We played a tight but unusual set for us this past weekend. The York HOG Chapter held their 10th anniversary celebration on Saturday night & hired us to entertain.

What made it unusual was the emphasis on music from days gone by. Putting together the sets was like two sides of a coin - much of our favourite recent material (if you can call 1983 recent - *wink-wink*) was left at home, which was a bit of a bummer, but it gave us the opportunity to play material we don't bring to clubs.

For my part, I'd missed playing songs like American Woman & Victim of Love, so it was really nice visiting with them again.

We're getting into winter & the end of the year. Bookings for next year are expected to pick up soon.

Currently we're in Penetang on Friday, December 12 and...

...NEW YEAR'S EVE!

It's going to be a good time - hope to see you there!

The place was crawling with a damn good time, like always.

We debuted our new 19min medley - a technique we're going to focus on for the foreseeable future.

Props to Aline & Peter for making the trek up from Barrie, to karaoke DJ Mark for pimping our new T-shirts (our new logo, silkscreened on American Apparel, in both unisex & fitted women's styles), & to longtime fan Tracey who always asks for The Ramones' I Wanna Be Sedated.

Also, we'll have a proper website coming soon.

The York Regional Police Association's Ironcops for Cancer 2008 benefit marks the second year in a row we've had the honour of entertaining at this annual event. The YRPA is a gracious host &, luckily for us, we've also been invited to play at our second YRPA Lobsterfest.

This past Canada Day weekend was another gig at Yorkie's Bar & Grill (formerly the Commodore) in Penetang. The staff is always friendly & the patrons continue to revisit our shows. There are PIX!

L-R: Brian, Richard, Len...


...and John


( more band pix, most by Ashley O'Hearn )

( crowd pix )

Mister By Inches: where the fun never stops.

I've said it before & I'll say it again - Yorkie's is a great place to play. The energy we get from the audience, from both the dancers & the more laid-back listeners, is always awesome.

Y'all really need to see our singer, Richard, in action - the whole band, in fact - these are the most talented musicians I've ever played with, & that's saying something.

We debuted 9 new songs last night & the crowd response couldn't have made us happier.

Also: we were very entertained to see what happens when someone doesn't mulch their Hawaiian pizza as thoroughly as they should - we were treated to a lovely display of unchewed-but-reviewed pineapple chunks on the sidewalk as we loaded up to head home.

It's all part of the rock'n'roll experience. Heh.

Also also: we are sitting on some potential good news that, if things go the way we hope, should expose us to a larger Barrie (read: our hometown) audience. The aid that Cindy is giving us in this regard is both an incredible compliment & very much appreciated. We will keep you updated.

May 9th at Yorkie's in Penetanguishene

June 20th at The Shed - YRPA's Cops for Cancer in Newmarket

June 28th at Yorkie's in Penetanguishene

July 11th at The Shed - YRPA's Lobsterfest in Newmarket

July 27th in the parking lot of the Harley Davidson dealership in Barrie's south end

August 8th
October 18th
and December 12th, all at Yorkie's in Penetanguishene.

We continue to add a few songs every month. We'll keep y'all updated.

Yorkie's is always a pleasure to play. The size of the crowd varies, but even when attendance is sparse, the people are incredibly enthusiastic & supportive. It is so unbelievably cool & reassuring to walk through the bar & people want to make eye contact with out so they can shake your hand - there are few honours better than that kind of honest, sincere appreciation.

And how weird is it that I grew up in Elmvale & live in Barrie but I meet more people I know at the bar in Penetang than I do at the Palace or the Foundation? I ran into two cousins (Penny and Rene) & one old college classmate (who works at Yorkie's & has always looked familiar, but until I learned her name didn't put two & two together - shout out to shooter-girl Rebecca - hope I spelled your name right).

So, for the band I give our thanks to Cindy & her club. We'll be back May 9th.

March 14th
May 9th
June 28th
August 8th
October 18th
and December 12th, all at Yorkie's in Penetanguishene.

Pending gigs at The Palace Tavern in Elmvale, The Shed in Newmarket & Harley Davidson in Barrie.

And we keep adding a few songs every month. The excitement continues...

I officially apologize for not being prompt with these updates. Let's see... working backward from the most recent, I'll try to remember them all.

