Lethbridge

We left Van Sunday afternoon after a trip to the record store (my radio show is gonna kick ass the week after we get back). The route took us into the mountains, this time on a set of smaller, winding highways. At one point it seemed like we were never going to stop ascending, or run out of hairpin turns. We knew we couldn't make it all the way to the next town that night, so we slept in the van on the side of the road. Not pleasant, but I've accepted that this is going to happen some nights.

We got into town late in the afternoon and met the promoter (J) at his place. We were instantly fed (yet another awesome host). This show was a late add-on, and had been fraught with booking problems. J explained to us the long history of venue issues in L'bridge. I give him full credit for fighting the good fight, but I can see he's in a tough spot trying to cultivate a music scene here. We had a lot of good dialogue about this.

Mondays aren't great nights for shows anywhere outside RF$$-world. We had the option of either playing a house show on the fly, or getting on a bill opening for two metal bands at a bar. J suggested that although we wouldn't get the door, the bar might be a better option for selling merch. He must have called 30 of his friends to try and get them to go see us. If this show wasn't gonna fly, it wasn't for lack of his effort.

This was a tough call. I leaned toward playing the bar just because we'd have a good sound system (no way to have vox at the house) and wouldn't have to worry about noise complaints. We all got behind this idea, and I have no regrets. On the other hand, hindsight is 20/20.

So we show up at the bar. It is in a giant, open garage in the middle of an industrial park *ahme*Mokena*ahem*. We drove into a fenced-in area in the back where the other bands were barbecuing before the show. This was definitely metal territory, and that always puts me a little on edge. Metalheads are usually really picky, and BB is not for someone who a) is a perfectionist or b) does not want to be challenged. We chose our most conservative sounding tunes to play.

A few of J's friends did show up, but we played to a largely empty warehouse. It felt so much like that show last year, it was not even funny. Only this time there was a smoke machine - which caused some breathing problems in the band. We got off on the wrong foot and never really recovered. I was super-uptight about making mistakes (damn sloppy punk rock), so when they inevitably happened I got twice as bummed. We sold one CD and made nothing at the door. We probably just should have done an instrumental set at the house.

I was thinking I'd like to stay and watch the next band. They had an ENORMOUS drum kit (sorry, didn't get a picture... you'd have to see this to believe it though). They took so long to get ready, we just said fuck it and went back to J's place.

It was cool just to hang out, our host has been really awesome to us. I think he understands the situation. We'll have to remember not to be so quick to opt for the nice sound system over the intimate, friends-only show. It's like selling your soul to the devil.

Tomorrow: the Baron returns to his former Western home.

Van

Arriving in Van we were graciously put up at the home of Tobe's sister. Some strategic power-napping was done, after which we were greeted with the most lavish home cooked meal of this tour, Seriously, this is the type of thing you'd eat in a fine restaurant, Damn! The hospitality we've encountered on tour has been phenomenal.

We headed down to the venue, curious as to what we'd find. We'd been told the bar was not in the worst part of downtown but "about a block away from it". We passed through Chinatown and headed west. It was still light out, but this was not an area I would have been excited about exploring on foot. I didn't have enough time to feel anything but desensitized.

Load-in was unremarkable. It was a punk rock bar, I think it's safe to say. Before the show, Tobe wanted to get a coffee, so we went to a nearby cafe. It was named after a large city in the Netherlands and had a very powerful ventilation system inside, as if it were designed to remove large amounts of smoke from the coffee shop. Interesting.

Back to the bar. Not really a punk type crowd on this night, save for D-rock&co. Our good friend Nicholas (who has done all of our album art to date) did the Djing, so the stage was set for an awesome rock and roll party. The opening bands were fantastic... we went on third, but something just didn't feel right. The teardown/setup time between the previous band and us seemed to drag on forever. I'm told we sounded muddy, but I take comments like that with a grain of salt when it comes to BB. We did B-dick, having long anticipated trying it out in drum-circle-land. It felt a little er... limp to me. And that's how we ended the set.

