Summer Recap

[guigsy]

so, for the last little while i've been trying to put pen to paper to really put down my thoughts about this past summer... i really feel like this past summer was a truly great summer for me, and i know people probably say that every year, i mean, it was so long ago that the last summer ended, i cant remember... maybe its because things actually do get better as you grow older, even from year to year, or maybe im just starting to appreciate things a lot more... whatever the case, it was magical enough for me to want to share my thoughts... i guess maybe now the time is right, as summer is officially gone and we're a few days in the fall... and with rocktober festivities just around the corner, if you're anything like me, you're just coming out of the post-summer september blah's and gearing up for a great month or so of shows... so anyways, im gonna put fingers to keyboard and see what comes up on the screen...

i guess for most people the summer starts around may 24 weekend, its like the sign of things to come, right? good times. well, i guess this year was no different for me: i worked may 24 weekend. and i worked every other long weekend this summer, too. and if it werent for me putting my fu©king foot down this time, i'd be working the thanksgiving long weekend... not bloody likely... so, for me, my summer, as usual, starts around my birthday which is the end of may.. and what a way to get it goin!

arrived in montreal for the slip show, and was greeted at the door by douglas with a hug and booche with a bag of lime and black pepper chips and the word "duuuude!". how could this not be the beginning of a great birthday and an awesome summer? met and hung out with a shitload of you ottawa folk, and had an absolute blast in montreal, first at the show, which was off the hook, then at the hotel, also off the hook, touring around old montreal with bouche and ms. hux was also a blast, and they made it all the more special for me by extending kindness and hospitality to meggo and i for the next night in hull, and the weekend ended with a great birthday breakfast, courtesy of the lovely couple. it was my first time experiencing montreal like that, my first time in hull, and my first time meeting all the wonderful ottawa people who made it what it was.. a great fu©king time.. whats the saying? you'll always remember your first? damn fu©kin straight.

i guess it makes sense that that was the prelude to this sort of summer, because it truly was a summer defined by the people i met, friendships that were started, friendships that were built upon, and music. great great music.

june brought more of the same. from a great nero show in guelph, a smallish, but "phamily oriented" crowd and another great nite on division st. to steve kimock a couple weeks later, seeing more of the same faces and sharing good conversation, and laughs, and having the opportunity to dance our asses off together, june kept up with what the end of may had started. wassabi did a 2 night run in london towards the end of june... i know, i know... a 2 night run in london? what the ???? imagine our surprise... del came down to hang out, and it was really the first time i got the opportunity to sit and chat and really kinda get to know the guy... we bonded over some slip shows and psychadelics, and had an absolute blast at the wassabi shows. having wassabi in town also re-connected me with an old friend, in jim lewis, who is now drumming with them... its always good to re-connect with old friends, especially old friends like jimmy. after a couple days of mild debauchery with del, it was off to CMTF...

CTMF is always a great time, and usually a great way to start anything.. and yeah, it proved to be a solid start to the month.. for the first couple days at least... the party on thursday night was the best for me.. we didnt get much music, due to sound problems, but despite that the BNB dispayed some serious rocking in their attempts to overcome it, and i was really impressed with them.. the night itself was just beautiful, in terms of hanging out in a wonderful environment with wonderful people and wonderful campfire acoustics... it was just wonderful. and i am wonderfully impressed with my ability to use the word wonderful to the point of irritability. the rest of the weekend was pretty good... aside from saturday, which i had to work during the day and ended up puking all night... literally... like, from before it was even dark out... i know sugarmegs remembers how pretty i looked.. ::

after that, there wasnt much goin on in july... i did however get to hang out quite a bit with our own thorgnor, actually, throughout most of the summer... we gotta get together soon, brah... the most memorable night probably being that awful Trews show in the pissing rain.. waterfights and shirt whippings throughout the streets of downtown london... that little kid had it comin'....

