Apr 13 - 16 last leg US spring tour

the most boring drive ever

Wed Apr 13 Tulsa OK - UNIT D

The GPS guided us earnestly up to the driveway of UNIT D (pictured), but something felt wrong. Sometimes GPS does get it wrong, like when you type in Main St South instead of North for example, or if it takes you on a perilous journey throughout the back roads of Nevada.

As it turned out, we were in the right place. It is a hot day here in Tulsa, t-shirt weather. We are kind of beat from the long boring drive from Fort Collins (see map), so instead of driving off in search of the real club, we knock on the door of Unit D. A burly middle aged man opens the door. Bill is his name. "You boys ever been to Oklahoma?" , he asks. Right away we are welcomed in to the mysterious quasi underground world of Unit D. It's kind of an invite-only private club, a former car garage, featuring bands of Bill's choice for entertainment. He does about a half dozen shows a year. We felt instantly at ease. The BBQs out front get lit, and we are invited to spend the rest of afternoon drinking our own microbrews (see Colorado entry) with the Unit D inner circle, watching Bill slowcook ribs and chicken the "right way" in a smoker. After the show we are invited for a nitecap at a downtown club, Arnie's Pub, where the Unit D posse are regulars. Pretty soon, the house music changes to our "Mountain Meadows" album cranked up. I felt like a rock star. As we leave the club, I notice that we are right along old Route 66. Another famous milestone for the journey.

One thing that came up in our beer soaked conversations at Unit D was bible belt televangelists. We make it a point to visit Oral Roberts University on the way out of town the next day to see the fantastic Jetson's inspired campus. i got a shot of his praying hands statue. As a local joke goes, those hands once started to come apart, and after much deliberation how to glue them back together it was found that sticking a $20 bill in between them did the trick. The hands closed right up on it. Ha ha ha.

taken enroute

Thur Apr 14 Hot Springs AK - Maxine's

Maxine's is supposed to be the site of the oldest whorehouse in Arkansas, though that kind of sounds like their was a beginning to the oldest profession. Maybe it's the oldest in Hot Springs. Anyways, here we are in the hometown of Bill Clinton, and ex mobster resort town ready to slug it out. We have a big affinity for Kevin and Agnes, who own the joint, and basically discovered us on behalf of the state of Arkansas. They are a very hip and worldly couple who met in LA and migrated back here with a young son in tow and started up this super cool club. They found out about our Mountain Meadows album and took a chance on us during that album's US tour. The relationship has proven to be great between us, and the people we meet here are absolutely charming.

Agnes and Kevin. Such kind hearts. Kevin offered us his favourite bourbon, and Agnes put together enough much meat, buns and fruit the next day to feed an orphanage.

That night we witnessed the start of this years' grand tornado fest which ripped through the area as a wild and crazy hailstorm as we finished the show. The next day it hit a little to the East and killed about 50 people in the Carolinas and Virginia. Brings a new definition to the term "mobile home".

Fri. Apr 15 Denton TX - Dan's Silverleaf

We were about an hour late for soundcheck due to the long drive from Hot Springs. No matter. Dan the owner greeted us immediately with a smile and a beer. Talk about Southern Hospitality. Gotta capitalize those words.

About a half hour to the N/W of Dallas, Denton is a renowned town for producing some fine music. Bands that know how to sound good like Midlake and Centro-matic are from here. It is also home to North Texas University. The downtown is an interesting square block at the top of a hill around a grand courthouse, quite hip with NT students abounding, thrift and record stores, restaurants, music clubs. Paste magazine voted Denton as America's best music scene 2008. ok enough already.

I made a tweet noting that it is one of the only places to see street punks drinking lattes, and also bought a wonderful 4-cd Woody Guthrie box-set for 20 bucks.

And now ... the Six degrees of Stephen Bruton:

-Stephen Bruton was Kris Kristofferson's main guitarist for much of his career, until he passed away in 2008

- Our soundman at Dan's Silverleaf was scheduled to mix Stephen's band at a show in Denton the day that he died. His band played the show anyways.

- The movie "Crazy Heart" (2009) was dedicated to the memory of Stephen Bruton, who played a key role in the music writing for that film, and coaching Jeff Bridges on guitar.

- I was half way through watching "Crazy Heart" when we played at Dan's Silverleaf.

- As a studio engineer, I recorded Stephen Bruton, along with Kristofferson's keyboardist Donnie Fritz for a Canadian movie entitled "The Life and Hard Times of Guy Terrifico" (2005).

- "Guy Terrifico" was, like it's antecessor "Crazy Heart", a film about a troubled alcoholic country singer.

-Kris Kristofferson has a Rhodes collar.

(sorry to the band for that one). There ya go. 6 degrees.

Driftwood TX

Old Settlers Music Fest

After Denton we kind of had to hightail it to Austin, about 6 hrs away. We left there at around 3AM after an obligatory stop at Whataburger (ask us), and ended up sleeping on the side of the highway somewhere near Waco. How roadlike.

