I’ve now played in Brandon more than almost any other town in my travels across Canada – after two folk fests and a stop or two, it’s nice to have friends who are looking forward to me arriving.
I’m playing at the Lady of the Lake – which I always assumed to be a coffee shop of some sort, but instead turns out to be a gigantic very cool antique shop – with a restaurant and stage tacked onto the end. Everywhere you look it’s stunningly decorated – in one corner, pink Christmas trees are matched with pink bears and chairs and bears, oh my, while in another there’s a black and white movie motif. The place is massive.
The restaurant itself is also huge, with ridiculously high ceilings and tons of tables – which are apparently all sold out – less due to me (I think I sold out 2 tables…) than a couple Christmas parties and fans of the band playing after me, a blues act called The Majestics. I’m only playing from 6-8, but am looking forward to my dinnertime show – especially to a packed house and a couple tables of friends.
While The Majestics sound check, I wander around the store looking at Christmas stuff – wishing, even though I like being in Brandon, that I was back home planning Christmas trees and putting up stockings for the cats.
Before I play, I hang out with some friends from the Brandon Folk Fest. Apparently the folk fest is in the midst of political craziness – some of my friends who’ve worked on the fest for years, have quit in protest over it being taken over by a local politician. It’s a long story and I only get to talk for ten minutes. One friend refuses to talk about it until he’s been drinking. It sound pretty awful all around.
The show is great – despite the tawky gigantic auto parts maker Christmas Party next to me. The Majestics in the front row make a nice audience, some ladies in the corner do a bit of seated dancing, my fest friends sing along, and even a couple auto part girls seem to be enjoying it. One asks me if I’m married and when I tell her yes, she tells me I’ve just ruined her whole evening.
It’s a bizarre mix of being background music and actually putting on a show – but I have fun and it seems to work alright. And playing to a packed house is always nice – even if they’re only there for the other band or the food… I make up a couple tunes
My favourite moment is that at the back of the room, a couple do some whistling. Later, I go over to introduce myself – and it turns out they’re folk fest attendees and fans of my song, Jetpack. In fact, there’s a Christmas tree behind them, with cards that you can write your Christmas wish onto as ornaments. They’ve written “I want a David Hein style Jetpack”… coincidentally my Christmas wish as well. Thanks, Guys!
After the show, we head back to Lyle & Brenda’s for a jam & wine-drinking session with a variety of hard rockers and folksy types. I’m somewhat more into the wine-drinking, but I’m happy to strum away in the background, especially after playing for two hours earlier. Lyle is particularly soused and makes out with a harmonica seductively. Dave plays accordion over classic rock tunes and does a bit of pole dancing. Paul, who plays classical acoustic, shows off his electric skills.
In the middle of a long tour, it’s pretty great to come back to a place where I’ve played a fair bit and have a bunch of great, drunk friends.
