Wednesday, August 19th/09, Cafe Decuf (Maverick’s), Ottawa ONT

We woke up in the wilderness, God’s country, or whatever you want to call it, surrounded by trees, water, completely absent of civilization except for the few people walking to the lake with their dogs and other assorted and leashed pets. We hit the road early so we could get to Ottawa on time, to play with a bunch of amazing bands, who I will list off and tag out of respect and love: “The Artist Life,” “The Snips,” “Brights,” and the dudes putting on the show, “The PG-13’s.” We drove for hours, inching forward with the endless traffic and multiple construction delays, I would say about 7 or 8, and oh my, we were none too happy about this! It is understandable, road-work has to happen, but when you are in a rush and not expecting numerous delays to impede your progress. We drove fast and aggressive all day, making little stops, once to empty ourselves of liquid and the other to buy a strange collection of meal choices, Harvey’s, Tim Horton’s, a market sandwich and a can of mixed vegetables (GO SODIUM INTAKE) We got their, on time, safe and sound, and, a new term that was developed on the drive, “road-pissed,” which is alot like road-rage without the rage and there’s no getting out of the car with a big flashlight to beat the person in front of you into a jelly. I’ve seen it happen, not very cool, kind of terrifying, actually. Happy thoughts ensued.

Everyone was so nice when we got here, it cheered us up immediately. We did a power-load and set up and sound-checked in under 20 minutes, impressive to some, sorry to others. For us it’s good. We opened up the show, not alot of kids yet, unfortunately, but alot of new friends and bands to get to know. It was a great time with friends in which I am thankful for. Everyone played an amazing set, now with a few more people in the building. I talked to the boys in The Artist Life and Brights for awhile, and all my beliefs are still true, we’re all in this together, all in different stages of the industry, trying to achieve the same goals, which vary between bands, but all with a common one, loving what you do. I gained alot of respect for those guys tonight, the amazing job they do and the positivity that just emanates from their being. It got me real excited for the rest of our tour and what is to come in the next year. We spent some time at the show trying to source out a place to crash for the evening. It was odd, not looking for a place to camp, what we have become accustomed to in the last 2 weeks. When we had given up and settled for a nice dumpster behind a pizza joint, scouring discarded boxes for an inexpensive source of cheese, our new friends, Fara and Jeff, offered us a place to stay and above all else, shower and internet. In love, we were, once again.

I don’t really understand the night club life-style all too well, other than that, it’s sweaty, debaucherous, and when you’re not on any “mood enhancer,” it’s relatively entertaining. It can be fun, especially when you and all 20 of your new mates are the one’s dominating the dance-floor with coriographed clapping and stomping, finger-snaps and epic sing-alongs. I will say, Zaphod’s was one hell of a time, the kind of place you would want to end up after a night making friends. The Artist Life and Brights and The Snips boys showed us a good time, welcomed us to the family, and we ended up with all of our shirts “popped off” walking back to the vans, as was suggested, the most comfortable thing. Sometimes, you just have to pop it off and show how content you are with things and that no matter how bad life gets, there are always night-clubs, great bands and great shows, poutine, 30oz bottles of Budweiser, spontaneous dance parties, homeless dudes who look better than you do, people puking in sinks, 4 or 5 guys named Jeff in one room at the same time, cuss words to describe how you are feeling otherwise, cut-off shirts, silly impressions of other people, gigantic packs of beef jerky, super-stores, Canadian flag and snow-boarding logo tattoos, and above all else, friends in the strangest of places.