Summer Tour Entry #13: Sometimes you just gotta pop it off
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
Summer Tour Entry #12: To keep me from sinking
Sunday, August 16th/09, Thunder Lake ONT – Monday, August 17th/09, Black Pirate’s Pub, Thunder Bay ONT – Tuesday, August 18th/09, Highway 17 (or one long-ass drive where nothing really happened except for Dan Ball and his downright absurd antics) I decided to make one big entry for this one, since there was not alot to document except for driving alot and the precious few events that took place the past 3 days. It was an amazing time. Sunday was laundry day. We must’ve spent at least 3 hours in that damn place, doing a much needed wash, drinking coffee, establishing internet connections with each other, the rad part was that despite all the copious amounts of “stink-eye” we recieved from the proprietor, he did not ask us to leave, even
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 Mini Tour Update
Here’s a video compiled from footage of our short tour of BC and Alberta in July 2009. We played with some great bands (A Trophy Life, Drive By Punch, The Grave Life), and our good friend Cody Beer came along for the ride, filling in for Lewis on drums.
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
Summer Tour Entry #5: Riff-raff, street-rat, I don’t buy that.
Sunday, August 9/09, West Edmonton Mall AB If only they’d look closer… Things I have found over years of pestering people about my band, interupting conversations, meals, making them late for whatever errand, are the diverse reactions to having 2 or 3, or even all 4 of us, our clearly out-of-town garb, demeanor and lingo, approach them with ipods out of the seemingly regular blue. Almost all of the time, we look pretty haggard and desperate (and we are) and we feel bad for disturbing such tranquility, but like most of the population, we gotta make a living somehow. Whether it be peddling cheap cd’s and music online, shirts, promoting the evening’s and future events, it is all relevant. Most people are unassuming and easy-going, don’t usually mind being asked