A great festival this is, and our first of the season. It's a summer vibe, and very exciting for us to play in an area where we are getting known. There were some other bands there who are potential buddies as well. Shoutouts to KAOS pirate radio who took us to a semi secluded campsite for a real interview and a couple songs in the woods. Also to our pal Jimmy Stelling who came with his Gal and kid all the way from Virginia to see his buddies play. Jimmy is one of the best banjoists I've ever seen, and makes the darn things too. Scott Avett of the Avett Brothers plays one, and those fellers would have been there playing it the night before had it not been for a newborn in their midst, cancelling things and all.

Congratulations to Scott Avett and his wife on their second child.

Colorado

Sat Apr 9 Breckenridge CO Beerfest
Located about 20 min from the more famous peaks of Aspen and Vale, Breckenridge is home to KSMT 102.1 "The Mountain", which was a top rated radio station in the US to break Elliott BROOD. We had to jump at the invitation to play their annual end of season BeerFest. Thanks to their Program Manager Stacy, plus Jen, Steve, Steve and anyone I might be missing here (likely named Steve). Also Momo, who jumped onstage right after with a gracious invitation to eat for free in his brother's 4 star restaurant, Taddeo's. We were dizzy most of the time because this place exists at 10,000 ft above sea level. Very mysterious in that sense. Nonetheless, people live up here, and even more, they are awesome and generous.
The beerfest is populated with free tasting tents from all the local microbrews, my favourite being Alaskan Amber, and Left Hand Pale Ale. Also I picked up a case of Morning Wood (beer) from a local liquor store called Summit Liquor, which boasts a very impressive collection of worldly wines and local brews.
I can't say enough about the beerfest. We had a great crowd, in spite of playing at the same time as The Wailers (yes, from Bob Marley), just about 500 metres away. Also we got to stay in a large time share condominium near the edge of the mountain for a couple of nights. There were pictures of the owners around (looking at you from other delectable places on the planet), and a guestbook. Good deterrents for anyone who might of thought of trashing the place.

Sun Apr 10 Denver CO Hi-DIve
YES. It is great to be in a big strange city and get appreciated. People know Elliott BROOD in Colorado, in part through radio. Nearly a dozen stations in Colorado have been playing us, both commercial and non-commercial radio. I think it may have something to do with the exorbitant amount of snowboard videos that keep popping up to our music. Colorado could be our biggest fanbase state yet, though Washington and Texas are also high contenders, thanks in part to stations in Seattle and Austin.

mon Apr 11 Ft. Collins CO
A total university town that has a "Pitkin Street" right on the University premisis (pictured). Remind me to enlist in Colorado State U someday. I could be the king of this place (especially at my advanced age). The kind promoters had printed a larger-than-life size poster of us, which we signed and gave to a fan (hey, I wanted that!). Their promotion paid off with students who came out in entire appreciation mode. When we get onstage they come right up close and circle around. Pretty impressive for a bunch of strangers.

Colorado to Texas APRIL 5 - 17

Apr 4

We get a headstart on the tour and stay at family residence in the band's original hometown of Windsor ON. I am again a willing recipient of the grand hospitality of Mark's parents, who have graciously donated their basement whenever needed. I didn't realize that this would be my last night for netflix, as my Canadian subscription only lets me watch in Canada. Who would've known? I thought that you should be able to access their Canadian website from any country, with the same usage restrictions abroad. Nope. You are an American now Stephen Pitkin (though that should theoretically allow me more "freedom"). I get through about half of Crazy Heart, but start drifting off shortly after Jeff Bridges character Bad Blake begins his affair with the young interviewer. Maybe I can finish watching this with my wife when we return to CANADA.

Apr 5 Chicago IL

Schuba's - Builders and the Butcher, with Damian Suomi and the Minor Prophets

A great night for a Tuesday. We had several friends come to the show, including new acquaintances we had met during the Ships & Dip cruise hosted in February by Barenaked Ladies. Thanks, Will, Sallie and Meg! Plus a special shoutout to Thales Exoo, who managed to make the effort to come out while her partner took care of her 9 mo newborn, and dentist Kim, who had to get up early to drill out some teeth.

Apr 6 Carbondale IL - Hangar 9

about 4 hrs south of Chicago, Carbondale is a stop on a trainride to the "City of New Orleans" in the famous song by Arlo Guthrie. Kind of a college town, but also a trains are really loud here town. The trainblast sample at the end of "Chuckwagon" came as no surprise tonight. though it is the loudest part of our set, our audience remained unfazed. The crowd was a nutty contingent of drunken dancing football players and tattooed alt rockers who gave this town a signature cool in a club that was built to withstand any strong wind. The former one in this spot was blown down at some point by a tornado, somewhat of a foreshadow for us, as this tour we will be unknowingly be just ahead of a couple of deadly weather fronts.

