Gong Show in Ontario

We've been in Ontario for 3 days and 2 shows already, and though the shows have been great, this trip has been a gong show since the get go. The four of us had booked flights out to Toronto from Vancouver. We figured we could bring clothes and our instruments and rent the amps and drums for the 10 days that we are here.
We had arranged with our good friend Corey Fischer, the man who has been crafting all of our podcast episodes and film related work, to take us to the airport for our flight at 9:50 AM. At about midnight the night before we left i had this conversationg with Corey over google chat regarding the time and place we were going to meet. Shawn and I had decided that we would all meet at our jam space at 8 AM.

me: Just make sure you guys get there at 8 sharp

Corey: i pick the vehic at 8 so itll be like 815ish

me: who's manning this ship?

Corey: I am, Sir!

me: that's the stupidest thing i've ever eard

Corey: i pick the vehic at 8 is the stupidest thing youve ever heard?
have you even watched yourself on these podcasts?? Lightning? come on!
like im supposed to wiz through these $3600 pants?

me: our flight leaves at 9:50 you're picking it up at 8?

Corey: ill get ya there, big daddy

me: you'll actually get down there at 8:20 8:25 at earliest
we'll take 10 or 15 minutes to get the stuff ready and on the go
shane probably didn't even pack his cymbals yet
traffic jam = minor= we miss our flight.
how do you like them apples??
3600 dollar pants!!
okay. i'll trust that you'll get us there
but if we miss our flight
ooga chacka ooga chacka...

Corey: ok, im picking it up at 730
i cant stop, ooga ooga oooga

me: when you hold me in your arms so tight
baby you know, yeah you turn me on

So that was settled. The next morning Shawn and I arrive on time at the space. At about 8:10 or 8:15 we send off a couple of texts to the guys threatening them in jest, but still completely confident that they're just around the corner and we have nothing to worry about. Shane calls me immediately, and informs me that they had had some trouble getting on their way that morning. Josh had apparently slept in and when Corey went to Josh's to pick up the van card key, he was unable to reach Josh because he sleeps with his phone off. We normally use Josh's zip car account when transporting our gear around town as none of us own vehicles. As shane was talking to me he was still about ten minutes away, and without Josh in the vehicle because Josh still wasn't ready to leave. We would pick him up on the way back.

When Corey and Shane arrived we packed the SUV as quickly as possible but realized upon completion that we still had far too much gear for all 5 of us to fit. I call Josh and tell him that he has to catch a cab, and we head off for the Airport. We arrive just after 9 and breathe a sigh of relief. Josh hasn't arrived yet though and he still hasn't arrived at about twenty after 9 when we finish checking our luggage. Josh calls me and tells me to ask the check-in clerk what the latest time he can check his luggage in is.
"I can't even guarantee that your guys' luggage will make the plane" the clerk tells me.
"How close are you Josh?" I ask.
"Not very" he answers.

The three of us board the plane and make our way to Toronto. We luckilly have our first night off so Josh just has to make it their by the next day. He rebooks his flight for an hour and a half after ours. Everything is fine and OK.

That night we meet up with some of our good friends in Toronto and freeze our faces and hands off in their much crispier climate. The next day we have a show at the London Music Club and Josh had arranged for us to get a ride with his good friend Leighton Bain who we were slotted to play Windsor with on the following night (www.myspace.com/leightonbain). When he arrives, Shawn comes back into the apartment and shotguns a seat...

Now i knew that we had quite a bit of gear already that would be a tight squeeze, but with Leighton and his girlfriend and the four of us, there were 6 people to fit in a 4 seater van. The crowdedness of this van made the space in the van of our first tour seem like luxury. Shawn and i stacked suitcases on our lap and between our legs because we were lucky enough to get seats. Shane and Josh had to find their place somewhere between the guitars and merchandise on the floor of the back of the van. To add to Shane and Josh's comfort was a mild traffic jam that added about 45 minutes to our 2 hour journey. The upside is that we were not caught by any cops and thus escaped from paying any fines for seatbeltless passengers.

Our show in london was shockingly good. We were slotted for a free show before the blues jam night there. As we walked into the empty room 15 minutes before we were supposed to stop i figured we'd play for the servers and the manager. But by the midpoint of our set the room was filled with an older crowd raring to play mustang sally and old BB King covers. We toned our set down to suit the smaller room and the older crowd and were extremely well received. Though one old timer in the front row did mildly heckle and beg for us to get roudy. We complied and ripped through an aggressive version of Lullabye.

The real gong show high was in windsor though. We rented gear at Long and Mcquade on friday and had a show that night. As we were leaving we realized that we had somewhere lost the blue duffel bag that contained our guest book, the album samplers that we had put together for Canadian Music Week, and our cash box. Normally the float has a good 50 to 100 dollars in it, but as we'd been storing our excess cash in the bottom of the box for some time, we don't know how much money we had in their, and Shawn assures me that it was probably a fair amount. We narrow it down to two places that the bag could be: the London music club or Leighton's vehicle. We meet up with Leighton for the show and he assures us that it is nowhere to be found in his van. No word back from the London music club yet but we'll keep you posted.

As for our show in Windsor that night, as we set up right before our opening act is to take the stage, we realize that my amp barely makes a sound, and Josh's sounds like a violent mechanical fart whenever he turns it on. It appears that we are totally fucked. Josh has luckilly asked one of his friends to bring an amp for him to try so we have at least one amp that works. We start playing the songs that we can do with only one amp, and finally after Colleen and All I Can Do Josh's friend Rob shows up with a couple more amps for us to use. Crisis avoided barely.

So yes, this has been the gong show of our trip. And it'll just keep getting better baby.

dom