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December 7, 2008 - Detroit, MI Hi folks. Well we're back on the road for a short Christmas tour and today we kicked it off in Detroit at the lovely Max M Fisher Music Centre. Natalie has played here many times before but always with the Symphony. She always looks forward to playing this hall. Great crowd tonight. Pretty much a full house and the people were in the mood for some Celtic and Christmas music! Natalie didn't disappoint as she came out with full energy (even though she's got a terrible cold). Nice to be playing the tunes again and also nice to be playing some Christmas tunes with the "MacMaster touch"! Unfortunately for the show we have an injured dancer in the band. For anyone who has seen us there is a part in the show where Natalie goes back on piano and Mac comes out and dances. Well a couple weeks ago apparently Mac was having too much fun at soundcheck, took a spill and bruised three of his ribs. So on stage Natalie asked if there was anyone who wanted to get up and do a dance and would you believe this young gal got up and did an awesome job! I believe her name was Allison (I hope I got that right) and she brought the house down. What a surprise. So it was hard to top that performance but Natalie turned up the heat and finished the show on full energy as usual. Detroit we had a great time and the staff was extremely nice to us. What a great venue, what a great city and what a great audience. Now we're off to the "Great White North" for a couple of shows before skipping back and forth over the border for a bit. Natalie is doing a show in Calgary next with just a few band members and then we do the next full show in Medicine Hat, AB (where my parents call home! Cool!). We'll see you there. ............................................................................................................................... |
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December 10, 2008 - Medicine Hat, AB Hi folks. Well today's gig is something I've been looking forward to ever since I saw it on the schedule. We are in Medicine Hat, Alberta today at the Esplanade Theatre. This is a beautiful theatre that is designed like a top notch symphony hall. To actually experience a venue like this in a city the size of Medicine Hat is amazing. These people are very fortunate to have a theatre of this caliber. Absolutely incredible. So yes the show! Poor Natalie's cold is still giving her lots of grief. But she found that if she didn't try to talk to loud she didn't cough as much. So most of the night she whispered into the microphone and it seemed to help. As far as performing though, you'd be hard pressed to see any sign of her being under the weather. She went out there and did an amazing show and the energy we got back from the crowd was phenominal. These people were so enthusiastic that we had no choice but have a great show! What a memorable night. Oh yea, the reason I'm personally so excited about this show is Medicine Hat is where my parents live! Natalie graciously got them some tickets and they ended up in the third row right in front of me! I couldn't have asked for a better venue or a better crowd for the folks to experience Natalie's show. A huge thanks to everyone at the venue for making our night here one of the best. The crew and staff are second to none and we hope to be back soon. Now we have to drive back to Calgary (there's a snow storm right now) and fly to Vancouver, meet the tour bus, and go across the border into Washington for a show tomorrow night in Bellingham. ............................................................................................................................... December 11, 2008 - Bellingham, WA Well what a day. We drove from Medicine Hat to Calgary in a blinding blizzard last night that took us almost 2 hours longer to get to our hotel in Calgary. Got 4 hours sleep then hopped on a flight to Vancouver, met the bus, drove down to Bellingham and started our day! We are at the beautiful and historic Mount Baker Theatre and wow have they done some work on the place. It still has its rustic charm of a theatre from the past but all the behind the scenes works have been updated. As well the added hidden LED lights everywhere and can control the "mood lighting" that is located all over the theatre. So apparently this show has been sold out for some time. Always exciting for us! Natalie's cold is getting better but still has a cough and again had to explain that to the folks. She didn't want people to mistake a coughing fit during a tune for her going into labor!!! The audience tonight was again full of energy and was just a pleasure to play for. Natalie was giving them 110% from start to finish and they gave at least that much back to us. Great crowd and a great theatre. Again the staff were incredible and everyone from sound and lighting, to ushers and ticket people were some of the nicest people you'll meet. These behind the scenes people are the ones that make this ship sail. A huge thanks to them and everyone who came out for the show. We love this town and we love playing here. Well after being in Canada yesterday, coming down to Washington today, we are going back over the border to our next two shows before coming back down t the US to finish the tour! Lots of trips through the border. We'll see you in Cranbrook, BC. ............................................................................................................................... December 13, 2008 - Cranbrook, BC Hi folks. We are in the lovely but cold town of Cranbrook, BC. Now I hate to say it but I don't have any pictures of the show or town today. Unfortunately my hard drive died and took with it all the contents. So all my pictures from this tour are gone. A kind of a drag but a good reminder for everyone with computers to back up their data. Anyway you'll just have to use your imagination or go to the towns website. So yes we actually had a day off here yesterday and we all pretty much stayed in and recharged. Good thing cause we needed the extra energy to keep us warm!! I know, to the local folks it probably wasn't that cold but we sure