Saturday, August 15th/09, The Zoo, Winnipeg MAN

It began to rain last night and did not stop. It was like the scene in Forrest Gump when the platoon’s walking through the jungle, unaware of the danger until “someone turned off the rain and the sun come out.” It was kind of similar, except it only lasted 24 hours and less bullets jumped up and bit us. It was wet and we slept in the van again, beside a set of, at what we percieved as, “out of service” railroad tracks. Turns out they were still very “in service” and realized we had parked a little too close, not that anyone noticed, except for Lewis, who was the only one who didn’t sleep right through it. Apparently, while we were sleeping, Lewis had driven another 1.5 hours through the night and we woke up in a completely different spot, soggy, dirty and confused, a little bit hungry. The drive continued on to Winnipeg and we made it to a farm, owned by Lewis’ Aunt and Uncle, Pam and Vic, where they fed us a homegrown meal and a shower if we wanted it. This is the kind of thing, regardless of how I sound, I will never forget and my heart goes out, infinitely, in their direction, and I wish them and their family all the best.

It continued to rain, right up until we got to The Zoo, the club, not an actual Zoo, as was a common misconception upon informing people of the show. We played with two great bands, “Making Waves” and “The Ripperz” who we will undoubtedly be bringing back with us to Victoria. We also met up with our friend Darcy from a great band called “The Furr” (or whatever they are going to be called in the near future) He bought us all beers while we were on stage, not the worst idea in the world. To our luck and surprise, Molson Canadian and Standard Lager was on special for $2.75, which I thought ridiculous until I drank 6 or so and realized that it was cheaper than a cup of coffee in some joints, still ridiculous, but a little more reasonable now. The set went very well and the club, mostly people sitting down, seemed to enjoy themselves very much. And it sounded great, probably the best so far on tour, as far as stage mix goes anyways… ever since I got my ear-monitors kidnapped, it’s been an on-going struggle for clarity, not tonight though. I loved every minute of it, even the fact that the stage was basically a large insulated sweat-box that drenched us head to toe by the end of it. Although refreshing, being wet and cool, like getting out of a shower with your clothes on, the filth doesn’t really hit you until the next morning. It’s not like we smell that terrible, I think it’s more that we feel terrible underneath our clothes, like we’re carrying a disease that no one knows about, a greasy, chafing disease, made of cheese.

We stayed in a hotel tonight, which was different than what we are usually accustomed to. Lewis’ parents fronted the money for it as they were also in town visiting the farm, an incredible gesture I cannot be thankful enough for, they even gave me their bed, as they left for their plane at 4:30 am. It had stopped raining and the weather began to form a gloomy overcast and fog that covered Winnipeg in a kind of eerie subsided glow, I was thankful, but it didn’t feel like the summer I was used to. Summer, to me, is still jumping through sprinklers outside of the the house you grew up in, getting popsicles at a corner store with your friends, reading comic books on the beach, some people even roller-blade, still (BALLSY). Since I am older and on tour, I will have to suffice for 5 weeks of camping, long drives in the van, smoking cigarettes in the rain, drinking cheap whiskey in a stranger’s basement and spitting off over-passes by myself, which is never any fun on your own, and you know it.