By the end, all I wanted to do was just be alone. This contradicted the feeling of wanting to hang with old friends, leaving me with a confused, tired feeling of blaaaah. There was really nothing to blame for our performance, I think we're all just in need of a battery recharge. I feel bad that this had to happen here, in front of people whe know in a city with such an awesome music scene. No one has any lingering bad feelings though. We'll just move on to the next town - Lethbridge, tomorrow night. We should have a pretty drive through the mountains to get there,

Cal

We got some well-deserved rest in mHat (eg, 18 hours' sleep for WE and Tobe) and trucked into Calgary. There, we met up with an old friend of Eb's and crashed at her place for a few hours after lunch. If there's one thing I'm learning from this experience it's that you sleep as much as you can, whenever or wherever you can.

We asked the friend (who used to work at the venue) what to expect. While the bar itself sounded cool, she did not paint a rosy picture of the neighourhood it was in. The word "crackheads" kept coming up. The area hadn't looked too bad when we drove by earlier, but I guess we'd find out.

The venue was very much like the old seahorse, yet you would swear a dome crowd had been transplanted there. Lots of brah-dudez and party-dress chicks. I was immediately very concerned about how we would go over. We played with a metalcore band and a straight-up prog rock band. We did not play our most inspiring set either. You'd think all of this would add up to a disaster, but the opposite turned out to be true! We sold a TON of merch and got (drunken) compliments from virtually every angle. It was so weird... I was expecting everyone to be super-bummed afterward, but I think the crowd response alone saved the night.

Loading out was... interesting. The van was in a parking lot, but right on the side of the road. There were a lot of extremely forlorn people milling about. It left me feeling sad, pissed off, annoyed and worried for the gear and my own safety all at the same time. I've tried to think of ways to describe what this was like without sounding dehumanizing, but I cannot. So I'll just leave it at that.

With a tight schedule ahead of us, we immediately (and without incident) left the venue and headed off into the mountains. It was late and very dark so we couldn't see much, but many enormous, vague shadows could be seen all over the place. As the sun came up, some mindblowing sights were seen. If only we could have stopped every few minutes to take pictures. The wild, winding road kept me on my toes, but very soon after I was too tired to drive. We switched up a couple more times, and soon arrived in Van.

The Peg

After a good spaghetti feeding courtesy of our tBay hosts, it was time to head west. The highway mostly goes through a lot of unpopulated woodland. It was also very hot, but at least we were well rested from the night before. We seemed to stop a lot, but this was probably necessary. I'm kind of hyper-efficient at trips like this, and I like to consolidate all errands in single stops. Best to meet in the middle though, if you know what I mean.

We had just enough time to roll into the city, find the venue and relax for a few minutes before loading in. Amazingly, this band was playing an in-store at a music shop just across the street! We watched them for a bit, but then had to get down to our own business.

The bar was fairly large, not unlike the Speakeasy. For the longest time it was just the bands in there, and I was getting a little worried. The opening band played to maybe 5 people, counting other bands. The second band played off-kilter garage punk with a maniacal lead singer who went to great lengths to put on a show for the very small crowd. That band was quite entertaining... perhaps not at the level of the band I saw in Providence last year (see June 2006 entries), but in that ballpark performance-wise. The singer was a nice guy. I think he had a lot on his mind.

Although the final paid attendance was only 11, none of us lost any enthusiasm as our time drew near. We knew we'd at least have a good sound system. We played the first seven tracks on the album, ending with perhaps the most epic yet version of the long song. I busted out the theremin for the first time on tour, multiple drums were played on stage and in the audience. It was actually a really awesome show. We sold 7 items of merch... pretty good ratio! I think the few people there were quite impressed, which of course made it all worthwhile. The more we play across the country, the more I get the sense that a significant number of people appreciate what we do despite having no frame of reference. That's a good feeling.

