Maple Ridge, Vancouver, Victoria Ska Fest

Sunday:

Flew in from Edmonton and met Lacey at Bon's for breakfast. Drove out to Maple Ridge to play AdStock with Ninja Spa, Bone Daddies, Danny Rebel & the KGB! DR&KGB are on tour from Montreal right now, so they met us at Danagement's house for BBQ. So delicious, so good.

Monday:

Played the Cobalt with the Valuables, Danny Rebel & the KGB, and the Fabulous LoLo! All the bands sounded so great, best ska show I've been to in a long time. The staff at the Cobalt are hilarious and really nice, and it's a really fun room to play. Probably my favorite venue in Vancouver right now. Stayed up stupid late with Jeremy afterward watching Star Trek TNG.

Tuesday:

Definitely a write-off from the night before, didn't get out of bed until after 8pm. Kris B, Becky, and Jen from Edmonton ska-band Utopian Skank drove to town on their way to Victoria Ska Fest and crashed at my place for the night. Walked around the Drive and hung out, they told me of their plans to go to Victoria Ska Fest, sleep in their car and in parks, and see all the shows and workshops and just party for four days. They invited me to come along, but being broke and not having money for tickets made me pass on the offer so I could instead stay home and practice all week.

Wednesday:

I took them to Bon's for breakfast before they left for Victoria, and somewhere over breakfast I decided Ska Fest was a great idea, packed a bag, sleeping bag, and saxophone (to practice in the downtimes) and took off with them for the ferry. The Valuables played that night, which I got to see because it was a free show. It was Haig's birthday that night and we all ended up at their Motel to party. The whole night is kind of a mystery for me, my brain stopped recording memories sometime between seeing nobody in particular stealing the Mountie hat off of the RCMP bear in front of the tourist shop, the 780 LBC in the beer gardens, and an alleged 10-minute conversation I had with a "pizza-keep" and patrons after telling the rest of the guys to "wait here, I got this."

Thursday:

Woke up in the backseat of the Jeep, everybody else had slept in the park nearby, but were woken up by some dude with a leaf-blower at 4 am. Hung out in Beacon Park (Bacon Park) being awesome until going to the dub workshops at L&M. Went to the show that night, but since I didn't have tickets I sat on the hill just outside watching and listening to the show and hanging with Sterno and Jay and the girls from AdStock and and and pretty much everybody that I know from the Vancouver scene. It was crazy how awesome that hill was. Victoria Police are the coolest people on the planet after coming up to me and casually telling me to "keep the beer discreet, there are children around." Midnight beach party with everybody afterward, and then some crazy after-party show with KB at some club that spilled out into the square after hours where a drummer had set up and was jamming with a trombonist and baritone saxophonist. Back to Bacon Park to sleep under the stars with KB, Sterno, and Jay.

Friday:

Woke up freezing at 5:30, went to the Jeep to sleep in the driver's seat, and ended up sleeping until after noon. Went to the Brian Dixon clinic at L&M (awesome,) chilled downtown at Chapters for a bit to check my email and get my coffee on, and then Micky D's for Becky's custom McDouble w/ tomato, lettuce, and McChicken sauce. Delicious. Went to the harbor to see the Aggrolites play. Didn't have a ticket, but I stood right outside watching over the fence right off the side of the stage. Sick view, sick band, what they did on stage should be illegal. It was another clinic of Brian's, that band schooled everybody that night. Danagement came to Ska Fest for that show, and let the four of us take the 2nd bedroom, couch, and Murphy bed at where he was staying. Showers, in-suite laundry, private hot tub, rooftop patio. Nice change from sleeping in a park.

Saturday:

Went to the free show in the afternoon to see Danny Rebel & the KGB play with LoLo. Sara pulled me backstage for free beers, which was the start of one of the funnest and most random days of my life!! Sat around all show bullshitting with everybody, and managed to have a "casual" 5-minute conversation with Angelo of Fishbone. I mean "casual" because it was chill, but the whole time I was trying to not act star-struck or say something dumb. Which is 95% of the time for me, so I was pretty nervous.

Sara came through HUGE for me, she totally made the trip for me. After asking me if I was excited about Fishbone that night, and after the story of not having tickets and sleeping in parks, she hooked me up with the show that night. Long story short, it was the best show I've ever seen. Spent their entire set backstage with my elbows on the side of the stage looking like a jack-ass geeking out over the band. They were absolutely incredible. I was hanging out with Danny Rebel & the KGB all night, and Lorraine (LoLo) went on stage to sing with Fishbone at one point!! A day of free food, free beer, and free Fishbone is probably the best day ever to happen to anybody ever.

Sunday:

Caught (and slept on) the first Ferry of the day, had sushi with KB, Becky, and Jen before they left for Edmonton, and spent the rest of the day sleeping. I'm sure I'm forgetting most of the awesome stories. I definitely SHREDDED for 7 days straight.


Sara!