Spring Tour Diary - 2016

[tedious1]

Hi Mr tedious1,



Wow! That looks great. I also love me some heart attack food once in a while, such as this quadruple bypass cheeseburger (with 20 slices of bacon) I got at The Heart Attack Grill the last time we played Vegas.

Sir, you are livin' the life and making us proud. That looks like an intimate venue tonight. Cram a lot of people in there and it should be epic.

Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

Intimate is the perfect word. It ended up being a party as much as a show, we scrapped the door, but some folk paid anyways...but it ended up being friends and contacts in attendance, so we played and drank, we thought about just jamming (a lot of musicians in the room) but there are residential units above, so we honored the local sound law. So a lot of fun, not much income, but sold some merch, and we didn't pay for beer.

Finished the night with vegetarian chili at the crash spot, showers and sleep. Today we met up with more friends and went to Schwartz's, for amazing smoked meat sandwiches, to die for... No pics, you don't let Ambrosia of the Gods sit for a second untouched...

Tonight I assumed we were playing Deth House, but it's actually Fattal, both are essentially a punk rock speakeasy, and both are in the same building at the same collective, for lack of a better term. First time at Fattal, really looking forward to it. This is just about as Punk as it gets, venue-wise.

 

[tedious1]

Well, last night was really good, lots of people, all the bands played well.

Photos to come as well, weak signal where I am ATM.

 

[tedious1]

A bunch of shots from last night:

More to come.

 

[tedious1]

Some more:


Think that's it, now to get ready for tonight!

 

[tedious1]

Tonight's venue, third consecutive year playing here, another friend from our very first tour putting us up and the show together.

I smoke, but last night was rough, been years since I played in a smoky room. Raspy today, hoping a couple Fisherman's Friends will help with that.

The venue interior:


Not a huge place, but it looks stuffed well short of capacity, playing with Dragged in again, they were bloody good, so gonna need to be on point tonight.

 

[tedious1]

Opening act, Critical Hit:


Pretty sure this is NSD, I grabbed a burger during change over, and they haven't talked much between songs. One would think they will remind us at the end, for now we'll go with NSD:

And they didn't...

So 6th Floor Balcony should be up next...

 

[tedious1]

Missed one from earlier:

This lovely young lady complimented me on my beard dye job...

6th Floor Balcony:


Dragged In up next...

 

[tedious1]

Dragged In, these guys are so tight and put on a great show:


So last night was a $240 payout, I don't know what AD made, but they seemed happy. Tonight topped that by $20 and we moved a bunch of merch at both shows.

Tonight was the first time we've played Oshawa were there wasn't a fight in or near the venue, close but it never precipitated, good thing because the two were right in front of me...

So we're all feeling pretty happy with ourselves at the moment. Tomorrow is a new venue in a new city, so we'll see how that goes.

 

[tedious1]

Gah! Some bug caught hold of me, so I did one shift driving, and I've slept since, including through most of tonight's openers. Anyways, venue shots and a couple of Jack Spades:


Hall shows...went to a lot of these as a kid, this bands first show was a Hall show on Boxing Day 1998. But they don't pay well, Hall and PA rental... And the acoustics can be a hassle, and and, but I still like them, and it looks like at least the 40 kids needed to cover costs are here, so we'll probably make a little and sell some merch.

I absolutely hate playing sick though, fortunately, one of the few things I hate more is not playing, so at least that is sorted.

Tomorrow I hope to feel better, this is the first time I've been sick during tour, don't much care for it, but it is what it is,and not exactly unexpected...

 

[tedious1]

Still under the weather, but here is tonight's venue:

 

[tedious1]

Well a couple shots of Jameson's have me moving, judicious re-application should keep me that way, as well as able to play. This venue opened the year we did our first tour, and we've played here each tour. The last two have been on the anniversary weekend, so extre beer tickets, free food, t-shirt, so a good time even before taking stage, and partly why I went the extreme route of whisky treatment.

