LIGHTS Tour Diary #2: Soundcheck The Musical

Super-heroine and keytar queen LIGHTS is currently crossing the country on a massive tour and she'll be writing tour diaries about her adventures for CHARTattack. You can read part one here. Check in next Thursday for the third installment.

Here's part two:

There's a lot to look back on once you finally come out of the chaotic mind state resulting from a relentless touring schedule. You end up recalling (with slight concern) the specific moments and decisions while in that other more tumultuous state of mind that you may not have encountered had things been... well... normal.

Perhaps you said something you didn't mean, like that time in Edmonton I cussed out my keytar when his octaver wouldn't activate. Perhaps you conceptualized an entire broadway production called Soundcheck The Musical with your band and crew, and the catchy lyric "we've done it before, we'll do it again, load in at the venue" still hasn't left your head.

Perhaps you falsely quoted Jeff Goldblum in public, only to find out it was actually the legendary Samuel L. Jackson whose line you dropped (cough*seelastblog*cough). But at least that minor slip-up can be justified by the fact that our dear Goldblum is truly the Overlord Of One-Liners, and "hold on to your butts" is a pretty epic one-liner. That brings me to my next point.

This past week has taken us across the prairies, from Calgary to Saskatoon. And each show has been so unique from the next. Every Canadian city we hit has something new to offer, and I feel at times that the best way to peg each date appropriately, taking a page from JFF GLDBLM, is to sum it up in the form of one line for the sake of simple memory filing. Concise, snappy, accessible, and true. It's genius! So here is the past week of shows in a nutshell:

In Calgary, even the Knights For Lights (literally armour-clad showgoers) couldn't outshine the energy of the packed MacEwan Hall Ballroom.

Edmonton showed me they weren't feeling their chairs by standing thick in the maxed out seated theatre for my hour and 15 minutes of electro pulsations.

My first time in Red Deer, Alta. suggested to me they should in fact be called Red Owl from the way the crowd was hooting up a storm (okay... yeah... I apologize for that one).

In Regina, despite our being greeted with a sign in the sound booth that read "It is literally impossible and pointless to mix from here," the crowd and venue (and in-house laser lighting) proved to be one of the best sounding shows on tour.

And our return last night to Louis' Pub in Saskatoon was once again a total blast, whether it was from the unseasonably warm temperatures, the bar in easy access, a couple easy tunes, or all of the above.

But honestly, all clever ways of backtracking aside, this past week has been amazing. We're all adjusting wonderfully to our new (albeit temporary) life on a bus.

We're even at the point where we're cool with the Ghost Of Pisses Past creeping the cabin in the middle of the night causing the bathroom door to slide about mysteriously, leaving a lingering hallway stench. Either that or somebody sleepwalks... which would make sense because sleeping is actually very comfortable on the bus and I understand if someone would want to sleep even while afoot.

I'm definitely feeling the advantage of this lodge on wheels. More rest to be had, more time to sit alone and play music, more tea-making resources, more family-room-style hang outs in the front lounge blasting Nirvana, Korn, Keane (we all became huge fans after our tour with them) and Joy Division, more time to whip out four laptops and delve into Moto X Racer.

In fact, spirits are so energized that we decided a night out was in order, and I'll admit right here and now that Regina took my karaoke flower. We may or may not have butchered Rage Against The Machine's "Bulls On Parade" as a team, but regardless, it was an amazing night.

As a final thought before I bow out on this week's entry, I wanted to add that it's been an extreme privilege to meet the people in real life I've seen supporting me online. When display pictures come to life and encouragement in text suddenly become real words, it takes on a really unique and special quality. It really makes the world feel smaller and a little more real. So thank you, you know who you are.

That's seven days in a precis, and until next week, "I'll be back". —Indestructible Cyborg Slayer, The Terminator, 1984.

LIGHTS.