October 31st, 2002 - Flashbacks, Kelowna, BC:

First off... Happy Hallowe'en to all the Slugfans out there!...

We're playing one of our absolute favourite gigs for this year's scariest holiday... seriously, if you're visiting Kelowna, you owe it to yourself to pop down to Flashbacks - the club rocks; Bill (owner/manager) and the entire staff do it up right and they'll treat you well...okay, so this time none of the vans break down on the way here - last trip out, Chris brought his own vehicle, but only made it to Abbotsford where he had to rent another van... Chris and vehicles is sort of like that scene in Jurassic Park, where Sam Neill only has to touch a computer screen for it to crash, but we never bug him about that of course...

We pull into Kelowna at 6pm, check ourselves into the hotel, head to the club, load in, setup, soundcheck... and we're out of there at 7:15pm... I'm sure this is a record... kudos to Kenny (our soundman) and the production crew at Flashbacks - that's amazingly fast for those of you who don't know how long it usually takes... way to go guys! Then it's back to the hotel, dinner, then get dressed up in our costumes for the show...

Doug is particularly impressed with the amount of time and attention the entire band puts into the costumes... very scary indeed... and the show is on! We open with me playing the scary organ thing by Bach... I can't remember right now (web site chick insert: HAHAHA.. Marc can't remember?) what it's called (slap me), (slap) but it was the theme for Rollerball too I think - you know the one... then we launch into 'Cover Me With Roses' which is particularly fitting for Hallowe'en... AND THEN! Doug wanders the crowd as the band is playing 'The Monster Mash' and he's making up words to suit the crowd's costumes... somewhere in the middle of the show, Doug pulls three women up onstage... three catwomen actually... and I think one of them likes pirates...

I'm standing there playing and she's behind me, pressed tight, grabbing... well... you get the picture, I'm sure... I told her to "just help yourself", but the sarcasm was lost on her I think... she didn't stop until one of the other catwomen called her back to the front of the stage... (I was powerless to do anything about it - I felt so violated, so abused... well, okay, I liked it...)...

the Twist contest was performed by the three most scantily clad women in the crowd onstage, and the band was very focused on what we were doing at the time... eyes front everyone...

A little later on, and Kiss walks in... the entire band... great costumes! Well, we have to have these guys up onstage... we kick into 'Rock and Roll All Night' and the Kiss guys help us sing the chorus... well done, guys!

What a great party, amazing costumes, and just a really excellent night! Thanks Bill and everyone else at Flashbacks... we can't wait to come back!

Cya!

Marc