Day 10: Salmar Classic Theatre

I usually feel bad for the people who canvas for green peace or hand out the metro newspaper. I feel bad because their job is to stand still and pester the people walking by with "Do you have a moment for green peace today?" or "Metro Newspaper!". While I feel sorry for them, I'm also one of the pedestrians who is annoyed by their presence. We use tactics like talking on our cell phone or avoiding eye contact to make the encounter as painless as possible. Sometimes we even lie/admit that we are late for work and can't stop. We use same tactics with pan handlers, because that is what these people are employed to do: beg.

Shawn and I saw the other end of this stick/panhandle before our show in Salmon Arm. Ticket sales for the show hadn't been as high as we expected so we resorted to the age old tradition of begging. Positioning ourselves in front of our old high-school's main entrance we waited for the final bell to chime. As the rush of students charged towards us, we learned how hard this art form really is. "Concert tonight at the Salmar, tickets at the door, Painted Birds.. 10 dollars.." the pitch hasn't been mastered yet. Most just walk by understanding that anybody trying to give you something for free is probably giving you something that you either don't want, or will eventually have to pay for. A few kids who are unlucky enough to make eye contact, admit defeat and take the handbill. Their loss is hardly a victory for us, however.

Finally I change my objective and forget about the hand bill, inquiring "Do you like live music?" or anything that can start a conversation. My empty hands seem less suspicious and I finally get some biters. Some kids recognize us, telling us that we went to school with their older siblings or took dance lessons from their mother. The whole experience was quite humbling, albeit exhilarating. By the end our skin had grown so thick that we could have cared less if they ignored us or not. The negatives were so out-weighed by the positive reactions that we felt accomplished.

After we headed over to the Salmar Classic Theatre. The room had a lot of significance for me. I can remember back to when that was the only cinema in town. I can remember going to see movies like Mighty Ducks with my dad, or forcing my sisters to drag me along to see Fern Gully with them and their friends. Bringing along your little brother was always an uncool thing to do. I also saw my first few concerts in this theatre including Moxy Fruvous, who was mind blowing, and 54 40 who I have always adored. The stage is huge, the curtain is glorious, and the nostalgia is wonderful but also horrible to surround myself in.

We load in, set up, go through sound check and head back stage and wait and wait and wonder. Shane announces to Shawn and I that we need to talk. This makes me nervous, I wonder as we come to the end of this tour, "Is Shane quitting the band??". He calms me by telling me that he wants us to chill out. He feels tension with us, for reasons he takes to be that this is our hometown and we have placed pressure on ourselves accordingly.

"Breathe. Take a deep breath, slowly" he says. Shane is a god send in more ways than one. Backstage is above the rear of the theatre and we watch our opening act Water Mark perform their set. They remind me a lot of Shawn and I at their age. Pumped full of excitement, conviction, nerves and confidence. Jared had told me before they went on that their last song had been written the night before. "Yup", i think "that was us".

Shawn turns to me as we peer at the audience "Nobody's here".
"Don't worry" I say, it's too late for any of that.

The audience sit in their comfortable theatre chairs for our first two songs. I see grimaces from friends of my mother's, perhaps too old to enjoy rock music. As they all sit and stare I have no idea what anyone is thinking. Finally, Shawn, another godsend, announces that everyone should come to the front and crowd around the stage. Amazingly, a lot of the kids comply and all of a sudden a theatre that seemed empty feels crowded as they all pile around the stage.

This was the golden turning point. Our next song was Colleen and everybody was bouncing up and down. From there on in, we didn't want it to end. It's truly amazing how in less than five seconds, somebody can say something that will change the situation from being painfully mediocre to perhaps one of the best feelings of your life.

At one point I noticed that 5 guys and girls in the front were singing along to every word of I'm a Radio. What truly perplexed me was the fact that i didn't recognize any of them. I wondered for a second, turned back to the microphone and forgot the words to the song.

I could go on to continually tell you how awesome it was to play our songs for and with all of the Salmon Armians, and enjoy the whole experience together, but you really just had to be there.

Thanks to everyone who helped make that show my favorite to date, especially Watermark, the 5 SASS students who helped us with tickets and merch, and Brian Coffey for doing sound and doing it well.

Peace

dom