Date: July 23rd, 2008
Venue: The Kathedral
Series: n/a
The Kathedral was empty when we got in, and stayed empty until we got out. Because of this whole MuchMusic fiasco that has swooped in and effectively put each one of our lives on hiatus (see “MuchMusic, yes, THE MuchMusic” blog – July 8th, 2008), we haven’t had time to find a toilet to piss in, much less promote for shows we only hear about a week in advance. Kick Ass Concerts invited us to play at a show they were putting on with several relatively high-profile members on the bill, the most prominent of which was rock group Menew who had apparently opened for U2 on The Vertigo Tour. Rachel, our contact at Kick Ass, had told Conor that she was expecting the place to be packed out.
Their turnout did not measure up to their critical acclaim, to say the least. I really don’t know what happened here. When we got into the venue at about 10pm (we were to play at 11 30pm), there were maybe three people sitting about 5m from the stage, and a handful of people at the bar looking like they wanted nothing to do with what was happening on stage. I don’t blame them – I wouldn’t want to look like the only person who gave a shit either, even if I did.
From what I was told, Menew had expected some third party (maybe even Kick Ass) to do all their promo for the concert, and came into their own show having told no one about it (at least that’s what the resulting crowd number would seem to reflect). Members from another band that had played that night had also told me bitterly that Menew had adopted a terrible attitude vis-à-vis the event – while the other bands were playing, they waited outside unsupportively smoking cigarettes and hating the world. Whatever, if I opened for U2, I’d probably be doing the same. In fact, we kind of did: the minute we realized that no one was going to be watching, we went back to Kev’s car in the parking lot, sesh’d, and got smashed. We enjoy escaping our sad realities as often as possible.
Conor must have seen the looks of discouragement on our faces when we walked in and saw how barren the venue landscape was. I have never seen so little people in one room at a time other than the time I farted in the steam room. He rounded up the members of Soul Plane and directed us outside for a pep talk. He reminded us that despite there being nobody, these are the times where we gotta prove to ourselves how much we love doing this music shit no matter who or how many are watching. At the end of the day, it’s a show we can claim credit for having put on.
When it was our turn to play for all 15 people at the venue, we got on and did our thing. I started noticing that more and more people were leaving the bar area and moving up to congregate closer to the stage. Halfway through “No Worries,” the second song on our setlist, I noticed that there were two kids breakdancing to our performance – not just popping and locking either; I’m talking full-fledged six-step, windmills, and freezes. One of the b-boys later told me that our music had brought him out of retirement, that when he heard us play “Impossible,” our permanent set opener, he couldn’t help himself – we cherish the compliment.
As we moved into “Liquor on the Curb,” I noticed an attractive blonde woman, probably in her mid-thirties, standing up-close-and-personal towards the centre of the stage, holding a digital camera filming us. She was one of the few people paying attention in the Kathedral – I decided what the hell, I’d have some fun and play to the camera. We finished our set without anything interesting happening aside from a few of our most hardcore yelling for an encore – we gladly obliged with a house-blasting rendition of “Welcome to T-Dot City.”
After the show we packed up and went outside where Conor was waiting for us. As we de-briefed as a band, I felt a light tap on my shoulder. I turned around to see the blonde woman who was filming us, smiling right at me. I did a double-take, cleared my throat, and spoke up: “Hey! Thanks for filming us earlier on, unless you were only doing it to get an example of what not to do on stage.” I extended my hand to shake hers, and as she took my hand she pulled me into her and kissed me on the neck. Whoa. She said that she loved Asians, that she was always shooting them. As smoothly as I could manage, I said that as long as it was with a camera, there were no problems here. She laughed, and then started speaking in Cantonese to me: “How are you? What’s your name?” I was taken aback, to say the least – it’s not every day I’m accosted by Chinese-speaking Caucasian women who kiss me upon meeting me. I just wish it would happen more often. She then asked me another question in Cantonese which, probably due to my incredulousness at the situation, I didn’t catch both times she said it (the second time she repeated at my request). She reverted back to English and told me that she was actually asking me if I wanted to get out of here and go get a drink with her. I was stunned. I answered hastily: “Uh... Yeah! Let’s go!” Good one, Yui. She was still holding my hand at this point. Suddenly, I heard an all-too-familiar voice behind me: “Hey, I’m Conor Stief. Soul Plane’s manager.” Professional block of cock right there.
She let go of my hand to shake Conor’s, and introduced herself as [Vanessa]. She said she was a film director and she saw (and heard) lots of potential in Soul Plane earlier on, and wanted to see if we were interested in making a music video with her. Vanessa told us that she had actually come from wrapping up some shoot of some scene for some movie, the name of which currently escapes me, and that she had come over because the owner of the Kathedral (or maybe even the Big Bop of which the Kathedral is a part) had invited her to drop in. Conor gave her his business card and told her not to hesitate to email or call him if she seriously wanted to follow through.
We’re still waiting on her contact. We’re hoping she’s nuts about us, and not just nuts in general.
In other news, after Vanessa left us, we managed to hook up with another band that played that night (apparently Aaron was connected to them from some gig he had played with them in the past) – Ninth Line. They sound just like Incubus – without question, they are talented. Look out for these guys collaborating with Soul Plane to bring it to a stage near you.
Yui... OUT!
