Montreal / Monday / 1029

thanks! that was a great night, and thanks lindi ortega, and thanks lights.

Montreal / Sunday / 1454

I enjoy being in Montreal – it’s pretty odd that you are suddenly somewhere that people speak french, but that adds to the charm. There are loads of people in metallica t-shirts (they are in town too) and there’s a fantastic hat shop just around the corner from the venue. I also love the way canadian cities seem to allow graffiti in certain areas (see my blog from the last canadian shows in toronto) – there’s an area just like that here, by the venue. tim seems to remember demoing maybe i can change in the dressing room here last time. about to soundcheck for the last time on this tour…

Montreal / Sunday / 1417

Kitchener

are these mufflers fast or very small?

Montreal / Sunday / 1230

blog software not co-operating today, so i hope this works. got tons of pics from Thunder Bay onwards:

D DGE

60 donuts consumed in the making of the Thunder Bay show

Debbie and her crew were amazing – they even made us a cake, and we had an aftershow ribs / corn / pizza / mojito party once everything was packed away.

Happy birthday Ant!

call stage manager

driving to Sudbury

dear santa…

Sudbury, obviously.

Tim found this great little bar / restaurant in Sudbury – http://www.laughingbuddhasudbury.com/. it was great, and had a huge selection of beer. and sweet potato fries with banana ketchup (delicious).

Thunder Bay / Thursday / 1753

Winnipeg / Wednesday / 2355

haven’t seen much of winnipeg, but i nearly bought a canoe – it was just so cool.

we’re now sitting in the back lounge of the bus watching the inbetweeners. again. it’s hilarious, and has basically become the centre of our universe.

here are some pics from today…

Click on the pic below to see it at full-screen size:

Moose Jaw / Tuesday / 1852

brilliant sculpture on the campus at Calgary university. genius.

a terrible pun, even before they underlined it.

september 1975

i love the colours of the science building entrance

funky new building…

…where i guess once upon a time there were trees

calgary co-hosted the winter olympics in 1988. brits might remember Eddie "the Eagle" Edwards…

a couple of hares outside the ice-rink. nice camouflage!

photos from Moose Jaw

there are loads of these little things flying around – they look like butterflies when they fly. is it a cricket? or a locust? i have no idea.

i don’t know what type of bird that is, but it looked pretty big. i love this scenery.

according to wikipedia, Saskatchewan is derived from a language called Cree, and means swift-flowing river.

these two cars were sat nearby, gradually rotting away i guess, unless they are a project, in which case – good luck!

Chrysler Canada

wooden wheels

i wonder when someone last sat at the wheel – it may be gone, but the gearstick and pedals are still there:

Ant sent me some of his photos from their fishing trip on Maligne Lake, Jasper… for your viewing pleasure – thanks Ant!

Edmonton / Sunday / 1524

i want to live in the rocky mountains. we just had a fantastic day off in Jasper (nice one, colin). tom, ant and adam cdm went fishing. i went for a run, as did kyle, colin and tom. tim rowed beth around a lake, then played tennis with dan (who had also been mountain-biking with scott and a few others). it was the healthiest day-off we’ve ever had. i went down to the lake to take a few pics in the evening, and ended up having a great chat with a fella sat by the shore – he was a retired canadian economist / banker / navy reservist / professor. we talked about the planets, time, the economy, regulation of business, government and the free market. i learned a lot, including that the brightest light in the night sky last night was venus – he learned how to navigate by the stars when he was in the navy. he told me something that totally blew my mind – apparently, the best navigators, using the stars, could place themselves on a map to within 250 yards of exactly where they were. if you look at the clickable big photo of the stars (there you go, kmpeeps), you can see that in the 30 seconds it took to take the photo, the stars had moved in the sky (they are actually little lines when you zoom in close). so how did those navigators managed to locate themselves so accurately?! amazing. anyway…

on with the show:

library opposite the venue

the pic below is now clickable (so that you can see it bigger…)

spot the shooting star

Vancouver / Friday / 1918

ok, i’ve just had dinner (fried tofu and veg, then an amazing chocolate mousse). here’s the last batch…

flying in to Seattle

replica of the voyager airplane that flew all the way around the earth, piloted by Dick Rutan and Jeana Yaeger in 1986, Seattle airport

Tahoma or Mount Rainier, in the distance, as we left Seattle for Portland.

we stopped to get some supplies for the bus, and a few beers to celebrate my (32 hour-long) birthday!

