Well, this little road trip took off like a rocket, and it landed as successful as the best of them. A headline show at Logan’s Pub in Victoria followed by a solo show by Bubba at a singer-songwriters evening in Mill Bay, then another headliner at ‘The Main’ in Vancouver and a final show as a warm-up act for ‘the Buttless Chaps’ at the Railway Club in Vancouver.
The band loaded up the ‘meat wagon’ (the ambulance) the night before and they hit the road early in the morning. They were well prepared for this trip, having spent a lot of time honing their ‘power set’ for these shows. Troy knew that the purpose of this trip was exposure, not income, and so they focused on what was needed to get their name recognized as a band to watch for in the future. Three-eyed Farm Boy, Utopia, Mudbound In The Prairie, George Foreman Grill, Sea Monkey Drug Binge, Squirrelly Monkey, Zeppelin’s a Balloon, War Pigs (the encore song, sort of), and other original tunes were practiced and refined beforehand.
The first gig of the tour was at The Main, a pub in Victoria. They shared the stage with two other bands – David P. Smith opened up the night (and hosted the whole show) with his unique blend of lyrics and accordion sounds, Stitchripper played hard driving country rock and warmed up the dance floor, then BBT closed the show with a nearly perfect set. They had the medium-sized crowd cheering and dancing up a storm. A great night was had by everyone.
Troy traveled up to Mill Bay (Steve drove so Troy could stay after the show and catch up with old friends) so he could be part of a Singer-Songwriters show. The venue for this show was amazing. The host had built a loft-like building in his back yard – with a number of other out buildings as well (all out of found lumber too) and he regularly hosted these shows. There must have been 60 people who showed up from the town – and all by word-of-mouth advertising too! It was a really fun evening.
‘The Main’. A small restaurant/bar, it is fairly well known in the music scene – and it is well known for its high quality Greek food too. They had to wait until the two tables on the stage were empty before they could set up – which happened about 9 PM. The stage was very small – we were as close together as you could imagine. Add to that, it was hot and humid, so their instruments kept going out of tune.
Having said that, the place remained packed, as people showed up specifically to hear them play. And play they did – another bang-on performance was done by the, with Troy doing a great job of interacting with the crowd.
The last show – the big show of the trip - was at the ‘The Railway Club’.
The show went really well. BBT went on first and their set was fast – Troy was nervous and everything was ‘double speed’ – and the crowed loved it. By the end of the show they were standing at the stage and taking photos.
The Great Outdoors and the Buttless Chaps both put on great shows.
All in all a great trip.
Check out the article in 'Fernie Fix' on the tour:
http://www.ferniefix.com/september-07-issue-10#attachments
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