then that brought us into august... august... fu©k... i feel like i could start a whole new thread for august... it was truly one of the most memorable and life changing periods of my life. i did 2 trips that month, which i wont get too much into detail about, as i think i documented them, well, perhaps to death, and while some people might question why beat a deadhorse, in this instance i'll question, well, why not just a little? first trip was to the dead at darien lake then down to the ice cream truck festival in connecticut. the dead at darien draws its memorable and intense qualities from the people that i was with... or imposed myself upon, as it were, haha.. good thing the st. catherines crew is as hospitable as the ottawa crew... you guys should merge and be the St. Ottawa crew... anyways, as i had hoped, almost 2 months removed from those 2 nights at Darien, certain friendships have continued to grow, and i couldnt be happier about that. there is not much better than the vibe of just being at a dead show, and not necessarily in the amphitheatre while the band is playing, im talking about what all of it encompasses... the people coming together, the kindness, the family atmosphere, sharing things both tangible and not tangible... its hard to find a frown anywhere... these are the things i like about it... thats why i go... i know the music will never be the same as when jerry was around, and i cant even compare it, or say this was the best show since jerry, or whatever.. i know it wasnt... i know it couldnt have been the same... but i dont care... for me, i will continue to go see the dead as long as i can, especially at darien, and for the most part, the music will remain the secondary reason. its nice to remember, and feel the spirit of jerry in the air, and i think at gatherings like that, a little bit of jerry creeps into everyone. im going too far again...

so to round out the weekend, i went to the ice cream truck festival featuring The Slip. this was different than darien because it was more about me. definitely more personal. not saying the other element of human interaction wasnt there... i mean, i met a great person in BennyD, someone who can see/hear/feel the slip like i do, which is rare enough to find around here, it wasnt something i expected to find 10 hours away.. i guess you just never know... its also a little weird walking into somewhere so far from home, alone, and hearing your name called out. it was nice to see some familiar faces in the young sisters... certainly made me feel more at home, and more comfortable... but like i said, this one was more about me... and i owe it all to The Slip... the monsters that they are scared the living sh!t out of me with how i was able to really connect and feel their music on this night, because what that did to me was unlock a lot of doors... i had the most intense musical experience of my life where i probably learned more about myself in a span of 3 hours, than i might have in my entire previous 24 years. new sh!t came to light. and im looking forward to exploring this new sh!t, and seeing the shape it takes both in the short term and the long term.

the next trip i did was evolve. damn. again, people people people... thats what this was all about... the people at the festival really made that thing work. after my friend hit a bump in the road and couldnt make it to evolve, i needed to find a ride in from halifax, and low and behold, team st. catherines comes through again! it was the first time i got to hang out with zephyr (and sue) and what a great time that was. from hanging out at the attic the night before, to great times in antigonish, these are some of the kindest most standup people you could meet. once at evolve, for the 2nd year in a row, and the 2nd time that summer, i bumped into jimmy from wassabi... a sign of good things to come... in line to get my pass i got to witness his child trying ever so hard to take his first steps... i've never seen anything like that, to be honest.... it was pretty moving, and i really rooting for the kid to make his first steps at EVOLVE... but i guess it wasnt meant to be. it seemed everywhere i turned at that festival i ran into a familiar and friendly face, and thats what really made it the most enjoyable weekend: a feeling like you were part of a big happy family all trying to achieve the same goals, for at least 3 days. i didnt hear an ill word, or experience an ill feeling from anyone, to anyone. 5000 people, thats pretty good, i think. evolve is what you make of it, so maybe it was just the choices i made that weekend, or the people i chose to surround myself with, or the music i chose to see... but whatever the case, it couldnt have been more perfect. i got to spend some very healthy moments with a special friend of mine... it was the only opportunity i've had to see that person this year, and could possibly be the last, so i cherished every second of it, and truthfully, if all i had were those moments, it still would have been the greatest summer yet. and when i said goodbye, thats how it ended... the festival, the summer (in a metaphorical sense), all of it.

i wish to extend thanks to everyone that made my summer what it was... whether you were mentioned or not, you know who you are. you helped give me hope within human beings and within myself, that this world isnt always as fu©ked up and awful as it sometimes seems to be. you're all the best, and you all should know it.

im sure i'll be seeing most, if not all of you, in the coming months, with so much great music on the way, and i couldnt be happier about that.

until then, take it easy. much love...

scott

ps: if anyone else wants to share some of their memorable summer moments, i'd love to hear them.