Our Lady Peace lets off steam at Canada's Edgefest
Day 6 - August 29 - Edmonton, Alberta

Well, it has been a little while since we've spoken, so I guess we've got some catching up to do. This last little while has been more of the same, and with that in mind, I think our record company is trying to kill us. Not maliciously or anything, just by accepting every available event, no matter how geographically inconvenient it is for us.

Without belaboring the point -- and sounding like a whining idiot -- we've been on six flights in four days. There was barely enough time to do the three shows that were scheduled, one of which was on a boat in Boston. That's right -- on a boat. As I've said before, we live in a world of extremes, either bored to tears or manic in our movements. Of course, there are the sort of days that we complain bitterly about (more whining!) and then there are days we'll remember long after the memories of excessive travel have faded. We just completed the western leg of our "Edgefest" tour (sorry about the redundant name), and this more than offset any of the difficulties of the past.

The shows had a festival setting with two stages and music all day (talk about value for your concert dollar!). The lineup for the A stage started with The Philosopher King, a cool Canadian band on the R&B/hip-hop tip. Very smooth and a great way to start the day. Next up was an English band called Dodgy that America seems to have overlooked so far. After the Brits came the Aussies, in the form of Silverchair. It's all too apparent that these guys are very young, because only the young have that much energy! And a tolerance for volume almost to the point of pain. Then we were punished by the ridiculously strong and potent I Mother Earth.

As a band, these guys are among the strongest musicians I have ever seen. It really is important to see this band live in order to understand the musical integrity they possess. Their guitarist, Jag, is truly gifted, as is the rest of the band. In the unenviable position of following IME were the gentlemen of Collective Soul. The beauty of a show like Edgefest was that there was never a sense of competition between the bands. If anything, there was a real sense of camaraderie and even inspiration at each other's achievements. At any one time, you were likely to see at least half of the musicians on the tour at the side of the stage watching the bands that were on at the time. Collective Soul rocked, pure and simple. They even included a cover of Ozzy's "Crazy Train" that went over great. I guess we can all admit to knowing that song at the very least.

Following Atlanta's favorite sons were the Tea Party. The Tea Party are a Canadian band that have been plagued by comparisons to Led Zeppelin and the Doors because of the the playing style and physical appearance of their lead singer/guitarist, Jeff. Their new record should go some way toward dispelling this reputation, as it features some new sonic experiments. After a day like this, we were honored to be the last band playing. We're also in the unbelievable (for us, anyway) position of being in the Top Ten at home in Canada for the last 7 months. Suffice it to say that we were blown away by the response. It truly was the highest of highs for all of us -- without a doubt the high spot of our lives to date. If anyone who was at any of these shows is reading this, I would like to take this time to humbly offer you my honest thanks.

I love playing in small venues; there really is no comparison to looking out on 20,000 people who are looking right back at you! Not that one is better than the other, it's just that they're so different that they can't be compared.

We had the chance to hang out with all of the bands in the backstage area and there were enough stories there to entertain for quite some time, but not right now. On our one night off, the promoter was kind enough to rent a local bar in Edmonton and provide an open bar and loads of food. The tragic oversight on the promoter's part was to invite not only the bands but all of the road crews as well. So all of the guitarists were in a corner talking about gear, the drummers were in a knot talking rhythm -- you get the picture. This left the crew more room to get to the bar at the promoter's expense.

While there's a great temptation to name names and tell stories, it's probably enough to say that at least one road manager ended up face down on a table. As much as I have always been pleased that the storied days of excess are, for the most part, the stuff of legend, sometimes these sorts of antics are necessary to relieve the tensions that can build up on the road. When the bar closed, we merely moved up the street to another bar's private room, where the musos kept talking and the crew kept up the more rock & roll end of things. As a matter of fact, the tour accountant apparently had a lot of tension to release. I suppose it really does let down the image of road musicians when an accountant out-rock-&-rolls most of the bands!

As you might guess, the bulk of the people at the venue the next day were ...fragile? Especially the accountant, who looked like he had donated five or six pints of blood the previous day. But the crowd made up for any shortfall in the energy department; when you get the energy of that many people in one place, you might have not slept in a week and they'll get you through the show! So once again, I thank the people who make us the lucky goofs we are.

Once that leg was over, we were graced with three whole days off at home! This was allegedly a rest for us, but it was really barely a chance to do laundry and re-pack. Then it was off to Boston to play on a small boat. I guess the boring part is around the next corner ... or at least a nap.