It was with heavy hearts that the
Argyles departed from Montreal. The lives which we have lived and shows played
over the past 3 years will never be forgotten. But it was time to move onto
bigger and better things. When we had just finished loading the van rain began to
pour. Just as the city needed water to rid itself of the filth from moving day,
so too did the Argyles require their own sort of baptism to mark this important
transition: the sins of our previous lives had been washed away and out of it
emerged our new, purer Argyle selves. No longer were we individuals, but disciples of rock whose mission was to spread the good news. It was as if god itself had blessed our voyage: “Argyles, though art good. Go unto my creation and make disciples of
all nations so that they may experience the spirit of rage within them." Amen Lord.
 |
| Frontman Greg McLeod taking the 40 |
 |
| Martin Bradstreet of Alexei Martov: all tuckered out from our first show |
It was our first drive of substance;
a three hour cruise on the 40/20/401 from Montreal to Kingston, and good taste
of things to come. We passed the time listening to radio stations—one featuring interviews
with Keith Richard was entertaining when we could understand what
he was saying—shooting the shit on a variety of subjects, and of course,
sleeping. Driving the van was also enjoyable. With 9 seats and 600 cubic feet
of volume, this is one powerful machine. I could sense the fear of other
drivers as they sped up to pass us. Something I had never experienced came over me: a sense of immense power. We were kings of the road.
 |
| The White Whale outside of Chez Dowling |
The Dowling family greeted us upon
our arrival with hugs, cold beer, and meat. Clearly they understand the needs of a touring band. They own a lovely house in the Eastern suburbs of Kingston where we have
converted their basement into a sleeping room/jam space for the next few days. The room has performed its role amicably.
There was a short practice as new
Argyle bassist Geoff Dowling came over from his neighboring house to learn
songs old and new. Tomorrow night we will have our first show as a full group—we
have been short ever since we lost former Argyle bassist Jubil K. Bloodaxe—at revolution’s
nightclub, a dancing establishment on the outskirts of downtown Kingston that I
have never been to or heard of despite having lived here. But here’s to hoping
it will be ever bit as wonderful as I have imagined.
 |
| Our temporary sleeping/jamming space |
No comments:
Post a Comment