Thursday, November 6, 2008

Long & McQuade, Victoria, BC

It's raining. Raining hard. And it's 7:AM. Michael's already up. He says he's been up since 4:AM. I am NOT getting up! Not until 8:AM anyway. I lie in bed hoping to be sleeping again, but that's not to be. We head downtown for a little breakfast. Mountain Equipment Coop is still closed! What gives here? Oh, it's only 9 something in the morning. I want to buy a raincoat, or an umbrella, or something...

Back to the hotel. Still raining hard. We won't be seeing many sights today. Michael switches on the daytime TV and surfs. I boot up the laptop and surf. The connection is slow. It takes forever to upload each picture to the Blog. But it's raining very hard, and this is pretty much what our day is going to be. There is a Canadian show called Trailer Park Boys on the tube. I've never seen this before— and I can't believe that this is being broadcast on mainstream television! I haven't spent much time with television, so I guess I shouldn't be surprised. It is kinda humerous, so we watch a few episodes. We snooze away part of the afternoon, go out for Greek food, and head over to Long & McQuade to set up. Finally! These slow days are a killer. We're itching to play, to do something. It's always tea time here...



The Victoria Long & McQuade is a big, bright store with a big stock. Lots of cool gear, including some used gear worth owning. Their educational facility is a block away, and it, too, is a very nice place. There are plenty of lessons going on as we arrive, and there's a great concert room for our use. We are early, so we set up and hang out, talking with the staff, waiting for 7:PM to roll around.


It's still raining. This all day rain thing is a pain. We have a few people sitting waiting, so we start. This has been promoted as a blues clinic, rather than a resophonic guitar workshop, and this is fine with us. We play a few songs and answer questions about tunings, chords, harmonicas.



One young lad and his mom sit in the front row. He's about 11 or 12 and says he's into Metalica (did I spell that right?) and Green Day. I let him hold my National Steel guitar and I think he's somewhat impressed. Before we finish I give him a scrap of paper with open G tuning written on it. He's going to go home and try some slide guitar playing! Pretty neat! We say our good-nights to all. Our friend Sandy Powlik, the local singer-songwriter we met on the ferry yesterday has arrived. She gives us instructions to find Hermann's Jazz Club.

I'd tried to book us into Hermann's, but this place hadn't returned calls or emails. I want to see the room, and maybe meet the booker. Still rain. Lots of it. We get down to Hermann's and check it out. Nice room. We could of played here, no problem. The bookers are not around, and we're not pumped up about the band that is playing, so we call it a night. In the morning, we'll be back to work finishing this Tour with some island hopping for three more shows! Maybe it'll stop raining soon?

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