Jeremy Porter Road Blog

Road Blog: Saturday September 07, 2024 - Montréal, QC

Road Blog
September 7, 2024
Montréal, Québec, Canada

Saturday morning in Montréal was laid back and easy in the apartment above Kearns and Trixie’s place. David Picco slept in while I drank coffee and got caught up on internet business. We headed into the city for some food and record shopping and landed at Mount-Royal Avenue, as recommended by Dave at the previous night’s show. It started to rain as we sat down in Restaurant Ph? Mont-Royal for some tasty Vietnamese lunch and several glasses of water to hydrate our decimated bodies from the revelry at the show the night before. The food was fantastic and just what the doctor ordered.

From there we hit a couple record stores on the avenue and each of our records can now be purchased at Aux 33 Tours in MTL, so stop on into that great store and pick `em up! Around this time I got a text from pal and Tucos’ drummer/producer Gabriel who complemented the road blog from Friday’s show and commented that Picco, who he knows well from previous touring, appears to have entered the Bowzer phase of his career. When I came across the Sha Na Na section I couldn’t resist and had Picco pose for a side-by-side pose (see attached pics).

By this point it was a fairly driving rain. Winds had picked up and temps had dropped so it was pretty miserable out, and we were ready for some downtime, so we headed back to Kearns’ and chilled out for the rest of the afternoon. I checked in back home with TrooperGirl22 who’s keeping the house intact and enjoying some Hurricane Jeremy-free time. Kearns returned home from the Hangover Golf Tournament looking like a drowned rat and we had a quick catch-up before David and I headed back into the city for the gig.

For the third night in a row I landed rock-star parking right in front of the venue and we loaded in. We needed some food and had little time, so we took the easy and familiar road and headed back to Pitarifique again for the second night in a row. I got a salad instead of poutine this time, and that was a good call. The food was great, as always, and we went back to Barfly for the show.

The rain was still pouring and that didn’t help attendance, but there were still a few faces in there when David went on around 9:30. He played great again and commanded the attention of everyone except one rude German dude who felt inclined to YELL whatever it was he had to say that was apparently very important and interesting to his buddy 6 feet away from the stage to be heard above the music. I went on after David and a few more people came in and the German quieted down so I had a pretty good set.

We chatted a bit with my friend James and Fross Tee Anthony, had one last one last one, and headed out. Back at Kearn’s we had a nightcap, listened to music and watched some Uncle Tupelo videos and hit the hay around 1:30.

If I was a bettin’ man I’d say that 7am is not an hour that Mr. Picco has seen in some time. Desperate to get on the road and home to TrooperGirl22 and some chill time before the Lions home opener, and with a daunting 11-hour drive ahead, he rallied like a champ and we were on the road. A quick stop for some McDonald’s coffee and breakfast, and the poor girl didn’t speak English and we don’t speak French so we ended up with a pile of random shit we didn’t order, but we had caffeine so we were good to go. The ride was smooth and uneventful, on-and-off drizzling rain, and passing the iPod back and forth. We listened to The Monkees, Van Morrison, Bread, Carly Simon, Dave Loggins, Pink Floyd, and tons of other stuff. We’re both mega-music geeks with some cross-over and plenty of unknown territory on both sides, so it was constant great conversation.

I dropped Picco off in Toronto around 12:30, traffic slightly less horrific than usual, and hit the American border at 4:30. After a nauseating 25-minute wait and the understaffed and overcrowded border I was on American soil and merging onto I-96 towards Plymouth. 10 hours and 15 minutes after leaving Montreal I pulled into the driveway, which is GREAT time, though I coulda’ broken 10 hours if the border wasn’t such a mess. TG22 spent the weekend cleaning the house, and I’ve promptly started dismantling her work with bags of records and gear, dirty-stinky laundry, and containers of unhealthy road food. Time to unwind and get ready for the Lions, some Cajun shrimp tacos, and a good night’s sleep in my own tomb.

Thanks to everyone in Tillsonburg The Mill / Paddy’s Underground / Ben, Toronto LOLA / Corina / Erika, and Montreal Barfly / Gwendo Lyn / Kearns-Trixie ? / Anthony ETC ETC ETC for working or attending these shows. The Canadian run has been the traditional fall-tour-kickoff for the last 14 years - it’s rarely profitable, but always a gas, and I love all of my Canadian friends. We’ll see ya next year, if not sooner!

Special thanks to my brother David Picco for the great company, endless laughs, amazing songs, and singing the entire “Number Of the Beast” album at the top of our lungs on the 401. Up the Irons, brother! We’ll do it again for sure, and I can’t wait! Xx