Tuesday 4-24-07, Vancouver, British Columbia
Yeah, the border. So we get up early-ish, grab our gear from the club and drive towards our date with destiny.
Canadian Border guards are normally more relaxed and reasonable than US ones, but you can also get caught in a weird nationalist game of tit for tat. (Note: since the internet is now used as a background check at border searches, any juicier details are hereby eliminated. Maybe we were doing something illegal in crossing the border and maybe not, but since this is getting posted online, not getting fucked with by an overzealous border guard in the future is a lot more important than impressing our readership with any smuggling hi-jinks that may or may not be happening).
Everything seems to be going fine in the immigration office until Shawn is called up. He is not on the work permits. They ask where he lives and what he does. “Philadelphia,” “photographer.” They don’t like one of those answers and begin to search the vans for his cameras. In so doing, they find an incredibly small amount of pot in Jarrett’ toiletries.
They call Jarrett out and confront him with the pot. He denies whatever, but they spin him around, slap cuffs on him and start saying something about “he Geneva Convention.”Jarrett disappears. This is suddenly very bad.
We are threatened with a ten hour van search. I say that we don’thave any drugs, which I thought was true the first time. So they settle for taking us all in a room and emptying our pockets and socks.
We sit out in the waiting area for a while. Things look still bleak and I would like to kill Jarrett, but I still don’t know where he is.
(Apparently however, he is in the back getting a lecture on what an idiot he is because pot is practically decriminalized in British Columbia. “ou can buy this in Vancouver!”the guards say to him incredulously.)
Then, over the next 45 minutes things suddenly go really well. Jarrett is unarrested (?), Shawn has to driven back to the US and leave his camera gear and we can continue onwards. We even make soundcheck.
Wednesday 4-25-07 Edmonton, Alberta
We fly here. None of us has ever been. It is very dusty everywhere as the snow has just melted. We stay in a really nice hotel and play in front of a good crowd of really immobile but loud people. I am really tired.
Thursday 4-26-07 Calgary, Alberta
Everyone says this is the Dallas to Edmonton’s Austin because it is where all the oil money is. The show is almost exactly like what was predicted. 400 people come out and pay a really high ticket price, making this one of our highest door grosses ever. After ten minutes, only 100 or so people are actually watching. The rest are having an awesome cocktail party in the back of the room. The hotel is really nice. The promoter drives a Prius which almost runs me over because it is so quiet.
Friday 4-26-07 Minneapolis, MN
We fly here and meet up with Zombi (who missed the two Alberta shows) and –- finally – Psychic Paramount. Everyone is really tired. The food is great, but the show is horrible and afterwards Trans Am has a huge shouting match which almost results in a fistfight. I have to say, it is probably the longest sustained burst of hostility that doesn’t actually result in a fistfight. This has happened in Minneapolis before, though, and I’m beginning to wonder if the site marks some sort of negative energy convergence – a place of harmonic departure.
Saturday 4-27-07 Chicago, IL
This is where many people think we are from and, in a way, they are right. It is like home. I finish my laundry that I started at a Holiday Inn in Minneapolis. The dryer is free –- just like home. Lots of people show up and we know a lot of them –- just like home. There too many guys in the crowd tonight — this is our fault, though.
I eat a huge piece of Bacci’s pizza on stage. Unfortunately I have a stomach ache and it hurts to eat.
Sunday 4-28-07 Detroit, MI
We drive there with Seb’s girlfriend, who flew into Chicago as well as Bettina, our label head. The van is sort of crowded with six people and I have a metal rod up my ass for much of the trip, but it seems alright in the end.
No one comes to this show. We play pretty well though. Then we pack up and drive to Windsor, Ontario which is just across the river/border. There are no problems, except that we are experiencing the end-of-tour weariness that no amount of drug, drink or rest will cure. You just have to get out of the van and sit around in one place for a few days. This is still a few days off.
Monday 4-29-07 Toronto, ON
Weariness remains, but the crowd is fantastic in Toronto. Really fun show! No complaints! Yeah!
Trans Am
We are threatened with a ten hour van search. I say that we don'thave any drugs, which I thought was true the first time. So they settle for taking us all in a room and emptying our pockets and socks.
