| grayline tour stories |
| GRAYLINE TOUR STORIES |
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| Saturday July 14, 2001 Halifax, Nova Scotia |
| I woke up this Saturday morning to find Randy sleeping beside me. I looked over to where Darren was and saw he was lying face down with his arms and legs spread out wide, taking up basically the whole bed. I figured that he had bullied Randy out of the bed in his drunken state from the night before. We all eventually got up, showered and hit the road for Halifax. This day would be the furthest point in our trip and also one that we were looking forward to. I had always heard how great the music scene was in Halifax and really sold the guys on the idea of making it a destination. As it was a Saturday and we were Halifax bound it is safe to say we all had high hopes and expectations for the night ahead of us. I had a strange feeling this day and something just didn't seem right. As we walked out to the van there seemed to be a black cloud hovering over us. I mean, we were going to Halifax, known for a great music scene and it was a Saturday night and an all ages club, so this show was bound to be great. Another long road trip was over as we pulled into Halifax. We stopped for directions at a huge mall and then made our way to find the Pavilion which was our Rock'n'Roll host for the evening. We arrived at a small park in the middle of the city and at the end of it was what looked like a utility building but the side of it had the colourful Pavilion sign. The doors were all locked up so we headed to the skate park area and talked to some of the locals. Many of them did not know about the show that night and the ones that did were not all that keen about it. We weren't worried... yet. Randy was happy because Diandra and Erik were going to be coming down from Truro to check us out again and bring Randy his stuff. It felt good to know there would be some familiar faces in the crowd. We also called Johnny Horseface from the Dean Malenkos but he was nowhere to be found. As we had a couple of hours to kill we had decided to treat ourselves to some fine East Coast seafood cuisine. The streets were really cool as they were narrow and very steep. We checked out a couple of menus but decided on a seafood hut with average priced meals. I was a little reluctant to find souvlaki dinners on the menu as I realized that the east was just like anywhere else in Canada. Half the restaurants you walk into are probably owned by Greeks. Being Greek myself, I don't have a problem with this but I don't expect a restaurant with Gyro or Souvlaki on the menu to be the mecca for seafood in town. My instincts were correct. I was disappointed with my food. It was good, but I could get the same thing at Archie's here in London Ontario. Oh well, it didn't matter since tonight's show was going to be awesome!! We got back to the Pavilion and loaded in our stuff. We also got word that there was zero promotion for this show. The black cloud over us roared a thunderous clap. The curse strikes again!! To make things worse, the other bands decided that they would be using our equipment as they had little baby amps with 8 inch speakers. This wouldn't be so bad, but these kids were pricks. The one exception was the band Slump, they were really good guys, a good sounding band, really solid and tight, and they actually let us stay at their place later that night. So the guitar player for the first band that would go on walked over to me. "I'm using your amp." the little 16 year old prick said. "That's fine, let me just show you a couple of things about it first" I replied. "What the hell do I need to know, it's an amp!" the fucker snapped back at me. He was reminding me of a cross between Sid Vicious and Kurt Cobain and I was really hoping he would overdose and shoot himself in the head. I know it sounds a little harsh but if you're going to be an ungratefull little shit then go buy your own amp you little cock sucker!! (just slightly bitter about his attitude). Meanwhile, outside Diandra, Erik and another friend of their's arrived. It was good to see them and Randy was very happy that he got his stuff back. Everything was all good now except the fact that there was like nobody there. It would be an exaggeration to say that there were 40 people there outside of band members. The first bands went on and they were of the screaming gutter punk genre. The one 'band' din't even practice or something beforehand and played(?) a buch of shitty covers. Slump was a definite breath of fresh air. It was now once again time for us to rock the few that had come out in Halifax. I felt bad about the turnout of the show. I was so sure that this was going to be the biggest show of our tour, we'd sell tons of CD's and everything would be great. I felt particularly terrible about this night especially since I insisted on us going out to Halifax on our tour. Poor turnout aside, Grayline rocked the Pavilion! We