Halifax Revisited: Long and McQuade, Company House

It's a beautiful day rolling out of Hubbards, Nova Scotia. I've had a good sleep, I've been fed a wonderful breakfast, I've spent a couple of hours in my virtual office. Now I'm back on the highway, taking the slow route up the coast to Halifax. There's no hurry- I've got a 3:30 workshop to present at Long and McQuade, but it's not noon yet, and I'm very close. I pull into a Tim's and sleep in the Lincoln for a couple of hours...

I've done two workshops here in prior years, so I know the lay of the land. It would of been easier to get here without my GPS! Anyway, the Halifax Long and McQuade is a pretty interesting store- they tend to carry a little more used equipment than some of the other locations. I'm in early to set up and look around.

Two stools- one guy. It's a little odd to be doing a Longs workshop without Big Dave McLean at my side, but the event goes well. About 15 people show up and keep the questions coming. It's a very friendly store- and after three visits I know most of the staff now. I'm well looked after here, tucked back between rentals and mics.

After the workshop I do a little shopping of my own. I pick up a little M-Audio Fast Track Pro. It's an interface device which will let me record via two balanced lines and my laptop. The idea is to lay down some song sketches next week while I'm on layover. It looks like it should do everything I need it to do. It has an ultra lite version of ProTools, which should be adequate to catch some sounds from my basic mics, play them back, and share them if I wish to do so. I'm overlooking my usual rule of purchase which is "never buy anything with the word pro on the box." We'll see. No discount for this gear either.

I head out with my GPS- oh, yeah, OK, I know where this is... I'm heading a few blocks away to visit Joe Murphy's famous Saturday afternoon jam at the Mustache. Sure is a lot of traffic in Halifax on a Saturday afternoon... Seems that there is going to be a Christmas parade. People are lining the sidewalks. All the side streets are plugged with cars. I drive around this mess for a few minutes and then give up. I was hoping to go and see Joe and the gang before my own show. Instead I will go to my gig and look for a bite to eat.

The Company House is in a more depressed neighbourhood, but it seems to be up and coming. A few arty little businesses presenting themselves. This place has more of a focus on songwriters and new music, so I am quite glad to be playing here, hopefully to a younger demographic as well. Originally this was to be a split bill with somebody local, but apparently that's not happening. I'll be on my own. The place looks pretty quiet for Happy Hour- only one customer. The bar only has a couple of snack type food items. I order something because I'm hungry, and there's nothing else in sight.

My poster isn't up on the door or window. For such a popular venue, there is no traffic on this Saturday night. Three or four people at the bar. Two customers sit down half-way up front. They've come for the show. A sound tech arrives. "Didn't anyone tell you sound costs $100?" she asks me. "I can bring my own PA in from the car," I counter.

Kindly the tech sets up three mics for me, does a line check, and takes the night off. Clearly I'm not going to be the coolest show in town anyway. The owner arrives, and more or less tells me that the reason the room is empty is because Big Dave McLean and I had played The Carleton earlier in the week. I'd pitched tonight's show as a singer-songwriter event, through completely different channels, expecting to be on a bill with at least one local player in this trendy and popular Halifax alt-roots music venue. But nobody's coming in here tonight, even by accident. I don't think that the 20 people who saw the Bad Boy show at the upscale Carleton have anything to do with the numbers here tonight. I really don't know what to think. I'm sorry that the room is empty, too. It's a nice room.

I play two sets to the two people who came out to see me. Joe Murphy drops in to play the second set with me- added bonus. At the end of the night the half-dozen folks at the bar take up a little collection. We make $35, which is just enough to cover our bar bill and my taco. I was going to sleep in the Lincoln Hotel tonight, but my pal Dale has kindly offered his couch again, so off I go to the far suburbs. The toll bridge costs another buck. It's a dark night, and it has started to rain.

Halifax, VIP

What's with the VIP, anyway? I mean, what's it mean? Like Very Important Place, or something? You should know that this city has been here a long time, and it's bigger than Charlottetown, cooler than Saint John, more sophisticated than Moncton... Heck, it's on the same coast as Boston and New York City! Practically a sister city! Let's play pretend today...

