players. Plado Plant and The Ancestors were set to follow.

As it turns out, that was indeed the last show of the trip; there's nothing tonight. Which meant that we got to get a LOT of sleep last night. And now we get to relax today, and the next day. We've got some plans in the Ontario area before the long drive back - people to see, and a jam session with some friends in a few days - but nothing formal. Time to decompress...

It's the morning after our London show. Last night we played at the Alex P. Keaton, on Talbot Street. It's a neat, neat place - it seems to have been a house at some point, and now it's pretty much as if someone took a house and tweaked it a bit until it was a pub. It gets really busy every weekend, and feels like a really cozy house party.

Ron Leary started the evening with a really nice acoustic set. We tucked in to the corner of the room played for a while - I think we played better at NXNE, but I liked the vibe last night better, and the feel of the room. Portia closed the evening. They're a three-piece from Windsor, and I really, really enjoyed their set; they're a talented bunch and super people as well.

We hung out there for a while and then finally forced ourselves to pack up and hit the road. Last night we were staying in St. Catherine's, which meant about a two-hour drive, so we got here about four in the morning. I'm really tired. Really tired. Yup. I'm not sure how coherent this here all is.

This morning we're going to drive back into Toronto for more NXNE sessions, as much as we can stay awake for. Then it's off to Cambridge and back out to St. Catherine's.

Kirsten

We rolled into Clinton's Tavern after Marianas Trench (another Vancouver band!) had already started - caught a few songs when we arrived and then listened outside as we hovered outside with the gear. No sound check, pretty quick & intense changeover, but stage sound seemed to be pretty good. It's critically important that Max and I can hear Marcus's loops through a separate monitor - we had no problems. Our set went pretty smoothly - we ended up dropping "I Heard" for time constraints but other than that, it went fine and we had a grand ol' time. Clinton's is a pretty decent venue - nice pub atmosphere. Good-sized crowd, too, most of the seats filled and people hovering in the back as people will always do. Marcus got to meet a bunch of his Myspace friends, and a few SXSW-ers. We got a really great response from people, sold some CDs and buttons.

Tele, a Winnipeg band, followed us - they sounded excellent, and some of our friends commented about them as well after the show.

Today Marcus and I went to a few panel sessions at the conference part of NXNE, which were interesting - no major revelations, but mostly a confirmation of what has become apparent about being an indie musician - that you do everything that needs to be done yourself, grassroots-style, and don't wait for someone to swoop in and magically make you a star. (Guess I'll cancel my Canadian Idol audition now.)

Right now we're on the 401, on our way out to London, for the show at the Alex P. Keaton with Portia and Ron Leary. I haven't been out this way in about, oh, twelve years? Looks a lot like New Jersey so far... but then so does any large highway...

Pictures to come when we get them from people.

Here's a few pix from Marcus and Max's drive across:

Sunny day leaving BC

A young moose wandering the streets in Northern Ontario.

A motel in Manitoba. It's free to stay if you can get to the door on the upper right. ;)

Everybody's all met up now. We're staying near Queen Street, easy walking distance from a disturbing number of really great music stores, and haunted at night by slightly obnoxious cats. Spent yesterday checking out the music stores and meeting a whole lot of people Marcus knows.

Today we checked in to the NXNE registration and got our passes. I had planned to go to the Town Hall session this afternoon - I bet it'd be really good - but there were just a lot of things that I wanted to get done before we had to check in for the show, including practicing a bit, organizing the merch into some semblance of order, and writing this up. I absolutely intend to go to a few of the sessions tomorrow morning though, as much as we can before driving out to London for the show at the Alex P. Keaton.

Next up: reports from our showcase!

Marcus and Max passed through Thunder Bay a little earlier today. The past few days were apparently without incident, apart from Marcus accidentally inhaling a blackfly in Northern Ontario. I've been assured that this should in no way affect his vocal performance on Thursday.

I'm still in Vancouver for another 36 hours or so. I kept myself busy this weekend making shirts, though. Here's a sneak peek.

Kirsten

Tonight we played an early all-ages show at Azure (near Plaza of Nations), along with Shiny Diamonds, Sonic City and Waiting for Roger. Good show, good sound, low pressure, nice warm-up.

Marcus and Max are now getting ready to start driving Saturday morning. They're planning to get into Toronto around late Tuesday or early Wednesday... sounds like they're going to be driving more or less constantly.

I'm actually flying out on Wednesday afternoon. (No, I'm not trying to be a prima donna, I had some prior commitments. Really!) I'll be along for the drive home. In the meantime, I'll be making T-shirts (they'll be like our T-shirts That Have Lived Past Lives, but better).

The agenda: NXNE in Toronto on Thursday night, London on Friday night, Cambridge on Saturday night. (Details here.) I keep thinking that if only we could get a Stratford show on Sunday, we could really trick everybody into thinking that we're on a UK tour...

I'll be posting here as we go. Stay tuned.

Kirsten