Brenda’s Birthday Bash

 

It was a crazy week of never ending sound gigs and recording sessions for me.  Saturday began at the Big Carrot in Toronto – a great all-natural health & grocery store in Toronto where I was doing sound for Tory’s other band.  That gig went smooth, except for the incident where Tory’s trumpet and mic came crashing down from a 3 foot drop off the stage onto the hard parking lot concrete.  Fortunately Tory didn’t come crashing down with it!  (Check out his amazing swing band at the Reservoir every Saturday night)

 

That gig ended at 3, but we needed to be in Burlington by 4:30 for a house concert with The Great Atomic Power.  We packed up as quickly as we could and finally headed out for our trip around 3:30.  As the rain started to fall, we hit the traffic jam on the QEW and instantly knew we were in trouble.  After cursing the traffic we realized it wasn’t doing us any good so we settled into the hour and a half car ride.  All the while thinking about the Inglis sign encouraging us to savour the happy moments in life.

 

We pulled into the driveway around 5 to the applause of the audience.  And no, they weren’t cheering our arrival.  They were showing their appreciation for the set of music that Dave, Murray, and Mark just performed without us.  Within minutes we were up on stage, under a tent in the pouring rain.  The audience was huddled under their own tents for protection, looking for any body heat they could get from the people around them.  It was cold & damp, but one of the best gigs I’ve ever been a part of.  I’m not sure how well any of us played that day, but it was so much fun and I went home feeling inspired.  In a way, I’m not sure it would have been so good if the weather was nice.  Funny how things work out that way sometimes.

 

After the gig we were fed an amazing home cooked meal by Brenda and a few of her guests.  I felt like royalty.  Or maybe it was more like a rock star who just performed to thousands of screaming fans!  Although the weather was cold, the audience and the food were very warming.  Thanks Brenda.

 

Jason.