oh, canada

in an early-morning happyexcited haze yesterday, i wrote a big long blog entry about the incredible time we were having at the fest.

i mentioned the mandatory evacuation, and how some shows were shut down before they got to start, but that we ignored it all and continued to find open spots with great music.  i even got my dance on to some dirty, gritty nyc beats.  (goddamn, it was delicious.)

we were so fucking stoked to have two more days of music, inspiration, and fun.

my blog entry got erased, and i was too spent to re-write it, so i went back to sleep instead.

i awoke a couple hours later to the news that sled island was cancelled.  images filled our motel tv screen... a roof getting carried down the river, parts of downtown under several feet of water.  oh shit, that evacuation thing was no joke.

we ambled around our neighborhood in a stupor, feeling lost, confused, and horribly disappointed.  no explosions in the sky!?  no more bouncing from bar to bar catching random shows and unexpected finds (like the Chairs show in the Palamino basement)?  no more shaking my booty at the club at the end of the night?  no artist lounge?  but we didn't even use all of our free drink and food tickets!  and so on. 

but then the sun came out.  hope returned.  we discovered that 17th ave still had power, and many of its bars and restaurants were open (though not tubby dog, dammit, where we might have still cashed in on a free pint and two mini dogs.)  we bumped into other bands that didn't get to play at all and were scrambling together last minute shows.  i felt very lucky that we got to play our show (and might i add- the sound man was fantastic, and the venue was intimate and warm and wonderful.)

we ended up at a bar in the burbs, where many sled island artists migrated for a last-minute show.  biblical, from toronto, closed the night, and they might be my favorite band of the whole festival.

so, the rock doesn't stop. 

and, because our motel won't refund our money if we check out early (WTF), we're here for another day. 

we'll see what shakes out.

until the next,

s