A bit of a rocky start, took me about two hours total to get out of the city. I sat in traffic on 14th street (about 3 blocks away from Jen's place) for a good 40 minutes. Nearly lost my mind in the process but eventually made it to my destination and after a last minute decision to leave drums behind, we were off!
The girls brought along 10 or so hand made CD cases and a pack of color pens and spent the duration of the trip customizing each one with some pretty magically awesome art work. I'm a bit sad I didn't get a photo of them, since they all sold in a heartbeat.
Since we had gotten off to such a slow start, we were about 3 hours behind schedule and were really pushing it for time as Puberty was booked to play at about 10pm. Epic jams were in order.
Our road trip playlist consisted of:
Raw Power - Iggy Pop and The Stooges
Entertainment - Gang of Four
Bastille Magick - Mix CD from Cian
I drove about 150 the entire way, made it to Edmonton is record time. About 2 1/2 hours. I almost got busted by a highway patrol car but managed to slow down to an acceptable speed in time. I surprised myself with my own navigational skills and visual cognizance and arrived at the venue just in time for the girls to set up and play. The first night was at Likwid Lounge with The Yells. Saw our friend Liz Collins, whom I regret only meeting now that she has relocated to Edmonton. She is a lovely girl and we seem to have much in common, we had a nice walk together after the show. I'm excited to see her again at Sled Island so we can chat more in semblance.
I made friends with a very nice boy that evening who was supposed to meet us later at The Black Dog, but never showed up. I gave him my number, hopefully one of these days he decides to get back in touch. After a brief appearance at The Black Dog and meeting up with our friend Garrett from The Famines, we decided to head to our accommodation for the evening to crash.
Sydney and I heard a monster sound coming from some bushes beside the house we were staying at. It seriously scared the shit out of us. Most bizarre sound I have ever heard!
Some silliness involving 3D glasses, keytars and underwear ensued and we chose our places to sleep. Having little awkwardness about me, I chose to share a bed with a total stranger. In a sleeping bag, of course. I had a wonderfully comfortable sleep, but dreamt of public toilets and other weird things.
In the morning we 'adventured' around Whyte ave in search of a seemingly elusive vegan restaurant. It was rainy and cold and we were all terribly hungry and I swear it took us over an hour to find the place. It was certainly not what I expected, almost a bit shabby looking but the food was delicious! I had a tofu scramble with spinach while Nicole indulged in some monstrous Banana Split Pancake... thing. lol Afterward I split up with the girls to do some solo shopping (the only way, for me). I found a store that encompassed my personal aesthetic taste perfectly, I could have spent hundreds had I the funds. Instead I purchased a soft jersey heather grey tunic, which I am in love with. I also picked up a couple records, got Rudimentary Peni's Archaic EP and I'm stoked to listen to it. The artwork is rad, as usual.
Later on we met up with Garrett for coffee and Sydney left to spend some time with her Grandmother. We then drove over to the Hydeaway to park my car and get some dinner. This portion of the day is probably my favorite part of the entire trip. Garrett took us to the seemingly legendary Padmanadi Restaurant. Similar to Buddha's Veggie in Calgary, but epically more delicious. Between Jen, Nicole, Garrett and myself we shared 4 dishes, my favorite being the Veggie Curry Chicken and Potatoes. I seriously cannot remember a better meal in my entire life. I am already planning another Edmonton road trip just to eat at the restaurant. Sooo good. Yum yum yum!
Puberty played with Totally Ripped and Sex Negatives. It was an awesome show! Hung out with awesome old friends, made new friends, even some Calgary friends drove up! I attempted to get drunk but was foiled once again by my high tolerance for beer and financial deficiency. After the show we headed over to some pizza place which seems to be the choice hangout after the bars have closed, the place was packed! I made the terrible mistake of bringing my backpack inside with me, which I subsequently left hanging on the back of a chair. Later to be rescued thanks to Garrett calling the place for me and then driving me there to pick it up.
We were given a lovely accomodation at Garrett's house and in the morning he and Sydney made an incredible Tofu Scramble with toast for all of us. On another tight schedule to get Jen to work on time in Calgary, we hit the road at about 8 am. I was absurdly sleepy but managed to get through the drive thanks to Sydney engaging me in interesting conversation. At one point I nearly ran out of gas since I forgot to fill up before leaving Edmonton, but we were incredibly lucky to find a Petro Canada within a few minutes of my realization of this potential disaster.
Upon entering Calgary from the north, we could see snow in the hills. I almost vomitted, considering we left a beautiful, sunny Edmonton just hours earlier. Despite the weather, after dropping Jen off at work Nicole, Sydney and I decided to hit up some garage sales. I picked up some decorative embelishments for clothing, including some sequined arm patch..things. haha Also got a really nice feather broach and a Noah's Arc bracelet. Some wooden shelves for $4, a Polaroid Closeup to add to my collection, a really nice vintage leather belt, and a trio of brass owls which I gave to Jen for her birthday.
After garage sale adventuring, I went home and slept until about 9pm. Had my first shower in days, and drove down to Jen's house for her birthday house party. Puberty played again, making it the 3rd night in a row I got to see them play. Jen's voice was gone so myself and another friend filled in on one of my favorite songs. Sex Negatives also showed up and played in the basement which was a blast! The party got pretty crazy, at one point people were throwing each other down onto the floor into a giant pile of people. I got dragged in a couple times and had my head and neck crushed pretty badly. I completely lost track of time and didn't end up leaving until the sun had come up.
Intense party weekend.
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