Fenriz was Right: Canadian Metal Rules Part 1

This past weekend 2 of my good friends from here in Seattle and I piled into a Chevy Tahoe and headed for the Great White North (that's a nickname for Canada, right?) to catch the first two dates of Squamish, British Columbia's Hoopsnake & Tokyo, Japan's discodoomers GUEVNNA Canadian tour. Spoiler alert: it was pretty rad.

If anyone's met me after I moved back to the US from 8 years in Japan, you'll probably have heard me complain at least a little bit about this or that aspect of this or that quality of American society, and I definitely try my damndest to not acquire them myself. But, if there's one thing that I'll readily admit to and then lament having acquired, its the US' tendency to keep themselves holed up. Granted, in a year I've travelled a good bit across the US, twice to Japan, and now to Canada, but compared to the frequency of my previous adventures, its still pretty lacking. So I'm always excited to get out of the city.

So the first date was up in Vancouver , and on the morning of Friday, August 31st we departed in full Metal regalia with a few changes of clothes and the intent to stop by a run-down bar in Bellingham called Cap Hansen's Tavern on the way. It took us about an hour and a half of leisurely driving to get there, and you know what? It was pretty damn cool. Alright selection of beer, but the music was good and the bartender a great conversationalist when it comes to circle pits. Would totally go again.

After about 45 mins of hanging out and a beer a piece, we all got back into our chariot and continued our journey north. We hit the border at around 2 PM, and despite my negative inclination towards all things American, border patrol wasn't a hassle at all, although that might be due simply to the fact that Canadians were the ones doing the checking. Regardless, we got through without a hitch and continued on through what was now somewhat familiar terrain except it was orders of magnitude more beautiful and with many more signs not only in English.

Seriously, the Canadian landscape is enchanting to say the least, and seeing so many signs in languages I partially or fully understand that aren't English is a wonderful return to the multicultural settings I feel so deprived of in the US. The landscape, at least on the coast of British Columbia, is wildly dynamic and could easily be used in some high fantasy adventure movie. Vancouver itself is situated against a backdrop of what I think is Mt. Seymour and the shining ocean to the immediate west. Spectacular!

We booked a the Best Western Plus Sands in Davie Village, right on the shore of English Bay Beach and (surprise!) the view was beautiful.

After settling in relatively quickly, we headed out in search of food, and Davie Village definitely delivered - the selection is huge. We eventually decided on a Persian restaurant called Cazba on the Davie strip, which was an excellent choice. Killer food and not particularly expensive - highly recommended.

The show started at 1600 at a DIY venue called The Black Lab about 2 miles away from Cazba in an area called Gastown, so after finishing up dinner we decided to walk over. If we got there early we could grab drinks somewhere; if not, well, we had a show to see. Win-win.

The first surprise of our trip was on the walk to the venue. I'm a pretty big fan of just jumping into an adventure without much in the way of research (this usually works out fine), so my crew and I didn't have the slightest clue about the neighborhood we were walking through. It turns out that Vancouver, unlike Seattle, cordons off areas of the town for the homeless to inhabit, and Gastown is the major one.

On one block to the next, there are scores of homeless individuals selling various goods. At first a bit jarring, it quickly became apparent to me that this is a great step forward in addressing this problem: they had a functioning system and economy. While certainly not a solution, I'm hopeful that this type of organization is at least a balm on their wounds. Our venue was, incidentally, situated in a signless abandoned building between someone selling VHS tapes and someone else who really wanted to sell a specific leather jacket. Talk about flavor!

(to be continued)