Vancouver, Raw Canvas

It's raining and ugly and dark and I'm GPSing (great word, eh?) my way around the west end of Vancouver. The district is arty, upscale, and the streets are narrow with angle parking, expensive metres, and small spaces. It's a pain to move the big Lincoln around on these streets, but eventually I get a spot right outside the club. The place is a bit more upscale than I had thought. I guess I was expecting a paint and canvas store, with a music area in the back– kind of a young, art student kind of hangout. This is a pretty trendy looking bar, and my posters are nowhere in sight. As I say to a friend, this is never a good sign.

Going in, the place is busy. I'm met by the manager who tells me there is a private function going on, all the tables and chairs are taken, can I come back later... Well, yes, I guess. I am early, after all. I elect to move the car to a nearby public parking lot, where I presume the rates will be less than the $6 per hour I'm paying at the metre. Over at the public parking garage I'm informed that it is closed and locked at 11:PM. My car will be locked in overnight. Not acceptable! I drive back over the block to the club and look for another street meter spot. Nothing doing. I drive around the district for nearly an hour in the rain before I get another spot. Another $6. Back to the club. No seats. Could I sit by the open door and wait?

There is to be an opening show tonight, actually two local shows before me. These guys are arriving and crowding in. We meet. The first up is going to be a young singer song-writer I met last year at Long and McQuade in Surrey, BC. Next up will be my friend David "Boxcar" Gates, a great, up and coming bluesman out of White Rock, BC. Meanwhile the place remains crowded. I remain seated by the door in the cold. The owner serves me a glass of wine, but it's still cold here. He asks me if I've collected money from people entering the club. I say no, that's not part of my job, and the place is already full anyway. Doesn't the club collect? No, apparently not. Can I collect from people already inside? Well, it is a private party, and they have paid to use the room... Mmmm, how much would the night be worth to me? Would $50 be OK? No, not. Three artists here, and we're not going to play for free.

I wasn't expecting to make money here, but I'm not going to give the show away either. It's sort of awkward, but everybody seems to mean well here. We come up with a compromise. OK, we'll pass the hat. Rather, Dave and I will take the hat around table to table. I have no intention of starting the show until we have at least a couple hundred bucks in the hat! Mainly these are generous, if noisy folks, and it doesn't take more than a few minutes for us to reach target. Showtime!

The first set is a real challenge for Rob. He works hard, sounds good, but it is a noisy room for a singer songwriter. I know what that's like. He's doing the weight lifting here tonight. David follows and plays a great set. He's working hard for this crowd, too. I really enjoy his music and his take on the blues. The Boxcar is on the inside. Check him out. You will hear him soon. And a really nice guy. We're pals. (Somebody took pics, if they send me the jpegs, I'll get them up here. I left the tour camera in the car again.)

I get set up to go. It is a little quieter now. Not much, but a little. I get David to sit in with me and play harp. We do three, maybe four songs, and then the owner signs me to finish. I'm not used to that, but I say "OK, we'll take a short break, and we'll be right back." But the night is done! The club closes at 11:PM, and it's time. Nobody told me that. But everybody seems happy.

I split up the money, and we head out into the drizzle. There's more room on the streets now, so I bring the Lincoln around, and David and I shoot the breeze for a few minutes. We'll do this again, somewhere. We had fun in spite of any problems. People had a good show. The blues is alive and well. Vancouver is a tough town to play. I don't think we were even in the listings. The club wasn't listed anywhere I looked anyway. We'll see what it is next time. I may just take a PA out onto East Hastings and give the show away altogether. I'd rather do that then play for pass the hat or for $50. I mean, the waitress takes home more than that. The beer company gets paid, the hydro company gets paid, the plumber gets paid. The people who drink in clubs like this have good jobs and good shoes– somebody pays them. There's a real disconnect sometimes, and I don't want to do anything more to encourage it. There needs to be an understanding that at very least a service is being provided. A value added service. The venue doesn't provide beer and then pass the hat to gather some money for it. The beer has value. And a return is expected on it. I didn't expect to make much tonight. It was just the way in which I didn't make much that bothers me. I've got a "real" show again tomorrow, so this Tour will be back in the saddle- financially speaking anyway.