Dec. 31, 2005

New Years Eve.

It sure does get dark early this time of year. I guess I don’t have to tell that to anyone. I never did like driving in the dark. Figuring I had lots of time I waited until the last possible moment to leave. Being worried about what anyone else may forget, I myself had forgot to take something. Unfortunately I remembered it after I turned on to the highway. So now my timing is shot to hell and I have to go back home for something I forgot. It is my own fault.

I’m told we are gonna be the first band to play in the new fire hall. I hear that it is a beautiful building. I heard right. The place was fantastic. I couldn’t think of a better way to ring in the new year, except for being home with my family. I suppose if we had the choice of a bar gig, we would have turned it down for a quiet celebration with our loved ones. So once again I head out on the highway and leave my family home. It’s the path I chose, it’s what I do. I’m blessed to have and understanding family, for time away is time we will never get back.

As I motor my way to the gig in my old chevy van, the engine light comes on, as it always does when I drive this kind of distance and once again reminds me that maybe I should get it checked. I mean it does say “Service engine soon”. But does that mean now, or now, or tomorrow? I don’t know. Regardless, at this point in time, I get to my destination. Feeling late, but I’m not sure, I rush to get my gear into the building. Being in a hurry is a terrible way to be. Those are the times when you overlook things, like when I left my home and forgot to take one of my drums. I get frustrated and just wish I could have stayed home, but it’s the path I chose, it’s what I do.

The new hall is very nice inside. They did a beautiful job on the stage, the only down fall may be the sound of the building. Kinda noisy like a gym. What can I say, I set up my drums and let the sound tech do the rest. I was told I should set up my drums back behind the lights, I said I don’t care where I set up as long as people can see me. I made the joke, “There are a lot of people who paid good money to see me play”, and the reply, “So I guess the rest of the guys are just bums”. It was funny.

I seemed to have a lot of things on my mind. I was a little bit distracted, I guess you could say. I was not totally there at the gig. I’m not sure where I was really. It’s hard to describe, I was thinking about changes I want to make to my drum set, thinking about our upcoming recording sessions, thinking about future gigs and how far away they were, thinking about the drive home and was it gonna storm outside. I think I think too much. It seemed like I was just playing and that’s it. The crowd seemed like a blur to me. I didn’t even take notice to people that were there, just one big group. I was looking at the people but not seeing the people. I don’t know if that makes sense. Maybe I need help. Maybe I need a drink. Maybe I need to stop thinking so much and get my shit together in one place. No...that wouldn’t be me. Maybe nobody noticed and I am worried over nothing. Yes I know...bla,bla, bla. I guess you are thinking, “What the hell is he talking about?” I forget now.

Everyone loves a good party on new years eve. This was a big one. I think there was supposed to be 500 people there. Yes, I guess that would classify as a party. Throw in one gigantic dance floor and you have our version of American Bandstand but with a live band.
I did notice that the dance floor was packed. But once again, it all seemed like a blur. Maybe that’s it, I was completely caught up in the moment and like 2005, the night flew by and was over.

We had a great year. I can only hope...no, make that I know we are gonna have a better year in 2006. I am of course an optimist. Stay positive, work hard, and never give up. At least stay positive.

As the evening rolled to a close, it’s the same routine, get out the cases, pack everything up, and load the van. It’s the path we chose, it’s what we do. I can’t think of a bigger event I may have been to except maybe that time in Time Square...oh wait, that wasn’t me, I think that was Dick Clark.
So I guess this was the biggest one.
It’s hard to believe that some people were not finished partying just cause we were done. I know of several groups that were heading else where and continuing the celebration.
At one time, I would also be doing that, but not this night. I have what seems like a very long ride home. It does when you are tired at least.

I fire up my engine in my old van and let it warm up a bit. I’ll take whatever heat I can get. I don’t like riding the highway this time of night because I’m always worried about that other guy coming the other way. When the highway divides, I don’t mind so much because then it’s just me I have to worry about.
The night came and went so fast, I find myself alone again on the highway. At this point it doesn’t feel like I just played. At this point it doesn’t feel like the band is two years old. At this point it only feels like I just left my house, drove to North Sydney and turned around for home again...

Thanks to all who came to the shows time and time again and support the band and our efforts. It is you people that make it all worth while. If it was as simple as us wanting to play our instruments, we can do that at home. If it was about the money, I would be using a heck of a lot less drums and driving a very small car. To me, it’s about connecting with the people and seeing them react and know that they are feeling the way we do and rocking with us and it makes me feel good that I am able to do this for you. It is a very powerful feeling and we get that power from the people. When we are powered up, we give it right back to the crowd and it continues to get bigger and bigger until the roof blows off.

Here’s to 2006 and a few new CDS, bigger shows, louder music, more drum solos, more screams, more fans... and so on.

It’s what we do!

Dec. 23, 2005

Merry Christmas to all.

Oh the weather outside is frightful “not really”, and the cover is only five bucks...
So if you have no place to go, why don’t you come and see our show.

Eleven thirty was the magic time because the door was locked after that and the 100 or so unfortunate people outside didn’t get to rock with the band. What a freaking party! I was sick with a cold and felt like shit, you know, the usual head ache, runny nose and can't breath, but the full house managed to make it all feel OK.

We are happy that these people are supporting the band. It really makes us feel good about what we do.

Our last gig for this year is on new years eve and it is already sold out. There is no need for use to wonder what kind of crowd we will have because there should be 400 people there.

I have a new camera that can take video as well as still shots, I want to put some of that on the web site. It should be fun. It’ll be a few weeks before I get some good stuff from the gigs.

One more for ‘05.

Dec. 17, 2005

Can you balance a beer bottle on your head?

This was a powerful gig. I will say it again, I love the roar of the crowd and boy were they roaring. They were singing along to every song they knew the words to. It was insane and the place was jammed. I think this was our best show this year. It was more like a rock concert than a club gig.
I do believe we have hit a new level.

All of our new songs worked out for us. The crowd was into our whole set. Rob did a great job arranging our set for this gig. If you haven’t checked out the set list lately, here are the new songs.

HAVE A NICE DAY - Bon Jovi
BASKET CASE -Green Day
SOFT ONE - Matthew Barber
SANTA MONICA - Theory of a Deadman

Wondering about the title? It’s true. There was a young lady sitting by the front of the stage and she had a beer bottle on her head. I think it was Corona. I wonder was it a bet.
I guess it doesn’t matter, but it was funny.

We had a different atmosphere in the band room. The band from the night before left behind a red light and we turned it on. It really does make for a relaxing break, almost to the point that you want to go to sleep, but we managed to stay awake.

All that I can say now is that we pretty much owned the place when we were on the stage.

What a great feeling!

Dec. 10, 2005

Quote - “My Jedi name would be, Quite Gone On Gin”- Rob Barrie

If you have ever been at the Delta ballroom and there was a band playing, chances are that they were set up in the middle of the room facing the doors. The room is a rectangle and this would have the band play the short way. We have done it before. This time we set up on one side of the room and therefore got to play the long way. It made more sense and we played for the whole room and not just the dance floor. More bang for the buck, I guess. It was a good gig, although it was hard to judge the crowd. It seemed like only a handful were enjoying themselves and the rest just sat there. It turns out that everyone loved us and the ones not dancing were content on just sitting and watching the band. They still had a great time. I guess not everyone likes to dance all the time. So be it.
That fact that it looked like only half enjoyed us didn’t really have an impact on me. My focus really didn’t go past the stage. For most gigs I look around the room and try to see if everyone is having fun or not, but for this gig, I just concentrated on what was happening on the stage and that was it. I was in my own world for most of it and just played the songs. I was in the groove and stayed there for most of the gig.
Don’t get me wrong if you think I’m saying I didn’t enjoy myself, because I had a great time. I just didn’t concern myself if the crowd was happy, I was just happy myself to be playing.

Our last 2 gigs have been 9 to 1. Our next gig is at Smooth Herman’s and we play until 3:30am. Gonna be tired on Sunday! What can I say, it’s the path we decided to take.

With the cold snap finally upon us, it makes it hard to load in and out. I hate the cold. I always put on a ton of clothes and then when I’m going in and out of the buildings, I start to sweat and then freeze again outside. There is no happy medium.
Winter sucks!

Dec. 3, 2005

It’s only a couple of hits, it will wear off by... Tuesday!

I’ll let your imagination run wild with that one.
And now for something completely different.
What can I say, they are college kids. I’m guessing 19 to maybe 25, if that. Think of what you used to do at 19 and can’t anymore. Usually I don’t see puke in the bathroom stalls until the end of the night, but on my first break, there it was. And later in the night I could see a young lad bent over the garbage can outside. They basically drink there faces off. I remember doing the same. You always want that one more beer, have two drinks and then “I don’t feel so good”. You know the rest of the story.
I figured our set was not quite as modern as it could have been for this crowd. Rob and I talked about it at the end and I think we know what we have to do. Keep what we got and concentrate on more modern stuff. So if any of you have good ideas for songs, we would love to hear it. Our biggest problem is picking modern songs that are good. Good to us that is. The sad part for us is that we listen as musicians and not fans. We pick stuff apart and tend not to like songs, but like I pointed out to Rob, “just because we don’t like something, it doesn’t mean that the people listening to us won’t like it either”. The hard part for us is that if we don’t like a song and try to learn it, we sometimes don’t put in 100% and it shows, so we usually don’t like the way we play it. So once we get over that little hurdle, I think we will be alright. We have a few ideas for some songs now and I think we all like them so they should sound good.

Above all it was a fun gig. They were into us by the end even though you could tell that some of the songs they may have not known, but for the most part they knew enough.
So rock on, work hard and stop drinking before you puke.

Cheers!

Dec. 2, 2005

We wish you a Merry Christmas...

This was a tough one to call. By looking at the crowd, I had a feeling they were a little more conservative than our regular bar crowd. But I was told everyone was having a good time. I thought for sure we were gonna scare most of the people. They wanted us, they got us.

If you get the chance, check out the MTC in Membertou. We were set up in the Wiklatmu’j Multi-Purpose Room. I guess it can hold up to 300 people, so it was a nice size room.

