After a weekend drive down to New York (15 hours in Long weekend traffic) I'm a bit driven out... but no rest for the wicked. It's up to Sudbury for the start of my little Northern tour. I first did this trip 2 winters ago with some friends and am now doing it solo. Back then I was still figuring out the whole touring thing, but now it feels like old hat. Although I'm sick of driving, the Northern Ontario landscape is still one of my favourites. I've forgotten all my CDs, so I listen to long rambly CBC programs and chill out.
Sudbury comes soon enough and I head straight to Science North - a big Sudbury museum that looks vaguely church like - I've never been here before but my friend Alllison assures me that I'll love it. This is a corporate gig for my dayjob, Aviva Insurance. They've hired me up for a big convention they put on for their brokers, many of whom I know. I'm basically background music, doing a lot of covers with some of mine thrown in to keep me interested.
Science North is pretty cool inside - I head past some bizarre water drainage thing down countless corridors till I bury through a rock passage and into a cavern... where I'll be playing. How cool is that!! Giant rock walls and beautiful lighting make for one of the prettiest places to play. Plus the ambient echos are lovely. I bring my gear inside (my recently purchased PA System is finally starting to pay for itself) and set up quickly.
With 15 minutes before we start I go exploring. Wandering up a curving walkway I notice the tip of a huge skeleton... which goes on and on and on and then three stories up you realize, OHMYGOD - it's a whale! So cool!
Upstairs I find a nature exhibit - there's a mock beaver dam which I go to look at. Real water simulates how the beavers would move around and... then I see a stuffed beaver floating in the water, which I'm a little weirded out by, not being a huge taxidermy fan. I look closer, about 2 feet away, and suddenly... the stuffed beaver starts paddling. HOLY @#$@%!! IT'S A REAL BEAVER! TWO FEET AWAY FROM ME!!!
I love Science North.
After the beaver, I hung out with a porcupine and then ran through the lego mindworks section, past astronomy and back through the whale skeleton walkway into the cavern, just in time to jump on stage and start playing.
The show goes well - I play some pretty finger picking stuff for a bit and then switch to covers. Insurance brokers and co-workers give me thumbs up, but are mostly interested in talking with eachother. Which is fine by me - I practice my tunes, running through every song I know. By nin o'clock I've been playin for 3 hours and the night ends with one of the organizers (thanks, Tracy!) encouraging everyone to join me at The Little Montreal Bar in an hour. Yep... after playing for 3 hours, I've set up another show.
I pack like mad and motor over to The Little Montreal Bar. I'd booked this gig sight unseen, so was a bit wary of what the place was like - especially since it's on the same strip as the Townehouse Tavern - one of the coolest and, um, "full of character" venues ever. But the LM bar is lovely - upscale enough for insurance folks, but still kind of cool.
Turns out that I've miscommunicated with them though and they weren't sure I was showing up. Which means they haven't promoted the show and are worried that no one's going to come out on a Wednesday... luckilly I have a bunch of very cool insurance folks coming. I set up again and then change from my dress clothes into jeans and a cool t-shirt that I got last time I was in town from Deluxe Burgers, which reads "Sudbury is a one arch town!"
Soon the crowd poors in and everyone else has changed into jeans and t-shirts. Nice to know we al have alter egos and secret identities.
I'm kind of hoping that this will be more of a "performance" than a background music type show, but once I start playing it's clear that everyone wants to hang out and chat. Afterwards, a friend asks me if I worry that people aren't listening and I tell her that as long as they're staying, I figure you're enjoying yourselves, and I notice lots of people pausing to watch or sing along and tap their toes. Turns out a lot of the talk is based on "he's so good!" Nice folks.
On my break, a man approaches me from the HoJo, where I'm staying tonight. He says "David Hein? We almost cancelled your reservation because you hadn't checked it. But then I saw your poster and thought I'd come in to make sure." Bizarre. Thank god for posters.
Bev & Mark from the Little Montreal Bar are good folks. They offer drinks and introduce me also to their friend, who's bringing the first Thai restaurant to Sudbury - nice!
I play some more and then wind up with an encore of Brown Eyed Girl - which someone wants me to make "dirty" - apparently I'm too clean. Brown Eyed Girl is a relatively sweet song, but man, there are lots of references to "going down" "slipping and sliding" etc. which are easily turned into euphemisms...
Bev & Mark invite me back. Everyone buys CDs and I sign a poster or two. I finish up around 12:30 - having played, with breaks, for 6 and a half hours. That's enough.
