The Spiritual Warriors - positive energy and a great show

So we took the risk and went out to see live music for the third time since COVID restrictions started to ease. Didn't feel much like a risk, actually, unlike, say, any trip to the grocery store; I would say there were less than 30 people at LanaLou's last night, including the serving staff, the band and Mark and Norah and Pete Feend (who seemed to be there in some sorta work capacity unclear to me). I used a bit of our hand sanitizer on the table and the ledge where I rested my elbow, ate a superb pulled pork poutine (with the cheese on the side, which of course Erika dumped in HER poutine, as per the plan) and totally enjoyed myself, though it was a bit weird that some people wanted to shake hands (I discovered with Pete that my instincts to do this had vanished and after a few seconds of confusion and hesitation as to how our hands would fit together, we ended up chucking elbows instead). Fist-bumped with Leroy Joe, too. But the server wore a mask, and people were plentifully spread out, even for such a small venue; I don't *think* I'm going to come down with anything this week, but, you know, watch and see...

Of course, the high point was the music by the Spiritual Warriors, which included a couple of stomping "rez rockers" like "Celebrate" and "The Constitution Song," adapting a protest song rooted in an important moment in the early 80's. I hadn't heard, to my knowledge, a rez rocker before, and want to hear more! Daisy Joe - who told me when I asked her to sign a CD - had a stage name of "Warrior Bunny" and more charisma than anyone else in the room; she noticed that Erika had a powerful emotional reaction to "The Grandmother Song," which connected with her memories of her own late grandmother, and I was glad the two of them got to chat about it a little after the gig. That song was one of two - "Salish Seas" was the other - written by Russell Wallace, a (former?) member of the band who was absent last night, but who had people in the audience; like "Celebrate" and a few other tunes, those two were from their previous CD, recorded under another bandname, Kalan Wi. The Spiritual Warriors' new guitarist - didn't get his name and can't read his signature - fit in perfectly, even though it was clear from his between-song interactions that he didn't know a couple of the songs so well yet, including an amusing bit of banter with Mike the bassist, at the opposite end of the stage: "I guess I'll start this in A minor," he said, and Mike replied, "Okay, then I'll start in A," after which they had a little laugh between themselves. Leroy Joe, meanwhile - looking, to my surprise, a bit like Frank Black in his shades - was personable and friendly and played to a full house even though it was only about ten people in the audience (by the way, I didn't cadge a guestlisting and bought four CDs off them, one of which I hope to send to Kevin James Howes, who I think will like it a lot). The positive energy of reggae went perfectly with the lyrics, and Leroy was charming in his demeanor: we talked before the set about his trip to Japan in the late 90's, shortly before I went over there, playing soccer with a reservation team in Okinawa, which I'd love to know more about. I gave him some Japanese reggae, as per the interview previously posted. Overall, I found it a little weird that more people hadn't come out, considering how good the band is, but, like Bukowski observed once, some of the best restaurants are the ones that have no one in them; was sorry for the band, but selfishly loved how empty the place was - it was like that time I got to see Monsieur Hire in a fancy theatre that I was the only patron of. All the better for ME, especially in the age of COVID. 

Anyhow, I was far from the stage, but I did snap a few photos and shoot a little vid. Great night, and a really satisfying live show. Thanks to everyone at Lanalou's (I reserve the right to rescind that if I get sick). 

(Only shots I got of the drummer were outside with Norah!)

Photos by me...