Portland (probably my favourite town in the USA) shop window…. um… what?

TOFU wins!

Jesse and i met up with the lovely Brandon from the Helio Sequence (you must listen to their album keep your eyes ahead – it’s brilliant). we went here for the finest cup of coffee in North America. fact.

Seattle

woke up early and went for breakfast down at the market. top hash browns! it’s a lovely view, and we had a beautiful summer’s day. met up with Jason from the fabulous Death Cab for Cutie and went to Don Bennett’s drum store – half museum half shop, and a really nice, friendly, welcoming bunch of people.

one of the most depressing signs i’ve read in a long time. it’s pretty clear that the state of the economy is hitting hard over here too. there are more closed-up stores and homeless folks than last time we were here. i really hope President Obama gets the support he needs to pass his plans for healthcare, and the many other reforms that the people here need. i also hope that some of the jobs that have gone return soon. This was the Outdoor Store, Seattle. How gracious, that in the toughest of times, probably the most depressing day, the owners thought to put up a sign saying thankyou – that’s pure class, and that’s what i love about the USA.

"ORD"

The stars of the show! Shawn Smith was fantastic – he has the most amazing voice, and was a pleasure to have with us. Jesse recommends the following: The Family or EDC by Satchel; Shame or Interiors by Brad; or any of his solo records.

turns out there’s a disused swimming pool under the venue in Seattle – naturally, i wanted to have a look…

i turned the corner to see this life-sized father christmas staring at me. it was like a horror movie, and i was about to get axed to pieces.

dan and me (as a ghost!)

Vancouver / Friday / 1746

More from Russia:

we were in special carriage, number zero…

i didn’t want to invade people’s privacy, so i took this photo through a window in a way that you can’t see anyone… but i wanted to try to show what the carriages full of bunks were like. they were absolutely packed. the beds on the left of this photo went lengthways, and the ones on the right were sideways on, to fit more people in. walking back from the bar was like an obstacle course (not because of the drinks…) – you had to duck underneath the odd overhanging foot or leg. it was one of the most enjoyable keane touring experiences so far, though we did have the luxury of cabins. some of the fans on board gave us gifts, including the most amazing book of photos from all around the country, and a fantastic russian doll, custom painted with keane figures and artwork – i was amazed.

Andy took us to this bar / restaurant in Moscow.

another bridge / padlock / love project? this was in St Petersburg

Vancouver / Friday / 1510

long time no blog! got a load of photos from the last couple of weeks, including a few from The Russian Federation, as Colin insisted on calling it. We’ve been busy, that’s for sure. The Russian shows were really fun – the crowds really went for it – a couple of thousand at each show, making the noise of a much bigger crowd!

the US / Canada tour is off to good start, though for a while tom was losing his voice. got soundcheck at 3.30 so i’m gonna post a few pics, then come back and do a few more later.

V festival, stafford

WW2 memorial, St Petersburg

i always find it slightly unnerving when our drivers have little things that look like they are meant to keep us safe… this one was particularly disturbing

Peter The Great

i went for a wander around St Petersburg – it is a really amazingly beautiful city. this was at the fort, across the water from where i was staying. just after i took this picture it struck midday, and someone let off the most ridiculously loud cannon about 100 yards from where i was standing. i had no idea it was gonna happen, and i pretty much jumped out of my skin.

Colin, TMTTS, probably enjoying another of Tom’s impressions of him.

chocolates!

the birthday boy

this is where we ended up… the restaurant car on the train to Moscow.

more in a bit…