You also added a stop in Moncton, where you weren't scheduled to play. There was an e-mail and letter campaign from Moncton fans to get you to play there, supported by C103 radio DJ Tim Cormier - who camped out in the Moncton Coliseum parking lot. How did the decision come about?

Downie: It kind of came [down] to me. It was a unilateral decision at the narrow end of the funnel. But it was, like, six nights in a row, and I was, like, "Oh, Moncton. Yeah, this is an oversight, we should do this." For a bunch of reasons. Moncton is a very cool town. The French and English seem to go pretty well together. So it was, like, "Yeah, let's do it." And then I looked at the schedule and it's actually, like, ten shows in the first 11 days [of the tour], so it'll be real Hank Williams style for the start, real chariots-and-[imitates the sound of cracking a whip].

Did you read the e-mails?

Downie: I got a sampling of about 40. And they were all really funny, like, "We'll cook you dinner." Real enticements; serious shit. We had to go, because we've had some great, hilarious, weird times in Moncton over the years. Had to go.

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