Oregon

It was a long day on Thursday to get from Vancouver to the show in Bend. Things got rolling about 5 A.M and we arrived at the Silver Moon around dinnertime. Oregon is such a beautiful and geographically diverse state that’s for sure. Such an awesome drive but it left us a little tired. Thankfully, the chipper and youthful Tyler was kind enough to stick around to organize some of our technical requirements so we could drift over to the mighty Shilo Inn to gather our bearings before the show. Our friends the Bellboys opened up and rocked hard with an energetic set that went over well with the crowd. Then it was us and lo and behold for the 2600th time we did the same thing- rocked hard with an energetic set! We’ve had our ups and downs here in Bend as we’ve had in most places over the last decade and a half so it felt really good to be in “the zone” in front of an appreciative audience.

For sure we continue to do all the things bands are supposed to do (send out our mailing list, take hopeful stabs at social networking, try our best to make good albums, add new songs to the show…etc) but we always come back to the obvious realization that at the end of the day the future of the Clumsy Lovers is firmly rooted to our performance on any given night. Every night really. We still figure that if we play to our potential, to crowds big medium or small, the word will get out the next day that something cool and unusual transpired the night before. And that will hopefully inspire you and your friends and your friends’ friends to want to check us out the next time we roll through town. Or the time after that. It’s an ongoing experiment. We’ll let you know how it all ends up. We will one day publish our findings.

When the evening came, we all slept like fallen Doug Firs and awoke refreshed for the three-hour drive to Hood River, reminding ourselves along the way that any drive through the mountains without snow is a good drive.  Hood River is a town we played all the time back in the day but it’s been a little bit of a tough sell for the last five years or so. Hence the infrequent visits. But thinking back to Friday night, what I saw was an amazingly energetic audience, a supportive promoter willing to take a chance and a bunch of  Canadians kickin’ out tunes in a beautiful ballroom. What’s not to like about that?

And it was only a hundred paces to a super comfy bed for a glorious sleep. As the relatively new proud papa of a bouncing baby boy sleep is uber appreciated these days. Who would have thought a few years ago that I would need to go out on the road with a rock and roll band to get my beauty rest.

So Saturday arrived and we found ourselves rolling down the I84 alongside the majesty that is the Columbia River on our way to Portland to play the indie-rock Mecca known as the Doug Fir. We arrived in time to take a little stroll across the bridge to check out the Saturday Market. Quite the scene. Man it was hot. Rebecca’s experiment to familiarize herself with 20 minutes of vitamin D left her reaching for a Cosmo and the Aloe Vera as the sun went down. She is currently pretty AND pink. Great Molly Ringwald movie by the way…

Showtime at the Doug Fir~ Such an awesome venue! It is without doubt the twin sister of the Biltmore Cabaret here in East Vancouver. After some backstage jamming and PBR’ing, the Bellboys stepped up to sing their sweet soulful tunes heavily laden with awesome harmonies. Norman was next and they sounded amazing! Then some band I’ve never heard of called the Clumsy Lovers shuffled in from Buffalo and played into the wee hours. So great to see old and new friends enjoying  the music, singing along and generally making merry. All in all, a great night with three groups of musicians offering up their own take on things.

Long live live music!

After loading the van we walked up the stairs in the pouring rain to our rooms at the Jupiter Hotel where we were immediately transported back to 1970’s Los Angeles, left thinking that some Led Zeppelin would have sounded good right about then as we drifted off to sleep cursing the early morning wake-up.