Love and care
You don’t travel far in Canada without thinking about how cold it can get here and whilst it is only mid-October, this early cold snap seems to have heralded the onset of winter. Indeed, my room at the Radisson Plaza, Saskatchewan hotel was chilly to say the least and I was glad that I brought along my Galvin Green thermals. First things first, after looking up the boiling point of water at elevated altitudes, I learn that Regina is situated at 1893 feet above sea level and water boils at 93.3 (199.9°F)…I select the appropriate temperature on my new digital kettle…because I can. I have tea, I power up the laptop and set about plugging in my NHT 110v speakers. They’ve been traveling with the backline gear and this is the first opportunity I’ve had to fire them up and get some sounds happening in the room. Unfortunately, one of them blew a fuse as soon as I powered up, most unusual but I think to myself, one of the crew boys will have a spare.
It’s early but I assume breakfast will be being served in the downstairs hotel lobby so I throw on some more clothes and head down. The place is deserted but there IS a buffet. Not a very enticing one it has to be said. I find a server and ask for a Latte coffee which comes. It’s practically white and undrinkable so I head off back to the room armed with more milk for more tea. Diary composed, I call Mike. Mike nearly always heads out for a walk wherever we are and since the sun is out, I tog-up and to tag along. Ian and John are also in the lobby so we set out on our expedition for some fresh air and half-decent coffee, but not before something catches Mike’s eye in the hotel lobby beauty shop.
Inside the shop there’s a display shelf with bottles of what appears to be a range of lotions called ‘I Love My Muff’. Naturally curious, we asked the shop assistant what it was for. She said “it’s for women, to clean….down under”. Our suspicions confirmed, I later learn online that an enterprising young, I assume, Canadian woman whose name is apparently Ritz Clinging (you can’t write this stuff) has launched a range of feminine hygiene products ‘that provide daily love and care for…down there’.
Mexican breakfast bar open for business..clearly others have found the hotel breakfast unpalatable.
We set off on our walk and immediately bumped into Richard who has just had breakfast in a local cafe, I assume he’s had a similar breakfast experience as I have and decided to dine out. For a Saturday morning, a lot of stores seem to be closed but as we head into the downtown shopping mall, we realize that this is where everyone is. Indoors! Ian bought us all some coffees at the coffee shop just inside the entrance, we downed them and headed back out into the cold. In the wind it was fresh but the sun was out so it was bearable.
This amused me bearing in mind the winter temperatures here. You have to be tough to smoke around here.
Beautiful as it is, this ISN’T our bus…I’m guessing it’s a 1949 Scenicruiser.
We walked through a park and around a lake and headed back to the hotel for another bag-pack. Back in the buses and off to the venue we trundled. Upon arrival, I immediately search out Mr. Saggers and his box of RS fuses. Thankfully, the speaker fired up and all was well. Bob’s band were sound-checking without Bob today and once the crews had turned the backline around we were up there doing our thing. Once again, time seems to be limited and we struggled to get done what needed to be done. Doors soon opened and 45 minutes later, after a light snack in catering, we were on stage for show no. 2. Another fantastic audience who enjoyed the dynamic of our set and gave us another standing ovation as we waved and left to clear the stage for Bob and band. A quick glass in the dressing room and I headed for the bus once more. Bob’s band were backstage looking great in their customary sharp black stage suits and I wished them a good show and headed off. I passing Bob coming down the ramp from his bus to the stage. As his show started, Jason revved up the bus and we were off to Saskatoon and our first day off of the tour.
