Acres Tour Journal, Entry 2
Thursday, November 3rd, 9:00 am, Kamloops I wake up beside Dan Ball, a spectacle only a few people will witness in a lifetime. I take a cold shower against my will and head out into the morning to get a coffee and a paper. I return to find the boys heading to the Howard Johnson “Breakfast Room” where it seems all of the guests in the hotel have migrated to for free cereal and home-made waffles, a true gift. The room is more like a dimly-lit underground, poker-room than a breakfast nook, but the people are much friendlier. I eat bran flakes and Lewis questions the integrity of the waffle batter, convinced it was originally for pancakes. We cram ourselves into the van with our new honorary member, Kelly “Big
Acres Tour Journal, Entry 1
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
Studio Log: Day 2 – Drums
Day two at Infinity Studios and we’re already starting to act like 8 year old kids the first time they learned a curse word. Getting into the studio now requires you to utter obnoxious passwords that would make your grandmother blush. Song lyrics are in the process of being rewritten to the tune of Rodney Dangerfield stand up act. Basically we’re really starting to “bond” with Adam again. Not a whole lot of excitement to report in this edition, other than we successfully laid down drum tracks on four more songs. That brings the song count up to seven, leaving three more songs for Lewis to pound out tomorrow. We’ve been recording lots of video of the whole process, so once we’re done in the studio stay tuned to our
Studio Log: Day 1 – Drums
Three years, 50,000 kms, and 100+ shows later… we’re finally back in the studio to record our sophomore album! It’s been a pretty gloomy spring around Victoria this year, but today mother nature decide to honour our first day in the studio by bringing us the kind of summer weather normally reserved exclusively for TV beer commercials. It’s just a shame that people decided to build recording studios indoors, because today would have been a great day to spend time doing some of the things that inspire songs to be written: like BBQ’ing in the backyard, sipping cold drinks with friends on a downtown patio, or maybe even participating in something called the Good Ol’ Boys Invitational Beer Mile. We’re excited to be working on this album with our friend
Summer Tour Entry #11: Rain, rain, go away
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,
Summer Tour Entry #10: I must’ve smoke 1000 cigarettes
Friday, August 14th/09, O’Hanlon’s Pub, Regina SASK I’m a smoker. It’s no big secret. It’s shameful, especially for a singer in a melody driven band. It effects my voice, but only slightly, not as much as other things like talking too much or dairy products or alcohol. It’s brutal, and I know that I should quit, tried to many times, but now is not the time, apparently. My family and close friends say it must be a “rockstar” thing, which I assure you is not. I don’t even know what that means. The term “rockstar” is lost on me, doesn’t make sense. I find it very funny that I turned into a smoker, seeing as how my two sisters, Jaclyn and Jaime, are so down on it, and rightfully so.
Summer Tour Entry #9: I see barns and wheatfields for miles and miles
Thursday, August 13th/09, The Social Center, Vegreville AB We hit the prairies today. I was happy, to get out of Alberta and on the road, moving forward. I personally love travelling along the flat land of Saskatchewan and Manitoba. I find it easy, non-threatening, and the path as straightforward as it will ever get. The towns, sparsely populated but abundant. Farmer’s fields, crops of whatever product, silos, tractors, cattle, that whole thing, a great and proud life. I actually had a dream the night before this one, where I was walking through a wheat field with a good friend of mine, not talking, just slowly strolling through miles of field. It was so serene and calming, I woke up feeling refreshed and contemplative of why I had the dream. My
Summer Tour Entry #8: Van rides and high tides
Wednesday, August 12th/09, Calgary Warped Tour And before anyone asks, we did not get to play Warped Tour this year, although we worked hard and busted our ass, it just didn’t happen for us this year, it’s a bummer, but we came to hang out with our friends anyways, who were fortunate enough to snag a spot on the West 49 stage, and have a good ole’time watching some sweet bands and shamelessly self-promoting the shit out of Acres of Lions, the product of the weasel and the actions of a large predatory animal, or something, all in one. Lewis and I must have spent hours handing out fliers, an attempt to saturate the area with our name and have it stick in at least a few people’s heads. We
Summer Tour Entry #7: Espresso not EX-presso, please
Tuesday, August 11/09, Burnsy O’Flanagan’s, Leduc AB I’m a big fan of Coffee, even on facebook, perhaps you’ve heard of this magical beverage. It’s a crutch I have, and I’m not afraid to admit it. I drink it most days on tour, whenever we stop at a gas station, although it’s usually pretty bad, it’s still there for me to consume. I try to avoid Starbucks if I can, but hey, it’s cheap and they’re everywhere and the dude who puts a million of them in 4 city blocks was probably on to something, sickening, but effective. When we play at a venue in a bigger city, it’s great. There’s usually alot of great coffee bars and cafes and such and I don’t have to go to Starbucks. We’ve had
Summer Tour Entry #6: Dude, I just stepped on a rocking chair!
Monday, August 10/09, Avenue Theater, Edmonton AB This is where I mention that Mapping The Escape is made up of a great bunch of dudes, the kind of dudes you could bring home to mom and dad. Handsome, talented, smart, funny, sensitive, sexy, all good things, and they are nerds in the most amazing of ways. They write incredible songs, and the care that they put into their stage performance is nothing short of immaculate, although meticulous, the end result is worth the effort. They also enjoy Star Trek and other great nerdy things to long lengths, which is fine by us, considering Lewis and I quote Star Wars on an hourly basis (that’s right, there’s a war on between universes) Actually, Clark and Dan had a conversation tonight about
