The first day of tour was set up in Edmonton, Alberta. Unfortunately, I had not been able to attend it. With the rest of the weekend set up for Thanksgiving, we waited out until Tuesday to drive to Kelowna. We weren’t sure what to expect in a city that often doesn’t get shows of this genre, but the brewery was accommodating. That was where we also met up with the fantastic people of Tulsy Place and Anchorage Blue. For all of the main-land shows, Anchorage Blue played as an acoustic act and then played full-band on the Island. This was one of the luckier tours, where all of the shows were well put together as well as close in distance! There was always ample time for driving and finding good coffee and vegan-friendly food.

KELOWNA, BC

KAMLOOPS, BC

VANCOUVER, BC

VICTORIA, BC

NANAIMO, BC

It was after Nanaimo we had to say goodbye to both Tulsy Place and Anchorage Blue. We were heading back to Vancouver so that Dorian could record a new record. That meant there was still a lot more work in music to be done, but it was also a break from travel for a little while longer before Dorian would join another tour that I was taking part in (another gallery / journal entry to follow in the coming weeks). I split up with Dorian once we got home for a short few hours but we met up again in Saskatoon where we went right back into working mode. Now there was a little less stress. No longer was Year Over Year headlining, but rather was able to get his set finished earlier in the evening. Since we had been in Saskatoon and Regina earlier in the year for different Year Over Year shows, we already had a good idea of some additional vegan eats that we could go have. We found one new place in Regina that changed my mind about the city having boring food. If you ever get the chance to go through and have lunch at Hunter Gatherer I would highly suggest it!

REGINA, SK

SASKATOON, SK

CALGARY, AB

With Calgary being Dorian’s hometown show, it was expected to be busy. Paired with the fact, that he was the local support to Seaway’s tour the show was bound to do well. With a sold out show and almost all of the patrons in the room while Year Over Year was playing, it was bazaar to hear how quiet Dicken’s Pub could actually get. The barricade was completely fully with people watching intensively as he performed his heart breaking songs. Several friends and fans sang along quietly to the live track he had released online as well as the parts they knew from attending so many of his shows in the past. In between songs there would be claps of appreciation but at the end of Dorians’s brief set there was a whirlwind of people clapping and immediately he was bombarded at the merch table. I ran over to it and started helping him out. It was so pleasant to see probably the most successful show for him to end his tour.

On Thursday I hopped on a Greyhound and went on my over-night journey to Vancouver to meet up with the guys’ in Youth Fountain and Stasis. The day was spent with my good friend, Carmin Edwards and Pope of Youth Fountain. Most of the day I spent most of the day with other friends in the city, taking some photos here and there and grabbing a good ol’ breakfast. It wasn’t until I was at the venue, the Biltmore, that I actually met up with both the guys in Youth Fountain as well as Stasis. It was really great to see them all as they set up everything and I edited my different selections of back-logged photographs. The night in Vancouver was amazing and such a way to kick off the tour. All of the pre-sale tickets were sold out and the room was packed and stoked to see Youth Fountain and everyone else on the bill. There was so much energy and even the first day really spoke for how the rest of the tour, at least that which I was on, would be like. Even shows that we weren’t expecting a lot out of, Prince George, ended up being energetic and lively as heck.

VANCOUVER

KAMLOOPS

KELOWNA

With Kamloops and Kelowna being so close to one another we were able to spend a lot of time outside of the van and enjoying the day. We met up with the guys in The Burden in Kelowna for Mini-Golf, Go-Karting, and the arcade. I think we all found that arcades became a weird theme in our time together where we all ended up doing something revolving around games and neon lights. I was stoked, particularly because it enabled me to do some more candid stuff and random portraiture as I love to indulge in my own personal work while I am on tour. I was surprised when we got to the venue in Kelowna that Hawking was allowing everyone to use their massive lighting set up. What that meant is that this small venue would have probably the best light on the whole entire tour.

PRINCE GEORGE

In Prince George i parted ways with Stasis. It was also where we parted with The Burden who had been on three of the four dates at that point. Originally, I was invited by the guys in Stasis to do the four days that they were on this tour and from there ended up riding with Youth Fountain. I appreciate these dudes so much and it’s been lovely to be able to see them repeatedly this summer and autumn. I made sure to grab a (really comfortable) sweater from them. One that I probably wore every day after. I would also like to shout out to the lovely, Brett Cullen who I had been lucky to hang out with while he was out with the Burden boiz. He was the one who photographed these images and had to deal with our shit. We all see you, Callum + Michael.