A Cat Empire Roadtrip
Back in 04 when I was in Australia, my photography teacher introduced my best friend, Angela (who was also on the study abroad trip), to what soon turned into my favorite band, The Cat Empire. Upon return to Ithaca College’s campus we soon had many of our friends loving them as well. I’ve organized many road trips to see them play in various cities such as Montreal, Toronto and NYC and have personally seen them live 9 times to date. Three of those nine times happened quite recently when a college friend, Chris Wilson proposed we follow them around for a few nights of their tour.
The Cat Empire Pablo
Following my favorite group around with a good friend for a long weekend was already a fantastic idea, but Chris’s connections made it even better because he managed to get us into all three shows FOR FREE! Over the summer he won a contest with the Cat Empire and his prize was to go to a free concert, meet them, and hang out for a sound check… in Melbourne, Australia.» Due to the incredible expense of flying from central NY to Australia, Chris unfortunately had to decline the invitation. However, when he contacted the band’s manager and mentioned that he and a friend would be at three concerts of their latest North American tour, we were placed on the guest list for those shows! Thus began our adventure!
The Thursday after Thanksgiving, Andrew brought me to the bus station bright and early so I could catch a Greyhound to Albany, NY at 7:15. Chris met me in Albany around noon and after dropping Josh Logan» off we got on I-89 and took it straight up to Montreal.
We arrived with some time to kill before the show that evening so we headed straight over to La Banquise to get some much anticipated Poutine! Andrew and I discovered this amazing gem of a restaurant when we went to Montreal last year for Andrew’s spring break and I have been raving about it to Chris ever since. He hadn’t had any authentic Canadian poutine in several years ever since the requirement of a passport was instated to cross the border.» This restaurant has a menu based around poutine with many fantastic add-ons. So delicious!
Delicious Poutine!
More Poutine Please!!
We still had some time afterward so we headed over to the hostel I booked a few days earlier to cancel our reservation because one of Chris’s friends who lives in Montreal texted him the OK to stay at his place THAT DAY. Unfortunately we still had to pay for three beds over the course of two nights (the lady took one bed off the second night) since we didn’t cancel 24 hours in advance, which is kind of a bummer, but well worth it in the long run. Chris’s friend and friend’s housemates were really nice and we had a great time chilling with them.
The concert Thursday night was also much anticipated since The Cat Empire hadn’t toured North America in two years.» We were so excited to be there and thrilled that we didn’t even have to pay to get in! It was my first time being on a guest list, it made me feel so important! Unfortunately, the drinks were still rather expensive and we learned that night that we should pregame a little beforehand to save some money. Especially since I bought three drinks, the concert started and I didn’t even catch a buzz. Luckily that was the biggest downfall of the night, so no big deal. We did note, however, that Felix looked like he had lost weight, and wasn’t really on his A-game (tired? drunk? drugs?) which was a bit of a shame.
Pretty Montreal Lights
After all the dancing, singing, shouting and sweating of the concert we left feeling stone sober. We had planned on going all out that night since we wouldn’t have to get up early at all the next day, but once out of the venue realized that in order to get to that level we’d be starting from ground zero after having already spent a decent amount of money to drink at the concert. We decided to go pick up some beers at a convenience store on the way back to the house, but just our luck, they stopped selling literally ten minutes before we arrived. Boo! All was not lost, thanks to Chris’s friends and his housemates because when we got back they arrived home shortly thereafter and we stayed up into the wee hours drinking, playing video games and watching movies. Thanks a lot guys!
Staying up late after having both gotten up earlier than usual guaranteed that we would sleep in late. Once we did wake up, nearing the afternoon, we had a pretty difficult time motivating ourselves into the shower and out of the house. The little bit of time that we did have left once we got out of the house we spent at the Complexe Desjardins mall. I dragged poor Chris around all my favorite Canadian stores, Le Chateau being my absolute favorite clothing store in the world, and we even went to the grocery store!» Luckily Chris was a great sport!
Out with my former student
I didn’t have much time to oggle all the beauties I couldn’t buy anyway since we had to buy some beer, head back to the house, consume said beer while I got dressed and meet one of my former students from France before the show started! We found forties of Labatt that were 10.1% alcohol! Boy did those ever do the trick! Certainly didn’t hurt that we had to drink them in the matter of 20 minutes! No matter, we met up with Niko, grabbed a bite to eat and caught up over more beers at one of his favorite bars. I truly had a great time hanging out with him! So glad we could find some time to meet up!
