March 1st, 2002 - Commodore Ballroom, Vancouver, BC:

Back to our favourite place to play in Vancouver!! Everyone is always up for this gig… and Chris has never played here before, so the rest of us can relive our past through his virgin experience. We're playing with Chilliwack this time… we haven't done a show with them for quite awhile - an outdoor event in Medicine Hat, Alberta a while back, (the same trip that Jay and I tried to get arrested breaking into the liquor store - without success, but that's a different story) - excellent players/singers, and just a great bunch of guys… and those songs! Wow. It's definitely worth revisiting younger days, pulling out whatever version of a Chilliwack album you may have in your collection, and listening to some real quality song writing once in awhile. Check it out if you haven't been back there in too long…

Okay, back to the show…

We're taking the stage first, with Chilliwack to close the show on a completely sold out Friday night. Have I mentioned that everyone's up for this gig? Maybe some of us more than others… and maybe the drum gods were angry that night… who knows? In the middle of our first song, (Terminal City), Chris puts a hole right through the head of his snare drum… luckily we're near enough to the vamping section - where Doug roams the crowd embarrassing and insulting any who stand in his way… (okay, and some he has to go out of his way for…). Chris gets Jay's attention and tells him to get Gerry (Adolph… the drummer for Chilliwack), and see if we can use his snare for the rest of the set… I think there's a lesson in there somewhere… something about carrying a spare snare drum with you at all times - okay, except for the bathroom and fancy dinner parties I guess - and Gerry comes through in a hurry! In seconds he's onstage changing snares for Chris and we don't miss a beat. Thanks again Gerry! It didn't end up the disaster it could have, the audience was none the wiser I think, and, except maybe for elevating Chris' heartrate for a few minutes it didn't change a thing. I don't even think Doug knew about it until after the gig was over…

It's an interesting thing that happens when you haven't played a show in quite awhile - it's been more than two months since our last show - let's call it the 'shine through the rust'… there are some definite moments there where you might hear some jazz chords that normally have no place in our music (read: mistakes), but they're quickly swallowed up by such a high level of energy that they have no chance of affecting the outcome of the show… this is definitely one of those nights… the audience is great - dancing from the first song throughout - and the band is excited just to be playing again…

AND THEN!!!!

Chris is already counting time for the intro to 'Love Shines'… the only other thing going on is keyboards, only there's no sound coming from the keyboard area of the stage (I know, because I was nearby)… Doug has already said his lead-in piece to introduce the song… and the keyboards are still conspicuously absent… Doug turns around to see me frantically pushing buttons, checking volumes, playing unheard notes, checking cords, motioning to the monitor guy at the side of the stage etc…. oh yeah, and sweating… but my top keyboard (the main one for that song of course) has decided to take a holiday, apparently an extended one… it doesn't come back for the rest of the show… (it's fine now, for anyone remotely interested, after I spent $200. to fix it…) So after Doug takes it easy on me, and only mentions something in passing, about the player always blaming the instrument, (at least that's all I hear while my panic consumes me), we end up skipping 'Love Shines' and, besides a few modifications from the keyboard department, on with the rest of the show…

Walking off stage, after the show, I shake Gerry's hand, thank him for bailing us out with the snare drum, and mention that it's too bad he didn't have a spare keyboard as well… he says, "Yeah, one of those nights huh?"… and the long and short of it is, it WAS one of those nights… and some of the most fun I've had in a long time! … 'the shine through the rust'…

See ya back here next time!
Marc.