AQlthough we'd received an offer to go swimming with essentially the entire audience, we had to go. The next night would be our first scheduled day off so far (Saturday having been cancelled in Sherbrooke), and we thought it would be good to get as close as possible to the next town so we could get some sleep and conserve time the next day. We drove from the Peg to mHat, where I presently write from a public terminal in a drugstore. I've had nothing but van sleep since tBay, and precious little of that. Last night was a very long haul, and we're all a little short with each other right now, although there are no crises in progress. I think everyone understands the cirumstances, so we're trying to just stay out of each other's way.

Tomorrow it's Cal, then Van the next day. That will be a brutal drive, so all the better to get a good night's sleep tonight.

tBay

It was not a pleasant drive. We left at 2:30 am and rolled into town around 3 in the afternoon. No one had much sleep and to make matters worse a truck had thrown up a rock at the windshield, creating a problem we needed to deal with in a hurry. Luckily an auto glass place was able to take us right away, but the mood was at a real low.

We were playing a house party and had no idea what to expect. People started showing up and we worried that we might be a little too mellow (!) for the crowd. As it turned out there was quite a mix of bands playing, from extreme metal on down. One band played who not only sounded and "smelled" like stoner rock, but also sang exclusively about weed.

We followed a really good metal band and were concerned the place would empty. This was partially true, but those who stayed behind saw one of our best sets of tour. None of us were concerned by the size of the crowd (we were in a small basement). That set brought us back from the depths. Hell yeah.

Bring on the Peg.

Sudbury

After an embarrassingly large combined-band purchase at one of Canada's best record stores, we trucked north to the city of nickel and wolves. There would be two shows that night, one bar and one AA. Upon arrival we had some trouble finding the first venue - it was not where it was supposed to be. Then we had a tremendous stroke of luck: as we waited on the side of the road trying to decide what to do, a truck drove by with a couple of young dudes inside and some easily visible music equipment. I decided that we should just follow then and the gig spot would turn up. And it did!

The venue was a very small art space in the middle of a blue-collar suburb. It was brightly decorated, as you will see when I have a chance to post pictures. Inside felt like the One World (minus food) trapped in a smaller version of the Pav's body. One of the bands I had hoped to see could not play due to a member's health issues, but the remaining members, in the spirit of many bands back home, put together a brief set of improv noise which was quite good.

We rocked a fairly tight set, but in a small venue sound (PA) can sometimes be an issue. It wasn't that bad though. We had just come off a spectacular show in a bar with a full-on professional set up, and were just coming down off of that awesome high. There were about 40 or so kids there, some of which really got into us. Merch has been selling well.

The bar show was not too bad, but the hectic grind and show earlier that evening had left us in a sort of negative mood - and we had to drive all night to get to the next town. I was both worried and exhausted. But then...

From Lil' T.O. To Big T.O.

We rolled into the big city yesterday afternoon. Spirits were good. WE's dad (who always treats us well when we come here) took us out to dinner at an amazing Indian restaurant. I was full... I've been worried about eating badly on tour, but I've been doing well so far. No red meat or french fries. I kept that up and still walked away very satisfied.

We drove to the bar and loaded in a little after 7. Nice, big venue. As it turned out there was a really, really good crowd. At least 150, possibly near 200. A guy did a psychedelic projection show over us (pic to follow). We played the whole album, with three older songs interspersed. T.O. crowds are stereotyped as being jaded, but this was absolutely not the case. Almost everyone came up front when we played (we opened). The stage was a good size, so I felt quite uninhibited. We all played hard, but the AC prevented us from really killing ourselves. As a result, the show was AWESOME!! Everything sounded great, really professional. We were tight. The improv song worked well. The scary-pop song ended the set. Tobe was bloodied. I'm not sure if people knew what hit them, but no one fled for the door. We sold a LOT of merch... 15 units in all (7"/CD). Our gas tank will be full for days.

Best show Be Bad has played, ever.

WE's dad put us up and fed us. Awesome times in the Big Smoke. We're all feeling great.

