Blzzard Pruf in Mt.Washington
It's been a little while since I've written something for this section. On our last tour of Europe, some people who had read these little road stories came up at shows to tell me how much they enjoyed them. It was rather nice to hear from people I barely met, who live another world away that somebody actually read these adventures of our humble band and enjoyed the rambles. So I figure it was high time to write another.
The story really begins with my jacket, really. Its a grey padded jacket perfect for some of our less than mild weather here in Canada. I bought it new a few years ago at one of those military clothing stores on Granville street. Inside down in the collar its got a sewn-in tag that states its fabric make up, and the bold claim it's "Blizzard Pruf." But for me it is also something else. It's a reminder of how fragile a pursuit playing music for a living can be. A reminder to never think you are too good or that success sometimes can be anything but fleeting.
January 1999. We have a show on Mount Washington--a popular ski resort on Vancouver Island. The sort of place we occasionally play in the winter here in Canada especially during the ski season. Not as big and as developed as some of the more famous mountain resorts here in B.C. maybe, but a popular destination for skiiers and snowboarders all the same. And where skiers tend to go, a bar with a band playing is usually not far away and that's where we come in-- with a gig playing the moutains main lodge.
Southern British Columbia doesn't tend to experience the same kind of winter that the rest of Canada gets, but this is January so I figure my trusty grey jacket would be needed keeping me warm all the same. I pack the same day we leave for the trip. Considering myself at this point somewhat of a vetran of the touring game, I figure that my grey "Blizzard Pruf" jacket would leave me in good hands.
Feeling more than prepared, off we go--by ferry to the island and then drive up the mountain. We find our way to the bar, get there early enough to soundcheck, then head to our accomodations. which is at cabin above a small store no more than an 800 yard walk down the main winding road where we figure we'll relax a little bit before the show.
|
A couple of mind numbing hours of television pass and its time to head back to the bar for the show. We still have our guitars with us and we figure its easier to drive back up the road to the bar than lug all the gear by hand. It had been clear all day and it had just lightly began to snow as the bald tires on our old car "Cooter" successfuly inched its way back up the road and pulled into the parking lot.