Wednesday, November 2nd, 7:00am, Victoria

The tour starts off like every other Acres tour; hungover, operating on one hour of sleep, the band itself is prepared but as individuals IN the band, we are positive-thinking wrecks and we always seem to leave all our shit to the very last minute. It’s kind of one of those things that makes a tour what it is from the beginning; that rushed, groggy state of mind where you are pretty much a zombie with an expressed purpose, like being late for class. You barely function, but somehow manage to get everything in order in a matter of minutes. In my morning panic of last minute packing and preparation, I realize I have misplaced my wallet during last night’s celebration with friends, pop-punk sing-alongs and many good beers, and I begin to prepare for the worst. Lewis helps me tear the house apart and inside out, searching for my wallet, in which I reassure myself it is here by screaming things like “Where could he be!? 3PO!” But no luck, although I find a good amount of loose change in which I will later use to my advantage. Tyson and Dan roll up late, in true Acres fashion, so I throw my bags and gear in Van of Green Gables, hug my friends goodbye, and Dan kicks the tour off with a catch-phrase, “Get into it!” Coolest guy I know.

9:00 am

We don’t hit any traffic or lights on the highway as we speed to the ferry terminal. Lewis yells and makes hand gestures at the cars we pass and he swears it was part of the miracle that helped us to make the 9:00 am ferry. I argue that miracles don’t exist and that it was just good timing and variables coming together, coincidence at best. Dan tells me that I am too bitter and un-educated to make such a matter-of-fact judgement and the argument is resolved. Lewis buys me breakfast on the ferry. I tell him “Thanks, Dad!” and we hang out on the upper deck for awhile and most likely offend everyone around us with our vile language and bro-vibes. I use to believe the ferry was the worst thing ever, but this time it seemed a little less exhausting and really ensured I was going to miss the island like hell, the beauty that it is, our home.

4:00 pm

We arrive in Kamloops after stopping a million times because of Dan’s bladder. I drift in and out of consciousness through the mountains and the great weather, wondering how long it is before there is snow. I text my friends while we all listen to whatever radio signals we can get in the mountains, as our van, bless her rusting heart, does not have any inputs to the ancient, creaking tape-deck except for an old-school cassette adapter with no cord. My friends tell us we’re crazy to drive through a large portion of the country this time of year, and they say things like “be careful” and “watch out for snow, eh!?” And I reply “Don’t worry! We have winter tires!” as if to tell myself, it never snows in the mountains, over and over. When we get to Kamloops , it takes us longer than it should to find Heroes Pub inside TRU and all the students look up from their ipads or whatever at the guys wearing shitty leather jackets and smelling like cigarettes. Cool dudes, for sure. We are greeted by our new pals Julien, Kayla and Kelsey. They move around tables and chairs to set up the bar for the show and they tell us about their Event ManagementMarketing program and that tonight’s show is part of it. I briefly wonder where these classes were when I was in school and how legit these people are to do this on a non-existent budget, putting in their time and energy. Right down to the home-made posters, it was special. The rest of the members of the program come later and they work hard to get the show in motion. Once again, we are blessed with a kind and quirky group of people who’s great love and taste for music is re-affirmed by their willingness to do whatever they can to produce a good show. For a moment, I forget that this still happens, that people you meet for the first time can become good friends. I still can’t thank them enough.

10:00 pm

We warm up and stretch inside a large rest room that is surprisingly vacant with everyone drinking in the bar. Dan tells me he likes doing group warm-ups in a rest room because if he “ever needs to take a squirt,” he doesn’t have to worry. I nod in approval, not in acceptance of his new phrase, but of what he actually means. Our friends Brock, Andrina and Kelly “Handsome Distraction” Black show up and the night gets better. We soundcheck quickly after a great set by local classic rocker Chris Rutledge and his band, in which our ears are left ringing and the bar is set for maximum energy output. Our set is ten songs, a mixture of old and new and includes a cover of Attack in Black’s “Marriage,” which the audience seems to really enjoy. We’ve also decided to include an acoustic version of an older song I wrote about the relationship between Nathan Fillion and Morena Baccarin on the Joss Whedon series “Firefly,” and upon explanation of this song on stage, I realize that nobody, except true Firefly fanatics, really understands what show I’m talking about. Someone actually yells “WHAT!?” while we play it and I laugh. The crowd sticks around until the very end, and a few of them even help us power-load our gear out to the van, the biggest team effort I’ve seen in awhile.  During all of this, Dan yells at me across the room three times to get my attention to make a damn good “Wayne’s World” reference.  We say goodnight and Julien hooks us up with two hotel rooms and we spend the rest of the night on Grooveshark, or Grooveyard, as Dan now calls it, listening to old Lights Below demos and The Reason, and fall sleep watching some of the best food porn out there, Dave Arnolds, cool dude, for sure… seriously, fantastic work:

Dave Arnold, “Patty Melt” from Eater NY on Vimeo.

“Eating this patty melt would be like eating God.” – Dan Ball