PaArty like a Rock Star!

My ears are still ringing. Shouldda brought ear plugs.

Actually, one of the best places - I though - to listen to the music was from here:



It's the club's ladies' washroom. Slathered in thick pink plaster and dotted with dozens of chunks of mirror, it was under the stairs, almost right underneath the stage. But I couldn't stay there -mostly because it was a bathroom....

But anyway...

I drove the 30 minutes from Millbank to downtown Kitchener to go to this (was it a CD release party?) gig at the -


After trying forever and nearly getting lost in Kitchener, and having to maneuver the giant Buick LeSabre, I managed to find a parking spot. pheuf.

So I walked around a little bit because the gig was supposed to start at 9, and it was quarter to, and it's never a good thing to come early because there's nobody around, and these things often start late.

When I went in, sat at the bar and ordered my one drink for the night (since I had to drive home and I barely knew where I was anyway). And I asked if I could go up to the patio upstairs. Yes. But I had to put my drink into a plastic cup. fine. The bartender led me up the stairs (coz I didn't know how to get upstairs, the stairs were slightly behind the stage), and I had the whole patio to myself. Kinda nice.

And then about 10 minutes later, a guy comes up onto the patio. He looks like he works there. His name is "Ace." He's shaved bald with a goatee. Says this place is his backyard....he needed and job, so they let him work there. mmk. I don't mind talking to him. We talk about me being a nurse, and other random-ism's. Then he asks me to tell him, seriously, what I think his age is. I tell him "well, since we've been talking, you've mentioned at least being 25 years old, and that something has happened at least 8 years since then, so I'd put you at your mid 30's...." slight jaw drop. "Oh, well, you're quite observant...thanks for yor honesty..I'm 40." mmk. then he goes on to tell me how there are "certain" ladies who frequent the bar who like to butter him up....

And then the bar guy (owner?) comes upstairs and there's a trade-off. Obviously, kind of ick, but they're friendly, so I don't mind.

Oh, I didn't mention that when Ace came upstairs, he says "oh, so you're the girl from BC". Stunned, I realize that the bartender told him I was up here after I showed him my ID after ordering my beer. *eye roll*

(FYI, they never had a chance, baby)

But later, after Ace comes and trades off again with the bar guy, the bar guy yells up to the balcony that the show's about to start (an hour late). So I go down.

First gig is Extinct or Alive. My ears burn. They seem young, or at least one of the guitarists is. He's wearing a real baggy tshirt and his ball cap on backwards. They tell us their CD release party is next week. cool. I'm sitting at the bar on a stool, next to (insert South American name here). Seems nice, though I can see he's not here for the music. Just likes to hang around bars. The bartender gave him the remote to the TV and he switches between baseball and a special on ABC about tornadoes. He sees a commercial for G.I. Joe. Asks if I've seen it. Then asks if I want to see it...with him. I tell him "I don't know what my boyfriend would think about that." oh, dang I imagine he's thinking. meh.

Next act...Derive (with an accent on the first e). More loud, but more polished. me = tapping to the music. Ears more hurt.

Just after this band finishes, I go to see what swag these bands have to offer. I figure I'd like to support local music, and since the profits from the compilation album they're peddling go to a local charity that supports music education, I buy one. And so begins my introduction to the band members of the DGB. They play last. All blond guys with long hair. haha. One guy gets up from his seat at the table and offers it to me. They're pretty cool guys. I'm pretty much lame. meh. They seem to enjoy my company. I bought three of their band's buttons (each one has a different one of their faces on it. I stick the buttons next to Barak Obama on my bag). Cool. I'm "in" with a band. Maybe. But they're good company and I'm here all by myself, so I'm happy. Plus, they're younger than 40. One's a mailman, one works at CanTire, and one works for a construction company (owned by his parents.) The 'construction company' won't let him have the time off to tour in western Canada later this year. Lame.

Don't remember what this guy's name is, but....
This guy is David Greer, the namesake of the DGB (david greer band).

So I'm sitting at the table by the door, and the next act is the Yage Letters. Now, pretty much the reason why I came to this gig was to stalk (of sorts) a friend I went to Jr. High with 10 years ago. I got a random facebook invite, so I thought I'd go, just for S&G. This whole night, I'd seen him and I recognized him from his fbook pictures, but frankly I felt weird thinking I'd just walk up and be like "oh hay...so you remember me?" so I actually didn't go up and say hi....even though there were only like 20 people in the bar. meh. But anyway, he was in the Yage Letters. 4 guitars and drums....and no vocals. Pretty cool actually. Good music. By now, my ears actually hurt, though.

I wonder if I've accumulated any real hearing damage. meh.

Yage finishes. I'm still sitting near the door and have met lots of the other musicians, and Andrew (old friend) keeps walking by taking his stuff out to the band van. I wonder if he recognizes me because he doesn't say hi. hmm. So I mention this to one of the guys I'm sitting with...and he stops him. Andrew's like "oh yea, I know her, we go waaaaaay back" and then continues on. He doesn't much ask what's happening or "hey, thanks for coming"...and even the guy I'm sitting with was like "so that's weird, I'd be more excited, or at least say hi....but I guess that's Andrew.."

So that part was kind of lame. So I'm glad I had a good time otherwise.

To tell you the truth, I wasn't epecting much. I just thought it would be an adventure either way. And anyway, I was friends with him-ish, and in Jr. High, he wrote a song about me...behind my back....to the tune of a Blink-182 song. It wasn't nice. I figured that was through....but meh.

I stayed to listen to the DGB. But my ears hurt so much that I had to go outside to listen. I felt bad because they were so nice and they asked me to promise I wouldn't ditch before they played. ears bleeding. so loud. But I did listen from outside.

By the end of their set, it's 2am. I'm exhausted, and I have to figure out how to get back home according to the google maps directions I'd written out.

Figuring out east and west is so much harder when you don't have a valley or an ocean (like Van or BC) to reference things to. I got lost a bunch of times, and went the wrong way on a highway, and took a couple of wrong exits, but in the end I got home safe. At 3am.

Me so tired. It's the next day and I'm still exhausted. I guess it didn't help that I'd been awake since 530 in the morning because I was at work!

So that was my adventure.

Extinct or Alive
Derive
TheYageLetters
TheDGB
Frankie's Song (Non-profit organization)