(above: POG with kilt wearing kicker Steve Christie)
Played at
The Irish Harp Pub in Niagara-on-the-Lake in Canada this past Saturday for ex-Buffalo Bill Steve Christie. It was his 40th birthday. As fun as the actual gig was, this is an experience that likely will not be repeated anytime soon. Just far too long a day for us old goats. Here's a breakdown of how the day went:
(above: Nice pub! Highly recommend the red Irish Harp that they brew.)
11:30 am - Load my drums in the car and say goodbye to Gigi and the dogs.
12:30 pm - Arrive at Joe's house and begin loading sound equipment into his truck.
1:30 pm - Leave for the Peace Bridge
1:50 pm - Stop in at U.S. Customs to have them sign and stamp our Customs Form 4455, which we all had and which detailed the equipment each of us were bringing into Canada, and then would be bringing back into the U.S. This would prove we returned with what we left with.
2:00 pm - Stop in at Canada Immigration. Show our ID's, our 4455's and a copy of our contract showing no payment was exchanging hands, no CD's were being sold and that the bar was closed for a private party. So far so good. Then they tell us to go see one of the Canada Customs agents. He was new to the job and nervously shuffled papers, asked us the same questions over and over, looked to the left and to the right a lot (for help I imagine) and then finally flagged down someone with experience. They told him he needed to complete this "new form" and that we needed an estimated value of all our equipment. Apparently they were going to be taking an 8% deposit and would refund us within 2 months! How to estimate the value of everything we had...? We came up with an amount (rather low but believable) and were informed our deposit would be $280.00. And they don't take credit cards! And they don't have an ATM! They allowed one of us (Joe) to drive 3 miles to an ATM while the rest of us waited.
3:00 pm - An hour has passed since we arrived at Immigration but Joe has returned (cash in hand - thanks again Joe!) and Mr. Customs is happy. But wait...he has to run out because his car door was left open (as told by another agent who for some reason was unable to close said door for him!). Now he is back...but wait! He needs to go work the line! Someone else now needs to finish this. They do and they send us out to the cashier and we are on our way.
4:30 pm - Arrive at The Irish Harp and order chicken wings for dinner. Apparently dinner isn't free as we had thought and the food plus Guinness has cost us each $30! Profit is dwindling - especially for Joe.
5:30 pm - Wander into another bar after going out for some fresh air and I hear "Jeff J!!!". I look around, thinking there is another Jeff J, but no it's for me. It's Tom Furminger and his gang of buddies! All sitting around playing cards in a pub in Canada! What are the odds?? They are up there with the wives and have been in the bar for 3 hours while the women shop. I invite them to the gig after 10 pm when the doors are open to the public. (They do show up later and get strange, mean looks from Mrs. Christie).
(above: All the way from Buffalo and they didn't even get cake!)
6:15 pm - Set up.
7:15 pm - Steve Christie arrives to a warm reception.
7:40 pm - Begin set number one. Drums are WAAAAY to loud on this tiny, hollow wooden stage. Begin playing with finger tips.
11:45 pm - End set number three and begin breaking down equipment after a short breather and some final conversation.
2:00 am - Back at Canada Immigration exactly 12 hours since our last visit. Some of the same inspectors are still working! Good for us actually. They decide to be nice and return our deposit (well, Joe's deposit) if "we can find it". They do and we're off.
2:15 am - Arrive at U.S. inspection booth. Inspector takes one look at Joe's truck packed to the hilt and then at the long sheet of equipment and decides that it is too much for him to deal with at this hour of the day and sends him on his way. Good for us again!! Brian and I get to the booth and he doesn't even ask to see our ID's!
2:30 am - Unload equipment at Joe's.
3:30 am - Arrive home and finally lay down to sleep and suffer nightmares of Mounties and Loonies and Labatt Blue.
(above: Chris hogs the stage.)
Ric Stave, my fellow "Initiation" bandmate, and member of Wunderland, Disco Duck (and others) graces the cover of this weekend's "Gusto" supplement in the Buffalo News! Shown sporting his best retro-garb at one of the many successful Disco Duck gigs. Great pic Ric!