On break, I decided to look around the place. I questioned different staff there about where the different rooms were, like where was the restaurant and where did the big bands play. They were more than happy to show me around. It is quite the impressive building.
I’m glad we did the gig.

Nov. 19, 2005

Quote- “You guys are the best band to come through the door...”

That’s what I like to hear and no it wasn’t someone in the band.
Where do I start? What a blast! I love when the club is just about to bust at the seam. Everyone there was having a great time. Thanks to everyone for making this a great gig.
Once again I got to see some old friends.
One guy even asked me what I was doing “in town”. He didn’t realize the band was playing.
I thought that was funny.

Before we got started, Rob played for us two new songs he just finished writing. Great stuff. I don’t think we are gonna have a problem making a record. I guess the hard part will be picking the songs that we will put on it, because by the time we start recording, we will have a ton.

Steven is traveling the globe again. I like to think it’s the traveling and not the band that is burning him out. I’m sure that’s it.

We’re heading for another weekend off. I feel they are bittersweet. I love the extra time with my family, but I miss playing the music. I guess that’s why I listen to a lot of music when I’m not playing in the band. I listen to music more than I watch TV. I usually find something to read on the net and have the music in the background. I’m always looking for that little inspiration so I can write a new song. Just to let you know, I’ve got nothing right now.

I’m desperately waiting for my new soundcard for my studio. We are using that as an excuse not to do any recording. I guess it’s a good reason. It’s really not stopping us from doing the bed tracks.
But that’s the story and we are sticking to it.

This broadcast has been brought to you “Live From The Moon”

Nov. 11, 2005

Let us not forget...

I wasn’t sure how this one would go over. I had my self convinced that it was gonna be a small crowd. Not sure why, but I would have rather stayed home.

Once I got there and set up, I was coming around. The bar was empty and I was didn’t have the feeling of the flop that I had before, if that makes sense.

We ended up having a great crowd and I had a great time.

I’m terrible with names. It’s something I’m not proud of but just can’t help it. There was this guy there at the last set and he was cheering me on. I was smiling in my silly way, “thanks” but I just could not place the man. Over the span of two songs my brain was going full tilt trying to remember who he was. I felt like a deer in the headlights. “BLAM!” I would have been flattened. Well it turns out that I had only met the guy once before and it was several years ago. Once he told me who he was, and he was kind enough to say “Hey Al, remember me from over at the Canada day bash, you let me play your drums?” So something clicked and I did remember. I told him that I couldn’t believe that he remembered my name. We laughed about it. Truth be told, I couldn’t pick him out of a line up until he told me.

The band was getting a lot of compliments through out the night. It was a good feeling.

I got to quietly celebrate my birthday on Sunday. Last year we had a gig on that day and that was cool. Thanks to whoever put the birthday wish in the messages.

Looking forward to the gig at the Rack and Roll. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I love the big clubs. I’ve also heard that there will be a pub crawl moving around the town. That is sure to bring out a lot of people.

Oct. 29, 2005

F - - - OFF SPIDERMAN!

Tonight was fright night at the Blue mist. I got there before the rest of the boys and the supper crowd was still in. Nobody was dressed up. I guess they were not going to be there for the party.
We in the band also decided this year we would not dress in costumes cause it wasn’t really Halloween and we all had a long week and played the night before, so I guess that the fact that we even showed up was an accomplishment. Sorry, no pics this year.

While the patrons ate their chicken wings, I got set up. It’s hard to keep your boxes and equipment out of the way but we manage. As the night rolled on, the party people started to show up, dressed up in whatever they could think of. Where do I even start? There were so many sights.

One lady, this still cracks me up, was dressed as a cowgirl and she even had a blow up horse. It looked like she was riding the horse. The only thing I could think of was “Save a horse, Ride a cowboy” and I could hardly play every time she turned around the dance floor.
The members of KISS were there. That was cool. They won first prize.
A few men were dressed as women, may be a regular thing, I’m not sure.
One guy was dressed as a pimp and his wife/girlfriend was the hooker/prostitute, I’m not sure really what to call it.
I think though that anorexic spiderman was a riot. I thought I was skinny. Sadly the poor guy was taller than me and I think he was thinner. Too funny. The title, refers to when the costumes were narrowed down to only a few. Spiderman was in the lineup and he wasn’t picked. He was politely told to move along.
I instantly knew, that was going to be the title for this review. I won’t forget this one for a while. The whole scene is burned in my brain and I still laugh when I tell people about it.

In all it was a fun evening. We played an extra twenty minutes at the end and that make for a longer time before I get to go to bed, but I still made some good time.

We’re gonna have a slow November, but I don’t mind the break. I believe there are just two dates on the calender, Sydney and New Waterford. With any luck this will give us some studio time. Before we know it, we will be into December and we are booked solid again. We need time management. Does anybody really know how to do that?

Check your candy before you eat it.

Oct. 28, 2005

Anything you say, can and will be held against you!

That witch showed up. I’m mean really. Big pointy hat and all. Not quite the time for trick or treating but a few people dressed up. They would have won if they were giving out prizes, but they were a day too early. Oh well.

There was a good crowd, but like most times it starts to thin out before closing. Everyone wants to get in line for Herman’s I guess. But it was Friday and that place is slow on Friday, but Slowcoaster was playing and they are a good band. So I don’t know.

Our new covers we picked up are doing great. Ten more like those and we won’t know what to do with the set list. I suggested that we look into some more modern stuff. It’s hard to do sometimes though cause the radio burns the songs out. It is however different to hear a band play the song live.
It’s always better. Well it should be anyways. That is our policy.

We have some time off soon, so hopefully we will start recording again.
Cross your fingers.

Oct. 22, 2005

A new beginning, perhaps?

I guess everyone has heard now that Smooth Herman’s is under new ownership. It will be interesting to see if it goes as long as it has in the past. Good luck I say to them.

It was another crazy crowd. It was funny to see people waiting in line to get on the patio to have their smoke. I would say that there must be a limit on how many people it can hold.

It was cool to hear the crowd singing the words “I GOT SOUL, BUT I’M NOT A SOLDIER”. That song is really doing well for us. I find that the melody gets stuck in your head. Good for them.

After the show the DJ told me that the new owner really liked the band.
I guess we rocked.

Oct. 15, 2005

It’s not about us!

We were asked to play for a wedding reception. This is a long one.

I was supposed to set up at 1pm. Steve and I had our time slots and it was great for me. I was going to meet Steven there. I left my house at 12pm.
I was supposed to drop off a tire for my rig at a garage to be fixed, grab a burger on the way and land there at one.
I made it 10 minutes from my house and my van broke down. The engine died and would not restart.
I was able to turn off the main street on to a side street so I wouldn’t be in heavy traffic. This was a good idea cause I had my son with me.
I thought it would be cool, he could hang with his dad and get to see what it was like when I go to a gig and set up my drums.
So I didn’t drop off my tire, we didn’t get a burger for lunch and my little buddy was getting upset cause we were stuck and he wanted to go home.
I was able to catch Steve before he left. He had planned to take his family with him for a little outing, but they were great enough to tuff it out with me, so Steven came with his empty van. He rescued us and the gear, dropped us off home and went to the hall by himself. I was able to get a ride after my wife was home with our car.

Once there, Steve was good enough to drag all the shit in by himself. The only thing I could think of now is how I’m getting my gear home. I had to get my van towed back to my yard. Regardless I got set up and pounded a couple beats and made sure everything was where I wanted it and hit the road again.

When I got home I had to do something to get my van going so I started to check stuff out. It had started raining at this point so every time I got under the hood I was getting wet. I really didn’t know what I was looking for. The engine was getting spark, but it just wouldn’t catch. Did you know I have a family full of mechanics. It’s true. My dad is an ace around cars and has the business to prove it. A quick call to him and he told me what was wrong and where to check. So I had a bad temperature sensor which caused the engine to dump too much gas in the carburetor and that flooded the engine. I was able to get a new part and get the van going by supper time. It was still raining and I was still getting wet.

Ok, now I need to catch my breath. Anyone bored yet?

I haven’t been to a reception in a while. I like going to them but I’m usually sitting with everyone else listening to a DJ. This time I was in the spotlight with the rest of the wedding party, although that’s not the way it’s supposed to be. They had their day and I’m glad it turned out ok, except for a little rain, but they wanted a rock band and that’s what they got. I can’t even look at this one like one of our regular gigs because it was not. This was all about the bride and groom and we were just there to supply the music. I can’t complain about a thing because it would not be right. We were there to help everyone celebrate the wedding. Even if they had a DJ, there still would have been 200+ people there, so I’m not going to compare this to a club gig. I had a great time. There is not a lot of people who can say they had a band play their wedding. Then imagine when our band takes off, they can say “That band played our wedding and now they are making millions of dollars”. One great thing for us is that there were a lot of people there that do not normally hear us play and that was great. There was a lot of positive feedback. . .

- The bride was beautiful
- The groom was so handsome
- So what it rained, the wedding was perfect
- Great to see the family again
- What a great band
- You guys rock
- The drummer is so cute I just wanna eat him up

You get the picture.
We even got to sneak in the fact that we are playing at Herman’s this weekend coming, so maybe we can draw a few extra people out.
One thing about playing weddings. The age group is wide, from small children to seniors, and we still had the dance floor hopping. I was glad to see that. You don’t want to go to a reception and have everyone sit and watch you. That would be like a lead balloon.
But that is what receptions are for, have a great time and help the new happy married couple relax after a tense day.

Good time had by all.

It was still raining when I was loading up my van at the end of the night.
That’s right, I said my van. It made it to the gig.
Once again it was my destiny to get wet.
I was dragging my equipment out the back door and there was no trough to catch the water, so down it came.
There was twice as much water coming off the roof.
Everybody else was gone except for the sound crew and they were going out the front door where there is a trough installed.
I said goodnight to them and hit the road once again.

So now here is my total for the day

tow home $35
temp sensor $35
gas $20

getting to play at this wedding. . . PRICELESS!

Congratulations!

Oct. 7, 2005

“The Risks We Take!”

I can honestly say I don’t mind being proven wrong. I didn’t think this gig was going to happen the way it did. I thought it was going to flop and that the night would suck.
Well, I was wrong. I believe it was a full house and we rocked the place.

