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March 7th – North Bay – Urban Cafe

North Bay has always been good to me.

This time was no exception.

I played at the Urban Cafe, as part of a party for the Campus Free Press.  The Cafe was a tight space with lots of tables and chairs, but it also had a second level, which is where I managed to grab a seat for some food.  Having arrived there quite early, I made sure to try some of their eats, as they had been preparing for over an hour, and the smells were too much for me to handle: I had to order something.  I can’t remember what the exact configuration was, but the wrap I had was fantastic.

photo by Shannon Lepere

The Dining Dead opened up the show while I was still upstairs munching, and their take on post-rock sounded great.  Even when I came downstairs, prepared to be bombarded with volume because of the size of the room, I didn’t even need earplugs.  They knew how to play to a room, and the crowd loved them, even though they’re originally from the Sault!  I did my set and had a great time with the intimate crowd.  After explaining that the title of “How Come No Bones” came from a short story by Steve Martin, I ended up having a micro debate about Steve’s legitimacy as a comedian.  I don’t know who won, because my only argument was that “he used to be really funny!”

photo by Shannon Lepere

That night we met up with my friend Polly, who runs the  Deluxe Custom Tattoo parlour.  After a really late night in one of North Bay’s safest neighbourhoods, talking about all things under the sun and teasing fat cats with static electricity, it was time for bed.  Little did I know that the next day would bring this wonder of food, at a Lebanese restaurant beside Deluxe Custom Tattoo: behold, the cheese pie!

photo by Shannon Lepere

It may not look that impressive, but it’s a pita (or some sort of bread/pastry that seemed more deep fried), filled with a melange of cheeses.  Unreal.

November 29th – Edmonton – Avenue Theatre

The Avenue Theatre was a really neat show. It was in a theatre, whose stage had been extended in order to cover up some skateboard bowls for when it had been a skatepark. The entire show was held on the stage, as it was an intimate, acoustic style show. In fact, I was the loudest act of the night, an interesting change! I also made some really cool friends that play in hardcore bands and also run a screen printing shop out of one of the back offices. It’s really great to see people being passionate about all ages concert spaces.

I made Edmonton a temporary home for 3 days, where I visited with old and new friends. I met Greg a few years ago when he was playing in a band called Mapping The Escape, and had booked them in Thunder Bay a few times. He opened up his place for a few nights, where we watched Saw 6, It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia and waited for pizza for hours, only to receive it and be completely shocked at the size of their ‘medium’ pizzas. He’s in the process of putting together a new band, but in the meantime he does radio advertisements. I woke up one morning to the sounds of recording a new jingle for a funeral home. Pardon me. Funeral Homes. Connelly McKinley specifically. I wish I could link it, as it’s fantastic, super peppy with some jazz, and makes me laugh at it’s awesomeness every time.

Here’s a picture of me being the antonym of awesome.


After that, I went and visited my friend Andriko, who used to play in Fractal Pattern and was also working on his MA at Lakehead with me. We partied hard. We watched a documentary on fonts, and went to a vegan restaurant, where he got the owner to purchase a CD of mine, and we listened to it on the spot. Awesome! That, and he introduced me to my new favorite instrument, the harmonium:

September 29th – St Catharines – Strega Cafe

I ended up crashing at the promoter’s house (Timur), and he put me up for the next 2 nights after that too, as I was playing a cafe 2 nights later. The first of several friends made on the road that will be lasting friendships. I mean, who else gives you a brand new box of unopened Froot Loops for you to take on the road? Timur. That’s who.

But before I left St Catharines, I HAD to try the Steak and Poutine wrap from a local pita/wrap place, just because it sounded like it might kill me, and I had to take the risk! Results: delicious.