Anyways the opening band, FinerThings:

 

[BassCliff]

Hi,

Gah! Some bug caught hold of me, so I did one shift driving, and I've slept since, including through most of tonight's openers. Anyways, venue shots and a couple of Jack Spades:
View attachment 856778 View attachment 856779 View attachment 856780 View attachment 856781

Hall shows...went to a lot of these as a kid, this bands first show was a Hall show on Boxing Day 1998. But they don't pay well, Hall and PA rental... And the acoustics can be a hassle, and and, but I still like them, and it looks like at least the 40 kids needed to cover costs are here, so we'll probably make a little and sell some merch.

I absolutely hate playing sick though, fortunately, one of the few things I hate more is not playing, so at least that is sorted.

Tomorrow I hope to feel better, this is the first time I've been sick during tour, don't much care for it, but it is what it is,and not exactly unexpected...

I"m glad you muscled through the show, being sick and all. Hope you feel better soon. What's worse than performing sick? Traveling while your sick.

Hey, how did that show work out with the PA behind the vocalists? No feedback issues?


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

 

[tedious1]

Hi,



I"m glad you muscled through the show, being sick and all. Hope you feel better soon. What's worse than performing sick? Traveling while your sick.

Hey, how did that show work out with the PA behind the vocalists? No feedback issues?


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

No, surprisingly, there were no feedback issues. My mic wasn't great, so it was making me push my vocals, last thing I wanted.

Travelling sick sucks, but it would have been worse if I had to drive, instead I slept the whole trip to Thunder Bay, and this is our regular hotel night, so I slept more there as well. A good night's sleep tonight should hopefully do the trick.

 

[tedious1]

Gratzo Attacko. Ignore the name on the kit, he plays with them also. Local talent, these guys are good, but I slightly prefer Forever Dead, being fronted by the proverbial hot singer babe...

 

[tedious1]

No headlining for us tonight, that honor goes to Raygun Cowboys. Who are pretty damn good:

 

[tedious1]

So grabbed some food, this is the first year the kitchen has been open, nothing fancy, but the meatball sub was good.

Raygun Cowboys are still playing, still sounding great, I just got props for lending them some cables, the guitar player left his pedalboard in Winnipeg last night, which is tomorrow's destination, it's been rescued, and he was able to borrow one from someone to cover their shows until they go through Winnipeg on the way home to Edmonton (more Alberta boys) in a couple weeks. But no cables, but I carry spares...

Definitely have to grab the LP for Mrs. Tedious, and maybe a patch for my kilt...

 

[tedious1]

So pay worked out to $100, not stellar, but two touring bands, so more mouths to feed. Sold a bunch of merch too, so that always helps. We had flasks for the first time this year, and they have moved pretty well. Considering rubber duckies for next year.

Still evacuating phlegm from my head on a regular basis, but largely feeling better. Last show tonight, then the evil 14+ hour deadhead home...

 

[tedious1]

Some photos of tonight's venue:


Slow wifi here. Gonna post this and start a new one for the opening band...

 

[tedious1]

The Rewd, played with the bass player and drummer before, in different bands, both are guitar players, but you wouldn't have known from tonight:


Similar story for the next band, although we have played with them as a unit before, that is to come...

 

[tedious1]

The lead vox and bass player of Yer Mum, reposing as if awaiting her Unicorn:

The filthy punks she plays with:


Gods, I could tell stories, but the drummer here, another guitar player, has fed us, beverages us, have us a place to stay, thrown shows in his basement for us. He's great people. The guitar player slates, phenomenally well. He also plays bass, and pretends I've been his instructor. These two and the bass player from the previous band, were No Comply, who followed us around on a bunch of dates last tour.

Well, time to don my battle skirt, blow my nose, get a shot of Jameson's, and tune up.

I'll be updating the thread a bit more when I get home, some shots of us I think, and some shots from the guitar player.