Hey Ocean
The concert that night was a blast! We arrived right at the end of the opening band’s set. I forgot to mention them before, the group’s name is Hey Ocean and they’re from Vancouver. I really enjoyed their music! The lead singer is this adorable blond girl who has an equally adorable voice and their sound is very jazzy and fun! I regret not picking up their album before leaving the venue. Anyway, The Cat Empire – I had a serious amount of fun. I managed to work my way right up to the front of the crowd and make friends with the couple to the right of me. I spent most of the night yelling for my favorite song, “I wanted to write a love song,”which they never play, plus the typical yelling and singing along which resulted in me nearly losing my voice. I also swung my elbow at a very poor angle while trying to defend my spot in the front and ended up smashing it directly into the railing in front of me. I complained for the rest of the night about the “mystery” pain in my arm, which became VERY apparent as a “real” pain the next day as one of the largest bruises I’ve ever had.
The enthusiastic crowd
Bruises!
After the concert we went back to the house and went straight to bed because we had to get up nice and early the next morning to drive all the way down to New York City for the third and final concert of our mini tour. We were expecting it to be much more difficult to get going and drive for so long, but were presently surprised in our ability to deal. It wasn’t really bad at all until we got past Albany and the weather started acting up. By the time we were entering the city the weather was downright miserable. Visibility was poor and the roads were slick. Not great conditions to try and get to Brooklyn in. Chris was driving to our friend Lauren’s house where he, Julie and Casey would be spending the night! Andrew also drove into the city earlier that afternoon and was hanging out with his sister, where we would be staying.
We all met up at the concert and had ourselves a pretty decent posse! Julie and Casey had both seen The Cat Empire before, but aside from them and Chris and I, we had some newbies! The Cat Empire is always good live, and from what I heard, the newbies liked it, but I have to admit I was a bit disappointed. I love The Cat Empire and have seen them 9 times because they are so spectacular live, but after seeing them three nights in a row I noticed that they had played the exact same set each night! In previous concerts I had the feeling that they were a bit more improvisational than that since they tend to mix different songs into each other and throw random solos into the middle of songs. Seeing them play the same set three nights in a row sort of ruined the magic of seeing them live for me a bit. Not enough to keep me away, though, probably. Besides, the next time they tour, it’ll be after the release a new album, and they even mentioned that they’re retiring» some of their songs. Still looking forward to their next tour, and hopefully it’ll be a better experience over all.
From their website
After the concert we all went out to a nearby bar that Lauren knows of that serves free pizza when you buy beers! I can’t remember the name of the place… The Crocodile? Or Aligator? It was really nice to catch up with everyone I hadn’t seen in a while for a bit, but after all the dancing of the concert, it was short lived. We parted ways and the Garcias and I went back up to Natalia’s for some much needed sleep.
Before heading out the following afternoon, Natalia took us to one of her dining halls for a brunch buffet! This buffet does not disappoint! There was so much food and so many selections it was hard to manage! It was also a bit strange to be eating in a campus dining hall again. Made me feel young and old at the same time! We were all pretty disappointed that we didn’t have more time to check out Natalia’s microcosm in the macrocosm of NYC, but she sent us on our way with full bellies and food for the road, such a good hostess! Next time we’ll definitely stay longer, but it’s technically her turn to come visit us now!
The whole adventure was such a fantastic retreat from reality. Thanks so much Chris for inviting me along! I had such a good time chilling with you and catching up. Thanks to The Cat Empire and their manager for touring again and letting us in for free! Thanks Lauren for helping me figure out what to do upon arrival, giving me a beer, and housing friends! Thanks Julie and Casey for driving from Philly for a night of dancing and fun! Thanks Natalia for putting us up and putting up with us! Hope to see you all again soon! (Come visit us in Boston!)
Topic: Andrew's Family, Travel, concert, friends Tags: adventure, Albany, album, Australia, band, bar, beer, bruise, brunch, buffet, Canada, Canadian, Complexe Desjardins, concert, dancing, dininghall, drink, free, friends, Greyhound, guest list, Hey Ocean, hostel, I-89, Ithaca College, ketchup, la banquise, La Bonne Maman, Le Chateau, mall, Montreal, New York City, NYC, pizza, poutine, retreat, road trip, shopping, The Cat Empire, tour
