Over breakfast on Sunday, Devin and I decided we’d do a cover of Sam Cooke’s 1961 hit single “Cupid”. Less than 48 hours later, here it is…
Download it free at http://www.thefight.bandcamp.com
Weekend Warriors
A few weekends ago we played two shows with Regina’s Library Voices. The first night in Calgary and the second in Edmonton.
FRIDAY, JANUARY 20
We left Edmonton for Calgary at around 2pm. Devin drove the whole way. I road shotgun. Todd and I are the same height but somehow I get shotgun if Devin is driving and Devin gets shotgun if I’m driving. I guess Erik swoops in the front if Todd drives. Anyways, irrelevant bullshit. We got to SAIT and after about ten minutes found the venue. Library Voices was sound-checking and sounding great. The good folks at The Gateway fed us which is always nice. The opening band had a song that sounded like The Rocky Fortune, we bonded a little. Not much of the rest of their set had the same feel but they were real energetic up there. We played second. There was a few guys rocking out pretty hard at the front. I love those guys, they’re usually really entertaining to watch. Sold a few records, sold a few shirts. Drank some beers. Samantha Savage Smith was swell. Library Voices burnt the house down, they’re so magnetic. I’m glad they’re finally getting the attention they deserve. Devin started yelling a lot. Loaded out and took off for my brother’s condo. Liquor store stop. Steamwhistle! Ordered some pizza on the way. Made it to my brothers place before my brother. Locked out. Pizza man comes. Beer and pizza in the entrance of a condo building. Good times. Brother gets home. Sleep.
SATURDAY, JANUARY 21
After going to bed at 4:30AM it’s great to wake up bright and early at 7:30AM. Playing in a band and being an early riser has it’s downsides. Three hours sleep is a downside but not a huge one. I shower and bum around a few hours before waking the rest of the guys up around 10:00AM. We tidy up and venture out for breakfast. We decide to go to Delux Diner. One of the better breakfast places around. We end up waiting 45 minutes for a table but it’s totally worth it. I highly recommend their Smoked Salmon Eggs Benedict. Hit the highway. Boring drive back to Edmonton. We talk about playing the lottery as a band. Todd and Devin think it’s a waste of money. Erik and I are going to win someday. The trick is to play the same numbers every week for your lifetime. Eventually they have to hit. Soundcheck at Pawn Shop. Jason, the house tech there, always does a great job of mixing us. We’re opening. Early show. 7pm start. Lucky for us people actually decided to make it out early. We played one of our better sets. Doug Hoyer played. I wasn’t sure what to expect with him but him and his band were definitely pulling it off. Library Voices were very punny. Energetic as ever. Drank some with Carl and Sarah at the Black Dog afterwards for a bit. Forgot to say bye and disappeared into the night. Sorry pals!
Cold Days
Winter has finally hit the prairies. I guess we’re real lucky to have dodged it for as long as we did. Time to dust off the good ole’ Sorels and struggle to force myself out into -30 weather.
We couldn’t be more thrilled to be playing not one but TWO shows with our good pals and Nevado Recording artists Library Voices this upcoming weekend….
Friday 20 January
Calgary, AB at Gateway
w/ Library Voices, Samantha Savage Smith
9pm / 18+ / $15 in advance
Saturday 21 January
Edmonton, AB at The Pawn Shop
w/ Library Voices, Doug Hoyer
9pm / 18+ / $20 in advance
We’re in the midst of finishing a few demo’s. I think we’ve got four new ones laid down, just working on finishing words. “Northern Belle” is still on the way, we promise.
Oh yeah, Vue Weekly named “Electric Avenue” one of the Top Songs of 2011 from an Edmonton artist the other week. It gave us rosy cheeks, we were all just as surprised as we were honoured!
Thanks everyone for their continued support. Come say Hi at a show! We can do shots…
Support Us & Your Local Record Store
Just thought I’d let you good folks know you can pick up a copy of ‘New Young Electric’ on 180 gram vinyl at the following indie record shops in Edmonton:
Permanent Records
8126 Gateway Blvd.
Edmonton, AB T6E 4B1
Listen Records
10443a – 124 Street
Edmonton, AB T5N 1R7
Blackbyrd Myoosik
10442 82 Avenue NW
Edmonton, AB T6E 4Z7
You can also grab the record from us at http://www.thefight.bandcamp.com! Cheers!
Hibernating Bears and Elevators
Elevators in 100 year old buildings are unreliable. We recently played a fundraiser for Green Bridges Malawi at Billiard Club in Edmonton. The bar is on the second floor of a century old red bricked building in the heart of Old Strathcona. The time we played previous we loaded in through a freight elevator, so this time we did the same. When it came time to take the elevator up the venue manager said the room the elevator went to was full of kegs and coat racks so we couldn’t use it. Fuck, we had already loaded everything into the elevator. So we take some of it up the stairs to the venue’s back door. Apparently it’s alarmed so we can’t take the gear through there either. No way we’re walking everything around the entire building to the other door. Eventually after some prodding and pushing the bar staff clear the room so we can use the elevator. Forty-five minutes in, we still haven’t gotten a single instrument into the venue and now the elevator isn’t working. The manager comes downstairs and flips the breaker on the elevator. Finally, we arrived and just in time to play. Thanks to anyone that made it out!
We’ll be in semi-hibernation mode for the next few months. We probably won’t be playing many shows (if any) as we huddle together in the basement working out some new songs for you all. We’ve got three or four that are real close to being done and we’re going to pin our ears down & record demos of a few others. There’s also a B-Side from ‘New Young Electric’ called “Northern Belle” that we should have out in or around the Holidays. We tracked the music during the NYE sessions and I probably rewrote every part of the song four times before reverting in large part to what I had originally written. Now I just have to lay down the vocals. Good things take time or so the saying goes.
We’re thinking about getting out and about in early Spring. Keep your eyes and ears peeled. We’d love to make your acquaintance.
Give ‘New Young Electric’ on wax to all your friends for Christmas! $15+shipping at http://www.thefight.bandcamp.com! Includes FREE digital download!
CJSR Fundrive Show
We’re playing CJSR’s annual Fundrive show on Thursday, November 3rd at The Wunderbar in Edmonton. The lineup looks fantastic, we can’t wait to play with our pals in Northcote. The always funny Jon Mick is MC’ing the night as well, which should be a treat! If you’re around, come around. We’d love to see you out!