ARCTIC Expeditions

The drive to Calgary was pretty short, so we took our time getting going. The hotel had a make-your-own-waffle machine and some waffle goop, which was disproportionately exciting to us. We saw antelope along the way! And deer! They weren’t playing, though, and the sky WAS cloudy all day, so I guess they weren’t home on the range. It was annoyingly cold and rainy, not what I’d had in mind for the prairies.

The Stetson is a little way outside Calgary, sort of in the strip-mall entranceway called Macleod Trail, and is part of a hotel. It’s a really big space with a clientele that ranged from skinny indie kids to beefy Albertan boys to grizzled ex-cowboys. It looks for all intents and purposes like a good ol’ country bar, but it’s got a little more pizzazz than that, and they’re pretty serious about bringing in lots of indie bands. They had a huge stage and some of the nicest posters and tickets that we’ve seen on the trip. There were four bands on the bill: Disasterman, a solid funky dance rock group; Nixie, an uptempo all-girl electronic dance band, and Move It or Lose It, an improvisational four-on-the-floor dance party. I just realized that I described them all as “dance", so I guess it was a pretty dance-heavy night; the bands were all pretty different, though, and an interesting blend. We played a short set, about half an hour, to accommodate everyone in the evening, and didn’t chat much so we could get more music in.

Move It or Lose It is actually two guys who were joined by other musicians and friends throughout their set, so that at any point there were at least three people and up to seven or eight people on stage, bopping around and having a great time. I kind of wanted to get up and play something - there was an open invitation - but just didn’t have the energy to keep up! I just sat back and bopped my head and enjoyed the show.

The drive across the Rockies was gorgeous as always, despite a fair bit of rain and drizzle and fog (known collectively in Newfoundland as RDF). We saw coyotes this time but no bears. We’ll be in Kelowna shortly for our very last show and last night on the road. It’s pretty hard to fathom this. I don’t feel any strong sense of weariness or wanting to get home - I know the guys are probably tired of driving for so many hours, but as far as the performing part goes? We just want to keep rolling. I could stay out here for longer still. We’re starting to book our September/October dates now, so I’ll have that to look forward to. And it will be nice to be back in Vancouver - I get to reunite with my dog and I won’t have to live out of suitcases and bags for a while, so that’s a fine thing.

Now that we’re almost at the close of the tour, it’s probably time to announce a few things:

Top Five Inside Jokes That You Totally Had To Be There To Get

1. Infamous BUTTER
2. “Ahhhh” heavenly voice
3. Giant Tiger!!!
4. Mic Stand To The Head
5. Mug O’ Gravy

Quote Of The Tour

“Will that be for ALL night?”
– Bestway Motel desk clerk, Windsor, at our 3:00 AM check-in.

Honorable Mention:

“Beer is my girlfriend, it’s my @#$%^&* companionship, it’s… @#$%^&* you.”
- Some guy in Oshawa