The weeks after North Country Fair were packed. I had to finish my exam supervision requirements at school, pack up (most of) my crap from the classroom (sorry Coleen!), help Elegwen and Jon Mauro, Damanta's new drummer, book the dates for the tour, rent the necessary gear, get the Pooka in road-read shape, rehearse for and play the farewell shows at Johnnie Fox's and say goodbye to several friends in the process. One thing I didn't have to do was submit the changes to my final grades' submission. That task was handled while I was at North Country Fair by my sister (who is also my department head) Dawn and Heidi. Thanks, ladies!
Damanta, being an Irish band, operates on Irish time which is more flexible than Sir Sandford Fleming's standard concept of time. As such, it was mid afternoon when we finally hit the road. In Hope, two hours east of Vancouver, we had to settle the towing account from the Pooka's adventure on the way back from Calgary, and we did the first installment of Damanta's Coffee and pie reviews.
We continued on the Trans-Canada Highway #1 in lieu of the #5 Coquihalla as our VW mechanic Ed at The Bug Shop in Delta told us the Coq's hills are a VW killer--"They just burst into flames," is what I believe he said.
Outside of Hell's Gate we pulled over at rest stop and met a group of Turkish-Canadians on a road trip. They were led on a loop of the BC interior that was to end in Kelowna. In exchange for an inpromtu performance, they shared watermelon and some of the spicy dish they were frying up. When everyone decided to move on we left with full stomachs and they had a Damanta CD for their car stereo. Good Deal.
I took the wheel at this point and I can confirm that my abilities with respect to manual transmissions had not improved despite the fact that I hadn't driven one since The Pooka conked out in Banff back in May. We shuddered to a start and were off. I don't really have much affinity for driving at night so driving a Volksie through the winding Fraser Canyon at night was a bit of a challenge. IT was a bit like this: Hayden's "Dynamite Walls" (minus the interior Christmas lights)...
Fortunately Jon was kind enough to set the iPod to the Phil Collins/Genesis playlist so I was motivated by such classics as, "Jesus He Loves Me", "In the Air Tonight" and "Land of Confusion" to keep me motivated and my reflexes sharp.
We got to Kamloops after midnight and gave the sole A&W Drive Thru employee on duty fits by ordering six Mozza's and root beer (after much fatigue-induced indecision) to eat on the patio in the darkness. I was off the hook at this point and Jon took over while I slept in the back.
I awoke in Rogers Pass at 6am where we were disappointed to see that the only gas station was closed. It was touch and go to see if we'd have enough gas to make it to Golden. Fortunately, it was mostly downhill and we coasted in on fumes. I took the wheel out of Golden and was happy when we made it through Banff where the Pooka conked out last time. At Canmore Elegwen introduced us to James at the Wapiti campground, who help Elegwen out immeasurably when he was waiting for repairs in may before continuing on the back roads north from Cochrane.
Finding Flower Fest after arriving at Seba Beach from the south was a bit of a trick. We actually had to go to the Yellowhead Highway and find the #55 Rural Road and exit off the side. We knew we were in the right place when we saw the hand-painted sign and once we'd parked the Pooka we realized that we'd stumbled onto something special.
Flower Fest is actually an extension of an Edmonton Institution, The Little Flower Open Stage. It is run by Brian Gregg an amazing guitarist who once opened for Led Zeppelin and now busks and runs a site called electronic busker where you can listen to the music and pay what you want/can. At any rate, Brian and his team of volunteers has developed a loyal following at the open stage and once a year, the gang heads an hour outside Edmonton to sing and play music together at "the world's best micro music festival," in Seba Beach, Alberta.
Despite the threat of rain, Damanta braved the elements and played our opening set outside. It was well received and we managed to get to the general store in time to procure hot dogs for dinner. What..? There was a fire pit. A weenie roast is mandatory, non? There was a sing-a-long but being too burnt out from the overnight drive, I left it to Jon and Elegwen to hold the torch high for the band and I retired to the tent.
An early morning run and swim in the lake later I was feeling good enough to head down to a "side stage" know to Flower Fest-ers as "The End of the World". It is essentially a clearing 15 minutes walk into the woods. Once there Doctor John, formerly the head of the University of Alberta Geography department, gave a totally engaging set of Country Folk Blues that I really dug. I even picked up a few guitar tricks watching him.
Back at the main site I jammed with our next-van neighbour (another!) John--him on Dobro, myself on guitar. In an example of 21st century jam protocol I sang the words to Blue Rodeo's "Five Days in May" by reading them off my iPod. When it came time for our Damanta's second second set at the fest, we decided to play it in our Baroque Faerie masks. It was actually way cooler than it sounds.
I have always found it quite socially liberating to put on a costume (fancy dress) and this was no exception. I found myself interacting with crowd way more than usual. The set sounded great and I changed a broken string in less than 3 minutes--a new personal best. As we were packing up a little redhead girl walked by and said, "You guys aren't crazy enough to be rock stars!" Hmm, I guess I'll have to keep working on that crowd interaction thing...
The evening included a potluck dinner (delicious!) and performances by Doctor John with a full band and our new friend Pascal Lecours' band, including his 7 year old daughter, a certain redhead named Gaetane, on drums. I was too sunstroked to take any of this in or to hit the camp fire (I was actually in the tent before sun down) but I understand that Jon and Elegwen lit it up. However, as I was drifting off to sleep I did hear Gaetane casting a spell on Jon that would turn him into a rock star...
As most parties were packing up Sunday morning the three members of Damanta went down to the lake for a swim and during the walk there I reflected on how Flower Fest's relaxed family vibe most be a lot like folk festivals were before you had to have sold hundreds of thousands of units to play at one. Everyone talks to everyone, people jam together and play in each other's sets, there is no security required or desired. We met some many new friends and made new fans at will. There is something to say for festivals like North Country Fair that walk the line between Flower Fest and the commercial folk festivals in Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver, Mission and Salmon Arm but I really enjoyed Flower Fest.
Sunday afternoon brought a set by Bob Cook and his Mucho Nada Band and I found myself singing along and chair dancing (too hot to stand up) while we shared grapes with Gaetane. Afterwards we talked with Bob about playing different venues in Alberta and his experiences playing in a resort bar in Mexico. Cool stuff.
Brian let us camp out an extra evening on the site when everyone else had gone home. Jon and I helped him hang some flowers painted on plywood down at "The End of the World". When Elegwen joined us later, we sat around the fire and Brian told us about Pastafarian-ism and we cooked the rest of our hot dogs. In the morning we packed up (all the instruments we in the front seats of the van), had a final swim in the lake and hit the Yellowhead Trail for Edmonton.
The Pooka was having a hard time getting up the hill to the highway and we hoped it was just cold from sitting still for three days...
JO
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