11/15 – Ottawa, ON – Café Dekcuf
Ah, waking up with your drummer’s arms wrapped around you.how comforting. Well, we were at a Comfort Inn after all; Adam must have been having quite the dream. North Bay looked different in the morning light, or maybe I should say in the sunlight, because it wasn’t exactly morning anymore. The past two days had given us rain for our drives, and I thought this might look better. Today’s great adventure would take us to the home of the PG-13’s and Canada’s capital, Ottawa. It was Kurt’s turn to drive. Oh no… As we weaved through multiple lanes and onto the highway our GPS (that we switched to the “British English” setting) read that we would be at our destination in four hours; not a bad afternoon drive, that is, until it started down-pouring. I guess I had been wrong to hope for some Canadian sun; a sun that I don’t think I’ve ever seen while in Canada. The same single-lane roads that brought us into the middle of nowhere would have to get us out, but within the rain and unfamiliar roads I was clenching the “Oh, s**t” handle for the duration. Pat called Adam and the conversation went as follows:
“Hello Pat.”
“Hey. There’s a diner coming up soon that’s apparently really good and cheap, you guys wanna stop?”
“Yeah, sure.”
“Cool, and oh yeah, tell Kurt to stop driving like a grandma.”
“Okay.”
The rain let up a little as we stopped in the middle of what seemed like a one-block town. The view from the diner parking lot was, for lack of a better word, majestic. A mist was forming between the trees of an island in the center of a fast-flowing river. If our cars were in neutral they would have fallen into the abyss of giant rocks and churning water. Sadly, they didn’t have any postcards available when we walked in. However, they did have the type of crowd that immediately notices that you’re not from there. Two scruffy-looking, horribly stereotypical Canadians were sitting on bar stools sipping coffee as our group of eight trudged past. However, a good hearty breakfast was well worth the glares, and I’m sure the waitress didn’t mind our business.
We had to get moving. As we closed in on Ottawa and Jeff’s house, the sun poked through the clouds just before it was swallowed by the horizon. Jeff’s terrifyingly cute pit bull greeted us at the door as we threw our bags down and rested. Nothing is more relaxing after a long drive more than a game of Madden ’09. (Yes, we’re in a band and we also play sports video games, sorry.) The time was soon upon us, however, to exit Jeff’s palace and drive a few miles to the club. Café Dekcuf had hosted The Leftovers twice before, and had never failed to deliver a superior show. But this time there was a different aura.
On the immediate corner of a busy street, the club loomed large in our minds. The few times we had been here before had processed two of the best shows we’d played in the northern hemisphere. Another local band, and good friends of ours, The Visitors, were also playing alongside the PG-13’s. On this cold and rainy night, the youth seemed to be hiding away from the local show, probably drinking in a nearby hideaways. It was okay, we would end up doing the same soon after. However, on this night, a dedicated and much appreciated crowd came, sang and danced, and that’s all that mattered. After the show, friends from every year of our previous visits to Canada came to offer their support. A good friend and loyal tour supporter by the name of Berger took the crowd in for an after party; never an act taken for granted, especially when the host offered Matt and I a little taste of a preferred Canadian substance. Salvia is legal in Canada but in the States the rumors are as tasteless as a neo-Nazi rally. By the way, I don’t condone any of this. Let’s just say that Matt saw a piece of human candy. A trip back to Jeff’s and another game of Madden rounded the night out at 5 am.
11/16 – Montreal, QC – Katacombes
When we woke up at 1 in the afternoon, Adam and I started the day with a quick game of NHL ’09. For some reason we had to get the new video games out of our system. An XBOX 360 is kind of out of the price range of a college student / band member. Once we showered with a broken showerhead which we had to aim, the trip continued. By the end of this night we would be home in Maine. But we wouldn’t think about that just yet. First we would stop back in town and meet the rest of the PG-13’s for a brunch. Breakfast for us (at 2 pm) but lunch for them. The diner had hosted us the years before and Pat had remembered that the same waiter would be serving us. This included some free hot chocolate, which was a welcomed luxury for four broke dudes.
The drive to Montreal would only be about two hours but we knew what was ahead of us overnight. The drive that loomed over our heads all day was a six hour trek from Montreal to Portland. Adam had it worse; to Boston he would go. Once we were in the city it didn’t seem as breathtaking and refreshing as the first time we had been there. The multiple strip clubs and bars rounding every corner didn’t compare to the lack of people out and about on this Sunday night. The club called Katacombes was home to most of the punk and underground rock acts that screamed through this part of town, but tonight it seemed as though everyone had given up on the local scene. But then again, I can’t complain. It was the last show of the tour and we were about to drive another six hours to get home in time for Monday’s classes (what kind of “punk” band are we?). The show wasn’t a complete bust however, as some appreciative fans paid for some shirts and CD’s to help us get home. Little did we know that the adventure wasn’t quite over.
The drive home (beginning at 11 pm) is always an interesting one. The first trip in ’06 started with a solo-sober Adam driving a van full of drunken, Slayer-singing miscreants all the way home. However, this time we would split the driving, and believe me, there were enough obstacles to keep us in check. Somehow we misread the GPS while trying to find a gas station, but got lucky in finding one just minutes before it closed. It wasn’t raining at all, which was surprising for a trip by The Leftovers in Canada. However, as soon as we crossed the border, (which is ten times easier getting back in) the snow began to fall on the mountains of New Hampshire. Yeah, it’s absolutely beautiful if you’re not driving through it. We switched drivers just in time for me to have to deal with the flicking on and off of the high beams, trying to figure out which one I could see with more clearly. I was immediately scared of hitting a wild animal with no vision of oncoming traffic. Then the snow let up. I would be alright. Only the normal drive from Sunday River to home was left. As we turned around a corner wedged between rows of pine trees and countless other evergreens, Matt uttered a word almost under his breath.
“Deer.”
Before I knew what he had said I saw the body of a deer running full speed at my car from the side of the road. What do you do when this happens? My natural reaction was to slam on the breaks, which meant that my Ford Focus went screeching for about twenty feet before coming to a stop. However, in the middle of the breaks locking up, I heard the sound of the deer hitting somewhere on my car. I immediately got out and investigated. Looking back within the pitch black wilderness I saw no evidence of an animal. The deer survived, but my tires did not. The rest of the trip home was a little bumpier than the rest due to a giant block of rubber taken out of my front tire. The countless homes on the way south on Route 26 were illuminated by my high beams as we made the victory lap to Portland. Coming home at an unusually improper time always puts you in a new mindset. I would end up missing my entire day of classes on that Monday the 17th, since we didn’t arrive back at our home in South Portland until 5 am. But what can you really say? Would you rather be on time for school or would you rather live your next few days knowing that the world was once within your grasp?
Look out for new stories next semester as The Leftovers look towards world domination. You can witness it at www.myspace.com/theleftovers