Velvet Posted June 23, 2003 Report Share Posted June 23, 2003 A combination of personal negligence, lazy neroboy internet posting and just generally not being at all the shows anymore has put a dent in the nerologs page on neros website, but I thought this show was so fun I'd let y'all know what we were up to. Here y'are: Stardate 062103 nero @ Zamfirfest, Delta, Ontario So, quite some time ago a fella approached me at a Kingston gig, introduced himself and told me about a party he puts on every year called Zamfirfest. "My family owns an island not too far from here, and every summer I take a weeks vacation and invite my friends to come and camp on the island," George tells me. "I built a stage a few years ago and I have bands come up and play on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, would you guys be interested in joining us this year?" Well, weeks of emails and figuring things out and blahblahblah later and the gig is booked. George is very happy, and he assures us we will be well cared for and will have a good time. Current transportational difficulties being what they are, Dave and I drove together from Ottawa to the spot where we were to meet the boat in my car, while Jay and Chris drove in Chris' truck. "Y'know what I like about this gig?" asks Dave. "I have no idea what to expect." Good point Dave. I didn't know what to expect either, but I had my fingers crossed for a worthwhile excursion. Made the call and the pontoon showed up. Easiest vehicle in the world to load gear onto. If we ever tour Venice we'll definitely do it by pontoon. Anyway, we settled in and were trucked over to the island by our gracious host, George. Had a lot of help with the gear and tent setting-up, was introduced to a core group of people we were to turn to for our every need and proceeded to explore the island. I'd guess it's about five or six acres, pretty flat and well forested. A homemade beach at one end, with a dock and a beautiful sauna, boathouse at the other end, really nice two story cottage with a stone deck...in all there were three docks sticking out of the island and of the three (I think) island cottage spots I've been fortunate enough to visit, this place buries them. We were fortunate enough to arrive in time for the buffet dinner and shortly thereafter the guys went on. I was having a beer and talking to a girl from Newfoundland who I'm sure thought I was trying to pick her up, which always makes things a bit weird, and I noticed that the guys were getting devoured by bugs onstage, and of course being busy playing they were oppourtunitiless to swat ‘em away. Geez, better be a manager! "Excuse me, know where I can find some bugspray?" "Oh yeah, I think there some in there, hold on a second." Wait wait wait. "Nope, can't seem to find it, sorry." Luckily, after a couple of similar attempts, I located a can of bug spray, and placed it in plain view on the front of the stage just as the boys were going into Condor. I wandered back to my beer whistling my "I'm a good little band manager"tuneless tune. Soon Dave programmed in a loop and took the hands-free moment to grease himself up, but the other guys had to wait out a twenty minute song to get their hands on the skeeter-juice and at setbreak I caught hell for it. Oh well, whistle whistly whiswhis whistle. Short setbreak (during which someone got onstage and made an announcement about a car in the parking lot with headlights on. I'm sure it's an old joke around there, but I found it funny as hell) and soon they were back at it, playing a second good solid set. They were putting out a lot of energy and they seemed like they were having a pretty good time. After they were done our host set us up with everything you would need to have an unbelievably funny, adventurous and glorious night and morning. Soon we were out in the pontoon, with my new buddy Jamie at the helm. I laid at the front and stuck my head out over the water and stared ahead as we cut along the water, incredible. Stopped and checked out the stars, both static and falling. Incredible. Eventually we brought the boat in, likely for a beer run, and soon we were out on the water again, what a blast. The segue from nighttime pontoon cruising to early morning canoe ride is fuzzy, and I have no idea what happened, but I betcha it was fun. Be that as it may, about an hour before sunrise I found myself paddleless in the middle of a canoe surrounded by comfy lifejacket cushions. Fortunately I was being propelled through the water by a paddler fore and aft. For about two hours they paddled silently across the glassy lake while I dipped my fingers in the water and watched the sun come up and color the world. Certainly a lifetime highlight. Came in, found wine, got smart enough to sleep for a few hours. Within twenty minutes of being awakened we were packed paid and pontooning, and drove back to Ottawa the short way, arriving home to glory. The last twenty-four hours were bliss-packed all right. Quote of the Day: There were tons but I can't remember any right now, I'm sure the other nero lads can help out with quote of the day for this show. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davey Boy 2.0 Posted June 23, 2003 Report Share Posted June 23, 2003 Nice ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MuleMomma Posted June 23, 2003 Report Share Posted June 23, 2003 That sounds like the most idyllic way to spend a Summer Solstice...ahhh! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bouche Posted June 23, 2003 Report Share Posted June 23, 2003 You certainly picked one of the best weather days of the summer to go to a place like that. How'd the island like nero? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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