Adventure #20: Fall 2010 Tour (Day 5)
The drive from Rochester to Toronto goes through Niagara Falls. It's one of those places I've always sort of wanted to see, but not quite badly enough to go there for its own sake. But since I was going there anyway, and didn't need to be in Toronto until later, I decided to take a short stop and see it. So I got up had my luxurious complimentary continental breakfast of Cheerios, Sunny D, and one of those prepackaged gas station danishes, and hit the road. It was still raining when I pulled in to Niagara. My knowledge of Niagara Falls is limited to jokes from Breakfast Club, and the short lived show Wonderfalls. I couldn't figure out how to get down to the Maid of the Mist, so I wandered around the American Falls area. Although a lifetime of seeing the Falls from crane and helicopter shots has given me unfair expectations, they were still unspeakably beautiful. This is Pen Pen suddenly animating and giving Jaye Tyler crappy relationship advice.
The rain finally broke as I left Niagara falls, and the sun started to peak through the clouds. Metaphor for my tour, or literal description of events? You decide. I made it through Customs without incident. Luckily Sol had warned me not to say I was playing a show. When they saw my gear and asked if I was planning on performing, I just told them I was planning on visiting my Uncle Joe in Toronto. Which isn't the most untrue thing I've ever said. This is Pen Pen hoping they don't ask for a passport.
As soon as I got in, I called up my uncle, and we met up downtown for dinner. We went to a vegetarian cafeteria-style restaurant called Commensol. It was fantastic. They had vegan cheesecake, which I'm not even sure is possible. I assume it's made of soy. Or magic. Or magical soy. This is Pen Pen eating pure magic and getting +2 dexterity.
I headed over to the Smiling Buddha after dinner and checked in. The bartender told me they didn't have a sound guy for the night. Or a door person. Luckily all the acts were acoustic, so I set up the sound system, made a sign for the door and waited for the rest of the acts to show up. Around 8:45 they trickled in and we got set up. And then we waited for people to show up. And then waited some more. A handful of Kevin Myles Wilson and Devan Burke's friends showed up, and we got going. This is Pen Pen working the boards.
When it became clear that was all there was going to be for an audience we agreed to make it a free show. I made a new sign and posted it outside on the street. A few more people wandered in after that. Although it was a small crowd, they were fun to play for. Kevin and Devan's friends stuck around even through my set, which was full of Prince songs by request. Also because I wanted to play them. After I played we decided that Prince was what we really needed to listen to, so I pulled out my Archos and turned the bar into the smallest 80's dance party ever. We hung around for a few hours talking about Canadian musicians (Did you know Drake is from Canada? Also he was on DeGrassi), then went over to Sneakey Dees for some cheap beer. And some more 90's oriented dance partying. No diggity. No doubt. We hung around for an hour or so, and then Devan, Claire, and I headed back to their place and I passed out on their futon. It was a fun night, and I'm really glad I got to meet and play with Devan, Szan T No, and Kevin. Hopefully I'll be back to Toronto soon. Next up: Harrisburg, PA for another house show. This is Pen Pen enjoying some Canadian hospitality courtesy of Devan and Claire who, it should be noted, were very tired when we took this picture.
This is a song I wrote this one time. You should download it and share it with your friends.
Tightropes by nathanleigh
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