Yesterday I drove our van from Ottawa to Quebec City and as we left behind Ontario, the region that had been the very best in Lowtalker history, we entered Quebec. All I had to say was "Hello again, France 2. Nice to see you again… Psyche! It's not nice to see you. At all." I've got nothing major against French Canada. It's pretty cool that Quebec City is like going through a portal created by Gwildor's cosmic key from Masters of the Universe and throws you directly into Europe. Montreal is awesome too. It's one of the most unique and fun places I've ever been but I can't help but feel a some bitterness from my last trip there. Here's what happened: Comeback Kid parked our van and trailer in the parking lot of a hotel after a show and went in to sleep. The next morning, we came out and the conversation went something like this:
"Guys, where's the van?"
"Umm, I think it's over here."
"No, we parked it over there."
"I thought it was on this side."
"Has anyone seen my phone charger?
"Wait, is the van even here?"
"I really, really need that charger, guys."
"I don't see the van or trailer anywhere."
I've heard awful stories about smashed windows, money being taken, backpacks full of personal stuff getting swiped, and instruments of the utmost importance being stolen but this was different. Someone got in the van and drove away with everything that wasn't on our backs. I guess things like this are bound to happen to anyone that travels a lot and that's just the way it goes but man, it still sucks. I can't help but think of that empty parking lot space everytime Montreal gets brought up.
Here's the thing about life though, when you expect to have the most terrible time ever, you end up having the most awesome, ice cold pool party with new friends that have no reason to be overly generous but just do anyways. Example #1: Last night in Quebec City, we had no place to stay. We could have slept in the van but Tony would have kept all of us up all night complaining so that was an obvious no. We also could have gotten a cheap motel but none of us speak the Canadian dialect of French. We couldn't possibly run the risk of embarrassing ourselves in front of the motel lady and besides we probably would have accidentally booked every available room costing us any spare money we'd saved at this point.
Our only option, it seemed was to make a sign at the merch table asking for someone to let 5 strangers come into their home and sleep under their roof. In the slim chance that someone will actually offer their place to a band that no one has even heard of, you start to go through all the possibilities in your head. Beggars can't be choosers but who really wants to lay down in a nest of cat hair and piss while the gracious host is domesticating their extreme party endurance. We made the sign and put ourselves out there but all I'm saying is it's okay to hope that you get lucky. And that we did.
I was sitting there and a glowing angel hovered over to me and everything went quiet. He pointed to the sign and sang "you need a somewhere to go tonight?" I said "yeah" and he took all of us in his gentle arms and we flew away to his castle in the clouds. Well it wasn't exactly like that but it seemed like it at the time. He and his girlfriend waited for us after the show was over and let us follow them to their home in the suburbs. They shared their beer, let us swim in their kick ass pool and we all had a great time hanging out. The point of all this is people are tight. He had no idea we weren't a bunch of idiots that were going to trash his place, eat all his food, and swipe any valuables we could without saying "thank you" in the morning. But he took a chance anyway and helped us out more than we deserved. I guess I'm just amazed by how some people can really surprise you and make you feel like you should be willing to take more chances. A little positivity goes a long way. So thanks to our new friends Max and Jo.
On that note I'll leave you with another review of our record by Alternative Press. Enjoy!
I was sitting there and a glowing angel hovered over to me and everything went quiet. He pointed to the sign and sang "you need a somewhere to go tonight?" I said "yeah" and he took all of us in his gentle arms and we flew away to his castle in the clouds. Well it wasn't exactly like that but it seemed like it at the time. He and his girlfriend waited for us after the show was over and let us follow them to their home in the suburbs. They shared their beer, let us swim in their kick ass pool and we all had a great time hanging out. The point of all this is people are tight. He had no idea we weren't a bunch of idiots that were going to trash his place, eat all his food, and swipe any valuables we could without saying "thank you" in the morning. But he took a chance anyway and helped us out more than we deserved. I guess I'm just amazed by how some people can really surprise you and make you feel like you should be willing to take more chances. A little positivity goes a long way. So thanks to our new friends Max and Jo.
On that note I'll leave you with another review of our record by Alternative Press. Enjoy!
hi guys! ur great! cheers from brazil!
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