Vancouver Vogue Theater

Vancouver. Back at the Vogue Theatre. We have heard complaints about the opening acts we have had at the last three shows. I would like our audience to know that when we perform at Jazz Festivals we have NO control over the choice of opening acts. When I agreed to perform at some jazz festivals this year I thought we might be able to reach a new audience and that it might be fun…

Edmonton

5:30am lobby call, 7:00am flight from Calgary to Edmonton. Catch an hour of sleep in the hotel. TV Interview during soundcheck. Show at 9pm. The Jubilee in Edmonton looks identical to the Jubilee in Calgary, but to my ears it sounds better. I couldn’t tell you why, though.

Calgary

Last night we had dinner at the restaurant Teatro and the food was outstanding. I believe I have had a meal at this restaurant every time we have been in town.

Early morning TV in Calgary. A little after 7am I perform a couple of songs with Mark on Cajon. Then another TV show at noon and soundcheck after lunch.

We spot several signs of places named Santa Fe, like: The Santa Fe Saloon, Santa Fe Bar etc.

Vancouver

Another beautiful day in Vancouver. Four of us had some wonderful Sushi in a small Japanese restaurant named Ichibancan in downtown Vancouver last night. Afterwards I lost a ping-pong game to Kanoa in two sets.

The electric bass guitar has made it through Canadian customs but FedEx wants more money to ship it to our next stop, Calgary. They also claim that Monday delivery was requested on the shipping document. We decide to go by the FedEx office on the way to the airport and pick up the bass. The shipping document clearly shows that Saturday delivery was requested when the form was filled out in Santa Fe last week.

Customs….

I remember when we were at Customs in Toronto a couple of days ago the walls there were bare and depressing and instead of beautiful pictures of Canada there was an old framed document on the wall that read something like this: No diseased or poor people shall be admitted to Canada….

The latest News regarding the bass:
Although we registered a bond at Customs in Toronto that included Jon’s backup electric bass that was being sent via FedEx from Santa Fe to Vancouver…we now have to pay a couple of hundered $$$ duty to get it delivered to us…

Interesting fact to note: FedEx in Santa Fe told us Saturday delivery in Victoria was no problem but FedEx Victoria told us Federal Express does not do Saturdauy delivery in Canada.

Canada is such a beautiful Country, but it’s truly such a hassle to tour here. I’d say Customs here are the most difficult and time consuming of any country we have toured, including Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Europe and South America…

I am sitting at my hotel window in Victoria looking out over the sea and at the mountains and there is so much breathtaking beauty here. I will come back as a tourist next year and would like to see more of the pacific northwest.