Rock Plaza Central‘s 2007 album Are We Not Horses was an elaborately plotted and immaculately conceived album that brought the Toronto band’s Northern-gothic folk/rock accolades from both critics (MAGNET named it one of the year’s 10 hidden treasures) and academics (frontman Chris Eaton’s 2004 book The Inactivist was taught alongside Horses in a graduate English course at the University of South Alabama). Last month, RPC hit the road to support the release of this year’s … At The Moment Of Our Most Needing, and bassist Scott Maynard filed a tour diary for magnetmagazine.com. If you missed Rock Plaza Central this summer, catch the group on its U.S. tour with the Weakerthans in September.
Guelph, Ont., July 25
Well, we made it across the country in four days, and we didn’t kill each other—or anyone else for that matter. It doesn’t matter how much love there is; if you stick five people in an enclosed space, deprive them of sleep and decent food, there’s gonna be some fireworks at some point. But we made it to Guelph on time and met up with drummers John Whytock and Blake Howard for possibly the best show so far. That bar has been raised several times recently, especially since we started playing with two drummers, and I love that it keeps getting better.
If the Vancouver experience made up for all the driving to get out there, last night makes me want to do the whole thing over again. It was an incredible experience: maybe a thousand people crammed into the lake tent, singing and dancing, both drummers going for it, an onstage wedding … When I finally got back to the hotel in the wee hours of the a.m., I couldn’t find my bag with my stuff in it, so I called the front desk to run me up some toothpaste, a toothbrush and some mouthwash. Within minutes, there it was at my door. This morning, I feel like a rock star (maybe it’s the hangover). Of course, with a room to myself, I wake up at 6:30 a.m. and can’t sleep, so I’m currently enjoying a complimentary continental breakfast, courtesy of this rather schmancy hotel.
The band has a day off today at Hillside before we drive to Chicago tomorrow. For me, the best part of the festival scene is the workshops. Stick a bunch of musicians who may or may not know each other (or even speak the same language) on a stage, add a crowd and see what happens. Often, the results are magical: one-time-only, fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants collaborations. For the most part, the musicians let down the walls and just play, for fun and for the moment. For others, it’s a chance to showcase their work in a more relaxed setting, win a few new fans. For the audience, it’s a chance to see a bunch of different acts at once, with always the possibility that something marvellous will occur. So today, with nothing specific to do, I intend to relax and enjoy all that Hillside has to offer. But first, I’m gonna try and get just a bit more sleep …