even got Diandra to sing "If You're Happy With Your Mullet" with us. After all, we stole the idea from her in the first place!! Towards the end of our set I started to feel a little groggy. I played on hard to the bitter end only to check my blood sugar level afterwards and find out that I was in desparate need of sugar. Randy was in the van with me and after we saw my reading he ran back up to get Pete. It is all a little hazy now but let me try and recall the next few events... I was making my way up the stairs back into the Pavilion when Pete came out, grabbed my arm and pulled me back into the van. "What do you need?" he asked quickly. "Um..Uhh...well (the mind is working at its best in these situations).. uh.. fresh fruit. That's right. I want fresh fruit!" I mumbled back. Pete pulled the van around to get out of the parking lot and after reviewing the situation he realized that the best bet for us would be to turn left. The only problem was you could only make a right turn, as there was a big island with cement, grass and trees in the middle of the road and a no left turn sign. Pete looked at me as I was sinking into the chair and said "Fuck it, we're going left!" BUMP! BUMP BUMP! Yep, he went right over the island and laughed hysterically as he did so. We saw a Chinese restaurant so we pulled over to see if we could get something... remember, it was late at night. We went into the place but they had nothing that could help us, as I stupidly insisted that I have fruit and not a quick blast of sugar. The man gave us directions to an open supermarket and we walked out as he followed behind. Pete was thanking the man when he looked over only to see me walking the wrong way and making my way to the middle of this busy street. "Nick, where the hell are you going" Pete yelled. "Wassamattar wit you friend! He drunk or sumting!" the man barked at Pete. Pete just grabbed my arm and put me back in the van as he drove light speed to the supermarket. When we got in we headed for the fruits and vegetables. I now was not only demanding fresh fruit but had set my mind on bananas. As it was late at night, there wasn't much fresh fruit left. "Hey, I found your damn bananas" Pete said. I looked over only to see this tropical looking fruit that did resemble a banana, but was nothing like what I was expecting. "Pete, those don't look like the bananas I normally eat!" I replied. "Beggars can't be choosers, its a banana, now shut the fuck up and eat it!" he snapped, concerned that I get something in me right away. I hummed and hawed all the way to the check out line. Pete had convinced me to eat it so I started trying to peel the damn thing but it just wouldn't budge. "Hey, you can't eat it until I weigh it sir," the pimply checkout guy said to us in a really snotty tone. "Listen, just weigh the heavier one and multiply by two. The guy is a diabetic and he's eating it now" Pete barked as he became frustrated that I couldn't open it. He grabbed it from me and after his first attempt didn't work he just ripped this thing open with force. I took a bite and EEEWWWWLLLLGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH. It was fucking disgusting!!! It was all dry and bitter. I was chewing with my mouth wide open and the dry flakes of this "banana" were falling out of my mouth. "Pete, this thing tastes like shit!" I complained. "Just eat it," he replied back, "your taste buds probably aren't working too well right now. It's a fucking banana!!" I tried to take another bite, but it tasted disgusting and my mouth was rejecting this 'food' faster than most girls reject my pick up lines. "It's gross!!" I whined and Pete grabbed the "banana" and took a bite for himself. "PLLLLUUUHHHH!! SPIT!! What the hell is this thing!" he said as he spit a piece out in right there in the market with people all around staring at us. I quickly followed suit and got rid of my mouthful right there as well. We both burst out laughing as people looked on at us in horror. I settled for an apple but we kept the other "banana" so Darren and Randy could have a taste on video. We packed up the gear and headed to the Slump house. Pete and I only stayed inside for a while and then headed out to the van to sleep as there was a party happening. Randy and Darren stayed in and partied with these guys as they had some booze they needed to get rid of. I felt as if this night was a bit of a disappointment. I not only basically demanded we play Halifax, but once we were there I had to go and screw up my sugar levels. Well I was still alive. And what did I learn today? Well... I will never, ever, never, EVER eat another funny looking banana again. Also, I'm quite sure that I will have little say in where we go on our next tour... but I hear that Edmonton is nice in the summer!!! |
| Ah, Darren was going to write something up but still can't really remember what the hell happened this day... |
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