We’re on the first leg of our journey to southern BC and I figure I should update you all on whats happened so far.
July 23 – We had an amazing tour kick-off show at the Bovine Sex Club. Maximum RNR were crazy fun and had so much energy we were almost scared to follow them up. Luckily we didn’t have to. Kilometre did, and they played a freakin’ awesome set. Great arrangements and everyone loves Mark’s guitar faces. We headlined the show and it was a really fun set. People were singing along and a few people even came up to me after the show and asked for the band’s info so they could send friends in BC to our show. Really great times. Three big mother offing cheers for the Bovine Sex Club, Maximum RNR, Kilometre, Diana (Pink & Black Attack Promotions), Bill (sound), and of course all of you crazies who came out to make it such a great show.
July 25 – We flew out early in the morning and everything wen’t pretty smoothly. We had a few pints at Steamworks brewery during our 7 hour layover. We may have gotten a bit tipsy because we couldn’t stop laughing about goats and potatoes (really, just, don’t ask). There was a minor error with the itinerary for the flight to Smithers, but it was cleared up pretty quickly (though I did smell pretty bad after – stress sweat will do that to you…). We were rewarded in Smithers with beautiful scenery, Canterbury Beer (Prince George), and a hot-tub. I know. Tough life.
Kispiox Festival July 26-28 – We loaded up the tan mini-van with our things and drove a few hours west of Smithers to the beautiful and remote (even for Northern BC!) Kispiox Valley Music Festival. 3 days of almost non-stop music. I managed to catch sets by quite a few musicians I admire and respect immensely including Corwin Fox and Rachelle Van Zanten. A few memorable highlights were:
- Our set on Saturday. We put together a kick-ass setlist, everyone else put their dancing pants on and we all had a blast. Roy Anderson was there, which is great because he’s probably my favourite festival dancer of all-time. Greg, Shane, and I were all on our game and it managed to be a very memorable first gig of the tour.
- We woke up from our first night of camping at the festival only to discover an accordian someone had left beneath the camper. While jamming we discovered Shane has some serious accordian skillz. Seriously. You gotta hear this guy solo. I think he’s trying to immitate a trumpet?
- MPT MPT (Mip Power Trio Morning Philosophy Time) with great insights like “You can’t, like, own intellectual property, man” (Greg) and discussions about Shane’s need for a Modesty Speedo.
- Saya, a student I taught at the Smithers Younger Guitar Camp a few years ago, approached me and mentioned he was still playing music. I remembered him immediately (but I had to search my memory for his name) and I suggested jamming later. I was thinking Greg and him would play off of each other well since Greg is a more advanced music teacher. Saya and Greg did go to our site and jam out and I went over to watch them. The kid was amazing!!! He’d pretty much be teaching me now (at least, if I wanted to learn metal). His parents watched the jam go down too and credited me for showing him the G-string (“What are they teaching him at guitar camp?!”) Saya’s sister was also a really neat acoustic player and song-writer (at 14yo). They had some great little instrumental pieces they could play together and a fun sibling rivalry act going. Can’t wait to hear more from them in the future.
- On Sunday Shane and I wen’t over to the river behind the stage at the festival. We were determined to swim in it, and it was really warm out. Thing about these rivers is…they’re FREAKIN COLD!!! There’s a few versions of how the whole river swim went down…
- The story according to Shane: He took off his shirt to reveal his rippling muscles and the crowd of people at the banks cheered. He swam to the other side of the river with ease and they all cheered again. I apparently stuck my toe in the water and started to cry like a baby.
- The story according to Mip: I had a bit of a headache after the swim. Shane had fallen in the river and I had to jump in to save him. He was so scared he kicked and screamed like a baby and even hit me in the head (hence the headache). I saved him anyways. This happened at least 3 times.
- The Truth: Shane and I took forever getting into the river. I went up to my knees and splashed cold water on myself and eventually flopped in which resulted in quite the show as I adjusted to the cold-shock. Shane did this sort of duck walk in an attempt to gradually ease into the water. Once we were in we flubbered around a bit and crossed the river and back while the river-seasoned Northerners laughed at us.
July 31 – We had a gig in Prince George last night. A bit of a panic ensued when we found out Long & McQuade didn’t have rental drums available. After some texts and phone calls along the road to PG (whenever there was actually cell reception) we managed to find a kit. BIG HUGE THANKS to Andrew Kurjata and Eric for their help.
The Nancy O’s gig was really fun. The food there is fantastic and they also have a great beer selection. We had to play reeeeaaaalllyy quietly, which threw my energy off at first but I got it back. It also helps that one of my greatest hecklers was there – my mother. Haha. Really big thanks to the staff at Nancy O’s who got us sorted and collected cover. Also, thanks to the folks who came out and made it such a fun evening.
Now for a looong drive to Vancouver. Here we go..!
Love MPT