felt it! Full house tonight. I'm guessing it held around the 600 mark and it felt like the crowd was 3 times that size! Wow what energy! Natalie definitely brought the temperature up a few notches as well. We had the usual amount of fun on stage as well and the band was really tight tonight. Nice sound company as well. They really worked hard all day and through the night. Big thanks to all the staff as well. So now we're on the bus and it's frozen!!! Apparently we can't move for some time while it thaws out (really!!). Hopefully our fearless bus driver Tori can get us safely and warmly to our next gig in Trail, BC. See you there. ............................................................................................................................... December 14, 2008 - Trail, BC Oh it's cold now. Even the local people are saying it so it must be true!! Great theatre here in Trail with a great "vibe" inside. Unfortunately it was a cold "vibe" outside again! I know, stop complaining but wow when you're not used to it the cold can hit you hard. So another crazy, fun, energetic night. We all were in a goofy mood and I think the sold out audience was right there with us. Natalie told a few great stories that had the crowd in stitches and she seems to be be playing better and better each night (if that were possible!). Also the crowd really helped us put on a great show. I remember before the show I was looking out the window and saw everyone slipping and sliding and getting stuck in the snow and ice and thought that these are tough people. I think knowing what they had to get through to come to the show made us work that much harder! We had a great time tonight. A huge thanks to everyone who came out to the show. So now we're back on the bus and heading to Seattle for a day off tomorrow and the second last show the night after. Its going by really fast!! See you there. ............................................................................................................................... December 16, 2008 - Seattle, WA Hi everyone. Well we made it through the snowy mountains, thanks to our bus driver Tori, and we're in Seattle. We actually had a day off yesterday which was nice. We are right downtown and surrounded by everything you ever wanted. This is a great town. So we're at the beautiful Benaroya Hall near the water front. Incredible hall and they decked the stage out in Christmas lights, trees and special "snowflake" lighting. Oh it feels like Christmas. The crowd tonight was incredible and there was barely a empty seat in the house! Now in a fancy theater like this (this is where the Seattle symphony plays) you would think people would be a bit more reserved but it was not the case. Natalie had people dancing in their seats, dancing in the isles, it was incredible. I was a bit concerned for the people up on the top balcony because they were dancing pretty hard but I guess they were in no danger up there! What a show and what a way to wind down the tour. Well if it doesn't snow tomorrow we'll be flying to Park City, Utah for two days of skiing (ya I know, it's a tough life) and then our final show of the year. We'll see you there! ............................................................................................................................... December 20, 2008 - Park City, UT Well folks we've come to the last show of the tour and what a way to go out! We were given two days of free skiing in Park City as part of our performance here tonight! Gotta love this job! Of course most of us took up the offer and hit the slopes for the full two days. Lots of sore legs and the occasional wipe out but we got through it with no broken bones so that was a good thing! We're at the Eccles Center tonight. What a wonderful place this is with incredible sound and lighting and a top notch staff. We were treated like royalty all day. The show was a blast tonight. Not a full house but quite a few people came out (it's kind of stormy out too so these were brave souls that came out!) We had a lot of fun on stage as well and I don't think the band has ever sounded better. A huge thanks to everyone who came out in the blustery weather to catch the show. So once again another tour ends and we all go our separate ways. Natalie is going to make some personnel changes again in the band and a new show for the new year. Of course she does have something much more important to take care of in February!! She will be back out playing in March with a change to the line up and .... well.... I don't want to give too much away. All I can say is if she's in your area make sure you come out and see the show. You won't be disappointed! As well this will most likely be my last road story. I've had a ball bringing these to you and I'm always humbled in your responses to them. Its great that you're coming along for the ride! I hope I've inspired you to visit some of these incredible communities as well as get you excited to go see Natalie's show when she's near your town. I have to once again say a huge personal thanks to Natalie for bringing me into her band. This woman never ceases to amaze me with her energy and passion for the music. Matt, Mac, JD and Nathaniel; you guys are the best of the best and playing with you guys will always be a highlight of my musical career. Also a big thanks this time to Chris Hibbins who baby-sat us for the tour as well as doing sound. This guy can multi-task in his sleep (and often does). As well a huge thanks to the regular crew; Donnell, Trevor, Minnie, Dianne, all the folks at CAMI as well as Cheryl, Natalie's trusted web genius! It takes a lot of people working very hard to make all this happen and I just want to make sure they get a mention. Of course I've probably forgotten a person or two and if so please accept my apology. It's not your lack of importance that made me forget you, it's just the lack of my brain cells after a tour!! Merry Christmas everyone and all the best in the new year. See you down the road. ...............................................................................................................................
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