Acres Tour Journal, Entry 12
Quote of the day: Jeff: “Have you ever seen Ferngully? It’s actually pretty rad.” Dan: “Ferngully? Like the prequel to Avatar?” Friday, November 18th, 9:00 am, Regina We spend the morning in our friend Erin’s house, abusing her facilities, making her dogs crazy, Lewis and I have a beer for breakfast. It’s pretty rough. The night before we watch the grand finale of the Peak Performance Project streamed live from the Commodore Ballroom in Vancouver and it is the most heart-wrenching event so far on the tour. Watching all our friends in The Boom Booms, Current Swell and The Matinee kill it without us there makes us slightly homesick, but when the winners are crowned we celebrate loudly with whiskey and crush our twitter feed with drunken praise. After texting
Acres Tour Journal, Entry 11
Quote of the day: “We appreciate women and what they do for us, and without women, we wouldn’t have anywhere to put our penises, really.” – Lead singer of Steel Panther Thursday, November 17th, 10:00 am, Saskatoon A hangover is a truly beautiful thing. I find that 9 times out of 10, it reminds you of how you are still alive, still as human as you’ll ever be, like falling in love or whatever for the first time or hiking up a big goddam mountain, surrounded by nature. But the remaining 1 time out of that 10 makes you wish you were never born, screaming in agony, the cliche, “I’ll never drink again.” Rising early in the morning with a goal in mind can snap you out of that hungover
Acres Tour Journal, Entry 10
Quote of the day: “Beers for years!” – Acres/TSE tour salute/cheers Wednesday, November 16th, 9:00 am, Calgary We spend a night in Calgary after driving all day Tuesday from Nelson. We left early in the morning and were more than surprised when we didn’t hit any snow. The day was a beauty, for sure. We hang out with Kelly and Jayme again, drinking tequila and watching “Hoarders” while trying to book a few more shows along the way of the tour. It is colder than I am used to and make subtle complaints to the boys all day. You know, like “Man, it’s crisp out, hey?” or “I think I need better gloves.” or “My feet are taking forever to warm up!” When, really, all I’m saying with those characteristically
Acres Tour Journal, Entry 9
Quote of the day: “F**k you, pay me.” – Dan’s answer to Tyson when asking to switch seats. Sunday/Monday/Tuesday, November 13th/14th/15th, Nelson We leave Vancouver Sunday morning after sleeping for 3 hours at our friend Christine’s. She is awesome and gives us homemade trail mix bars for the road. We decide to go back to the old homestead, in the Kootenays, where Dan and I became the stalwart gentleman we are today, reliable and savvy! We have 3 days to kill before we are in Saskatchewan so we spend them with our parents, a quick visit and re-charge for the impending doom that is the rest of the cross-tundra tour, which we are now calling the “Beers For Years” tour, 2011. After getting a good sleep, we spend monday in
Acres Tour Journal, Entry 8
Quote of the day: “Hey, Freddy Frugal! Slow and steady don’t win this race!” – Craig, taunting Pat, Ten Second Epic Saturday, November 12th, 9:00 am, Victoria This morning I split up with the rest of the boys in my band because my wallet has been found, Hallelueja, and has been returned to my bank. If you can’t recall my previous words on the subject of “dumb things to do before going on tour,” (#) I lost my wallet the day before I left. We have an interview at noon in Vancouver so I am forced to stay behind and roll with the TSE boys to catch the bank when it opens. Apparently, Tyson had a little too much beauty sleep and had to race to pick up Lew and
Acres Tour Journal, Entry 7
Quote of the day: “I eat so much because I don’t have the intelligence to stop. I’m like a cow. If I could, I’d eat until I died.” – Lewis Carter Friday, November 11th, 9:00 am, Victoria, Remembrance Day, 2011 I wake up in my own bed next to the box of Cheerios I ate half of while passing out to “Law and Order.” Oh, to be spoiled by the simple existence that is my life at home. It was weird, to be back only for a day, attempting to tie up loose ends, making mandatory payments for my ghost while I’m away, calling all friends to come to the show tonight. The boys in Ten Second Epic roll up around noon and fill my house with good cheer and
Acres Tour Journal, Entry 6
Thursday, November 10th, 7:00 am Today consisted of a twelve-hour drive from Calgary to the Tsawwassen terminal in Vancouver. We had packed the night before, so we would not waste time on trying to make the 9:00pm ferry to Victoria and just make it. The morning was like every other morning; groggy, confused, nauseous, searing Alberta sun through Kelly and Jayme’s enormous living room windows, a fine contrast to the many degrees below zero it actually was outside. It was a great stay and had been our home for almost five days, so we said goodbye and attempted to clean up after ourselves before we left, so as to feel a little less like small children and more like teenagers on an ill-advised road trip. I make apologies to Kelly
Acres Tour Journal, Entry 5
Quote of the day: “So, let’s have a hand for that comet that didn’t hit us, huh?” – Andrew, Ten Second Epic Wednesday, November 9th, 12:00pm, Calgary We wake up from a blur of a night before spent exploring the streets of Calgary, an excellent performance by the Dojo Workhorse at the Ironwood, and drinking tequila with our glorious host, Kelly. It was quite the night full of our friends in The Dudes, and to this day I still get a little giddy when I talk to those boys. Call me starstruck, they’re just that good, and handsome too. Watching Bob play slide guitar and their drummer Scott is always a treat. “Tightest drummer in Alberta,” to quote Dan, the singer. I find that you don’t come across bands like
Acres Tour Journal, Entry 4
Sunday, November 6th, 9:00 am, Edmonton No show tonight. I wake up and call my mother, to check in, as she has taken ill recently. At the end of the conversation she tells me to “F**kin giv’er, dude!” And my adulthood starts to make more sense. I listen to Skrillex all morning while I work and desperately try to get it. I watch the video for “Equinox” and am slightly creeped out and I say to myself “Oooh, right” as I recall the early 2000 Goth-punk Screamo adventure that was “From First To Last.” TSE Dan and I go get breakfast at a local diner called “Friends and Family” and we return to find the boys have made it back in one piece. Dan (Ball) enlightens us with his explorations
Acres Tour Journal, Entry 3
Saturday, November 5th, 10:00 am, Edmonton We wake up to shame and regret, surrounded by McDonald’s containers, a common late-night after-show mistake. I try to recall from the haze if I had splurged and eaten anything poisonous and am relieved to find that I am in the clear. Lewis, however, groans all morning, clutching his stomach, and randomly belches out questions like “Why?” and “how come my shirt doesn’t fit?”. I also remember sharing whiskey with Dan and Andrew from TSE and having lusty conversations with the boys in “The Red Threat.” Seriously, the show last night was amazing. Our show with Ten Second Epic in Lloydminster tonight has been cancelled due to venue complications so we have an all-day LAN-party sending emails, playing the original Diablo (yes, even on
