3 shows in 24 hours

What?  That’s it?  Summer’s over?

Here we are under a week to go until Labour Day and a quick visit to our website made me realize that I haven’t posted a blog about any of our July or August shows.  I’ll stick with July in this post and do a separate entry for August later.

The month started off on a busy note with BarCode appearing for a second time at Cliff and Theresa Pellizzari’s 20th Annual Canada Day BBQ on July 2nd.  We were first invited to gig in front of this great crowd last year, who are all about live music and appreciate what it is we do.  Many of their friends have become friends of ours and come out to our shows on a regular basis.

The food and company were excellent, the weather was more than cooperative and the fireworks display was dazzling!

The highlight of the month came in the form of the following weekend, which inspired the title of this post.  In just over 24 hours we performed at 3 different venues, returning to McLauchlin House on July 9th, sweating it out in the sun on the afternoon of July 10th at the 1st Annual Summertime Streetfest on Grand River St. North in Downtown Paris and finishing it off that evening with rousing finale at the Liquid Lounge.

First, McLauchlin House.  Our return to the stage that we have called home for 7 years came about pretty quickly. New owners Lisa Bate and Ken Stefan, who also own Lexton’s Tap & Grill  on King George Road) contacted us to help them get some people back in the doors, having  taken over the bar just a few weeks ago.

We were happy to oblige, as we hadn’t played this venue for over 10 months, gigging there only twice when it briefly went by the moniker of Steve-o’s Bar & Grill.  In the crowd that night were a ton of familiar faces (many of who we hadn’t seen since our last show at this spot), plus the former owner, staff and customers of Norm’s Pub, who hadn’t been there since the closing night of Norm’s on June 30th, 2006.

The night was exactly what I’d hoped it’d be, with plenty of laughs, dancing and sociables.

Onto the 1st Annual Summertime Streetfest.  Our appearance here was booked through the Paris BIA and based on a recommendation from Hairy Mulligan frontman David Griffin.   Mulligan was originally requested, but given that the band is currently on hiatus, Dave was quick to pass along the opportunity to BarCode.

The afternoon was a real scorcher as we set up in the shade on Grand River St. North, directly across from one of Les’ favourite spots, the Brown Dog Coffee Shoppe.  We’d stopped in there prior to going on in the hopes of setting up an acoustic show on their exquisite patio, which boasts a  panoramic and picturesque view of the Grand River.

We were well-received by the folks volunteering from the Paris BIA as well as many local passersby, plus we managed to get rid of a handful of business cards.  Here’s hoping we see some new business!

And last but not least, onto the Liquid Lounge.  We had taken our gear down in Paris, paused for a beer and headed straight to ‘the Lounge’ to avoid having to set up our gear right before the show.  Of course by this point, set up seemed to take no time at all and the PA was EQed just the way we like it.

The night was the epitome of a hot n’ sweaty rock n’ roll frenzy, with the audience delivering and responding in the way that we have come to expect from their regulars.  Plastic tambourines a shakin’, drinks a spillin’ and hands a wavin’, we got down and dirty and were tight as could be thanks the weekend’s previous gigs that acted as the most intense warm-up imaginable.

Although it was a wild ride, I don’t think 3 shows in 24 hours will be something we’ll repeat anytime soon.  However, it does look good on the band resume.

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