Louis XIV: "Me, Me, Me, is all I really want to talk about"

Dan promises to write more, he swears. I give him shit about this almost daily. But in the meantime, let me tell you about the awesome Friday night I had. The rock mobster is back in full form. Even Dan was well impressed with how rockly my evening went - bless him and his tolerance for my groupie-like tendencies and piddling obsessions. Woe betide those who marry Geminis! Still, he knows I'm his number-one fan always. :-)) Anyway!

Interviewed the gorgeously fuzzy and cuddly San Diego rock band Louis XIV - you may remember me harping on about them when I saw them open for the Editors about two months ago. Anyway, I adore them, haven't taken their discs off my iPOD since then. Recommend "Slick Dogs and Ponies" and "Best Little Secrets Are Kept" if you fancy having a nose.

Had a great interview with Jason Hill (first pic, above), the band's lead singer, before the show, then met up with my mates Julie and Joy for dinner before the early gig. Jay and I got on super-well and he gave good quote. He's sweet, and passionate about what they do (crunchy 70s rock, with nice texture, strings, lots of dirty innuendo and flat-out come-ons) and I really dug him and other guitarist Brian when I met them briefly in Feb at the Commodore. Anyway, we hit it off, (in only the way that a well-behaved married woman and with-girlfriend rock singer can) and he said he'd come out and find me after the show. They were all sick as dogs from a cold that had breezed through their bus (and our flat - I'm ill again too), but soldiered through the gig. A bit restrained, but still...just ace. Sounded brilliant.

Afterwards, Jay comes out as promised, looking about, sniffling from the flu, clutching a glass of brandy, and we chat. A local bar promoter prostrates himself at Jay's feet, inviting him to come to his local club, where the band's ultra-cute bassist Jimmy (second pic, above) agreed to go DJ, at around midnight (the gig finished early). Girls filter by and ask for signatures and he flirts with a few younglings, but sticks close to me. I tease him about having to be a good boy. He looks a bit sheepish and agrees that being good is best, yes. He's harmless.

Joy comes by, we make introductions and he asks us if we'd like to join them on the bus. I, of course, am in like Flynn. We hop on board and Brian's all smiles (now that he remembers his drunken come-on to me at the Commodore), and it's just Joy, me and the entire band. We all chill out - most of 'em have the dreaded lurgy, so it's low-key but lovely. We laugh a lot.

I suggest it'd be more rock if the band's tourbus had a sauna or a jacuzzi on it and Jay pleads for me to put that in my articles. So we joke about how best to perpetuate the myth. I chat with lovely drummer Mark Maigaard about his Danish/Swedish background and joke that I wanted a drumstick for my collection. He gives me two. I am devolving to my 18-year-old self and it feels fucking grand. Good times, those old days, and nice to reprise them again now!

I tell Brian he should update the band's MySpace blog more, and if he can't be arsed, I could write it. The band all agree that I should...

...so I did. Why not? I crafted something speedily and in good humour. Sent it to them today for a laugh as I know Brian checks their emails there, and got an email back from him super-sharpish, telling me that I "rule", that he loves the blog and that I was "a pleasure to hang with."

Nice! But nicer?

They put the blog up on their own page. Read it here.

Ended the night with some of the band going to Jimmy's DJ thing and Brian and a few others getting some soup. Joy and I eventually left the lovely Jason with his brandy, and a hug.

Tomorrow, I'm off on a business trip to the BC interior's top ski resorts. Besides the 7am-10pm work day (and, I assure you, lots of presentations I have to do), I think we're expected to snowshoe tomorrow, then ski at at least three of two of the resorts, and do a helicopter ride over Revelstoke. I think there's also some trips to the museums and perhaps a zipline excursion. I'll let you know how that goes. Hard life eh? But what I'd really like to do is get into a sauna ;-) or go somewhere hot...like Mexico. Which is where we're off to on April 5, a day after I return from the frozen tundra.

Stay tuned. And for Dan, too. He's coming, I promise.

Rock on,
xM

Hard at Work

Tourism BC is fun. Last Friday we spent a couple of hours at our agency, Cossette, dicking about. My low-register, spoken-word treatment of The Clash's "Should I Stay or Should I Go" was sadly, not up to par. But Rockband is indeed, very fun. We may have to add it to our toy collection eventually! Next week: a five-day business trip to the BC interior to explore the province's top ski resorts...nice work if you can get it hey? And did I mention my day finishes at 4.30? :-D

Raine Maida's (Our Lady) Peace(ful) Gig

So, last week was my interview with Raine Maida, lead singer with Our Lady Peace, a Canadian band I quite liked in the mid-90s, despite myself. Raine was always a good lead, neck veins bulging, singing like it was his last breath. He and I used to cross paths many times in Toronto, at Much Music Video Awards and the like, and my good mate Jenell and I were even in their video for "Naveed", as part of the moshing crowd. (Though we're right in the front by then-guitarist Mike Turner, you can only see me for a millisecond and Jenell for a fraction more. Still, I remember vividly that Raine stood on stage looking tense through the whole shoot, but looked over once during the filming and said "Hey, Mikala!"). Anyway, thought that his first solo tour (with a second date in Van), would be a good chance to catch up. Besides, he was always a bit fit. ;-)

He didn't remember me at first, it took some prodding, but we shared similar tastes and knew many of the same people (even backstage I randomly bumped into my cellist friend Kevin Fox, a former mate of mine from Toronto who used to play with Kim Stockwood and my friend Tim, and whom I'd not seen since a gig in London in 2002).

Raine and I talked about art and the universe and the awesomeness of Soul Coughing (remember my Doughty fixation?) and it turns out he was a huge fan, seeing as he's into spoken-word stuff and all. He seemed impressed when I told him Doughty and I had a wee bit of a past. ;-) At the end, and after he'd given me double the time the record label had allotted me, he said "Really good to see you - what a surprise" and bimbled off to hang with his wife, Chantal Kreviazuk, another Canadian singer who I want to dislike but actually can't because her voice is amazing.

Read the interview and ponder the kewl photos, if you fancy.

ps, I've been harassing Dan for some time now to post. He's not as diligent as I and I've been on his arse for weeks now. Sorry, you'll have to make do with me for now!