Five Hits and Misses from Playing Live in 2023, and a Learning From Each of Them
We’re certainly not the busiest touring band in the world, but for three guys who work full time, we do okay. This year we played almost 30 shows—only four of them local to Vancouver—a similar pace to last year, although one we’d like to expand on in 2024 as we ramp up our capacity and move further towards being a Serious Touring Band.
So with all those shows, what were some of the highlights? And perhaps more interestingly, what were some of the lowlights? I was originally going to title this newsletter “Five Great Shows …”, but realized that there might be just as much to glean from a couple that didn’t go so well.
So without further ado, let’s get to the recappin’.
Hit: July 16 at The Cambie (Vancouver), Chi Pig Memorial Show
This was a show we were both grateful to be invited to play, and unsure what the result would be. Chi Pig and SNFU obviously left a long tail of impact on the Vancouver punk scene, and while we have a lot of punk elements in our sound, we’re far from the most traditionally punk band in general.
Concerned that our bonafides wouldn’t live up to the crowd’s expectations, we were instead greeted by an enthusiastic and supportive crowd. And even though a busted bass string (how often does that happen?) cut our set short, it was a memorable night.
Lesson learned: audiences are versatile, especially in a setting where the mood is celebratory in general. Keep yourself open to different show opportunities.
Bonus lesson: This wasn’t our first successful Sunday show—we played to a sold out crowd in Ottawa at The Dom on a Sunday last year—but it was a good reminder that great shows can happen any night of the week.
Miss(es): October 9th at Richmond Tavern (London, ON) and October 12th at Le Murdoch (Sherbrooke, QC)
Lumping these together since they were misses for the same reason.
While both shows had some highlights—London’s Hunter Gatherer, whom we played with there, are amazing, and we met a bunch of great people in both spots—they both suffered from very poor turnout and were net losses financially.
There isn’t too much to say—these shows are part and parcel with the life of a touring band—but we continue to try and refine our process to the point where these types of turnout catastrophes are kept to a minimum.
Lesson learned: Filling spots in the calendar when planning a tour seems like the preferable course of action when facing the prospect of playing vs. not playing on a given night, but these shows need to be circled in red when they do get booked.
Special efforts need to go into making sure that at least enough people are in attendance that the night isn’t a total write-off financially.
Hit(s): January 14 at Local Losers Underground (Vernon, BC) and January 21 at The Vault Cafe (Nanaimo)
Also lumping these ones together, since they were similar out of town shows only a week apart.
These shows are memorable for a couple of reasons: both had warm and supportive crowds, and both developed quick kinship with the bands we played with (Kelowna’s Down the Lees and Victoria’s ex-cowboy).
Sometimes it’s hard to marshal the horses to get out of town for only a single show; in the case of Vernon, we faced some pretty challenging driving through the mountains in the dead of winter (made more challenging by the shittiness of my old Honda Element, RIP). But these shows were a good reminder that it can be well worth the effort.
Lesson learned: one good show is worth the trip.
Bonus shout-out: Vernon’s Local Losers is no more as a physical venue, but Noah opened his doors up to us with a graciousness that’s pretty rare from a venue operator. We felt welcomed as soon as we walked in the door, and those good vibes carried through the whole night. Thanks Noah!
(Big) Miss: October 8 at Tail of the Junction (Toronto)
This show was doomed from the start.
We faced a booking decision when tour planning, with a Saturday night offered to us in Hamilton, ON at a promising new venue. We knew that taking Saturday there would force us to play Toronto on a Sunday. Without an anchor event with a promoter, we knew it would be hard to pull any kind of crowd there.
It was much worse than that. The show operator we ended up working with was AWOL on the day of the event, leaving us to run the night ourselves with an antagonistic bar staff none-too-keen to host us on the night.
A disagreement ensued as to how we were allowed to charge cover for the night. Facing a confusing, and at times borderline threatening situation of trying to enforce cover with hostile regulars, we made the difficult decision to cut the night short.
Lesson learned: Be really careful who you choose to work with. We had bad vibes about this show/promoter from the jump, and we should have taken a pass and kept looking. Sometimes, if it feels forced, the worst-case scenario will play out exactly as you imagine.
(Big) Hit: October 13 at Traxide (Montreal)
Which brings us to our final entry: hands-down our best show of the year, an absolute barn burner in The City of Saints.
As you might have been able to tell from previous entries in this list, our fall tour had been going…less than great to this point. Rounding out the end of it, we had two shows, in Montreal and Ottawa, that we were hopeful would redeem our tour arc.
Both shows were great, but Montreal was really special.
Playing with incredible locals Family Man—who put on one of the best sets I’ve ever seen from a band we’re on a bill with—everything about the night, from the genuine punk cred of the venue to the wild and appreciative crowd, was a 10/10 experience.
Truly one of those nights that makes playing in a rock band worth it, even if all our merch now smells like cigarette smoke forever.
Lesson learned: one really good show can wipe the slate on a bad run. If you’re in the midst of a dry spell on the road, keep your chin up: better days are right around the corner.
Just like Alanis always said: you live, you learn. And you laugh, and also then you learn? I dunno, I’m paraphrasing here.
2023 was a year of ironing out our process, continuing to improve on the administrative process of touring/tour booking, and resetting as a three-piece in general (more on that to come in a follow-up post).
Can’t wait to make all these mistakes, and experience similar high points, again in ‘24. See you there. 🚗
Still hear great things about that Montreal show