Journal
We’re back…
Hi gang,
I write this as we travel west on the #1 from Winnipeg (aka Winterpeg aakkaa Summerpeg, today very warm) to Brandon for a play at The 40 tonight. Like the unconditional love of a best friend, the good souls of Manitoba’s capitol were out in full force at the McPhillips Station Casino last night. [...]
Dec 3, 2004
“Give me a sound warning. Give me a trace of love. Give me Hell for effort. Listen to the crows cry for sustenance – they know more than we give them credit for.
My story is a long time coming…”
I’ve been AWOL for some time now and I promise that I will try to give a [...]
Dec 2, 2003
I’ve not written for sometime - not sure what happened though… When we played in Saskatoon last week, I went out a few days early to hang with Don and Jacque at their new house north of the city, which, by-the-way, is fabulous. Very private and very quiet. We ate and drank and watched movies [...]
Sept 19, 2003
Iron Horse, Kingston. We’ve had a hit and miss history with Kingston. I remember some great gigs and a couple of disasters and some strange, “coming of age” times as well. Lakeview Manor was an early show experience here—and my first exposure to bill sharing with women who wear little-to-no clothing. We played a show [...]
Sept 18, 2003
I love my cowboy suit. I love the hat. I feel like Tim McGraw when I put it on. I feel like a mysterious, dangerous character. I feel like a fun-loving redneck ready for a rock’n good time.
The first few numbers in the set are very upbeat and with the cowboy suits it’s like HeeHaw [...]
Sept 17, 2003
Cambridge. Fiddler’s Green. Some shows are difficult to describe only because I can’t remember anything of any real significance happening. We played and it all came together nicely. I think we have mastered the ability of putting on a solid show that continually builds through out the night. When you have as many relatively recognized [...]
Sept 12, 2003
Every now and then, we play a gig that’s a bit of a freak show. The venue or the audience or a certain combination of both qualify the gig to “freak status”. Enter the Brampton Fairgrounds. This one was certainly hovering close to freak status. We were picking up after the demolition derby and the [...]
Aug 4, 2003
Right: The Pikes and Rob Wells aka Ricky from Trailer Park Boys
This is arguably the tastiest date on this little tour - figuratively and literally. The Marquee club is owned and operated by one of the coolest guys in town: Victor Syperek. The host of hosts makes us feel like royalty when we are there. [...]
Aug 3, 2003
Last night we played a private party in Fredericton. Super-fans Krista & Geoffrey Downey celebrated their recent marriage (together 12 years before tying the knot - heads up to all of you twenty somethings wanting to get married!!!) by throwing an amazing bash at a beautiful hotel on the outskirts of town. Two tons of [...]
Aug 2, 2003
OK Enough loafing around. Time to get back to work. New Glasgow’s Jubilee Festival last night. Pretty typical show for us. Several thousand people seemed to have a good time. Weather was perfect. Patrick was a great help. And a fantastic venue! Thank you Emma.
Got back to the hotel in time to see the second [...]
July 29, 2003
Left: Jay, Merl, Jeffrey Liberty, Don & Bryan
Good morning Fish-Heads. O’Leary’s in St. John last night. Absolutely amazing. A small club filled to the rafters. The best kind of shows. The audience was so much fun to play for. Hot, sticky, sweaty fun. Steve, Craig, Sherrie and Stephanie were all very kind and generous. Tech-extrordinaire and [...]
July 28, 2003
Greetings from Eastern Canada. We’re en route to St. John NB this morning. Last night’s gig in Port Hawkesbury was interesting. Temperamental weather played havoc on the set and things got pretty wet up there - I hope the gear works tonight! Do you know how cool Don looks when water is pouring down from [...]
July 28, 2003
Greetings from Eastern Canada. We’re en route to St. John NB this morning. Last night’s gig in Port Hawkesbury was interesting. Temperamental weather played havoc on the set and things got pretty wet up there - I hope the gear works tonight! Do you know how cool Don looks when water is pouring down from [...]