Apr 7 Iowa City IA The MILL

Today's drive takes us up hwy 61 (the one "Revisited" by Dylan in 1965). It snakes up alongside the Mississippi river, which, anywhere south of St. Louis is already abloom with spring buds. The day is sunny, but by the time we hit the club in Iowa City it is raining. I enjoyed the downtown of this city, which has been saved with a creative pedestrians-only strip. Should be a sister city to Brisbane, AU, which shares a similar vibe. This one's a bit newer and nicer, but Brisbane has way more old character. The club was an older sort of jazz club, and will definitely make the tourbook again sometime. I imagine this town has potential for us, but with little or no radio support right now we're at the mercy of word-of-mouth. That kind of equals hand-to-mouth. Thanks for the spaghetti dinner!

Apr 8 drive west. we slowly climb across the prairies. Not apparent to us, the prairies are climbing higher and higher, and by the time we hit Denver we are "Mile High". Buckle your seatbelts because the next 90 minutes brings us up to 10,000 ft Breckenridge snowboard country.

"Research In Motion" - maybe not!

This entry is a departure from it's usual highlights of touring with Elliott BROOD, but bears temporal relevance, and perhaps greater entertainment value: I hereby release my 2010 best-of Blackberry spellcheck list.

2010 was my first year with a smartphone. I am enamoured by the many benefits of owning a Blackberry 9700 BOLD, but equally amazed at it's sheerly retrograde spellcheck mechanism, especially in emails. One of my favourites is the reappropriation of it's own "bbm" (which stands for Blackberry Messenger) to "bum". Is that supposed to stand for "Blackberry Unmessenger"?

The BOLD 9700 spellcheck is quick exhibit it's inferiority by separating compound words, redirecting swearwords and generally being unhip to new jargon that most of it's users are applying en masse in their daily usage. The user then gets to affirm or deny if they really meant to type that word. Duh.

C'mon Research In Motion ! Live up to your name and invent an app to address the vernacular of the text-able !

And now the list :

blog = blob

tweets = sweets

tweeting = twee ting

texting = testing

Skype = Skye

bbm = bum

facebook = facebook

myspace = my space

Groupon = Group on

yay = nay

XO = SO

XOXO = SOCKS

meds = mess

strepthroat = streetcar

videographer = photographer

supermodel = super model

whateva = what eva

no probs = no props

rumours = rum ours

relist = relish

Tunisian = Tension

Congolese = Congress

Pakistanian = Pakistan ian

Latvian = Latin

Estonian = Estrogen

Belorussian = Beloved

Brisbane = Briskets

Cranulla = Granola

Thur = Thug

DeGrassi = Degrees

CSI = CPI

asshole = assume

shit = shot

fuck = duck

Melbourne and area Oct 14 - 17

tall objects in a Melbourne garden

Oct 14 "Maple Syrup" showcase w/ The Trews and Final Flash at Ding Dong Lounge Melbourne

Both the other bands are great. The Trews are becoming somewhat of a household name in Canada, at least amongst families with indie rock cred. They require little introduction, and they are beginning what will likely be a great relationship with the land down under. Final Flash are entirely new to us. They've been together around 3 years, and have recently put out their new record, "homeless", which is really enjoyable, and was on the 2010 Polaris Prize long list. They have a 'prog rock' kind of sensibility, and are hot on the tail of the recent successes of other Montreal acts. I would describe them as a mix somewhere between the Besnard Lakes and Plants & Animals. As I write this (from Canada), Elliott BROOD just received an email from a new fan from this show raving about the performance, and commending our first EP "Tin Type", which she bought, and is unavailable otherwise in Australia. Thanks Kieren! Feedback like this makes everything worth it.

Sherwood Forest - Belgrave Victoria

Oct 15 Belgrave - in the mountains - radio interview through Sherwood Forest which I am comparing to the hilly drives through Mill Valley and Sausalito just North of San Francisco, if anyone has done that. The difference here is less real estate and more vegetation. Instead of California redwoods there are massive palmtrees, and open forest pervades still, as opposed to the impossibly hilly subdivisions you find in California. The road seems to be inviting development in a matter of time, though, and in some places this is already underway.

The club, "Ruby's", is inviting, with pleasant staff, but shortly we notice the signs. There is a repetitive posting that after 11PM the club will not serve redbull/vodka, shooters or pitchers. You must have your ID electronically scanned at the door. You cannot where a hat in the club, as the cameras can not accurately get your identity. What's wrong? Something serious must have happened here. I'm not going to ask.

Once our set is done at Ruby's, The Fumes kick up the intensity. It is around that said threshold hour of 11PM, and the freak flags begin to fly. It is a mountain town after all. We have such places in Canada too, but I don't think I've ever seen such a conglomerate of freaky dancers. There must be something in the water.

rain rain rain.... the rain storm has followed us to Melbourne from Brisbane it seems. Today the weather might best be described as 'shite'. So we stay inside all day at the Richmond Hill Hotel, and log on to internet, which is not particularly cheap.

