The blog entry is a long time coming. The weekend of June 27 is five months ago and it’s still fresh in my mind. Mike, Ben, Jill and I headed out to Peterborough to visit Krista’s parents. Mike and I had never met them before and we feel it’s important to meet the family of friends so we figured this was a good way to kick off the summer as it was promised to be a weekend of fun in the sun.
The road trip up was decent enough. There was an excellent classic rock mix created by Ben (who won the competition). Mike’s compilation of road tunes consisted of live tracks from various bands. Jill’s didn’t make the cut as she didn’t burn the CD properly. I do recall a harrowing experience where I decided to pass what seemed to be 15 cars and then a truck decides to meet me in the oncoming lane. I managed to merge back in just in time but someone noted that my face was white as a sheet!
Krista’s parents were a great time and their house was spectacular. We felt like were staying at a hotel. We each got our own room and we had some fun in the pool and the fire pit. Mike and I attempted to play some guitar after a few beers, but it was failed miserably as it’s pretty hard to play without words in front of you. This prompted Ben and Krista to buy me a miner’s cap light for future forays into the darkness with a guitar.
The next day we lounged around, took a spin in the boat around the lake, lounged around some more and then I went out on the Sea-Doo with Dave. Now, I have never been on a Sea-Doo before and let me tell you, it was quite exciting! The things can rip across the water like a bat out of hell and turn on a dime! Dave had some fun trying to whip me off. I did my best to hold on but at one point my hand slipped and in I went. This was the equivalent of smacking a brick wall. I was out of breath for a bit and was quite sore afterward. Turns out that I had bruised some ribs falling off the Sea-Doo and I didn’t feel much better until a few weeks later when I played Hope Volleyball. I almost think that some muscle was out of whack considering I was pretty sore leading up to the volleyball tournament (we’re talking having a hard time getting out of bed), but after a few games I felt great.
Saturday night brought the main event…Matt Mays at the Montreal House. Now, if you have never been to the Montreal House before, it’s quite an experience. Krista’s parents described it as a tavern with no windows and some interesting patrons. In fact, each ceiling tile had a patron’s name on it, one of which was Krista’s uncle!
We started off the night in full force drinking back a few suds and watching The Novaks who were decent. We then chatted with a few people who had come up from Toronto to see the band. All in all, I enjoyed the Montreal House as a venue as it was a no holds barred kind of crowd where anything went. The stage was super tiny and it reminded me of the Sunshine Tavern back home (just without windows).
When Matt Mays and company (a hodgepodge of members of El Torpedo and his old band…ah, I can’t recall the name right now!) took the stage, it looked pretty tight up there. Around midnight Matt Mays takes the stage and he must have been growing a beard since 2003. It’s like ZZ Top on stage. So we’re rocking and all is well and good until Matt Mays starts talking about how the last time they were in the Montreal House, they were so drunk because he staff gave the band a beer cylinder to drink from. Sure enough, a few songs later, he’s crying out “Oh no, OH NO!” and sure enough, the staff is bringing up this massive beer cylinder to the stage. So five minutes go by as everyone from the band takes a swig but then the greatest thing happened.
“Well, we still have to put a good show on for you guys, so you can all finish it off.”
And that’s how I ended up with a beer cylinder in his hands, not once but twice and the second time I finished it off and hoisted it in the air like I had just won the Stanley cup.
For the life of me, I can’t find a set list for that night….it was a collection of different tunes from his different albums. Here’s some vague recollections of the night.
- Standdown at Sundown has now become one of my favourite tunes after seeing this played live.
- He played Digital Eyes and Spoonful of Sugar solo.
- Terminal Romance was a highlight of the night for me.
- The energy of the place was infectious.
The night ended in a blaze of rock and alcohol and we stumbled out of the Montreal House like any good patron would. Krista’s parents were gracious enough to come pick us up in two cars and we somehow managed to moon the other car while driving back.
The next morning was a rainy, miserable one. We ate some breakfast, packed the car and headed for home. It was amazing to meet Krista’s family, amazing to see Matt Mays as the Montreal House and amazing to experience all that Peterborough has to offer. I was glad to have experience Krista’s parents awesome house before they sold in Nov 2009. But now there’s a new place to crash around Morrisburg!