May 4, 2002 - Sunshine Valley, AB:

Okay, before I start here, let me take a second to state what seems obvious to me, but may be news to some of you: musicians are nocturnal for the most part... if we see dawn it's usually because we haven't gone to bed yet... it's normal for us to search out restaurants that serve 24 hour breakfast sometime around 2 or 3 pm... I imagine most of you know this already, but, as it definitely comes into play for this particular gig I wanted to be sure.

We finish the gig the night before, (Whiterock, BC - Soccer fundraiser), pack up and drive straight to a hotel within walking distance of the airport... then settle down for a nice relaxing 2 hour sleep, because we have to be at the airport at 5:30... yeah, AM... an interesting note here: this time of the morning really doesn't change much - it looks pretty much the same after doing a show and getting 2 hours of sleep as it does from the other end, when seen through a drunken haze after staying up all night... and I think to myself - a thought I know I've had before - there are people out there who actually get up at this time of day routinely... anyway, we don't see the attraction... different strokes I guess...

So we packed warm... we're playing up on top of a place called Sunshine Valley, which sounds weird to me, because I think of valleys as being low, as in "Down in the Valley", you know?... anyway, this place is a mountain... a ski hill... up 7200 feet, lots of snow, cold... I don't see a valley up here anywhere... and there's lots of those people I mentioned before who routinely get up early... they're easy to spot... no bags under their eyes; big, happy smiles on their faces... these people must sleep at night is my guess... anyway, it's absolutely beautiful up here... but it's cold - did I mention that yet? - and of course this is an outdoor show, mid-afternoon... very well-organized too, I should mention... our equipment is loaded into a cage, then the cage is attached to one of the gondola cars to get it up to the top, then shuttled to the stage... and it's waiting for us by the time we get to the top... the production crew is also on top of their game; Dave does a great job on the monitors and they all do everything they can to make us comfortable onstage... I mean it's not their fault that only one of the four heaters is working... apparently Big Sugar played here two weeks before us in fifteen degree weather and sunshine... today is grey skies, cold (I think I said that already), snowing... and I have to give everyone in the crowd credit for the commitment and dedication it must take to plant their butts in the snow and watch the show... the balcony of the lodge is packed for the entire time as well, but the people up there are a little more removed than those in front of course... Doug is pretty much recovered now from his fall when he took too big a swing at the driving range, but holds back from venturing out into the crowd at this show - the stage is built up on a mound of snow, under a tent, and they've carved out ice steps to get to the stage, but we want to use them as little as possible - he does manage to get quite a few people up onstage though... during the Twist contest we have a couple of very young competitors who eventually win the contest! I'm talking maybe 5 or 6 years old who, with a little coaching from their dad, twisted better than anyone else there! We're still not sure what happened at the end of the show... after the last song, everyone suddenly rushes the stage and demands an encore... which we are more than happy to provide - not that we're cold or anything!... and not that Elio and I have needed a bathroom since midway into the show! We're thinking it's some sort of conspiracy probably...

The hospitality is amazing and it's just a great venue. I strongly recommend to anyone in the area to check out a show there. Maybe even us next year, as there's much talk about a return engagement. So plan your holidays accordingly!

C U there!.................. Marc.