Notes Tagged: 'canada'

Shaking Hands with Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Before I report on the news, how about this: Our new friend Tim (DJ Co-Op) has confirmed our theory from a couple of days ago. Fernie is indeed a haunted town. He’s played at the Royal Hotel and can confirm all of our ghostly suspicions. He had a very similar experience and added a few key details, including the link above. If you have your own experiences of haunted Fernie, send them to missfairchild@gmail.com and I’ll post some up here.

We arrived in Winnipeg a little late and met the aforementioned Tim at Pyramid Cabaret, whose owner Dave is huge Red Sox and Patriots fan. Fortunately, the Sox beat the Yanks yesterday, so I can mention that with some amount of comfort. Dave was already a fan of ours, being that he likes Boston so much, so we didn’t even have to play well to stay in his good graces!

(Kidding.)

(We probably didn’t have to play at all to stay in his good graces.)

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Permalink / 17 Sep. '07 / Tagged: canada winnipeg border fans

The Regina Monologues

While in Calgary, we took Bessie to a Minute Muffler to have the tires rotated and the front end aligned. Justin, our man there, was as straight up and forthcoming as we’ve ever encountered in a mechanic, telling us what we don’t need and charging us for the minimum work. He was able to squeeze us into a hectic day despite our being very late for the appointment and even gave some tips on how to fix another problem that we’ve been having for what could end up being ten dollars. He represented you well, Canadian mechanics!

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Permalink / 16 Sep. '07 / Tagged: tour regina canada video bessie van

Make Me So Happy, I Wanna Slap My Daddy

Calgary, Alberta was described to us by some Canadians as “The Armpit of The World.” We’re not feeling that. Sure, we’ve only been here for fifteen hours, but I couldn’t be more impressed by the people we’ve met. The HiFi Club is a really nice spot in downtown with a deep stage and a spacious dance floor. Many of the posters were made by our old friend Joshua Ruckstuhl, who, as you all know by now did the artwork for Ooh La La, Sha Sha…

(Wait, how could you not know that? Have you forgotten to pick up a copy? We’re trying to outsell Kanye and 50, people. We can’t do it without you.)

Anyhow, we finally got to meet the guy. Couldn’t have been nicer. Thanks again, Josh, for your incredible work. We also met a bunch of other great people, like Anthony, Sarmad, Wax Romeo, DJ Day and our old friend Huggs, who is best known for putting on “Soul Power” when we needed it most a couple years ago. Thanks to all of these people for making a fantastic night. We didn’t meet Pete and Mike, but they deserve a loud shout, too.

Okay, how fantastic was it? Well, it was potentially the best show we’ve ever had in a place we’ve never played before. (Say that ten times fast.) People came out, people sang and people danced. People supported our tour by buying records. Calgary, in short, is the bee’s knees, impossible not love after that experience…

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Permalink / 15 Sep. '07 / Tagged: tour canada calgary video

Fernie: Ghost Town (But not in that way)

Fernie, British Columbia is one of those places where you walk outside (or look out the window, for that matter) and say, “Wow.” The mountains are all around us and beautiful; the town is very cozy and nestled right in the middle of them. We arrived to much fanfare (parades, the presentation of the key to the city, a champagne reception. You know, the usual) and without too much Bessie trouble. We have forsaken the air conditioning completely and we’re not loosing too much coolant. We filled up what we had lost, including the reservoir, which Jiffy-Lube filled with washer fluid instead of anti-freeze, by the way. Perhaps we should have been watching them instead of getting our hippie on with the hacky-sack…

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Permalink / 14 Sep. '07 / Tagged: tour live oohLaLaShaSha fernie ghost bessie van hacky-sack canada

The Longest Day (Barn Muffins, Not Bran)

Once again in the van, and once again we have just done our business in one of Canada’s finest cities (Ottawa); only this time, instead of heading to a “bed,” we are headed to our next destination: Columbus, OH. Sam Nice is driving and I’m on keep-the-driver-awake duty. I would ask him to explain cellular biology to me (and that would certainly keep him awake), but it might put me to sleep. And that would be counterproductive…

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Permalink / 08 Sep. '07 / Tagged: tour canada ottawa van muffins columbus border

Immigration

One thing about The Ten Thousand Things North American Tour is that this a learning process for us here at Miss Fairchild. You see, we’ve never done this particular thing in this particular way and, despite research and preparation, things go wrong and unexpected challenges pop up from time to time. In fact, dear readers, I write to you now from a Grand Union supermarket parking lot in Swanton, VT, just this side of Quebec. Why have we stopped, you ask? Well, we’re waiting on some final paperwork to go through so that our work visas are ready for our entry into Canada. Montreal is just about an hour away! But she seems so much farther…

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Permalink / 07 Sep. '07 / Tagged: canada tour montreal

Montreal (Jello Bar)

Here I am in Montreal, friends, in the most excellent apartment of our musical and personal host Louis-Marc, aka DJ Truspin. I’m typing as quietly as I can because the rest of the band is still sleeping. We had a late night last night playing our first ever Montreal show…

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Permalink / 07 Sep. '07 / Tagged: oohLaLaShaSha tour montreal canada tv