As a matter of fact it was packed when I got there. That was the late supper crowd and some of them stayed. We actually had a great size crowd starting off the first set. That’s the way a gig is supposed to go. I still tell people, “I remember 10 or so years ago, if you didn’t get there by nine, you were gonna have to stand.” It’s not so much like that anymore, but the crowd at Rollie’s was close.

Talk about great weather. I decided to wear a sweat shirt to the gig cause I thought the evening was getting a little chilly. Man, did I sweat. I gave my new deodorant a workout. The bar was crazy warm.

I don’t think the staff anticipated the big crowd because they couldn’t keep up to the bar. It took a while to get drinks. That’s tuff for the people that go there for that reason. It’s hard to the buzz on if you can’t get a drink.

Well there you go. Once again proven wrong. Hey wait, that’s only the first time.
I guess that’s why I don’t mind.
“I’m usually always 90% sure I’m right about 10% of the things I think I know what I’m talking about half the time.”
Can you follow that? That was a little excerpt from a conversation me and Steven had at the Main Event. I can’t even remember what we were talking about, but I’m almost 90% sure it makes as much sense as what I’m talking about now.

So use my words of wisdom and don’t be afraid to take risks. You may just be right 10% of the time.

Oct. 1, 2005

“Look, it’s the drummer from Sesame Street”

Being sick sucks. Last weekend Rob had a cold and I picked one up around Tuesday and it was still hanging on by Saturday. Running nose, can’t breathe, no energy, and I was looking forward to this gig. I would have liked to stay home and vegetate, just so I would feel better, but I wanted to play.
So I dragged myself out and setup my gear, and then had a little time to relax before the show.

The first set was a quiet one. There were only a few people there. I couldn’t help but flash back to the last time we played here. “Oh great!” I thought, not another one? We should just start playing at 11 o'clock.
It did however pick up.
By the end of the night it was full and everyone was crazy.
For some reason I was suffering from one of the top ten drumming mysterys. Oh yes, there are ten and would you know that I was doing the number one.
"The Incredible Leaping Drumstick."
This usually will happen during a drum solo, but I didn't do one this night. I could not hold on to my sticks if I wanted. They just kept flying out of my hands. It's as if someone was grabbing them out of my hands. Not a great feeling.

My cold was taking its toll. I don’t really sing now until the middle of the second set and that’s just a little backup vocals. I don’t sing any lead until third set and I didn’t have much vocal abilities or air for that matter. Playing drums by itself takes a lot of wind, but when you put singing on top of that while being sick, you use up twice as much energy just trying to make it all work. I was exhausted by the time we finished. I didn’t have the energy to take down my equipment, but managed to find it somewhere.

We have another gig coming this Friday. My cold still lingers, but I feel I’m on the up side of it. Just a bit of a cough now and I think I’ll be all right. I am of course an optimist.

On the plus side, we have been booked for New Years Eve. It’s funny because I never really thought about it and the band didn’t even talk about it. I guess it’s a nice surprise.

I also noticed that our counter on the web page has over 3000 hits. I guess people are looking at our page. That’s good to know.

Until next time, “Can you tell me how to get . . . ”

Sept. 24, 2005

“We could’ve just played the last set”

Back to normal today. Don’t mind going to this gig at all. Got a good sleep and feeling good.

I should have got Tony to do some Jedi mind control on me the night before to make me feel better.
We had a great start. There were lots of fun and laughter. That’s the way a gig should be, “Fun” with a capital F. I guess I don’t have to write that cause you can read it.

Rob was suffering from a cold and Jedi mind control would not make him forget he had one, so he had to tuff it out.

If someone asks to “close your eyes and sniff” you may want to take caution. No harm done.

I'm gonna go left for a bit
We now have a song on the radio and I guess I don’t have to tell people who follow the band this info, the point is, I thought I would be more excited. I don’t listen to radio much, but I have heard the song on the radio. It’s really not fizzing me at all and I don’t know why. I should be happy. Well I am. I should be proud. Well I am. I should be more excited, well I’m not. When we play it live now, it’s supposed to be different cause it’s not a cover song and if you heard it on the radio and then hear us do it live, it’s supposed to be “I’ve heard that on the radio and this is the band, WOW!” I think it’s because I have always remained humble in my own way and try not let things like this go to my head. It’s the same when people give me compliments on my playing. I sort of stand back and say to myself “shucks, really, you think so?” Maybe it’s because I don’t make a big deal of it myself. Don’t get me wrong, I love compliments, I love having a song on the radio and I love playing for an audience and making them happy.
I guess it’s just me.
Here is a good example. A few people I know that I haven’t seen in a while asked me, “hey what’s new?”. My answer was “oh you know, same old shit.” And something clicks and I say, “oh, my band has a song on the radio.” Duh! I guess I never liked to brag about anything. I should start. I think I’ve been in this long enough that I deserve bragging rights. Do you think so? Don’t worry folks, my doctor says it’s a mild head trauma and I will get over it.

Where’s Tony with that Jedi mind control when you need him?

Moving right along. Apparently alcohol is a good remedy for a lot of ailments. A little shot will fix you right up, for about 15 minutes, then you’re on your own again.

This turned out to be a crazy night with a big crowd. The night before we did the break down where we introduce the band members and we do a little solo. Mine was very short. So I decided that this night I would use a bit of stored energy and go a little longer. The crowd really eats up the drum solo. Most time I try to stay with beat of the song, just so the people can keep on dancing. I feel if I stray too much, they may get board, “I can’t dance to that shit” and go sit down. So I turned left and right and watch Tony on the side, cheering me on, or was he using mind control making me work harder? It all makes sense now. The bastard molded my weak mind and made me go crazy on the drums and freak out. Ah, what the heck, the crowd loved it.

The crowd was so into us that there were a lot of screaming going on. I think that is my favorite part, the roar of the crowd. And the bigger the crowd, the bigger the roar.

Like a lion, we roar back . . . with our music!

Sept. 23, 2005

I guess last week there were only a few people.

I didn’t want to do this gig. I wasn’t in the mood to play. I was feeling a bit ill and was tired and just wanted to stay home and relax and do nothing. I’ve been sick before and still wanted to play a gig but for some reason this was different. While driving there, I was still saying to myself, “I’ll just play the gig and keep to myself and not talk to anybody and then go home.”

After I started setting up my drums, I was starting to come around. Although not 100%, I was slowly getting into gig mode.
Another thing I would think about is that the crowd would probably be small and that would suck.

We got all set up and sound was checked and then we started the show. Of course the first set is always slow, so I didn’t let that bother me.
As the night went on, I decided to just play the songs and not complain and get through it.

The crowd got bigger and I was more in the mood. By the end of the night, it was a full house and the crowd was having a good time.
This made me feel a lot better.

I was happy going home and couldn’t wait to play the next night.

I guess I don’t mind taking the bad, with the good.

Sept. 9, 2005

Some things are not meant to be!

Where does everybody go when you want them to be in a certain place? Remember ever having a birthday party and inviting your whole class and only 10 people show up. What happens? Unless you are sick or had a prior engagement, then you should be there.
Maybe a poor example, but I don’t care.

I was a little disappointed with the small crowd we had. I still perform the same but I don’t put out as much energy. I guess it was a paid practice. They don’t come along that often. I don’t think the bar owners will see it that way, but it is what it is.

Regardless of the size of the crowd, we give the same show. We even had four new tunes in the set. I think Fridays are now just another week day and that Saturday is the only weekend day there is. Most people wait until Saturday to do their partying. I suppose there are many who have to work on Sat. morning so I can understand that. Both Tony and I had to get up early the next day. I don’t think Tony got any sleep cause he was up before the chickens.

So there you have it. I shall complain no more of this gig, for now it is but water under the bridge and turning back time is impossible and complaining any more only makes me crazy and there’s nothing I can do to get people out to a gig and don’t cry over spilled milk and what came first the chicken or the egg and those who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones and Rob got to see the Rolling Stones and the rest of us didn’t and I was home by 3:15 Sunday morning and 7:00 a.m. came real fast and I’m out of things to say.

Ok, now I feel better.

Sept. 3, 2005

The Evolution of Me.

This was not a buzz gig, but I was there and this page is about my experiences, I thought I would put it in.
I filled in with the local band “Evolution” at the Blue Mist. If you like good fast music, check these guys out. This band is a lot heavier than our band. I had fun playing this kind of music.
I don’t think I really played punk before. It’s cool.

I was really beating myself up over learning these songs. I had to learn 35 songs just so I could do one gig. This is not the type of music you can just “sit in” and expect to be able to play them. It was a challenge and I loved it. Once I got to the gig and started playing the songs, I felt a lot better.

I didn’t have to sing or set up any electronic equipment at all so by the end of the night, it did not take me long to put away my drums. That was a good feeling. After a quick chat with the boys I headed for home. It was refreshing and a great experience.

Thanks guys.

August 27, 2005

Had a date with a hunchback and do they float?

It’s two, two, two titles in one.

Anyway, we played for a lovely, in the mood to party, lets celebrate 25 years of being married kind of crowd. It was a blast. Just drink until you fall down, but don’t get hurt, and laugh your ass off.
This gig was special for Rob because he actually played at the wedding when the couple got married 25 years ago. That’s cool. When we were leaving, the groom (sorry I don’t have names) asked if we would be able to do it again in 25 years. Well...we will have to see, as we all start doing the math in our heads. I would like to think that I will be capable of doing it, but I’m not gonna hold my breath and wait for the time to pass. Just ask me again in 25 years.

I was having trouble with the stage sound. I could hardly hear anyone else in the band. It was hard to relate to the band but I know the songs so I don’t rely on them to get through the songs. Unless of course if it is an intro or something. I got through without too much fuss.

I didn’t get to see Mars. We were supposed to go outside and look at the moon. Next to that we would be able to see the red planet. I guess it was going to be the closest yet. Now I have to wait another billion years. I don’t have time for that.

The 25 year thing now doesn’t seem that far away.

August 13, 2005

Welcome to the BBQ pit!

