Saturday, June 16, 2007

Where I work #4 (or 5, or something...) (formerly ATWAS)

This past Thursday the quartet played at Stornoway, the residence of the Leader of the Official Opposition (currently it's Liberal Leader Stephane Dion). It was some sort of networking event for the Liberal Party, in the back yard under cover of one of those huge white tents (which was mainly open on the sides since it was beautiful day). There must have been over 200 people there, and we were in a corner just playing standards as usual. There were a lot of younger people, mainly in their 20s and 30s, all connected with the Party somehow. As I chatted with a few folks on my break it was fun to say "I used to vote Liberal, but have voted either Green or NDP for the past ten years". hehe

Stephane Dion arrived and I think shook the hand of everyone there. Even us, though it was a bit awkward since we were in the middle of a tune! The other guys can stop playing for a moment, but it's really noticeable when the drummer does this, so I just tucked a stick under my arm and kept playing with feet and one hand as he reached over the kit...

To do this gig the group had to sub out of our usual Thursday gig at the Metropolitan Restaurant (which is ironic given that so many of our Thursdays have been weathered out there) as the time slot was exactly the same (5-8). And when the gig ended Steve and I had to pack up and boot it over to an IJO rehearsal, so this was a day of travelling by van, not by cargo trike.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Shaking hands while drumming- that's hilarious! I remember biking by those garden parties at Stornoway in the spring and summer when I used to live in the east end. I was always impressed with how relatively informal and casual Canada is, that such high-falutin' folks were right there on the other side of that hedge on the street behind the house.