Rock On

Well…only one thing I can write about today and that, of course, is the ongoing Stampeder tour of British Columbia. The thing about being a band on tour is that it’s all-consuming…you really don’t have time or energy for anything beyond the three absolutes of life on the road…performance, driving and SLEEP. 

Sleep, for me, was hard to come by for the first three nights. It certainly was not for lack of exhaustion, I was wiped, but the niggling worry about how our three senior bodies would react to the opening six consecutive night run kept me on edge, and that certainly is exactly the wrong state of mind to be in as a lack of sleep is the ultimate enemy. It wasn’t until after the five hour drive-and-play on day four that I finally settled in for a major snooze. We were over the hump. 

And now that’s done…Whew! 

We made it! We did it! 

Three old troopers put it all out there every single night and were rewarded with three sell-outs and three near sell-outs…great reviews…voices still intact and all still standing. 

I must say we are quite impressed with ourselves…it has been 40-odd years since we have played that many in a row. We have one more five night run to make starting Sunday but no really long drives once we get underway. 

Yesterday was a day off…of a sort…we drove seven hours from Kamloops to Nelson with the knowledge that one complete, travel-free, day off awaited us here. We’d had some trouble with our rented van on Monday just as we pulled into Kamloops so yesterday morning I was roused from a deep slumber by my obnoxious alarm at 6:30 to get the thing in for service as a swap-out wasn’t available. It turned out that we had picked up a stone in the brakes and no repair was needed so we got on the road by 10:30 and into a very nice hotel with an excellent restaurant around 6:00. 

We had been gifted six bottles of fabulous wine by a vintner in Kelowna…all but one vanished by dinner…there are ten of us in the entourage. 

Last night was the first big wine and food-fest since our arrival in Victoria a week ago. It was well earned and roundly enjoyed. 

So now, as I write this, we are all free to do whatever we like. I’ve heard that Rich is watching tv, Holly and Patrick are on a hike, Dan and Dave are at the laundromat, which is what Lori and I will do when I wrap this up, and MaryLynn has found a great shoe store. 

Oh, and Ronnie is enjoying a late, late brunch and will also be in attendance at the laundry. 

And so it goes. 

Rock on!

12 comments