Sat Oct 16 Melbourne - East Brunswick Hotel - what a great sounding club. This is where The Fumes are really hitting stride in the tour. We get to hear them in front of an urban audience and with great sound to boot. Great performances such as this one will happen again in Sydney (Notes Live), and Bulli, where we will end the tour.

Oct 12, 13 Adelaide - Mclaren Vale

Oct 13 We had one day off in McLaren Vale, and our Aussie manager (and Vale resident) Alistair had a plan: take the band to some local wineries for wine tasting. Mclaren Vale is one of Australia's finest growing regions, and to boot. Al's wife Sally works at Samuel's Gorge winery , so we check that and some others. Amongst the excellent varieties and blends, particularly memorable for me were a Grenache, and a 40 yr old sparkling red.

Wine is so funny the way it encourages snobbery. For awhile in the band, we had started taping pilot episodes of what could have become a steady lampooning of wine snobbery, in a show dubbed "Drifters with Snifters". In my pipedreams of creating viral video, this one would become a series of shorts where Casey and I sip "single digit" wines (under $10/bottle), in outrageous settings, and rate them accordingly with spontaneous vulgar wine terminology. Mark would occasionally appear in the shot looking for beer. Hilarious stuff, at least at times to our toursoaked minds, and indeed that's where it will likely stay.

PS BTW we played another Canadian Showcase that evening with The Trews and Final Flash. The three of us bands have not a great deal in common, however our sounds compliment one another, and everybody quickly became friends with much respect for each other's music. More of these bands in an upcoming blog from Melbourne.

*editors note - I admit that at this point in the tourblog it seems that I've lost focus on the music

Mclaren Vale wineries we attended:

http://www.primoestate.com.au/

http://www.gorge.com.au/index.html

http://www.thedieline.com/blog/2010/4/26/alpha-box-dice.html

Oct 9 - 11 Sunshine Coast

The Sunshine Coast

Mooloolaba, Caloundra, Brisbane, The FUMES, Crocodile Hunter.

After a warm introduction to the beaches in Perth, we were prepped for the Northern Australia beach culture, and maybe get in a bit more surfing. But that wasn't going to happen, as a subtropical storm raged through the region the whole time. In Caloundra, this was to our benefit, since 95 km/hr winds pushed the weekend festival event indoors, giving us a much better and closely packed audience. Both of our shows ended up in packed mid-size clubs as opposed to the nearby park at King's Beach, which would have had people spaced widely apart, free to lose their focus.

Amidst these festival dates we drove down to Brisbane for our first date with the FUMES, a super excellent guitar/drums duo. I will write more on them later.

Oct 11 due to the cyclone like torrential rains, there will be no surfing on Mooloolaba beach, and consequently there will also be no Monday show in Brisbane @ The Shire. The Shire is a tiny club that is half outdoors. The appeal is that live music plays while people spill out upon the sidewalk. They have a free live music event every Monday, but if it rains they must cancel. Double bad, as we had left Mooloolaba at 6:30 AM to race into Brisbane to get an editorial photo done for that day's MX commuter magazine promoting the show.

I sure hope all 200,000 readers didn't commence upon The Shire that night.

PS everyone, Nov 15 in Mooloolaba is Steve Irwin Day. Crikey, you better get ready!

Oct 6, 7, 8 - One Movement Festival - Perth

Perth is another seemingly laid back lazy city, kind of resembling Miami, but tempered with a bit of Victoria BC regalness. There are lots of construction cranes, which of course are evident of their booming economy. News just came on that the AU dollar went up another cent, and they have been adding jobs at a rate of roughly 50,000/month. Compare with US job losses of around 90,000/month. In your face America ! And of course, with things going so well here, you can pay $26 for a chicken caesar salad, and $16 for a cocktail. In our own face, Perth !

Spring break at Scarborough beach

We had the daytimes essentially free, so on the Friday we scooted over to Scarborough Beach, just North of Perth. It is one of the last days of Spring break, and a splend and cloudless 32' celcius to boot. This is the most crowded beach I have ever seen, It didn't take much for me to get into the water (with Mark in tow) and body surf the powerful waves.I was probably the oldest teen out there. We had also just ran into the Trews, who had been surfing with real surfboards amongst thousands of young people. Having been out there, I can't imagine where they would've found room to negotiate a board through the crowd. Besides, the surf was powerful enough that you could catch a wave without one. But to each their own.

And what's up with the high visibility outfits over here? It's as if there is a love affair with flourescent, so nearly every public worker now wears some kind of refective safety outfit. I took these photos within about 5 minutes of each other:

Oct 7 It's time to get down to business. We play the Canadian Showcase at One Movement w/ the Trews, Matthew Barber, Colin Moore, Final Flash, JP Hoe, and the next day in a Car Park with the incredible Melbourne based duo, Big Scary. check them out!

