Sunday, October 28, 2007

The Slice- Lethbridge is Good!

Another big, glorious day, with the sun shining down on us. We got to sleep in as the travel time for today would be short. I took advantage of the business centre in our hotel and worked my way through a few hundred emails. After fueling up the truck we headed south on Hwy 2. Some fans who we had met in High River had invited us to brunch in Vulcan, AB, as it would be on route to our gig in Lethbridge. Larry and his wife did not let us down- we had a great visit and left quite stuffed with local sasuage and eggs.

Wild, rolling hills and gullies in this part of the country. The mountains are behind us now- quite distant- and we know the flatlands will be ahead of us. Meanwhile, the colours are great, prairie colours- these are the golds and browns and yellows you just don't see anywhere else. Big sky all around. Nice. The RCMP are out today picking off anything that's running over limit. We've got the cruise set to legal and the Staple Singers cranked up on the stereo. This little collection has 20 some odd tunes, and has become a real tour favourite. It wraps up with a Dylan tune that is sung in waltz time, with blues phrasing (OK, gospel phrasing, but you get the point) that I'm trying to figure out- counting bars on my fingers as we're rolling along. Quite cool.

The Bridge, on the way into town. We roll into Lethbridge, AB, on the early side and visit the club to see what's what. I've played Lethbridge once before- at the old Tongue and Groove- but tonight's venue is new to me, and we're not sure what to expect in Lethbridge on a Sunday night. Some rough looking folks are on the sidewalk outside, and as we enter the room loud heavy metal blasts out. Some folks are shooting pool. The place looks kind of dark. OK, we'll manage, this reminds me of the Railroad Club in Vancouver.

Spent the afternoon snoozing at our hotel, using the small business centre next door, fixing some guitar problems. When we headed back to the Slice for dinner we were pleasantly surprised. The room seemed brighter, great music was playing on the excellent sound system, everybody was friendly, and we had a great dinner. These guys really, really know pizza. Best on the Prairie, I'd guess!

Jeff got us set up with top notch gear- great monitor set up, great mains, etc. This room has great sight lines and a lot of wood. It sounded wonderful, and Jeff gave us one of the best mixes we've had on this tour. All we needed were customers- and they came. Thanks to CKCU we had fans coming in from as far away as Medicine Hat and Calgary for the show! Now, with a great crowd and great stage sound we gave one of the best performances of the Big Road Blues Tour. What a great surprise to find this great room in Lethbridge, AB.

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