I like to call it the dog pound. Then I heard it referred to as the “wishing well.” Too funny. What I’m talking about is the little brick wall that surrounds the band at Daniels. I guess we could call it a lot of things. It’s really a pain in the ass! It does however, stop people from falling on the band. To tell you the truth, it really doesn’t affect me at all. So be it.

It turned out to be a typical night. Good crowd, lively bunch. I do believe this was the warmest gig this year. We were all drenched from sweating. I mean really sweating. It was almost unbearable. But we are troopers, so we push on. When the band sweats that much, it looks like we have worked extra hard. We work the same every night. It just looks better. The heat does take its toll however. It sucks the energy right out of you. I didn’t have much left after that. The time off will be nice.

I’m already looking forward to recording new songs. Hopefully “Not in Love” catches on and that will give the drive to work harder. Time is flying by and I would have liked to have released a cd before the end of the year, but I don’t think that is realistic. I guess one never knows. I leave you now with one of my favorite quotes . . .

“Do or do not, there is no try”-Yoda

August 12, 2005

“Well that’s four inches, that’s unacceptable”.

Friday at the Rack is always slower than Saturday, but we grin and bare it. The first set was basically a waste. It was a good warm up for us. I think there was only about 20 people there.
Like I said, it is a good warm up set.

When we were getting ready for the second set there were more people and they were starting to get into it. This now puts us a set behind and by the time we play the third set, it’s like “ I can’t believe this is the last set. See what I mean. I waste really. But as that classic old song says,
“Don’t tell my heart, My achy breaky heart, I just don’t think he’d understand.”

There was a bunch of ladies having a “staget” party and they had some friends from England. Imagine, they drove all the way from England just to party with us. They must have seen the gig in our list and thought, this would be a good time to go to Canada and get “the buzz” on. I like when people take the time to get in their car and come and see us play. Don’t you just love how people from other parts of the world talk funny. I love hearing people with a different accent. They just stand out so much from the way we talk normal around here. Know what I mean “bye”, or is it “by” or “bi” or “buy” or ...
According to www.urbandictionary.com it is “bye”.

A term a person from Cape Breton (Nova Scotia Canada) uses in reference to a person.

Instead of saying there name they use "bye"
What’s going on bye? Instead of, what’s going on Bill?

Why the hell am I explaining this? So many questions, so little time.

So to make a long story short, I was born, sometime along the way I started playing drums, learned some songs, played in a few bands, ended up in this band, decided it was a good thing, learned some more songs played several bookings which eventually lead to this booking and heard some funny speaking people from England “Gi’day Mate” and had to play my drums off center stage, finished the gig, went to Tim Horton’s for a tea and drove home. Was that short? I lost track.

Keep Rockin.

August 3, 2005

“Let’s do a Firefighters convention.”

“The Delta, on a Wednesday?”

“We can’t set up until what time?”

“The chicken wings were good.”

“Fourteen f#*king dollars for a pound of wings and a beer. They weren’t that good!”

“Why are they closing that wall?”

“This keeps getting better and better.”

“You know it’s gonna be too loud?”

“It funny how people react to alcohol.”

“I counted 40 people at one time.”

“They always like the drummer.”

I could have used any title, but in the end they really enjoyed the band and we got a big “in” with the hotel.
It was worth it.

August 1, 2005

BIG NEWS!

The tune “NOT IN LOVE” is finally finished.

Me, Rob and Steve spent the day at Sound Park Studio to have the “spit and polish” as I like to call it, put on our song. Steve left about half way through the session and myself and Rob stayed until the end of the day. It was about 8 hours. Who would think it would take 8 hours to mix a song. The tune was recorded in my own studio and then we took it to Jamie Foulds. The man is a genius when it comes to that stuff. I was happy he was able to use our tracks because that says something for my studio.

While I was there, I tried to pay as much attention as possible without getting in the way or bothering Jamie. I learned a lot. What a great guy and so opened minded. He was a great help. He and Rob analyzed the song until it was just right.
I even managed to get myself invited to watch some recording sessions, as long as the artist doesn't mind. I know what it's like to be recording for eight hours, you do not want anything to slow you down.

When Steve had to leave, Jamie mentioned that watching him mix a song is kinda like “watching paint dry.” I can see what he means.

What a great studio Sound Park is. We are all happy how the song has turned out. It is of course now ready for radio. I don't know when they will get it, but it should be released soon, so keep your ears on.

July 30, 2005

"You guys are only a four piece band so that will leave us with about 18 channels of D.F.A.”

Yacht Club Days-Descouse Hall, here we go.

I had bad feelings about this gig since we were there the last time. I don’t care how much we get paid, if the crowd is not gonna be there, then I don’t want to be there. I really didn't want to go.
Much to my surprise, when we got there, we were told they had sold over 400 tickets and they eventually sold out. Now that’s what I like to hear.

After the last time we played there, we also told the hall that we wanted rooms so we could spend the night. Last time I drove home alone and fell asleep behind the wheel. NOT a great feeling.
So that was that. We were gonna stay over night. One thing lead to another and we all decided that we didn’t want to stay at a “bed and breakfast” and we drove home. This time I was not alone and managed to stay awake for the whole trip. Thanks Tone.

What a great crowd. They loved the band. Sorry folks, we don’t do some of the songs that you heard us play in other bands. Maybe next time, maybe not.

As long as they keep coming back, I don’t mind going.

For those that want to know about “D.F.A.”, just ask me.

July 23, 2005

They are gonna give us flat beer!

A very hot and crowded Smooth Hermans. We had some what of an early crowd and the place was just rocking. I really like the new windows in the place. It makes it look bigger.

I decided that I am gonna meditate on my breaks.
So I find myself a quiet dark place on the stage and sit there and fold my legs, just like people who meditate do.
I figure I can clear my brain of all the excitement going on in the club and prepare myself for the next set.
While I’m sitting there I go into a deep trance and zone out all of the outside noise.
The only thing I hear now is silence...
Even the thump of the dance music is completely wiped from my being.
I think of soft colors and imagine a waterfall or wind blowing.
I am completely relaxed now.
At this point I start to think of the upcoming songs.
Unfortunately I can’t remember the set list so I had it done in brail and I use my fingers to figure what the next song is because my eyes are closed.
This turns out to be quite the challenge because I can’t read brail.
I don’t let this get me down. I still stay in my relaxed state. You can do a lot of relaxing in 45 minutes.
As I’m flowing down the waterfall I use all my brain power to think of what the next set will consist of.
The harder I think the deeper in the water I sink. I’m slowly losing my concentration.
So I release a bit of energy and stop thinking of the music. “Just relax” I tell myself.
Once again I sail softly on the wind.
I take a different approach and try to think of all the songs we just played and minus them from the set, this will leave the ones that I need to think about.
Well, I'm still drawing a blank. I must be relaxed too much.
At this point my legs are starting to fall asleep.
Pins and needles drags me from the clouds and my soft pastel colors turn to dark grey.
My meditation has to be ended.
All my positive energy has turn into “Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy...thump, thump, thump.
I can’t remember a damn song.
Shit, I can’t even move my legs and when I open my eyes, I find that someone has spilled my free beer.
Screw this, I need to go to the bathroom.
At least there I know I will get release.
I will look at the set list when we go back on.

Now, what the hell am I gonna do for the next 40 minutes?

July 16, 2005

“NEAR!”

I like beer bashes. I like the big buildings and big sound and big lights and big beers. What can I say. I’m not a big fan of the natural reverb of the rink but hey, I get to bash the shit out of my drums and make a lot of noise.

It was a slow start. They wanted us to play 9 to 1 and I think they where set up for about 1000 people, I’m really not sure. So we start at 9 and there are only a hand full of people. I wasn’t really impressed cause I heard that this is a big night. So where is everyone?

During our break they ask us will we play till 2 instead of 1. What do we care, we are already in the building and set up. So we name our price, everyone is happy and Rob works on an extra set.

Just after getting started on our 3rd set, our power supply shuts down and we are in the dark and with no sound, that is of course for the drums. You see, they will make noise no matter what, so I jump into an improv drum solo just to keep everyone on their toes. They could hear me, but they couldn’t see me. “FOLLOW THE SOUND OF MY DRUMS...MARCO!” As this is happening, I’m thinking, “ok people find the switch cause I can’t keep this up for ever”. So the switch was not found as soon as I wanted and I made up some kind of dumb ending, got up and went to see if I could help.
There was nothing I could do.

Before we knew it, the power was back on and we continued.

The crowd had grown by this time and I was happy with the turn out. I think there were a lot of new faces who got to see us and maybe we made some new fans. We did our 2 o’clock thing and we survived the extra hour, and a great time was had by all.

In other news...
Here’s an update of our song “Not in Love”.
We will put the finishing touches on it during the weekend of July 22 and if all goes as planned it will be going for mix and polish on the following Monday.
Maybe I shouldn’t say anything so I don’t put a curse on the whole thing. “Very superstitious, writing on the wall”.
After that I guess it will be ready for radio. This is the part we’ve been waiting for.
I’m also waiting for more songs to record. Recording is fun.
I can’t explain it, but as you record, more ideas pop out of your head than you had planned and the song sometimes takes a turn for the better, as did this song.

Wish us luck.

“FAR!”

July 1, 2005

HAPPY CANADA DAY

Do you know how old Canada is?

Some people don’t. My son wanted to know and I said I wasn’t sure at the time but we will find out. So I picked up the news paper and started looking, and out of the whole paper I found one add that had the answer. It was a message for Mayor John Morgan. So I told my son the answer and told him to remember and if anyone asked, he would have the answer for them. I would ask him every so often through out the day and he would tell me. I told him that not too many people would know, but that he would.

It was a cloudy cool day for celebrating the countries birthday but we did so. I thought for sure it would be cold in the tent on the North Sydney waterfront. So I dressed the way I thought would keep me comfortable and I was peeling my sweat shirt off after two songs. Ok relax everyone, I was wearing a shirt under my sweat shirt. No I don’t play commando, although I have thought about it.

Once again it was a large crowd. The weather had no impact in the amount of people who wanted to wish a happy birthday to our beautiful country. The crowd was crazy and full of the birthday spirit. One guy wanted to hear us play some Rankin music. “Sorry buddy, we don’t have a piano or a fiddle”.
OK then.