I should also point out that Perth is exactly 12 hours away from Toronto. Ya can't get much further from home than that. Hail the mighty Skype!

Oct 4 Sydney... let's wait

Cronulla Beach at low tide

Oct 4 land in Sydney

Having left Toronto at 10AM Saturday, we touched down in Sydney at approx 7:30 AM on Monday. Yes, two days later. In addition to 20 hrs in the air we had also flown over the international dateline (into tomorrow). In contrast, the return flight will only be seven hours (on paper), landing in the evening of the same day we leave, including a stop in San Fran.

We rent a white Subaru outback, which will become the given rental car for each of our stops on this tour (for some reason white also is very much the colour of choice in Australia). We have five internal flights, each of which we are saddened to learn also tag on approx. $500 in overage fees, and they like to stick to their rules. Note to Australia fliers: book your entire itinerary at one time with one airline because the condensed paperwork will allow your international overages free onto your internal flights (instead of paying each time). For us the penalty will equal approx $2000 in extra fees. Qantas is very happy to keep these details buried in the fine print of their own wallet, unless you the customer are very diligent.

As a nod to saving money, we are fortunate to stay at our agent Geoff's place in a tiny hamlet called Yowie Bay in the South Shire of Sydney. Geoff is an agent, indie label maven and club owner. All around good guy to know.Yowie Bay is a beautiful lazy little town on the shore, near Cronulla, where we have a gig (at Geoff's club) later in the tour. As it turns out, his house is rather giant and includes a recording studio, swimming pool, and a number of bedrooms. This night other guests at the house include Canada's Matthew Barber and The Trews. We will all do a Canada showcase together in Perth in a few days.

We need a day or two to recover from flying, and in addition to the general 'waiting' game, do some pre tour interviews, pick up our Australian-made Mountain Meadows cd's, and do some localised dining with Geoff, who went out of his way one night to smoke some fresh red snapper for us.Mmmm yummy red snapper.

Australia tour Oct 2010

waiting

Oct 2 Toronto - San Fran - Sydney.

"The road" for a band is paved with waiting. Let's add up a typical day on the road, when there is a show:

Soundcheck: 1 hr

Gig: 2 hrs

Meals: 3 hrs

Sleep: 8 hrs

Total: 14 hrs.

That leaves roughly 10 hours a day of pretty much waiting, whether it be travelling, or just waiting at some location. With no other real obligations, that's a lot of sitting around. One could write a book, or a bunch of songs, excercise or blog, but for many of us it means just simply sitting or standing like a turnip or some comparable vegetable. It's probably a miracle that we don't smoke.

During this flight, to add to the regular course of waiting, we had a ten hour layover in San Francisco. I could think of many worse cities to have such a predicament.

On this day, the SF Giants were playing the SD Padres, a tempting prospect especially for Mark, the band's biggest baseball fan. With a prohibitive pricepoint for tickets, especially at this point in the season (and our careers), we put down just $42, and rented a car (incl. complimentary AM/FM for baseball) and drove downtown. I convinced the boys to walk up around the Golden Gate Bridge itself, which was as usual covered in fog. Then we headed over to Twin Peaks, Mission and Castro districts, and finally settled for some mexican food before going back to the airport to wait some more.

BTW free internet at SF airport, yay! We will discover later that this is an incredible luxury, especially by Australian standards, where free internet is something you can only get when purchasing food at McDonald's.

Sept 10 End of the Road Festival - Larmer Tree Gardens, Dorset UK

This Euro tour started with a simple booking: an invitation to play the "End of the Road" festival in the county of Dorset, UK, not too far from Stonehenge. As is often the case with touring, you start with an "anchor date", then book everything else around it.

This anchor date is everything it was supposed to be and more. We get about 90 min SW of London, and the GPS begins to take us through smaller and smaller roads until it feels like we are practically on a bike path through a farmer's field (it turns out that we were). In the distance through the fields we would get glimpses of a massive blue tent, which we assumed was part of the festival, and indeed it even was the tent we would play under. Incredibly, those little farmer trails would have to accompany big tour buses as well, housing the likes of Modest Mouse, Wilco and several other big name headliners.

Like I mentioned, we were to play under the big blue tent that afternoon, a show which would ultimately be headlined that evening by fellow Canadians, New Pornographers. So here we were at our 'anchor date'. We hit the stage at around 5PM, and within a few songs the tent was pushing it's capacity, somewhere between 2500 - 3000 people (I wasn't exactly counting heads). The feeling coming back was tremendous. It kind of puts you on form when a large audience is conveying it's collective approval of your music.