Truro

Small town punk shows are awesome. Youth centers, youths, rented PAs... This is how it all started out for me. Last night another batch of kids kept it up. Not a huge crowd, maybe 30-40 people. At least a quarter of them bought the new album. Thanks folks! I met some old friends at the show and we remarked (not in a pretentious way) how we have all been going to shows since before the rest of the audience was born. It never gets any less fun.

We played the less freaky-deaky songs from the new album and a few old favorites. It's neat not having to play everything we know in order to fill up a set. We picked the songs on the fly and it worked really well. The kids paid attention. I stood off to one side, and no one looked at me at all. I don't mind that, but I did bust out some "rock kicks" just the same.

TW and JH hooked us up with some awesome home cooking afterward. We left around midnight, hoping to alternate sleep and driving. I did a lot of the former, and WE did all of the latter. It's weird sleeping in the van (and not for more than two or three hours at a time). It changes your perception of time, and that perception is gonna be really out of whack by the end of next week.

Footnote: Sherbrooke doesn't get an entry because they didn't confirm the show we tried to book.

Now we're chillin in Mtl with Ross.

Hfx

I thought this was a great show. We persevered through unplugged pedals and dysfunctional patch cords. We did the new album in order, then gave the crowd drums to play as we banged off a couple of old ones. Decent turnout, but then I wasn't expecting the Spanish Inquisition.

Things got pretty insane. I was about as drunk as I ever need to be for a live show. We were not that sloppy. I felt we entertained 'em as best we could. It was a gong show at the end. In a good way.

Next up: Truro.

Edit: I'll attempt to review each date of tour like I did last year. I'll have much less internet access this time, so I may resort to transcribing from pencil and paper.

Wish us luck.

Go See My Band Tonight

...at the Attic. We're releasing our album. It's good.

Then, we're on tour for two weeks.

I'm pleased with these developments.

What France Was Like

Wow, what a trip. I'm tired, so I'll try and keep this short.

We went here, as opposed to France proper. This island is an French overseas territory. Based on numerous conversations leading up to the trip, I was surprised at how little people around here seem to know about it.

This was no casual endeavour. We logged about 30 hours of driving and 13 more in boats to get there and back. Good preparation for the BB tour.

As we were getting ready to board the boat to France, it occurred to N that we'd be there on the national holiday. A lucky stroke of accidental planning, to say the least.

It was clear from the getgo that we were essentially in Europe. Knowing we would not have many shopping opportunities over the weekend, we hit the liquor stores right away. There's a lot of wine there, and it's cheap. And good.

Our haul:



This was not as expensive as you'd expect. We had wanted to bring back souvenirs, however all but three bottles were consumed on the island. I brought back some bread and cheese instead. Mmm, cheese!

Renaults, Fiats and Citroens lined the streets, with a roughly equal number of North American vehicles. Check out the shape of this SUV:



I was surprised that many people needed cars. This is a small town on a small island. They certainly wouldn't need much gas. Good thing, because the price at the pumps was almost 5€/l... about 8 times what we pay here.

The houses are very brightly coloured, and often had neat little statues outside.




While we predictably saw evidence of soccer and even hockey, there was also a pétanque grounds and even a pelote court.



I mistakenly thought people were going to play jai alai there, although I guess that sport uses a similar type of court.

The town is about this big (apologies for the sloppy editing):



The rest of the island pretty much looks like this:



Although St-P is a great place to drink, it is a less than optimal for vegetarians to eat, especially on days when the few restaurants are closed, ie. the holiday celebration. At one point we waited nearly an hour for two orders of onion rings at what must have been France's busiest snack bar. We were in very buoyant moods and didn't care. Another thing we noticed is that no store there opens over lunch. Every store is closed on weekdays from at least noon until one thirty, if not two o'clock.

The national celebration was not unlike that of my own home country. The flags had an extra colour and the bad food for sale in the concessions tents was slightly less bad (except for the fries... they looked nearly inedible). Beer, cigarettes and red, white or rose wine were all available. Here's the part I loved the most: you can drink outdoors in France. I and some other young Cdn tourists used the opportunity to walk down the street drinking cheap, good wine right out of the bottle in broad daylight. This really made me feel alive. And drunk.

