Blaze of Glory - hanging with the Band

This past weekend I got a unique opportunity to spend time with some new friends and their band, Blaze of Glory, and just tag along all day with them doing 'whatever'. It was pretty cool to get some insight into what the average rock band does on their day off.

Blaze of Glory is a kick ass Bon Jovi tribute band from Vancouver comprised of Ted Moore on vocals, Randy Robertson guitars, Doug Grant drums, Mike Champigny bass, and James Meyer on keyboards, and all band members are stellar musicians from various Vancouver recording acts including Nick Gilder, Doug and The Slugs, Krome, and The Devin Townsend Project.

Arriving in Kamloops around lunch time, my phone rang and it was Ted inviting me to come have lunch with the band at the club they were playing that night, On the Rocks. Standing in the parking lot of the local Starbucks, I did a 180, looked across the highway, and had to stop myself from waving - the club was just across the highway and up on the hill :)

Ten minutes minutes later Doug was finding me a chair to join the band at one of the larger tables near the back of the club, and Ted was introducing me to the fellows I didn't know yet - James and Mike, as well as the band's sound engineer, Orest Patraschuk and lighting director, Dave Dyer. The waitress came to take my order and Mike and I began to talk about photography and art while the others finished their respective conversations. By the time I'd had my fill of Calamari the band was into a full on discussion of the previous night's performance and planning minor tweaks to both sound and lighting for the performance this evening. I looked over into the opposite corner of the club and saw the stage - a decent sized stage for a club, but I expressed my wonderment on having a 5 man band with room for drum kit, keyboard and a singer who likes to move and get involved wholeheartedly. They all just smiled at me :)



Lunch over, we discussed what the afternoon's agenda was - I had an item in my car to deliver to one of the band members (he took it to Vancouver for me) and a few of the guys wanted to go to the local music store, so we all headed back to the hotel two doors down to regroup and go from there.

Once at the hotel my item was delivered, Orest the sound man went to do the unglamorous task of laundry, James headed to his own shared room for a quiet time, and Doug and Mike went off to do their own thing. Ted, Randy, Dave, and I piled into Randy's van and headed to the local Long and McQuade music store to drool over guitars, amps, and all such manner of heavy metal rock and roll instrumentation.

After a good hour of wishful thinking by the guys (on what new gear they'd love to have) and equally wishful thinking on my part (I wish I could play that electric guitar my brother gave me last year when he upgraded) we left the store richer in experience but no poorer in pocket and headed back to the Starbucks which is attached to a Chapters book store. The guys were like kids in a candy store even more so than at the music shop! Ted poured over a Bon Jovi glossy hard cover for long moments, the odd sigh coming from him as he would discover a rare photo inside. Randy picked up a Kiss book and he and Ted compared notes on various photos from that book - recalling dates and tour info like it was yesterday. It wa an interesting experience to stand beside them both and listen to the chatter about their memories of gigs and concert going as 'fans' - I loved it.



After picking up a drink to go, we rounded everyone up and headed back to the van. On the way back to the hotel, I peeked over the back seat into the 'cargo hold' at the carefully stacked and wedged guitar cases - and soaked up the ambience of being in a band vanPiling out of the van for the last time, it was hugs from Randy, a quick goodbye to Doug at his room, and a hug and official Blaze of Glory press badge on lanyard tucked into my pocket from Ted, and I was off to my own car for the hour plus drive back home.

Many thanks to Ted, Doug, Randy, James, Mike - Blaze of Glory, and their sound and lighting engineers, Orest and Dave, for a really cool day. If Blaze of Glory is playing a show near you - be sure to go.

*photos and poster courtesy of Dave M. Trace Reflections-photo Graphic and used with kind permission. Be sure to check out Dave's site