As it turned out, the vibe here was quite sensational, and the event coordinators managed to commandeer the exquisite gardens into an interactive art/nature display as well, seemingly designed to enhance the expanding minds of some patrons. In the picture of us in that forest, Casey is donning a borrowed mohawk/viking helmet from one such patron. Fully enhancing! If you read any of my tweets (www.twitter.com/Doots_Mayhem) on the Pickathon Festival this past August in Portland OR, you will see that the End of the Road Festival is very much like that one, in it's use of nature and it's carefully selected artists.

So there. We have done our first big UK festival. For 2011 we hope for more. Green Man, Glastonbury, Reading, Isle of Man, Edinburgh ... look out, here we come !

After this fest we will play Paris FR and Middleburg NL (see below), then fly home only to immediately drive to Eastern Canada for some more festival and club dates. After one week off we will then head to Australia for the final leg of all touring for the Mountain Meadows album.

It will be high time after this to stay home for a few months, recoup and rekindle our home and family lives, and focus on another record, hopefully to be released sometime in the first half of 2011.

Thursday vs Saturday (or London vs Paris)

Sept 9 - London UK

Sept 11 - Paris FR

Sept 12 - Middleburg NL

Flanking the End of the Road Festival date (see blog entry above), were the little cities of London and Paris respectively. Not a bad way to close out the tour.

In the lobby of the Borderline in London, I was proud to see our poster up beside Blue Rodeo's. Anyone from Canada knows how huge Blue Rodeo are, and any fan would be excited to see that they were going to play in such a small and intimate venue here. Last time we played the Borderline (on a Saturday night) we sold it out. I'm sure Blue Rodeo will pack a lineup down the streets of Soho to see them.

It is a Thursday, and slightly before school season, so this time it was close, but not a complete sellout. That's ok, we'll do it again, and next time it will be with a few more UK festivals and a new album under our belt. I'd imagine we could even jam a bigger room.

Ok lets contrast that with the Saturday show in Paris. Last winter, we came to France and did about 12 winter festival dates around the country. That really helped us out there, and on our only French date this tour, we received some of the payback. This Sept 11, BROOD fans came to Paris from as far away as Zurich, Lyon, Dijon and Grenoble to see us. We pretty much oversold the show. I tweeted a couple pics (www.twitter.com/Doots_Mayhem), one that showed the opening band's drummer playing essentially my old suitcase kick, another reflecting a tasteless but timely defacement of our poster. The club was packed like sardines in a can, and shortly there was no dry stitch of clothing within the band. People were singing along to our songs, which I find really validating especially in far away places.

Lastly, I can't neglect to mention Middleburg NL, the friendly town in a slightly more conservative province of the Netherlands (ie no 'coffeeshops'). We ended the tour here on a Sunday night. Our host here, Doug was a super dude, as were the rest of the staff. This night was a bit of a challenge, being literally our 12th in a row, and the next two days brought a massive undertaking: teardown/return-the-gear/fly home/drive-straight-to-Eastern-Canada-all-within-two-days. We had just rocked Paris, and End of The Road Fest in the two nights previous. How could Middleburg compete? Good question. Anyways, we closed out the night with a couple of drinks down the way at the only open bar in town, with many of the same people who we hung out with last time in Middleburg, back in Feb '09. That in itself made the last date really fun, and underscored our oversees friendship with those folks.

Sept 6 Leeds UK Brundenell Social Club

Elliott BROOD --- Live at LEEDS !!

The GPS guides us once again through a largely Islamic section of town where the club is, like in Gent (and later Paris), It is a fairly run down neighborhood, reeking of deisel and oil, as there are many garages in the immediate vicinity. My favourite one is adjacent to the Brudenell Social Club and it is just a closed door with "Singz Garage" spraypainted roughly across it. Crude branding at it's free-market best. Once inside however, we take an immediate liking to the club, with it's great stage and sightlines, cozy atmosphere and good beers on tap.

The promoter here is Nathan, a early twenties former semi pro soccer player/coach. He has switched careers and to great effect, as he seems to live for promoting, putting his heart and soul into it. The man is always on facebook, and knows every band going right now. On the billboard out front are a certain bevy of Canadian talent: Black Mountain, Dan Mangan, Hot Hot Heat, Broken Social Scene, Woodpigeons. From the following night in Glasgow you can also add New Pornographers to that list, I feel as if there is a Canadian invasion going on here.

At one point, later in the evening our tourmanager Ryan joked that he could beat Nathan in a running race. The response was a challenging look that could have ended the race right there. "I'd F$%^& slaughter you!", or something similar came out of Nathan. All in jest, but also a great reflection of the truth, as our tourmanager was reduced back into his pack of cigarettes.

One more thing about Leeds. For dinner, Nathan said he knew of a pretty good place. He walked us around the corner to a little restaurant called 'Grove', Grove turns out to be a fantastic curry house, with traditional curries, and very friendly staff. I was beside myself, as I had been feeling a little under the weather and not really looking forward to a traditional English greasefest.