We’re back…
Hi gang,
I write this as we travel west on the #1 from Winnipeg (aka Winterpeg aakkaa Summerpeg, today very warm) to Brandon for a play at The 40 tonight. Like the unconditional love of a best friend, the good souls of Manitoba’s capitol were out in full force at the McPhillips Station Casino last night. We’ve experienced such wonderful consistency from the Pikes audience in this area and I shouldn’t be too surprised as Winnipeg over the last 25 years has been a superb market for the Pikes – whether it was The Spectrum, The Zoo, The Walker Theatre or Winnipeg Arena or the plethora of other stages we have been privileged to grace over the years in this town, we have always looked forward to coming back. In 1985, Winnipeg was the first ‘big’ city the Pikes performed in outside of the province of Saskatchewan. It was a significantly big deal to us…
It was a week long stint in the basement of the Fort Gary Hotel. Cool bar that was well set up for live performance – maybe sat a hundred or so people.
We took the train – we all had private sleeper suites as the voyage left late at night in Saskatoon. In all of the travel we have experienced since those very days, nothing has ever really compared to that night. It was winter and the flat earth was frozen and sealed with a layer of white ice that glowed a deep opaque blue in the moonlight.
We arrived in Winnipeg very early Monday morning and were greeted by what looked like a fresh coating of new snow. We had a considerable amount of baggage with us (full drum kit, guitars, amps, luggage etc).
Fortunately (sort of), The Fort Gary is directly across the street from the train station so we took turns traipsing gear through foot deep dirty city street snow up the steps of the hotel and into the club.
We were lucky enough to also stay at the hotel while were employed there and not reside for the week at the “Craphole Spa and Inn” across town.
I love the hotel and specifically that vintage of the old CN heritage hotels in Canada. There is something very special about them, a certain vibe you can’t really get anywhere else. In fact we stayed at the Mac in Alberta’s capitol last weekend…
I’ll get back to Edmonton in a moment…
We used to crash 2 to a room. Jay and I bunked together the first time we did this gig. And though I cannot in my heart of hearts 100% definitively say that I believe this but Jay states that very early one morning a maid was dusting the inside of our room. He said she had a flirtatious smile was very whimsical in her motions – sort of dancing. Evidently I lay a sleep and woke only for brief moment. I have a very vague memory of this event but honestly the visual associated is blurry and brief. I have more of a definitive memory of Jay asking her why she was in the room and than actually seeing her - I probably rolled over and back to sleep thinking ‘he’ll take care of it’.
Now the big question is, was that a person or a playful spirit? Jay is also wondering this. The hotel has no shortage of ‘stories’ about it – strange uninvited visitors to guest’s rooms while they are sleeping.
So I guess that if the Pikes have any kind of ghost story to tell it (may have) happened to us long ago in this great city’s classic hotel.
As just mentioned, we were in Edmonton the previous weekend - home of the Oilers and my sister and brother-in-law.
We played the Century Casino to very enthusiastic crowd that made the night something to remember. It was a great show. We had not played a set together since last fall and other than a brief rehearsal in Saskatoon the previous evening, we were walking into this cold. I was more nervous prior to hitting the stage that night than any gig in recent memory but as usual, within a couple tunes we began to lock in and play music without thinking about it. I guess it’s a certain advantage we have playing the same songs for 25 years.
Special kudos to Shane & Jodie.
The next night we performed a private affair for Shannon’s 40th birthday party hosted by her generous and amiable husband Craig. Super nice people who took amazing care of us. Barnie Bentall and his band were also on the bill and it was a very good feeling to catch up again with people we crossed paths so many times on the road. They sounded great and genuinely looked as if they were having as much fun as we had.
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Brandon was fun – visited with some old friends, some new friends included the always amiable Super Dave, Don-the-record-guy, Keith from P.E.I. Matt took especially good care of us and we thank him for that.
We have begun serious discussing getting together this summer to write and record a couple of new tunes that more than likely will be available only in digital form. In time, if we get a collection of material that makes sense to justify a physical release, we will pursue this.
Will keep you posted…
It’s been a long time since I addressed the site with some ‘reports from the road’ - anyone who takes the time to check this out, thanks for sticking it out with us for so long. I know it s only a number but we are now officially a quarter of a century old and that milestone has seemed to invigorate our enthusiasm. I think it says something about our music and us as people and particularly about our relationship. Don, Jay and Ross are about as dear a group of friends as I will ever have in this life and when we hook up to play music I look forward to being with them as much as the work itself. A definite advantage to growing older (if you are lucky enough to not only grow older but also lucky enough to listen to the wisdom accumulating inside yourself) is you appreciate every moment of time spent with special people – its almost as if the clock slows down – that’s the sweet spot. I think those three guys are very special people…
See you soon.
B.