We have done this gig in the past and will probably do it again. It is a short and sweet gig that gets us a lot of attention and it is over before we know it. Unfortunately there was a potential ritual that could have been continued but some of the persons involved we not there. I guess timing is everything.
{Don’t wiz on the electric fence}.

Happy 138 Canada.

June 25, 2005

Back to the grind.

As I had said before, it will be hard to go back. But we carry on. We manage to squeeze ourselves back into the Blue Mist and do so with turmoil about who gets to put what where and I need this room and you can’t put that there. On a big stage we don’t have this problem. But we make do.

The crowd was pleased once again. Some of us were suffering from that old Cape Breton liquid flu from the night before over drinking and don’t know when to go home. We did survive. It was a good gig and very warm. My little fan was working overtime and it was basically blowing around hot air. What can you do. It is the nature of the beast, one that we gladly take on every week. I guess every night if we could.

The buzz train rolls on.

June 11, 2005

One journey ended, a new one beginning.

This show was incredible. This was our biggest show yet, not because of the amount of people {we have played for more} but by the size of the stage and the production and it was at Center 200. I can finally say I played there. It was just like a big concert. We had the honor of playing the graduation for the NSCC. My hat is off to all of them.
We all know what it is like finally finish something you start and the great feeling you have inside after all the time and dedication you put in to it.

The band totally enjoyed this show. The big stage, tons of lights, big sound. It really makes it hard to go back to the little clubs again.
I guess we will have to suck it up.

Go here for pics of the show.

June 10, 2005

My grandfather told me to never work in a mine, but somehow I still end up in the PIT.

The Kinsmen convention went something like this.

We were in Sydney but it felt like rock in the USA. I has sad eyes when everyone started to leave as soon as we started playing. They wanted to go to the building next door and get fueled up. Somewhere in the middle, they started to come back. I thought I could live with what was going on but like a freeze frame the set took forever. After a bit, some brown eyed girl from Newfoundland wanted to hear some music we didn’t play and we said it would be like running down a dream. {I don’t know what that means} If you spell Enid backward it spells dine. That has nothing to do with the gig. I’m sure if we looked hard enough, we would have found someone named Cecilia but it probably would take a Chinatown Calculation and I would turn yellow waiting for sweet Caroline to come to the dance floor. By this time I want to be sedated and turn on your receiver so that I can hit the highway to hell and take a break.

It started off as an ordinary day until my van had starter problems. At the gig as we were playing and people were leaving, one of them said “where are we running?”, and oh yes we will miss you. That really only left two for the show and that’s not a lot for the hippy, hippy shake. I figured they were all going to Swing town but that is like 500 miles away. If you take the Copperhead road it doesn’t take as long. I know that they were not in love with our set so we threw them some little bones, stuff like “oh lonesome me and keep you hands to yourself”. That really brought them around so we said let’s go crazy and gel. Of course by this time it was way past 7 o’clock.

I’m not sure what street we were on but it felt like the boulevard of broken dreams. Everyone had come back for a good time so I no longer had sad eyes. The dance floor shook as if New Orleans was sinking and they were gonna party way past 3am. They say the first cut is always the deepest so should I stay or should I go. They gave us free hotdogs, which was great cause I was hungry like the wolf and let out a rebel yell. As they rocked the dance floor I could see one guy waiting for his wife. He was like, “baby when you’re gone, you leave me high and dry”. What a hippy. Dude, get a haircut and a real job, cause were not ready to go and we still have a few songs to play.

We finished the night with “Sweet child of mine”.

“I never again will go back underground”

May 28, 2005

I’d like to send this out to my buddy Ron.

TOO funny. Monster crowd. Don’t have to tell you that if you were there, and I know you were. I’m always amazed at people. I guess you are all wondering where I’m going with this. Here goes.

So there we are, playing for a big crowd and I can here from the dance floor, “you guys suck”. So I am thinking, “is this chick serious and how fucking stoned is she?” I mean, have we been fooling ourselves this whole time in thinking that we are a great band? Has everyone in the past year that told us we were awesome been lying to us so they would not have to hurt our feeling? Have the crowds that keep coming back to see us play over and over have no where else in the world to go? Is my mom lying to me cause I’m her son? Are we fooling ourselves into thinking that anyone would want to hear a CD from us? Am I to believe that I will never get a Sabian endorsement? Is this reality that I know not even real? Am I asleep when I awake and awake when I’m asleep. Can I think of any more stupid questions? GET THE FUCK OUT!
Sorry. I know how to handle my anger. I’m still trying to figure out if this person was joking or not. It really doesn’t matter, cause I do have a sense of humor. I know that it is hard to tell from the tough exterior that I put on, but I really do have one.

NEXT!

Not 10 minutes after we finished a song, someone asks us to play the same song. The reply “we just played that song, where the fuck were you?” I don’t think they knew what to say, but the answer was “upstairs”. Having a smoke I’m sure. I guess we will have to turn up the volume so they can hear upstairs. Would you believe someone requested “Brown eyed girl”. I mean really, no one plays that song. So I said, “no one plays that song”. Then she asked for “Dec 63" I mean really, no one plays that song. So I said “no sorry”. What a gap in songs I thought. So then she said, “well do you do anything dancey?” So now I know she has never heard the band, cause everybody knows that we only play fucking polka music. So I told her, “yes the whole set”, and that was the end of that conversation.

NEXT!

Every had the case of mistaken identity? I’m not gonna mention any names here but someone I know sat at a table and struck up a conversation with a guy and didn’t believe it wasn’t who he thought it was. That was probably the highlight of the evening cause I had a great laugh. I only wish I could have witnessed it.

All in all it was a good night. I was horse from the night before so I thought for sure there is no way I gonna hit some of the notes I sing. To my surprise I has more power than the night before. It was a great night and I’m looking forward to the big one at Center 200. I’m going to video this one and with luck I will make up some videos to down load. Keep your fingers crossed.

I don’t think we suck, do we?

May 27, 2005

Who is this guy?

Not too often we have an opening act. Ya, right! I’m not sure why the club does this, but it is a pain in the ass. So are flames about 3 feet high, but that’s a different story.

They put a band in from 5:30 to 9:30. We are supposed to start at 10. That leaves a half an hour to set up. That is not enough time for me alone to set up. Any one that feels sorry for me can send money to PO BOX 1000 Station K... just kidding. Let’s just say it’s a good thing we start at 10:30. Fridays are always a little slower than Saturday. That’s ok cause we still had a pretty good crowd. I think I say that for every Friday we play here. I will have to look back. Unfortunately I was fighting a cold this week and it was taking it’s toll on me for the whole night. I had thought that singing was gonna be a problem, but turns out that breathing was the problem. I was coming up short of breath for everything, so ultimately that effects the singing. It was hard to hold the notes for a long time. So I was tired at the end of this gig. Anyone that feels sorry for me can send money to PO BOX 1000 Station K...just kidding. I was a little horse by the end of this one. No pun intended
We had fun, it was a great time, and as always, I survived.

Just remember, that’s PO BOX 1000...

May 21, 2005

What is a Birthday?

This was our first time in NW for a long time. We had to cancel the last show cause one of the band was ill. We take the good times with the bad. I was told while I was setting up that the new cabaret up the street was going to open on the same night. I was pretty confident that it would not affect our show. I was right.

There were a few birthdays. It’s always nice when we get asked to wish a happy birthday to another. I believe that people really enjoy hearing there name announced and then the crowd gives a big cheer. But what is a birthday really? The date we were born? Yes. And are we really getting older? Physically we are. Mentally? I truly believe that depends on the person. I had two of my friends have birthdays this week as well. I can go back to when we were kids and I would always remember one was the 24th and then one was the 25th. Those dates just went by again and I find myself saying, “I can’t believe we are “this” old. It seems like yesterday we were writing our test to get our beginners licence. WOW! Where does the time go? It’s the same old story. Life is a blink. I remember back when I was a kid and my step dad turned 35. It always seemed like that was old. Now I find myself near that same age and I wonder did he think of the same things that I think now. Mentally I think I am a lot younger although I have my life experience that makes me wiser. But I wonder am I the same mentally as I was ten years ago or am I younger than that. Weird right? I’m happy all the time. I’m not an angry young man like 15 years ago when anything that made you mad, you wanted to punch a hole in a wall. There comes the experience part. I have learned to control anger and stress and be a happier person. That is what I believe is the key to staying young and of course stress free. Knowing what to control and where to put it. Why be happy when you are having a shitty day? Well even a shitty day will end sometime. You have to optimistic. A famous man said that the key is to replace the word “problem” with the word “challenge”. So now you now longer have any problems in your life, you only have challenges. And as humans, we by instinct rise up to any challenge that we are given. As I think back through the years, I think of different little stupid things that would piss me off to the point I would get frustrated and want to destroy something. Have you ever gotten your zipper stuck on your jacket, you know those shitty vinyl kind? Well that would just send me sailing. Or, you can’t work some kind of mechanism that normally works with ease like a stuck pad lock on a barn, a jar that won’t open, pots and pans won’t stay in the cupboard no matter how you stack them. There are a million more. Experience has taught me that getting mad doesn’t make it open easier or work easier or stack easier and so on. Don’t get me wrong, there are still things that piss me off, I just handle the situation better. I try to have a positive outlook on everything.
Live is short, the birthdays are flying by now and we have to live each day to the fullest.

Happy Birthday!

May 14, 2005

I want to be Sedated!

“I’m sorry people, but you are not allowed to take pictures of the band. Ok, go ahead.”

This day started off with me going to a funeral. What a drag. Death really sucks. It was kind of weird really. It was no one from my family or close friend but a person still feels sorry for the family and friends of the departed. As we all know, life goes on.

Once the funeral was over, I left all that behind and looked forward for the gig. Once again we will cram ourselves into the dog pen, as I like to call it, and do our thing. I’m OK cause my space is my space and that is that. Unfortunately, once I set up, everyone else just has to use the space around me. It can get really tight some time. It sure doesn’t leave much room for the choreographed dance routine that we spend countless hours working on. You know you have to be prepared. Silly brick wall.