Sept 5 Winchester UK Railway SXSC

Oliver Gray. Say no more. This tour it seems is all about promoters. They make or break the show. In the absence of a national marketing campaign for the band, it is all about what kind of work the promoter does. Many times (especially in the UK), we stay at the promoter's personal house, all in the interest of keeping costs low. It can be done on the cheap, it just requires a certain amount the promoter's energy.

This is where Oliver comes in. He is a fantastic music enthusiast, and has carved his way through the business by writing about music, managing bands and promoting shows. Oliver's life is a case study of success through doing. Records of his developing years as a music impresario can be found in his autobiographical history "VOLUME", written under the pseudonym Gary Revilo (spell oliver backwards).

This year we found ourselves headlining the first annual SXSC festival,a day long event on two stages at the Railway Inn in Winchester. And once again we have absorbed the promoter's good will in regard to accommodation.

Thank you Oliver.

A somewhat surprised Oliver (centre) entertaining road managers Ryan and Rebecca at home

Sept 3 Hoorn NL Huis Verloren

This night we played in a 16th century town hall building that was built on an angle so that water would not run down and rot or otherwise destroy the walls. It looks freaky this way, but hey, it lasted this long. We were also told, to our amazement that this very building housed an exporting office for cattle, and there were these two mega famous cattle herders named "Jan" and "Cees" (pro. "kase"), that apparently were the first inspiration for that fond namesake used for and by Americans; "Yankees".
I hereby rest my Cees .
Our friends Jan and Henk (see Spiijkerboor entry) and their wives were also at this show, and it should be noted at this point that Casey made an inspired tour podcast featuring Henk and Casey DJing some fave tunes. It's available on our webpage, www.elliottbrood.com .

Sept 2 Antwerp BE Trix w/ Black Diamond Heavies

John Wesley and Van as the "Black Diamond Heavies", Antwerpen Sept 2.

When we met "Black Diamond Heavies" and discovered it was a keyboard/drum duo I was expecting kind of a dance thing. or at least a few techno/dance tricks. Bottom line was that these guys are a dynamic blues duo that rock forth with full intensity. Even more a surprise that the drummer Van is also Bonnie Prince Billie's live drummer (I was blown away by BPB at Pickathon just a month ago in Portland OR). In this situation though, Van is a bombastic and energetic player, fully supporting keyboardist John Wesley and his sweat soaked blues rock. JW is a contender for THE most rocking keyboard player around. His distorted Fender Rhodes sound is much like an overdriven guitar, and he handles a really full bass sound on some Korg thing on his left hand. Incredible, and no need for additional bandmates with this duo.

Bonnie "Prince" Billy blowing my mind at Pickathon 2010 (Portland OR)

Hamburg Aug 30, 31

On Monday a club called Astra Stube, we packed roughly 80 people or so into the tiny little room, with the help of "Mi and My Bubba", a tidy female trio hailing from Scandanavia who play minimalistic ballads of love, lost and found. Dinner and breakfast coffees were also included in a nearby bar.

We were also kind of blessed to have Hamburg for our one day off in the tour the following day. As a bonus, the promoter offered us an extra night for free at the artist's apartment, which is more or less a dormitory room with bunk beds. As a band guy I have slept in bunks before. Convenience and economy win quickly over the alternatives, despite the inadequate feelings one can get when confronted with a bunkbed. I always think there will be pee on the mattress somehow, which is totally unfounded. In fact in this apartment there is full washer/dryer and plenty of fresh sheets around. Otherwise though, the vibe is very "indie band": rock posters abound, and even a bit of graffiti on the bunks.

Speaking of graffiti, there is tons in this neighborhood (near St. Pauli station), as if it were every German's right of passage. As it turns out we are in a city block that features a prominent abandoned theatre that has been transformed into a squatters' haven. Apparently owned by some socialist pacifist who never had the wherewithal to remove squatters, it stands as a landmark and centrepiece to the neighborhood (even though there are nice restaurants all around). Twice a year they are said to have an anarchist fest that requires a G20 style police presence to quell. Otherwise, the community exists quite peacefully. Another example of a neighborhood is the abondoned block across the street which serves as one half - free [arking lot (yay!), and one half - sand filled outdoor homemade "bar" that is called "Central Park". Not the Central Park I am accustomed to (nor anyonelse it seems.. I only ever saw one patron sitting alone on one of the lawnchairs in the sand).

So on our day off, in addition to obligatory laundry, Mark and I decide to go for a tourists' walk. The journey was recommended by one of the promoters (can't remember names at this point), and he had recommended taking a walk around the harbour, including a trek through the turn of the century tunnel that runs from one side of the Elbe River to the other. That was perfect for us, because it also got us through the Reeperbaun area as well, and past the Beatles' first nightclubs (where they worked as houseband back in 1960 - '62). Pictured below are "Steve McCartney" on the Reeperbaun, and some unsespecting old man who didn't realize he was Ringo.