March 1st at The Village Inn in Bradford

As always, we had a great time. Ken the soundguy was in top form. It's kinda surprising playing places that have strict rules for set length, though - we're used to doing hour-long or longer sets, just for the love of playing & to entertain the crowd - but we'd be 3/4 through a set & be heading into a song & hear Ken over the loudspeaker announcing to the audience that we'd be taking a short break after this song & be right back to entertain. There were plenty of women up shaking their booties to the tunes, & a shout out to Aline, Sandra & Melody for coming down from Barrie to check it out.

February 8th at Yorkie's in Penetang

This is becoming a favourite place to play - Cindy, the owner, & the patrons love us & there's always a full dancefloor from the 2nd set on.

A little sidebar - I thought I was gonna get my ass kicked that night. I kept being told to turn my guitar up by a guy who claimed to be a professional soundman & also that he couldn't hear my guitar. I obliged him thrice, until I started having a hard time hearing the drums. Then I would just nod & smile like I couldn't hear him (gotta be polite, y'know). As we were leaving, he was calling us all and I quote f*cking b*stard rockstars. We were flabbergasted. Honestly, we're some of the least ego-driven musicians on the scene & get compliments everywhere we play for being professional & easy to work with. So I left the bar, laughing in shock & utter disbelief at this one man's comments. He burst out of the bar after me, FURTHER offended that I was apparently making fun of him by laughing. But it turns out he just didn't feel acknowledged (something everyone needs to feel to be happy) & perhaps a raised blood-alcohol level increased his sensitivity. So we talked for awhile & ended up shaking hands, inviting him out the next time we play up there to help us set up, if he wanted to. You never know - an extra set of ears could help.

It should be noted that another gentleman, who also identified himself as a pro soundman, came up to drummer John (who handles our sound reenforcement) & personally congratulated him on his excellent ear & sense of aural balance.

*sigh* - there's a lesson there somewhere - I'm just too tired to think of what it is...

February 2nd at Optimist Hall in Newmarket, a private Jack'n'Jill

Ian is a longtime fan who always catches us when we play The Shed for the York Regional Police Association. He & his fiancee hired us to play their Buck'n'Doe. They were very gracious & offered us dinner & dessert from the buffet table & offered us an open bar (they were fantastic & friendly people). The cupcakes were so delectable that we changed the lyrics to a song to reflect our love of them, & continue to sing those *wrong* lyrics to this day. We'll see Ian again at this summer's York Region show.

Hmmm... I could swear there was a gig in January somewhere, but I'll be damned if I can remember it. Anyway...

December 22nd at The Palace Tavern in Elmvale

Another great place to play. Francis, the owner, really knows how to treat his musicians, what with his open bar tab (which we never abuse - we limit ourselves to two-to-four beers per show - I mean, who can play properly when they're all pissed up, eh?). That was the show my Dad actually made it out to. In the entire 21 years I've been playing guitar he'd never seen me perform, but he was packing up his house to move out to P.E.I. & figured this was his last chance. He appeared happy to have been there, so we were happy, too. Richard's father makes it out to as many of the 'closer-to-Toronto' shows we play, so it was really nice to get some support from my family.

November 30th at Yorkie's in Penetang

Our first gig there. Cindy was so happy with us she booked us for two more gigs, and after the following show, she booked us for the whole of 2008 in an approximately six-week rotation. What a great compliment that was. A shout out to Ashley & Sean for going up from Barrie, braving that night's blizzard (it was pretty bad driving, & that's coming from a guy who isn't bothered by Canadian winters).

In short, our fans are the best & we appreciate every one of them.

So there we were, playing at an hour that I'm rarely up. It wasn't an ungodly hour; I just like to sleep late.

It was our first show with our new duds. We've streamlined our visual appearance, looking both sharp & professional. That isn't just our opinion, either - audience feedback is invaluable for any performance artist, and it's been 95% positive.

Why only 95%? Cuz I distinctly remember a gig in recent memory where certain female audience members wanted our singer, Richard, to wear tighter pants ;)

The Harley gig was really cool. There was free Timmy's coffee for everyone attending the Hawgs'n'dawgs Show'n'Shine, and some really cool bikes. I'm not a motorhead by any stretch of the imagination, but some of those machines were darn purdy.

It was an honour to be the entertainment while the judging was taking place.