I think the size of the crowd was great. Maybe cause they closed the downstairs section, so everyone had no choice but to be sandwiched in upstairs. Makes it hard to get around.

I always wonder where all the pictures end up, cause everyone has digital cameras and you know a lot of people are part of some internet group. The flashes were flying and I know that we are in some of the shots. I will have to start advertising the web page more and maybe some people will have some good pics of us and email them. That would be grand. Sometime the most unexpected shot is a real good one and it would be great for the page. I haven’t got any updated shots in a long, long time.

I want to be Sedated?
What the hell is up with that song? I don’t care anymore. I’m not looking back. What’s done is done and it will be better from here on in or so help me God, I will set it on fire. Sure like that’s gonna happen. I know. I start to ramble sometime and end up talking about something else.
I’m mean really, do we half to mic the hihat in such a small room? I don’t argue with the sound tech. That’s what he’s there for. I can’t say sound man anymore. I guess it’s not correct. Sound-person would be alright I guess. Don’t blame me for being born a hick Cape Bretoner.
Where do we go from here? No one really knows. I know we will be playing in NW on the 21st. The name is on the sign.
I some time wish they would not announce that there is a winner for the lotto on the radio. I use my radio for my alarm and the news is the first thing I hear every morning, that is, right after the rooster, and if they don’t say “we have a winner” then I don’t bother to check my ticket.
Rob has tickets for Blue Rodeo. I think. I’m sure he said that at the gig. He says a lot of things. I don’t hear everything and what I do hear I don’t understand or I don’t listen. I’m a great listener when is comes to listening. Unless you are talking about boring stuff or smoking. I don’t smoke and you shouldn’t either. Did you smoking is bad for you? A lot of people don’t know this. Some people don’t know too much.
Sometimes I have too much time on my hands and sometime I never have enough time. Do you know what I mean? Do you? What is time anyway? If you think about it, now is now. Lets’ wait a few seconds.......ok it’s still now. Isn’t that weird?
I’ll tell you what’s weird, at the start of the first song, my arm was kinda numb feeling. Yes, right off the bat. By the end of the set, it was gone and the rest of the night was OK. I guess I have to start warming up before I play. So I will bring my practice pad so I don’t make too much noise.
Drums are noisy. But it’s nice noise. Try this, say “NICE NOISE” several times fast. I tried to play fast at the drum fest.
Let me explain. They have this drum pad that when you hit it, it counts the beats. The idea is to see how many beats you can play in one minute. It even has a clock. The first time you hit it, the clock starts and will stop after sixty seconds. Sounds easy, right? It is easy to hit a drum. I do it all the time. The world record is just over 1200 beats in one minute. I did it for 10 seconds and I only played 130 beats. So technically I should be able to play 780 beats in one minute. In theory. In reality I probably can’t maintain that speed for the whole minute. But I don’t measure my stamina in speed, I have to measure in dexterity. I watched a young guy do about 850 beats in the minute. That was great, but I thought, “Can you go out and play a four hour show?” I can and that’s great. Speed will come later, maybe. It depends if I need it or not.
Think of a tool box. You have all your tools you need to do your job. If not, you go out and get what you need. If you have a fifty pound sledge hammer in your tool box and you use it once a year, you may want to leave it home. See what I mean. I do.
I have to replace some boards on my patio. I’m not gonna use a fifty pound hammer. I don’t even have one. You see, I don’t need it, so I don’t have it. I hope you get the picture.
Do you think someone got some good pics of us. Who knows?
Maybe I should be sedated. Was that enough of a ramble for you? Did you like the way I moved from topic to topic. I didn’t even stop to go to the bathroom.
I just opened my brain and it all fell out. The words I mean, not my brain.
It’s still up there some where, over the rain bow, way up high.

I hope I didn’t forget anything. Isn’t it nice to be happy?

May 7, 2005

Have you seen my friend?

I don’t know where they go on Friday’s, but there is no lack of people for Saturday. What a difference. When the place is this crowded, I don’t like to walk around. A trip to the bar is as far as I like to go. I’m glad we have our own bathroom. It’s kind of funny to watch all the drunk people get off to the music, whether it’s the band or the dj. They just stand there and get absorbed by the music and lose control. Almost like a drug.

We recorded this weekend with the plan of making a live cd. At least that’s the plan. I’m not sure yet how the disk turned out. You will also be happy to know that Rob and I, started to lay the tracks for “Not in Love.” With a little time and patience I think it will sound really great. The little bits we have now which are drums and acoustic guitars with a scrub vocal track sound great already. I can’t wait to hear it with the rest of the band and the proper vocals. The song is really taking on a life of its’ own. I guess we can’t ask for anything more than that. Rob said it best, “a song is like a child” so I guess we will teach it to walk and send it on it’s way.
Look out world, our children are coming and they want it all!

May 6, 2005

I guess they are gonna stay open.

I sure missed playing last Saturday. After watching the drumfest, I couldn't wait to pound the shit out of my drums. We had three weekends off, that adds up to a month when you count the weeks. That sucks.

I knew we were gonna be rusty, but we pulled off the night. Nobody likes to play Smoothies on Friday anymore. The crowds are just no there. Don't get me wrong, there were a few around by the end of the night. I was guessing 50 or so but someone told me it was more like over 100. I was never good at guessing the size of a crowd.

We just kinda vegetated on our breaks. Poor Rob has to work on Saturday mornings and it is a late night. At least we didn’t have to break down. Saturday nights are always better. We got the kinks worked out for Saturday.

April 30, 2005

Buzz show runs like Clockwork!

Well, what can you do. If a person is sick, you can’t argue with nature. It is better to stay home and get well then end up killing yourself. So sorry to the folks who were expecting the Buzz and didn’t get what they want.
Thanks to Clockwork for doing the gig for us in such short time.

Me on the other hand had a blast at the Cape Breton International Drum Festival. What a show this year. You will have to check it out.
CB Drumfest
Hopefully they have some new pics for this years show. If not you can see mine.

Until then, looking forward to the next gig.

April 9, 2005

Can I ask you a question?

We played the Blue mist. It was a good gig. I had a great time. The band was really hot. Just so you know, we don't like it when people scream in the mics. There is really no need for that. But hey, life goes on. I’m glad you all liked my last entry. I like to go off in my world when I can’t think of nothing to write about. That is how I feel now. I usually analyze the crowd and pick out interesting things that caught my attention. I didn’t do that for this gig. I hid in the back room and just chilled.

So now as I write this, it is a week later, Saturday April 16/05 at five minutes to 11pm. That’s right. We are off and I find myself trying to occupy my time. My family are all in bed so I figured this is a great time to update the page and work on some music.

So here I sit in my little studio, drinking some beers and Buzz Rock Radio is playing in the background. Dirty Deeds is playing. It’s funny, cause that recording is close to a year old if not already. I can tell by listening that we have grown as a band. As I listen to the live songs, there are points when you can hear the crowd at the end of the songs and I am reminded how I am electrified every time we play live and I hear the roar of the crowd. It’s hard to explain, kind of like a drug. The average person will never experience it and I don’t mean to insult anyone when I say that.

I remember when I played my first performance as rock band in high school. We were so nervous but only to happy to do it again. We played every concert they would let us in. When I was in grade 12, I joined a real bar band and I remember my first real bar gig that I got paid for. I was rehearsing with the band and wasn’t supposed to start until a month later. After a week of rehearsal, the leader called me up and asked could I play that weekend cause the drummer was finished early. I’m like “I guess so”. So I practice my ass off. My first gig was at The Heather in NewWaterford. It was a Thursday and Friday night. What a way to start, in front of your home town. Then Saturday the gig was at the Ingonish Lodge. Sure I was nervous, but lots of alcohol cured that. That was a great weekend back in 1990. WOW! Fifteen years ago. I think the only thing that changed with me is that I have a different set of drums and I’m a little fatter. I said a little. Ten pounds I think.

“Would you believe it’s now 10 after 11pm and Highway to Hell is on the Buzz Radio and from what I can see, no one is listening. That’s ok though, cause I’m listening. My beer is just about empty. Time for a refill.”

I don’t get nervous any more for gigs no matter how many people are there. I’m actually more comfortable playing for a large crowd than I am speaking to a small crowd. Nobody really likes to speak in front of a crowd. They have courses you can take to help you develop pubic speaking. From what I hear, it works miracles.

I think the biggest crowd I ever played for was a beer bash at the Port Hood Arena. The crowd was 2600 hundred if I remember correctly. Although, the Canada Day gigs on the North Sydney waterfront quite possibly attract more people. Last year in 2004 I played in the Cape Breton International Drum Festival and it was just me in front of the crowd, all by myself with only a drum set. My biggest fear was that I stay on time with my backup music. It was a hard one. All 3 songs of it. Probably the longest three songs of my life.

We're supposed to rehearse on Thursday of this coming week. Cross your fingers cause we plan on working on new original stuff. I like that idea a lot. I loaded my PC with lots of ram just so recording will go better.

OK. I just got another can of beer. I wonder what the boys are doing tonight. I think Rob has a gig or maybe that was last night. I can’t remember. I would love to record something. I’m thinking about doing a remake of “Your Love- The Outfield”, if you don’t remember the title the opening line was “Josie’s on a vacation far away, come around and talk it over...”, if that helps. It was one of my favorite songs. I still like it. I would also like to do a cover of Message in a Bottle by the Police. They are one of my favorite bands.

For some reason, beer seems to stay colder in cans. Is that just me, or has anyone else noticed this?

Sorry about the ramble. Another song I want to cover is Against All Odds by Phil Collins. I’ve wanting to do this for a while. Probably one of my all time favorite songs.

So here I have this little studio and I really don’t use it. It’s hard to find the time. But now we have two weeks off and I am determined to record something. Although, we are tracking my friends CD here so that is always something to look forward to. I will post some of his songs on the buzz radio if he doesn’t mind of course. Tony, Steven and myself will be playing on the cd. It’s a fun project.

