Finally, after what seems a VERY long time – and almost near the end of the Harry Potter book on ipod – I arrive in Vancouver. I’m staying with old friends of my mother’s, but I don’t really have enough time to stop. I get to the club about a half hour before doors open and pile in. My ears still haven’t popped at all and I have a bad case of airplane ears.
Inside is a totally cool venue – I’m playing at the Beaumont Studios in their theatre. The building is an artist co-op – upstairs are studios and the entire place is a gallery. The theatre puts on small productions, but is dark on Mondays, so they decided to set up a music night there called “Vancouver City Limits”, run by Bruce, who also owns a recording studio above. Bruce and his cohorts film the nights, edit them, and then broadcast them on their own youtube channel (Check it out by searching for “Vancouver City Limits” on youtube - I’ll let you all know when the show is up). I’ll be playing second, after a woman named Trinity, and before a band called La La Boom Boom.
I do a quick soundcheck, but my ears still havent’t popped from the mountains and I feel like I’m hearing myself out in the lobby or in another building. I think I’m in tune with myself, but feel kind of underwater.
When the crowd arrives, I run into Adam, a friend who plays with the Gruff, and who also happens to be hosting a house concert for me in Victoria on Friday. Crazy! He’s come to see his girlfriend who plays fiddle in La La Boom Boom.
Trinity does a sweet set of music, playing guitar, kick and high hat all at once – she confides before her set that she was a bit nervous because her parents were seeing her play for the first time that night – something which I just went through in Medicine Hat.
There’s a quick break and then I go on. I’m exhausted and totally out of it – I sound like I have gauze in my ears or like someone else is singing. But whoever’s singing, it sounds alright and mostly on key. I play a buncha goofy songs – made for youtubing – and everyone laughs along to most. Afterwards, La La Boom Boom put on an amazing show – they remind me of Crash Test Dummies meets Arcade Fire, although I’m not sure I’m totally up on Arcade Fire enough to make that comparison. Anyway – it’s great stuff – Adam’s girlfriend is a great fiddler (so is Adam) and the band has great energy.
After the show I sell a CD or two and then head over to Celeste and Jack’s – my mom’s friends. They’re a very nice couple with two lovely pups – old friends of both my moms from Ottawa. I park outside and they welcome me at the door. We talk about my folks for a bit, watch a little news, and then I head to bed.
The next morning, I pack up – give Jack a hand getting a TV out to the garage, and then head down to my car….
OH #%@#^@#$%^
My car has been broken into – the lock to the driver door is dangling and the handle’s snapped in half. I drop my stuff and open the car… the glove compartment has been rifled through – so has the change holder… which still holds a $5 bill and a buncha change… strange… I scan the car and try to figure out what’s missing. In the back my guitar is still sitting there, thank god, as is the suitcase filled with most of my CDs and in the trunk is the rest of my stuff.
It looks like they only stole a backpack - filled with 30 David Hein CDs, some cards that I don’t use much (health card for Ontario, insurance, and one credit card with new pin chip thing…), and some papers and a book on musical theatre that a friend lent me (I’m buying you a new one, Grant – sorry!!!). Whoever stole it must have been looking for my GPS – and they certainly got an interesting collection of what must seem like crap to them… I mean, unless they’re really into indie folksy music or musical theatre… I cancel the credit card, make a police report, phone my insurance, and then Enterprise Rent a Car.
I drive to car to where the gig was last night hoping that I might have just left the bag there, but I haven’t. Because the lock is trashed in the car, I have to hold it with my left hand while driving with my left. To make matters worse, my GPS, now thoroughly angry at me after our mountain trip, sends me to 2 wrong addresses. Finally, I get sent to a Suzuki dealer to fix the lock, but he tells me it won’t be ready for 4-5 days – 1 or 2 after I was planning on leaving. He also tells me that he can’t believe that Enterprise gave me this car for driving through the mountains, since the tires are almost bald… no wonder I was slightly terrified yesterday.
The service guy manages to get the handle popped back in, so I don’t have to hold it while driving, but tells me that it won’t lock. I climb in and push on it gently – the door holds – then I check the lock, which goes down and seems to lock the door. I pull it up again and then try the the door handle… which doesn’t open. I’ve locked myself in and now have to climb through the passenger side to exit. This day is just getting better and better.
Finally, I end up at an Enterprise on the edge of town and after a fair bit of “discussion” with the Calgary Enterprise people, they agree that I can swap out for a new BC car – a blue version of the little red Swift.
I swap out all my stuff and head over to my friend, Ray’s, where I’m staying for 2 blissful days off.
Honestly, I’m a bit confused about the whole thing. Staying with Celeste and Jack, we talked about some of a people Jack works with – homeless, drug addicts and poor people. So even though I spent the entire #$%#$^ day dealing with Enterprise and insurance and whatnot, I still feel kinda sorry for them – especially thinking about them rifling through the bag and only finding CDs that they probably can’t sell and a book on musical theatre. And I certainly came off pretty lucky out of it – Enterprise is covering most of the costs and my insurance will pay for everything… but I still kind of feel like it’s personal somehow – like my generally naïve, happy-go-lucky demeanor got taken advantage of - and I know I shouldn’t feel this way too, but since EVERYONE in Vancouver seems totally UNSURPRISED that I got broken into, I’m kind of holding it against the entire city.
Ray and I talk music for hours and then hit the hay. Today I stayed inside. Most cities I’m excited to check out, but today I just want to stay in, with all of my stuff that I’ve moved in from the car.