After the Beatles photoshoot, we stopped on my recommendation for "curry hotdogs" that had a thermometer out front for you to pick how spicy (mostly cayenne) you wanted your dog. I picked level 7, Mark picked level 8 (at which point the sign exclaims, "Achtung !!! Xtreme Scharf"). Sounds dangerous. His was virtually inedible, mine barely manageable. When we remarked about how hot they were, the confectionary owner stated that if we were to order an 11 or 12 gauge hotdog, he would have to see our passports.

After the meal, we headed over to the river elbe, saw a U boat, then descended a massive stairwell, complete with noisy large elevators, down to the newly refurbished Elbe tunnel.

Quite remarkable, and extremely well restored, it is at least a kilometre long, and completely fashioned in white glossy ceramic. Can you imagine the echo in that tube ? I immediately want to reserve this room to record future drum tracks.

Aug 29 Spiijkerboor NL

Our friends Henk and Jan require mention here. We have been coming to Europe to tour since 2006, and no tour through the Netherlands has been complete without some visit by these two great guys. It all started at our very first show ever in Europe, at a tiny bar in Assen, NL, "Vittebal" which though being at capacity at around 80 people, is considered a place where music is discovered. Going back, I also remember a distinct Marlon Brando type character there. He was a local drunk who claimed to have been both very rich and very poor, gave us a fifty euro note after the show as a tip. And that's when the Euro was worth something!

Anyways, also at the Vittebal on that first night were Henk and Jan, who were very enthusiastic about the show. To this day they have seen close to a dozen of our Netherlands shows, and we now have an ongoing email dialog going with Henk. By 2008 we had met their wives Lia and Gepke too. This year, after a show in Spiijkeboor NL we were invited back to Henk's place, where we indulged in a special bottle of the national drink Jenever that he had set aside. They are great guys, and their enthusiasm is something that we look forward to on the often lonesome road trail. I couldn't imagine what an NL tour would be like without at least one show that featured Henk's enthusiastic cheers of "MAAN!!!!" or "OKAY !!!!" after certain songs.

Henk is the director of a children's special education school, and the photo here was painted by one of the students there. We didn't meet the boy, but it is an honour to have detailed work like this made based on our image.

Aug 27 Groningen NL Noorderzon Fest

If there is one characteristic I can hopefully learn and keep from Elliott BROOD, it is the tendency to arrive early. Contrary to my DNA, the spirit of leaving and and arriving early is very BROODlike, and I will attribute this virtue to Casey, who dutifully leads the group through every wake up and drive, ensuring a timely arrival (as if we were one time zone to the East) at every destination.

This afternoon, we had hightailed it out of Köln, and made it to the Groningen venue, Platform Theatre about a half hour early. The immediate local city landscape (around the club) is underwhelming and desolate, to which my feelings give way, from cautious optimism to defeat. Why are we here? What are we doing? You have to understand that, although the road is generally a carefree zone of fun times and modest sightseeing, it can also present an undertow of personal insecurities, as one is away from the homelike affairs that can so conveniently anchor one's personality. Stripped of the usual daily responsibilities, and with a wife and family back home, I am susceptible to such questions of value. I need to be validated through audience response, or at least some good sightseeing. Left to my own devices in a desolate part of town brings me to a darker and lonelier place.

After that lengthy introduction, let me introduce Wopke Shoes. Located right next door to the Platform Theatre, is the eccentric shoemaker who let us in his little shop and managed to inspire us with examples of shoes, made from alligator or snake leather, that featured eyes on the side, and had horns attached. I snapped a photo for my wife of the shoes. Also impressive about Wopke was his Dali-esque waxed moustache. Wopke was put on our guestlist for the evening (+1), but never showed. Too bad.

Also shown are some cellphone pics from the Noorderzon Festival, which is a fantastic art and culture fest in a local park that is mostly free, and featured multiple forms of art. The park was full and the demographic was (enviously) everybody from very young to very old. Oh the Dutch, doing it right again.

Aug 26 Köln King Georg

We arrive in Köln, affectionately known to Canadians and some other internationals as Cologne. This will be Elliott BROOD's first show ever in Germany, so there is excited anticipation, at least within the band. First off, the feel is a bit unnerving, at least for me, since I've been in the relative safety of Netherlands where most everyone will speak in English with you. We park and the storefronts all look strange and foreign. Places with names like "Hairkiller" and "Salz and Pfeffer". Everything feels so foreign, and the German tongue doesn't exactly sound friendly.

We are playing a club called the King Georg (evidently once a strip club) and the stage is centred near the back with tables all around (I wonder why). The promoter, Peter, is absolutely awesome, also a greet DJ, and manages to bring about 120 paid patrons on this Thursday night. Most of them smoke.