So we're sitting in the backroom waiting to go on and Mike (soundman) walks
in carrying something… “This is a headset mic I brought for Doug to try”… I
start laughing… There's no way he's going to use that! A little background here:
you could spend thousands on the best wireless microphone available; a mic with
only one deadspot in the surrounding 20 miles, and Doug Bennett will find that
deadspot. Without meaning to of course… he's just one of those people who doesn't
get along with technology… (kind of like Sam Neill's ongoing battle with computers
in Jurassic Park)… Anyway, I'm dead wrong. Doug is more than happy to use it!
And guess what? Yup… hilarious! Apparently, the mic is using almost the exact
same frequency as Jay's wireless for his bass… it's cutting out all over the
place! But the best part is watching as Mike is standing on his tiptoes, holding
the receiver, pointing it to wherever Doug is wandering, trying to get a better
signal and following him through the crowded dance floor… the rest of the band
is cracking up… I doubt if many in the crowd noticed though… the dance floor
is packed from the 2nd song in… great show!
November 28th, 2001 - Crabby Mike's, Medicine Hat, Alberta:
This is a beautiful club… big, high ceiling, nice
stage, good gear and a great staff too! Mike isn't even remotely crabby and treats
us very well. We play two shows tonight - not usually our favourite thing to do,
we'd rather just do one long one, but hey, when you've got a killer band like
Full Moon just waiting
to open the 2nd set, why not? This is the first gig this year that we play White
Christmas for the crowd… what do you think? too early for Christmas spirit? Lots
of autographs to be signed after this gig though and our new drummer, Chris, really
seems to be locking in… great show Chris! After the gig, we go back to our hotel
and try and use our free drink tickets at the bar, but the bar is just closing,
so the lady at the front desk tells us to go down to the nightclub… wow! this
place is packed! and some of the girls even look like they might be of age… oh
yeah, and our free drink tickets aren't any good here… hmm… we really have a hard
time drinking in Medicine Hat… the last time we were here, Jay and I tried to
go out for a drink… first, we hit one of the local nightclubs which ends up looking
like the one I just described and only has two kinds of beer, neither of which
Jay and I wanted to drink… so we go to the bar next door… they have Sleeman's…
Yay!… the bartender asks what we're doing in the area… I say we were playing at
the racetrack (a gig with Chilliwack and others) and that we play in Doug and
the Slugs. The bartender says, “Oh yeah, Doug and the Slugs eh? Those guys aren't
bad. Not that great either…” OKAY! Off to the next bar… they don't have anything
we want either… I really didn't think we were that picky… but there's a cold beer
and wine store right next to it and the lady at the bar suggests we try there…
it's closed… but for some reason I try the door anyway… I guess someone forgot
to set the pins and completely lock it… the door opens, the alarm screams, and
Jay and Marc leave in a hurry… maybe we'll bring beer with us next time we go
to Medicine Hat…
This is the 3rd time we've played here since I've
been in the band… It's always a blast, Kevin (the manager) always treats us really
well, and Doug (the house tech) does a great job… This club has given a guitar
away from the stage, every night we've played here and continues that tradition
this time through… we get to sign them and feel like rockstars! I guess we must
have been telling Mike how much we love this gig (he'd never done it), on the
way, because apparently he couldn't wait to get here… and it ended up costing
him $106. for the speeding ticket… oops!… And even though both of the mini-vans
have windshield washer antifreeze in them, the temperatures are consistently cold
enough to freeze the lines…
On the Saturday night, there's one girl in the audience
who has no problem at all with shyness - barely contained in her vest, not that
any of us noticed… perhaps she started the night off for us, because it is definitely
'one of those nights'… the sister of a guitar-playing friend of ours comes up
on stage while we're playing, and while she's proceeding to give Chris a kiss
hello, Doug gives the cue for 'Powerlines'… of course Chris misses the cue and
the result sounds like a garage band in a dryer… Doug stops the song and just
roasts Chris… “…you'd let a woman's kiss screw you up like that? I can't believe
you're that whipped!” etc. etc… There's more of the same during Doug's rap in
'Too Bad'… for some reason Elio thinks he hears the cue for 'The Twist' and
starts into it, while the rest of us are still vamping to 'Too Bad'… of course
Doug starts in on Elio too, but Elio is a little more seasoned (mostly salt),
and pretends to have tripped on the carpet… like I said, one of those nights…
anyway, both nights are a party, with many people visiting the backroom after
the shows… the bar is packed both nights… and we can't wait to go back to the
King's Knight again!
As we walk into this club, they're just finishing laying the carpet on the new
stage… another nice big club with a good sized dance floor… Alberta seems to get
this part right… but what's with the railings around the dance floor? Doug makes
many jokes about the 'caged' dancers… Jeff is the owner here and is a hell of
a nice guy! There's no backroom in this club, so he gives us his kitchen area…
a Doug Bennett quote: “No matter how big you are, you have to go through the kitchen
to get to the stage”… reminds me of Spinal Tap… “hello Cleveland!”… There's an
opening band here as well, 'The Chavelles', but we don't get a chance to see them…
we stay at the Holiday Inn, Lethbridge… great rooms! Many thanks to the staff
at the Soundgarden as well, for the best food after the gig! Nice spread!
November 30th & December 1st, 2001 - King's
Knight, Edmonton:
I
confess I don't love the rain in Vancouver, but I'll take it anyday over the cold…
29 degrees below is cold enough for certain parts of the male anatomy to go into
hiding…