The street party went on all day. I took pictures while the sun was out, but felt less like doing so as the revelry continued. Trust me, the crowd only got bigger.





All in all we had a blast, and I definitely want to go back at this time next year. I can think of quite a few friends who would have really enjoyed themselves there.

See Ya Tuesday 'Cause...

That Day In History

I was too hung over to realize it, but last Monday marked the 19th anniversary of the first local show I ever attended. It was just shy of my 16th birthday. The 4:50 and 5:45 bands were who I went to see. These were punk rock bands from my own town, something I'd never experienced before.

I went with several friends who had disparate levels of interest in the show. I was very excited though. Everything was so new to me... punk rock, music scenes, local shows... it wouldn't have taken much to impress the hell out of me.

The gig was outdoors; a scaffolding stage had been set up on the stairs of a large building on SGR (see below). We sat in the grass, away from the other people. Most of them were weird looking. So was I, but that didn't count. Cool kids were intimidating as fuck. We had very few at my high school. Obviously, the gig was free. I got more and more excited as the main event drew near.

I was not disappointed. The bands I came for played awesome sets of short, fast songs. The kind that would have still been in vogue in big American punk scenes a few years earlier. Some mean-looking guys started a slam pit. I didn't want to join in, because some of them gave me the evil eye at school a lot (I still looked like more of a metalhead... a no-no to some back then, though this was already starting to change). In fact, I was waaay too scared of scene people to ever have any kind of communication with any of them. But wow... just watching and listening to it all, I was blown away. I was so filled with energy, so inspired. I knew I had to do that. In one year my band would be up there, I vowed.

As it turned out, it would be just over three years before I'd play live (I was a temp bassist in a grindcore band). It took almost another year after that for my own band to "make it" to the stage. But that first gig experience left a huge impression on me. Looking back, I now know I was witnessing the last shreds of the glory years of 80s hardcore. It would never be like that again. I did my darndest to save it though. If you're familiar with Old Band, you'd hear alarming similarities to the punk bands that played on that day. Even though that kind of music no longer thrills me much, I feel like that show paved the way for every musical project I've ever been involved with.

I have to say, I'm very lucky to have some souvenirs from this experience. Not only do I have a flyer for the show, I even have a soundboard recording of the 4:50 band's set. I can listen to it and think, "that's what started it all".



The back of the flyer is an ad for a short-lived record store downtown.

Der Straßenmarkt

I didn't really have too much of a problem with it, to be honest. I did at first. I thought it was sketchy. Why my house? After a while I felt like... I don't use the space for anything, and certainly he could use the money. I have to say, I've never been more aware of class-related issues since moving to this apartment.

When the store below was vacant there were no other players in this drama, so the status quo was maintained. But when a new business moved in over the winter, I saw potential for issues. Apparently, they have come to a head and der Straßenmarkt has been discontinued by the local authorities.

There are reasons I could be happy about this. Der Verkäufer has not been very nice to us - especially this past weekend, with his heavy-handed treatment of a small, easily remedied problem. "What comes around goes around", I could say. Yet I don't really feel all that happy about this. He was over-the-top with us this weekend, but there were issues of language and culture involved. Der Straßenmarkt may have been a big chunk of his livelihood. All he stuck us with was a bummer evening, so I can't really dance on this grave all that much.

Anyway, I don't know what we transpired between der Verkäufer and die Hundunterlegscheibe, but it's not hard to see her argument here, as a small-businesswoman.

I'm not involved in this, and I don't know how I feel about it.

Das Radio (again)

My show is now available for podcast. You should check it out. This particular episode is fairly typical of my show.

Blogging is dead.

You heard it here first.

Essential Listening

This discography has been out for a few years, and the songs have been around since the late 70s/early 80s. I've listened to it countless times, but I busted it out again this week. I also had two separate conversations about this band tonight.

A fantastic, balanced mix of punk, prog rock and pop. Rarely, if ever, have the three genres been brought together quite like this.

I think I'll feature it at the party tomorrow.