The cops follow us around town as we promote this evening's show. I come to look at it more as an escort. We drive up and down the Citadel driveway a couple of times to get our blues message out over the tops of the buildings below.

Taking a hint from New York City, Halifax removed the Occupy protesters in a clumsy, backhanded fashion. It's a pretty town, unless you are soaking wet in a jail cell.

We roll by the gig early to see about load in and sound check. There are no posters of us in the venue display cases outside. There are no posters of us in the venue or performance area. No marquee... A quick trip to the bathroom locates a single poster up over the urinal. The sound man arrives and informs us that our posters had been taken down "only hours ago." I wonder why anyone would want to take down all advertising prior to an event? But no one knows. I'm only told that since there have been just two advance tickets sold, that these will be "taken off the computer so we don't have to pay SOCAN." It's an upscale, downtown joint with pictures of Blue Rodeo on the wall. The sound system is actually built into the walls and ceiling- little speakers all over the place. Dave and I are set up and sound checked in less than 10 minutes. Four boom stands, 2 SM58's, 2 SM57's. Leave 'em hot, put a blanket over the board.

Clearly we can't afford to eat here, and as hospitality is not offered, we wander down the street to see what our options may be. Only a block away we find Q, a good looking, good smelling BBQ joint. We have one of the best meals of our tour at Q! Check it out. I don't know if it is actually the best BBQ north of Boston, but it might well be.

Back at the gig, we can tell that it's not going to be crowded on this Wednesday night. But there are a few folks coming in- some of my fans, some of Dave's, our pal Dale (the only Blues Society guy to come here), and the welcome face of Canadian blues icon Joe Murphy. He'll sit in with us later in the show.

We play a really good show to about 20 or 25 people. Joe Murphy gets up and does a couple of numbers with us. Later I discover that not all of this small crowd has even paid to get in. The venue didn't want to turn anyone away on such a slow night. Actually, at the end of the night the sound man tells me that after ticket sales are deducted Dave and I OWE THE CLUB $275!!! Didn't anyone tell you you had to pay for sound?

You know and I know that I've got a full Long and McQuade PA out in my car. Not only can I have it loaded in and set up in less than 20 minutes, but I can call and get anything else I need in a matter of minutes. Dave and I mix our own show, live, on hot mics. It's called dynamics. In the real world dynamics of venues and artists there's something going on here. No, the manager isn't in tonight.

It's an interesting business where presenters can feel that this is normal practise- to build and design fixed operational expenses to be directly taken from the incoming shows. Who would think that it would be anything but normal to pay a small Halifax, Nova Scotia venue's sound man over $300 for a mid-week show? Presenting shows is always a partnership of some kind, and it involves some kind of balancing of assumed risk as the partnership brings elements to the table and calculates possible returns on the risk. Anyway I go to the car and fetch the Tourbook... the small print in my agreement does read that there may be miscellaneous expenses up to $300. It DOESN'T say that this is actually a FIXED EXPENSE to pay a staff person's wages, but that's the way it is. Of course, a simple misunderstanding. How foolish of me not to expect, know, and understand that the venue sound man will get a fat guarantee out of my pocket! Hey, the venue seems to have a good reputation. Other shows have come and gone- apparently successfully.

Dave and I leave the venue with exactly $0.00 for tonight's show. Dave and I have been full time professionals for over 40 years and neither of us has ever been billed at the end of a show. It's a first for us. It's embarrassing. It's somewhat degrading. Clearly, in the scheme of things, the chef, the waitress, the beer company, the bar tender, and the sound man all deserve to be paid. But only two guys leave with absolutely nothing at the end of the evening. Much less than nothing. Sometimes you don't make what you might have hoped on a door deal- and that's the nature of the business- but we leave here tonight feeling tired and used, like low status objects. Only one guy is made to feel stupid. Yup, you got my ass. Just a country boy, bumbling like a fool in the Big Town.