Never mind the homework, here's the Vegan Teacher

The prairie tour went well. We played some venues I’ve never played before with previous bands, people came out and we didn’t lose any money, always a bonus. I was/am super broke until I get paid at the end of the month so I relied on book sales to feed myself while we were out. We met some new friends who put us up after the shows; aging dudes with kids, still involved with music. It’s been this way for years and it never ceases to amaze: the consistency of kindness and people doing the best they can to give you a break on tour. No matter where you go, there is always someone more than willing to put you up or make sure you have some food in your belly. I’ve experienced this all across North America and it’s something I truely cherish about touring in a band.

The shows went well too and I got off the road with some nice calluses on my fingers. Another thing I like to geek out about is the history of who has played whichever venue before us. You can usually tell this by backstage band graffitti or glossy promo-photos often left hanging around. I know it doesn’t mean much, bands are just people after all, but it’s still neat to think about how 15 years ago Radiohead played the same club to 200 people. In Saskatoon we played a small club that hosted a few bands of note in the 90’s: Pavement, the Jesus Lizard, the Hip, the Dirty Three and Heff Healy. When I was getting ready to play, I couldn’t help but think about how David Yow was likely once hanging from the rafters above me. But I digress.

When I arrived home, I slept for about 45 minutes before Mike was over to pick me up for the Propagandhi show. Fighting the urgent need to continue sleeping, I made my way down there with him where I was guestlisted and made a measly attempt to sell the advance ticket I’d bought a couple months ago. The show was great; their second night in town. The set was interesting as a result and they played a couple of songs I’ve never seen them preform live before. I love it when bands pull out the rarities, in this case the tunes were Showdown and Anti-Manifesto. Shot the breeze with the guys afterwards and was home shortly after midnight.

Slept for 5 hours and was off to a middle school the next morning. The kids here were great, some of my favorites in the district. Then I came home to make something to bring to a dinner for a bunch of friends, who came over until I had Black Sabbath practice. This lasted until about 11; when my body was too tired to continue drumming. Home, then up at 4:30 to take a friend to the airport. Slept for a couple more hours then went out to an assignment at an elementary school, then home again.

So I’m taking tonight off.

I’m going to lie in bed, watch some youtube videos, wikipedia a few dumb things and then I’m going to go to sleep.