We were making good time, passing through sections of the province I personally had never seen before. Passing though Rock Creek, Midway, Greenwood and a curious little place called Anaconda, we stopped in Grand Forks BC to reorient ourselves and figure out where exactly the venue was in Nelson Vogue Villains were to play that night. After a bit of Google-fu we punched in the address of “The Royal” into the maps app and headed towards our destination. Despite our vigilance, we at one point took a south where we should have gone north and drove for fifteen minutes in the wrong direction.
I haven’t visited Nelson BC in at least a decade up until now, but I always have had fond memories every time I have been there. It’s a laid back town, full of character and characters. The locals have their own flavour, some second generation hippies, some old timers who have dropped out of mainstream society years ago. A vibrant cast of artists and generally an eclectic mix of people, almost surreal in nature. As we arrived into town, the vibe was palpable. The Royal on Baker was near the close end of town and we found it no problem to find a spot near the entrance to park and load in gear for the show. As we carried armload after armload of band equipment, a few locals gathered to regale us with stories of their time touring with bands such as the Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan, and others to diligently explain conspiracy theories like why humans didn’t ever go to the moon.
Once we were finished unpacking, our moods lifted, I set to work finding a power outlet inside the bar to charge all my many diminishing batteries, and grabbed a cold beer.
Next: Vogue Villains play a two hour set at The Royal.
~Cheers, Rev. D