So now it’s 20 to 12am. I think back to what I wrote before about nobody listening to the Buzz radio. “IT’S SATURDAY NIGHT YOU DORK, EVERYONE IS OUT”. It’s funny how the brain gets numb when you drink beer. “Wave on Wave” is playing in the background. I think the Buzz should record that song and put it on a cd. You know I can’t even remember what the original sounds like. I’m not a big country music fan but that song has grown on me. I hope we never drop it. Even if we make it as recording artists, I think we should play it. It’s still playing as I write this and it’s a great song. I hope Pat Green or whoever wrote it made a Ba-zillion dollars from it.

At 11:45pm on Sat,16/05, this Allan MacEachern signing off. Brought to you by the letters “BEER” and the number 5.

April 2, 2005

Dear Yolanda

Wow, I can’t believe how long it’s been since I wrote you. I don’t even know where to begin.
I guess I will tell you about how my music its going. I had a gig on Saturday at Daniels.
You remember that place, it’s the one where you would drink upstairs and when it closed at one, everybody would go down to Cutters.
I don’t know what they call downstair now. I really don’t care.

The band I’m with now is called Robert Barrie and The Buzz.
What a great bunch of guys. I really think you would like them. I remember how you like nice people.
I knew you weren’t a snob. The guys in the band are Robert, Tony, Steven and of course me, but I don’t have to tell you that. You always were smart.

We really have a great rocking set list. I think you would approve cause you always like the heavier music but I know that you still like the girly stuff.

The crowd at the club was great. You would have liked it cause there was no fights. I remember how if a fight broke out you wanted to watch, but if the guy lost that you liked, then you wanted to leave. You’re a card.
We’ve been adding songs to our set quite often. You would love this cause you always liked change.
I remember cause you had a different boyfriend every other week. You must have been popular.

I have a new set of drums since the last time you seen me play. You have only seen the white set, but now I have a green set. I think you would like them cause you were always green with envy if I talked to anybody but you. I never understood that. That’s just your way I guess.

Would you believe that someone asked us if we had any papers. I only had my set list but I don’t think that’s what they had in mind. Do they think that bands smoke drugs all the time. What a stereotype. You probably would have got a kick out it cause I remember how you used to get stoned all the time. Do you still do that? None of my business I guess.

It was a good gig and the band had a lot of fun. You used to like having fun. Sometimes too much I thought, but that’s just me. Then again the police used to think you went a little far sometimes. You always laughed at them.

So I guess you are wondering why I’m writing you after all this time. It’s kind of funny really. I was looking at old pictures and I found one of you passed out on the floor at some party. I had a good laugh and then it hit me, you never did pay back that twenty bucks I lent you to go to that party. When you finally get out of jail, look me up and you can pay me back.

Your best bud

Allan

March 26, 2005

My mind is blank.

What can I say?
This gig leaves me with nothing out of the ordinary. I had reservations about the gig to begin with.
The last time we went down there we had about 20 people show up and I felt that if this happened
again, I did not want to do this gig again. I really didn’t want to do it this time.
Sometimes the money is not worth it. At least there was close to 100 this time.
I’m not sure of the amount, but it was enough to make noise.
Other than that, I have nothing.
I played, I did my thing, the night flew by, and then I packed up and left.

Perhaps I will talk about the to and from. I decided that I would take my own van for this road trip.
This would be the first trip for this rig other than the local clubs.
For some reason, I just don’t want to use my van for the long drives. But I figured I would save myself some hassle and take it.
If I use the sound truck to haul my gear, I have to meet up with them early in the day and load it all into the sound truck and then pick it up the next day.
What a great idea. Leave on my own and when I get home later I won’t have to worry about going anywhere the next day. At least it was supposed to be a great idea.
The drive up was fine. The ride home was hell. I couldn’t stay awake. I kept blacking out every few minutes.
NOT a great feeling. I did stop in St Peters to fuel up at Tim Horton’s. Large tea and two glazed doughnuts.
I figured the caffeine and sugar would give me kick and I would be all right for the rest of the drive.
I was wrong. I tried cold air, singing out loud but nothing worked.
At one point I fell asleep and didn’t know it. I woke up on the other side of the road.
I almost shit my pants. The adrenalin rush woke me up real fast. But unfortunately that doesn’t last.
I thanked God that I made it home and decided that the hassle of getting my gear the next day is a small price to pay for living to see another day.
I have driven home before from far gigs with other people and I don’t have a problem.
It’s a lot easier to stay awake when you have someone to talk to or better, stay overnight and drive home the next day.

Food for thought…

March 19, 2005

“A song is like a child...”-Rob Barrie

Rob asks do we think he’ll retire at 65. I don’t know about you, but I’m gonna keep going till I can’t go no more. Why bother think of such a thing. Live in the now man, live in the now!

What a great show. Powerful baby, yea! We ripped through all three sets like there was no tomorrow. I mean, bing bang boom, and the set was over. The crowd started small but filled in so fast we didn’t realize. It was a few people and then boom! Where did they come from.

I say this every time, but I like playing my home town cause I get to see old friends. Some I haven’t seen in years, so that’s always a treat. Then we have some regular faces that I’m glad to see cause this tells me that we are doing something right. Onward and upward, that’s what I say.

The NewWaterford crowd was a little hesitant about our song. I guess it wasn’t so familiar to them. That’s understandable. Well they are gonna hear it more often. I have a working drum track recorded for it already so we just have to put down the rest of the tracks and we can start sending it out.

The third set was amazing. One song after another to the point that I was wearing down. I didn’t even have time for a drink. That’s not good for me, but good for the people dancing. We would finish one song and Tony would rip into another. What of the lines man? They are for us you know. We didn’t give the crowd a chance either. We just open fired and asked questions later. After the smoke cleared, it was like “oh, you want more?” So we gave them a small break with a Radio Head song and them KA-BOOM, right back into AC/DC for an explosive ending. I had a well deserved drink after that and exhaled with pleasure.

OK, NEXT!!!

March 12, 2005

When it snows, everyone goes!

So I'm thinking "what are people going to do tonight?" The snow is coming down really hard.
The driving was terrible. My old van only likes the summer seasons. That goes for me as well.
I think that when it’s storming outside, people do not want to be cooped up in there homes.
Funny cause that is probably the best place for them. We had a bigger crowd on Saturday than on Friday and the snow was getting deeper and not letting up.
Go figure. I’m glad everyone came out. The place was nuts by closing time and we had a blast.
Of course with everyone waiting for taxis, it took a long time to clear the place out.
More time for pizza I guess.

Once again we played our tune and the crowd enjoyed it. It was amazing to watch people trying to sing along with the chorus even though it was the first time they heard it. The beauty is that it has a catchy chorus and it easy to remember. If we can keep writing like this I’m sure people will warm up to cd that we release.

Here’s to a future cd by “The Buzz”.

March 11, 2005

I'm not in love!

This night started off a little slow but the crowd was into the band.
Of course this always makes the night more enjoyable even if there is a small crowd.
At least we finished with a nice size crowd by the end of the night.

For those of you who are interested, we release an original song written by Robert.
It’s called “Not In Love”. I really like it. I also like the way the crowd was warming up to it.
It has a familiar sound about to the point that you say, “I heard that before” but of course you didn’t,
unless you were at band practice with us. And we all know that answer.
There is another one in the works and I also like it a lot and I can’t wait to play it live.

It’s fun to play your own songs and have the public enjoy them as much as us.

March 5, 2005

In ears or not in ears, that is the question.

This was a big night for us. We had a great time and I think we impressed a lot of people.

Robert is now the owner of a wireless, in-ear monitor system. If you don’t know, that means he doesn’t need a speaker on the stage ripping his head off. He can hear it all through a little headset, with no wires to get tangled in. But, now we can’t hear him either, so we all have to feed him in our own monitors. Because of the lack of the extra speaker on stage, it leaves a big sound hole and it feels weird. But we will get used to it. Robert says he is really impressed with the new system so I think that is great. The better you can hear yourself sing, the less strain you put on your vocal chords. Hubba Parris from the band Spyder uses that system now and he told us he wishes he had them 20 years ago.

Speaking of monitors, this was the first time I had any of my drums in my monitor. It was setup that way from the previous band and I didn’t bother turn it off. I usually tell the soundman to take any drums out and just leave my vocal. I thought I would try it. I really enjoyed it. I may do that from now on, depending on the size of the room.

Robert mentioned from time to time about the Herman’s issue and how we all had to help keep this place going. Unfortunately we live in an area where the economy is bad and people just don’t have the money they did fifteen years ago. I started in the clubs in 1990 and we would play Thursday, Friday and Saturday at one club. The hours were from 9 till 1 and if you weren’t they by nine, you didn’t get a seat. A lot of the clubs these days are lucky to have one good night a week. Most serve food during the day now and I think that is the only thing that keeps them going. Where will it end?

For those who are interested in the bands songwriting, we have 2 really great songs in the works and I hope we start laying tracks soon. I don’t want to say too much about it, but the band as a whole has been optimistic and motivated to move forward on a cd project. From what I am hearing, and this is my opinion, a cd from The Buzz will be good for everyone.

Toot, Toot.

March 4, 2005

What exactly do they make at a rumor mill?

Friday nights at Smooth Herman’s have been a drag lately. You may get some people after 2am. I think everyone is waiting to go out on Saturdays now. I don’t know.

Word on the street is that this club has eight weeks to pick up business or they are locking the doors. According to the newspaper, the owners are quoted as saying that they are not going to close. We are feeling what they felt in Halifax when they found out they were losing the Marquee Club. Everyone I talk to feels the same way, “this is a big gig to lose”. I hope they come up with something. We will have to wait and see.

Regardless, we had a nice little crowd by closing time. Maybe it made a difference.

Feb. 27, 2005

25 years and still cooking with Gasoline.

Feb. 26, 2005

Hey, those black lines are for you guys!

At what point in our lives do we begin to hate snow?
I guess if I were a skier, I would love it. But I don’t. I think it’s more the cold than the snow.
Although our gig last Friday was almost canceled because of snow. So yes, I hate snow.
But it wasn’t cold Friday, so I didn’t mind it. I guess I hate the cold more.
Yes, I definitely hate the cold more.
Would you believe that when I drove to the gig, I have to have my hood up? Yes that’s right, inside the van.
I can’t remember yet ever driving to a gig in the winter and being warm.
I guess that’s because I always drive Titanic size vehicles with just as many holes.
Too big to keep warm and would sink in a puddle.

