ML5 Tour Blog: Day 1

Yesterday was Day 1 of the Meadowlark Five tour.

On the way to the Sault, we were driving down highway 17 and there were two seagulls in the middle of the road. As we approached them, I laid on the horn shouting, “Get out of the way!” They both turned to fly away at the very last minute.

One of them was lucky enough to escape death, but the other one’s life ended, with a sickening thud, in between the prongs on the grill of my Chev Express. We pulled over and surveyed the situation. I expected to see guts all over the front of my van, but there was no gore. Despite this, I still let out a girlish scream and broke into a mindless run-dance on the side of the highway that almost left me in the same predicament as the seagull.

The seagull’s body was half embedded into the front of the van, with one wing sticking out, flapping in the wind, causing it to appear as if it was struggling to uncage itself. So, we were saddled with the grizzly business of figuring out how to extract its body.

There was some talk about leaving it embedded in the front of the van like some sort of macabre, Road Warrior-esque hood ornament, but cooler heads prevailed and as the most experienced hunter (not to mention the one most fascinated with death) in the band, Jon was tasked with prying it out. I thought it would take a while to pull it out due to the amount of force that caused it to become lodged in there in the first place, but Jon removed it quite easily.

Danica was pretty upset by the whole situation and took about an hour to mourn the seagull’s death. I think she’s still in mourning, but she’s asleep right now so I can’t ask her.

Anyway, we got back on the road to the Rockstar Bar in the Sault, which is a super awesome place along the lines of the Hard Rock Café. Lots of rock memorabilia on the walls, and a nice PA.

We played first and I am pretty sure there were more people in the bar before we played than there were afterwards, so I think we played pretty good. Rabbit Transit likewise played a solid set.

The local band that played last was fantastic. Consisting of an upright bassist and a guitarist/banjo player/fiddler/harmonica player/drummer, this brotherly duo were immensely talented. Both guys are in the band the Wild Turkeys, and it was a great treat to be able to play with such a great band on the first night of tour.

We’re on our way to Ottawa now to play the Cajun Attic. See you tomorrow!

Clayton