Okay - I'm a little tired - it's been a long haul but here we go:
After the APB Ontario tour I remained as I had been asked to participate in a show put together for the crew of the HMCS Toronto - a Canadian Forces ship from Halifax that was coming into a port in Souda Bay which is near Crete. Of course I said yes. I was part of the backup band with Tom Mckillip and drummer Jayson Brinkworth. This was a treat - I love working in a trio setting on big shows. The challenge of making a small combo sound really big is always fun for me.
The headliners on the trip were Wide Mouth Mason singer/ guitarist Shaun Verreault (heartland rocker), Taylor James (chanteuse), Jenny Galt (we'll call her "female rock diva") Patricia Conroy ("the wonderful and classy...") and Mike Macdonald ("funnyman"). Our host was Will Davis - Vancouver ComedyFest head and a great comedian in his own right.... he was the guy who put the show together.
These "variety" shows are always cool - a buffet of entertainment. The crowd -about 250 sailors who'd been putting in some pretty long hours including a rescue mission in Somalia after a volcano took out a base where a bunch of Yemen soldiers were stationed - were primed for the gig.
We rehearsed in Borden Ontario at a military base for three days and did a dress rehearsal show. While at the base I was lucky enough to take in a couple of cool gigs - Kim Mitchell on the base as well as Saga (on their farewell tour) in nearby Barrie.
We travelled almost 28 hours to get to Crete - three flights and lots of layover hours. Crete is a beautiful place - perfect weather and of course there is nothing like a real Greek Salad. The bad thing was our time there was all too brief - three days does not make for much time to sight see.
We made our way to the ship. We got a tour of the whole boat which was quite a privilege. The ship's commander Stephen Virgin was a gracious host and his crew were first class gentlemen in their own right. The show went off well - the Canadians actually invited the crews from other boats that were docked their as well - Germans, Dutch and the American crew of the Bainbridge. The Admiral of the entire NATO fleet (who was the Captain of USS Bainbridge - please excuse me if I'm not getting the ranks exactly right) attended as well.
The Canadian Navy regulations regarding alcohol and partying are a little more lax than that of their counterparts in the other military branches. The rumour was there is more beer than bullets on the boat - apparently the 130 dozen beer they had on hand dwindled away in mere hours and reinforcement measures had to be put into place.
The show opened with the Toronto's house band - four sailors (Chilli, Matt, Dwight and another fellow who's name escapes me) - calling themselves "Halfway To Hell". The name came as the Toronto's boat number is "333". Tough act to follow....but we persevered. Taylor opened - her version of Led Zeppelin's "Ramble On" was a favorite of mine. Shaun was up next - hitting them hard with a mix of Wide Mouth hits, his solo stuff and some fierce singing and guitar playing. Mike Macdonald was next. As a big comedy fan - it was great to meet and hang with Mike. He is iconic a Canadian comedian as it gets - beloved and very funny (he's also a big music fan - I sat next to him a lot on the plane. He'd plug me into his IPOD and lay tunes on me that I'd never heard before. He told me about attending Richard Jeni's wake - which blew me away - really enjoyed my time with him). The troops ate him up.
Jenny Galt was next - soldiers can't seem to resist pretty girls singing rock tunes and naturally she rocked 'em. Patricia of course weaved her usual musical spell. Our road manager Lisa Cameron was up next. Patricia tipped us to the fact that Lisa was once a full time musician who played some pretty mean guitar. Once we called her on it, she admitted that at one time she was a player so it was a no brainer to include her on the gig. She wailed through Ricky Scaggs' "Hummingbird" and killed it. The finale was Neil Young's "Helpless" and Ashford and Simpson's "Ain't No Mountain High Enough".
I write this flying home from Toronto to Vancouver. I'm about 30 hours into the commute home - another 6 and I should be in a bed. We all agreed we're gonna find another gig for this ensemble.... don't know where or when but it's gonna happen - too good a group to disassemble after only one show. Stay tuned - until next time.... good night Mr. and Mrs. Canada and all the ships at sea wherever you are...
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