The club for some reason was smokey when I got there. Not cigarette smoke, but smoke from cooking chicken wings.
Their exhaust fan must have been busted or something and it really sucked. It cleared out after a while I think or I just got used to the smell.

We had a great turn out and the pa was set to push out the back wall.
“Hey you want a bigger club, we’ll make the room for ya”. That would be a good motto for Cordon Sound.
It was loud, but it was crystal clear.

I had a great time as usual. I figured I was going to have some muscle problems because of the night before but it all worked out. I laid off hard until the last set. Then I ripped into every song.
The crowd was pumped and the band fed off the energy. What a great set.

We ended up playing until 2:20am. That’s an extra twenty minutes of The Buzz. I didn’t realize how late it was. No time for talking. Let’s get this shit out of here. By the time 3 o’clock came, everyone else was gone home. I just have a few more things to pack up and then load my van. I let the engine run while I packed up, like that would make a difference. So I closed the back doors, flipped up my hood and crawled into my icebox. I don’t like to drive when I get this tired. Even with the coldness, I was having trouble staying awake. What a horrible feeling. I just wanted to get home. Then I came across that stupid roadblock where they are putting up that new bridge. So the detour slowed me down a bit. Needless to say I made it home in one piece. If you are gonna drive, make sure you are wide-awake.

Feb. 25, 2005

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow…NOT!!!

Ok are you ready? I’m mean really. Ready? Here we go.
Let me know if you are not ready. Is that a green light? Then you are ready?
Ok, ready set go.

That’s an internal joke if you are wondering. But it was a point well taken.
We all have habits that we have formed over the years and it is hard to break them.
You know the saying “it’s a force of habit” and you don’t even realize you do what you do
until someone points it out. Usually then you notice and you are able to be aware of not being forced “by habit”.
So with that I have succeeded in breaking a habit of mine, at least for this weekend.

Steven “Flyboy” McKinnion decided to make Daniels a stop on his cross-country tour.
I thank him for that. Although, the snow almost made him have to cancel.
I was wondering what kind of crowd we would get because the weather outside was frightful.
It wasn’t cold, just snowing. A lot.
My poor old van has little traction and when the gear comes out, then it doesn’t want to move at all.
So it was stuck in front of the club until after the show. The poor thing.

Thanks to all the brave souls who were shack wacky and made the trip out.
For a night that I thought was going to suck, we had a great crowd that was in the mood to party.

Are you still ready?

At the end of the night Tony helped me load up through the snow and I was able to get unstuck.
So I get home at about 3:20 am and get this, I had to shovel my driveway to get my rig off the street.
How would you like to have to do that? I’m sure glad it wasn’t cold.
I have one of those big scoops so it didn’t take too long.
Let me tell you, that was the last thing I wanted to do at that hour of the morning.

I wasn’t ready for that!

Feb. 12, 2005

The sign read “SAT ROBERT BERRIE AND THE BUZZ”
I guess that makes us the flavor of the week. Too funny.

What a blast. No one was sick this week and we rocked the house.
Earlier in the evening around 7pm I was finishing my supper and I was thinking that I could easily just stay home and relax and not miss the gig. I found that I was wearing down fast. So I picked myself up and hit the road. Even on the drive over I was still thinking that it’s gonna be no big deal. It’s not like we have been booked steady, I think I was just not rested up enough.

Once I got to the club, I dragged my gear in and started to set up. My hardware is always freezing cold this time of year. While I was setting up the boys started to land and I was getting into it a little more. As the evening past and start time approached I was turning into my usual hyper self. A second wind if you will. After I heard my drum check, I was even more ready to play.
We always give a green light when everyone is ready and then I count in the first song. There is no turning back then. When the first set was over, I was thinking that this night is gonna kick. I was right. It got bigger and bigger even though we had the last weekend off. That’s two weeks between gigs.
I like playing in New Waterford cause it is my hometown. I usually see a few faces that I know and that I don’t get to see that much.
We helped celebrate Albert’s birthday (brother of Tony) and got him up to sing with us. Albert is a former band mate of ours in a band that was called IMI. We had a lot of great times and Albert is still the same. Loves to make people laugh. I’m happy to say that Albert has a cd project in the works and I think it’s gonna be great.

The buzz is supposed to get together this week for a rehearsal and possible song writing. I hope I didn’t just put a curse on that one.
The ECMA’s are in town this coming week and we are off for that weekend. Then after that it will be a seven-week stretch.
That sounds like a lot but its just weekends. I find the week’s fly by when we have bookings like that.
That’s life I guess. You apparently can’t have your cake and eat it to.
Who the hell ever came up with that saying?
Here is what you do. Get two cakes or take a picture of the cake and then eat it.
A picture will last longer. I mean really, who doesn’t like cake? Steven likes cake. I like chocolate cake.
I think I’ll write a song about cake.

“You can’t have your cake and eat it to”
“So here is what you’re gonna do”
“Go down to the local store”
“Don’t be afraid, just buy some more”
“Cause you love cake, la la la la”
“Just cake, la la la la”
“Only cake, la la la la”
“Cake, Cake, Cake”

©2005 Allan MacEachern

Can you smell a hit? I think I will call it “CAKE”. That has a nice ring to it.
Maybe Tony or Steve can put some music to it. I’ll then have to write a tribute to muffins and don’t forget lemon pie.
Do you know what’s better than a piece of pie?
A big piece of pie.
I guess your are wondering where the hell I went off track?
I’m wondering that as well.
Regardless, I had a great gig and I’m glad I was able to go.
In case you don’t know, pounding the shit out of a set of drums it a great stress release.
It’s almost a primal rage sort of thing. When I was listening to the sound of the kick drum, I was feeling very powerful.
With every massive thump, I couldn’t help but think, “holy shit, that’s me making that sound”.
It was so big and loud I wondered if it was shaking tables.
I like being in control of that much sound. I think that’s why I enjoy the bigger rooms.
The bigger the room, the bigger the sound. Throw in a grooving bass and you have even a bigger wall.
Add the guitar and vocals, you get the buzz train plowing down the center of the room.
If you wanna catch the train, you gotta get there early.

Powerful baby, yea!

Jan. 28, 2005

Did someone just request “Afternoon Delight”?

Once again it is cold. Once again I grumble. F#*%ing cold.
Same old story for me. You have to dress to stay warm outside and you die when you go in a building. Moving right along.

Everyone had a week to recuperate. Everyone was happy to play.
We were not sure what to expect from the sound system cause we had not used it before.
We all like to have separate stage monitors from each other and I didn’t know how many mixes were available.
To my satisfaction, there were four. I know what I like on stage and I don’t pretend to be a master at mixing a PA system, so I leave that to the sound tech.
When we are comfortable on stage, we have to trust the soundman to give a great sound.
It’s always uncomfortable not to be able to hear what the crowd hears. But I don’t get lost with it, I just always hope that the sound guys is as comfortable behind the mixer as I am behind the drums. The rest will work itself out.

We wanted to try another unrehearsed tune but our sound check took longer that we had anticipated, so we scratched that one for this night.
The crowd at Daniels was very responsive to our sets. I think they enjoyed everything, as we do try to mix it up a bit.
I still feel though that our name is not getting out there fast enough.
Maybe this is our fault, maybe not. This is only of course, our second year starting.
Maybe I’m asking for too much. Am I?

I’ve been asked why we are not showcasing for this years ECMA’s.
My answer is that I feel that this is an area for recording acts that want to do their own thing.
We do not play any original material so I feel that it would be unfair for us to have a spot while a group who has put so much time into their recording miss out on such a great opportunity.
The reply to that was, “yes but wouldn’t you want the exposure?”
Well not as a cover band.
Not even as a great cover band. People who go to these events are looking for new talent, new sounds and new ideas.
They are not looking for a good cover band. This of course my opinion.

We have been bugging each other about recording. I myself have been writing constantly and have been working on my own project.
I would still love to see us as a group record something.
If not, then it wasn’t meant to be. So far I can see that the only roadblock we face is ourselves.
This is a no brainer. We either “do or do not, there is not try”-“Yoda”
I think we should get it started or put the idea to rest.
Again this is my opinion, but when I’m a bazillionaire from all the cd’s I sell, don’t say I didn’t tell you so.
By the way, bazillion is American, so that’s more like $150,000 CAN.

And did I ever mention that this blog of mine is not necessarily about the gigs.
I could have talked about my trip to Chicago. But that’s not band stuff.
If I roll off the topic of gigs I will at least try to keep it band/music related. I said I’d try.

There once was a girl from Nantucket…

Jan. 22, 2005

Can you say OUCH? I mean, really!

Where do I friggin start? Ok, I know.
I hate moving gear in the cold. I hate doing anything in the cold for that matter.
The starter in my van has been acting up since we have hit the cold snap and it sticks.
So I have to crawl under and give it a whack. Then it will go.
Not a nice thing to do when the ground is full of slush and water.
Regardless, I made it to the gig.

Sound system was in place, that’s always nice to see.
So I do my thing and get set up. I think I was running behind, but we got off the ground.

This was our first show for 2005.
If you don’t know it was at the Blue Mist. After everyone arrived and I found out some more info than I knew in the beginning.
I think this one should have been cancelled. But everyone was willing to play, so there you go.
Everyone was under the weather in some form or another except for me. I was on top.
My only problem was that I had to be on an airplane the next morning at 8:45.
Needless to say, I didn’t get much sleep.

I wasn’t sure how the gig was going to go for the simple fact that we had 2 weeks off.
Then load on everything else and I was sure it was going to be a rough night.

For me, it was not rough at all. I did my thing, but I was worried about everyone else.
On top of that, we played a song that we did not rehearse.
The deal was, “learn it like the disk”. If everyone does that and learns it well, there should be no problem.
It is a lot to absorb when you don’t know what anyone else is gonna do. But hey, it sounded great.
I think we have our shit together.
I’m hoping that this will be our lowest gig for the year.
That way, it’s done and it can’t get worse. “Knock on wood” I suppose.
One person a little down or worn out is not too bad.
Two people a little sick, we’ll manage. But when three fourths of the band is suffering, it gets a little nerving.

What can I say?
Happy 2005.