|
Time to clue you in on the real glamor of touring with a rock band.
May 13, we head from Toronto to the U.S. border for our show in Detroit.
A nice rest stop...
Tim Horton's, of course... we are in Canada.
Border crossing was interesting, but I didn't take photos. The U.S. side wanted to grill us, over and over, on where we'd been and why. We thought
we'd had it when a banana peel fell out of the van door they opened! Then, "Who is Karen?" had us stumped, and they kept asking. Turned out the
rental van keychain (which they'd taken from us) had a name written on the tag - Karen. Don't know who she is but she almost made us miss our show!
Onward through some rain, and finally reached Ferndale and a club I've played many times, The Magic Bag.
Last night's venue, Lee's Palace in Toronto, had a pretty funky dressing room - but this one is notorious.
I'm sure we're not the only band that's wondered, though the years, how did that vomit get up there on the ceiling?
Then, there's the doorway -- just an opening leading to a 3 foot drop into a dark corridor. (you can see the ladder in bottom of the photo.)
As I mentioned, this is the web page to connect you with the glamor of the road!
Soundcheck was going smoothly when... Michael had some trouble with his pedal board...
Friends onhand, with electrical expertise, to take a look...
Looks like we need help...
Wow, some physicists were right on hand... this is gonna be a breeze...
I think Michael is a bit concerned! (His one unit had dozens of sounds he needs for the show.)
Can you guess the rest? We plug it in onstage, and a burning smell fills the club... toast!
Nobody's fault, it was the unit, but Michael will be playing with one or two pedals tonight, borrowed from my setup.
Show must go on!
And here we go... they don't care about our equipment problems...
Yay.. this is why we go through all the travel and dressing room stuff....
I think this kind of looks like a Rembrandt!
Well, it's been a long day, but anyway you can see how inspiring the audiences are for us.
P.S. Michael pulled it off and did a great show without his pedals!
(note: our board tape of the Detroit show can be downloaded at
aftershowmusic.com.)
|