So about an hour outside of Halifax (Truro, NS) the check gauges light came on in the van. It was pretty clear we were going to overheat soon. Luckily there was a service station near by so we stopped there. The problem turned out to be greater than just putting more coolant in the rad. So we called CAA to send a tow truck. This is mere hours before we were to load in for our next show at The Music Room, Halifax.
This tow truck driver was nice enough to give us a ride to Halifax
Luckily the dispatch guy knew about Halifax Pop Explosion and made sure that our tow truck had a large enough cab so we could all hitch a ride to Halifax with the van in tow. Next stop: Downtown Halifax — Canadian Tire.
Lucky for us the local CT Service Center was not too busy and got our van inside for a checkup right away. So we called for a van taxi, but we were already late for our show at The Music Room. We waited and waited until it became clear that their may only be a few van taxis in Halifax and they were probably busy, it being HPX. There were a few regular cabs kicking around and we managed to rally two of them, splitting the gear and people between them. Lesley (photographer extraordinaire) stayed behind with the van while we hightailed it to the venue. For his courageous taxi corralling and haggling, and for her cool headed approach with the CT people, our sound tech Scottie and photog Lesley both deserve a Medal of Rock Honour.
What are we going to do now?
Taxi drivers in Halifax are the best, just sayin’. We used two cabs to get to the venue and both of them turned out to be friendly and gracious about it. What were the chances of that happening in Toronto? Wendy flew into Halifax ahead of us and was able to do all the admin stuff and have food waiting for us at the venue — yeah Wendy! Medal of Rock Honour!
Safe and Sound at the Music Room
Shortly after we arrived we learned that the van had been repaired, we had something to eat and drink and we felt much better.
The people who work The Music Room are chill. We had time to set up for recording and then relax before the guests started arriving. This show was put on by Jeremy G Lutes who is a fine fellow and an artist (poet) in his own right. Everyone organizing this show was very gracious — there was even wine in the green room waiting for us. This show was very special because it was more of a recording session. We were told we could even do retakes of songs if we weren’t happy with the first take, but we decided to perform as if it were a live show. The room is beautiful (both esthetically and acoustically) and features an upper balcony in addition to seating on floor level.
There's a joker on the balcony
A few dozen dedicated fans showed up and we started the set by having just me and Wendy play some older EX~PO material and some of the mellower PAPERMAPS songs — me on fuzz guitar and Wendy on the beautiful Steinway grand piano.
Eventually, Betty and Bobby joined us for the rest of the performance — possibly the loudest recorded performance at The Music Room.
From the balcony
We finished our programmed set, but the audience wanted more so we performed Exit as an encore (a song I thought too loud for the venue). After the show we met with and chatted with some of the great people who attended our session. It was a great experience all around! After much shmoozing, we were happy to check in at the hotel and relax a bit before heading out for dinner. I had planned to attend Graham Wright‘s showcase at the Seahorse, but the place was too packed — so we ended up going back to the hotel to catch up on some zzz’s.
Chillin' in the hotel room
The next day our second HPX show was a much bigger and louder affair. Originally, we were slated to play the Grande Parade Square (outdoors) at 3pm, but Occupy Halifax protests had taken the space over earlier in the week, so the venue was moved to the very large Olympic Community Hall for 12PM! We found out around the time our van broke down. How were the kids going to know about the venu/time change in time?
Setting up at the Olympic Community Hall