Sorry it’s taken so long for this entry.  We got back from our tour and went into hibernation for a few days.

We awoke very early in Courtenay and drove to Nanaimo to catch the ferry back to the mainland.  Then we drove like fools up through the mountains and past Kelowna to Lake Country.  Luckily the WWE Hall of Fame induction ceremony was on TV because that’s about all we could have handled after such travel.  We have been to the Creekside Theatre in Lake Country, BC a number of times before and the crowd is always fun.  They were on top of their game again this year.  Plenty of weirdness during the Mounted Animal Nature Trail.  Like really weird.  Well done!!

Then we backtracked the next day for our first ever show in Merritt.  We have driven past this town many many many times in our 20 years but have never done a show.  One could say that all previous tours were without Merritt.  Ahem.   The walls of downtown Merritt are adorned with murals of country music stars of past and present.  So we sang as many country songs as we could in our show in hopes that one day we might get a mural.  They’ll get back to us on that.  20 years was worth the wait though as the good people of Merritt made us feel very welcome and good times were had by most.

The next day was going home day.  Chris and Trevor drove back to Kelowna to fly home and Mike drove back to Vancouver.  Now we are home and we are pleased.  A great tour in great towns for great fans.  Thanks for being there with us.

After 11 shows on Canada’s mainland, it was island time – Vancouver Island, that is.  A cab ride, a flight, a drive and a ferry was all it took to get there.

We arrived in Victoria to enjoy the rest of our day off.  Nice to be able to walk around in warm weather for a change.  Thursday was the big show made even more fun by the attendance of our friends Splash n Boots.  They sing awesome songs for kids.  They were part of a yet another fantastic Victoria crowd.  Always feels like a rock show here.  Mike was distracted by a light switch that he had never noticed before.  Very rock and roll.  We thank the fine people of Vic-town for delaying their St Patrick’s Day celebrations until after the show.

They make a cute couple.  We may have seen them at The Mint (awesome place) after the show.

After coming to life on Friday morning, we made our way up the island to Courtenay.  We always seem to hit the rainy season in Courtenay.

We enjoyed a great meal at Atlas and got caught up with a friend from the olden days.  Then we and the audience had some fun.  The crowds in Courtenay have always been great and they were firing on all cylinders on Friday night.  Lots of requests were played and some lucky audience member even won a gift card to the Co-op.  What a night!!!

Well, we seem to have fallen a little behind on our blog. Last time we posted we had just finished playing in Leduc. The show after that was in Calgary, a city that has been very good to us over the years. We we were playing a new venue  this time: the Knox United Church.

As you can see, the attendance wasn’t what we were hoping for.

Just, kidding, that picture was taken at soundcheck! Ha.  There were actually all sorts of people there at the show, but we were too busy performing to take a picture of them. We even did an encore– Jesus’ Brother Bob.

After the resounding success of Calgary it was off to Fort McMurray where we were performing at the Keyano Theatre where we have performed many times before, but never with such an attractive backstage snack spread!

The post-it notes were a nice touch. I guess there are some hungry people lurking backstage always ready to gobble up unlabeled food.

Then it was on to Mission BC.  Mission is far from Fort McMurray so we decided to fly to Vancouver rather than drive (or walk).

After waiting for our luggage at the Vancouver airport, we got into our big shiny white rental van and drove off to the gig!

After Mission we went to Prince George–which meant that we went back to the airport and hopped on another plane.  It was our fourth time in Prince George and our second time at the Vanier theatre. The dressing room even had a piano in it.

Mike played all the hits from Rocketman to Sweet Caroline!

This was the bumping up against Edmonton leg of the tour.   Both Fort Sask and Leduc are close enough that our peeps from the City of Champions joined the locals for some good times.  Our commute between the two shows was pretty easy as well (consult your maps) so we had plenty of extra hotel time to enjoy our sanitized remote controls.Safety first!!

The crowd in Fort Saskatchewan was awesome.  They were dialed in for fun from the get go and they kept us entertained throughout.  They seemed especially receptive to their Moment with Mike and I Pulled My Groin.  There were three live tweeters in the crowd that night who were documenting every moment for the twitterverse.  You can see some of their work about our work here.  We even trended.  In Edmonton.  Take that, Charlie Sheen.

Our very first show in Leduc couldn’t have gone better.  So we probably shouldn’t ever go back.  Kidding.  We’ll go back whenever they want.  We had a sold out house at the Maclab Centre and it was a chatty crowd.  We had a tweeter (twit?) working during the show as well and his work is on our twitter page.  Again, we were faced with a large group of Mike’s people.  Always so nice to hear little children singing along to Pressure Washer.  We shook the dust off Idiot Road tonight and it went well.  Doing the old songs has been fun and so far there haven’t been any train wrecks.  Still time though…

And now we’re off to Calgary and points beyond.  The tour has been so much fun so far.  Thanks to everyone who has come out so far and we’re looking forward to seeing everyone else.

Oh, by the way, we just added a show in Toronto on April 9th at Hugh’s Room.  Info is posted in the tour dates section of our website.  Spread the word.

It was with great excitement that we drove to Lloydminster, the city that spans two provinces (Alberta and Saskatchewan, if you don’t already know). This was our second time performing at the Vic Juba Community Theatre, which we’re pretty sure is on the Alberta side.

Now, a lot of people say to us, “You guys must be CRAZY on the road!”, (yes they say “crazy” all in capitals) and the answer is, of course we are. We are crazy from the moment we wake up to the time we go to sleep (IF we go to sleep, that is). You want evidence? Well, here’s a picture of Mike and Chris going CRAZY backstage.

Non-stop party, that’s what we are.

The show in Lloydminster was well-received by audience members from both provinces.

The next morning we gathered our things and went off to Forestburg, Alberta. We stayed at the Forestburg Motor Inn whichwas one of the sponsors of the show. So to make sure they get enough publicity here’s  a picture of Chris in the parking lot.

Spring’s still a long way off in Alberta.  At the end of the show that night there was a special treat. Two very nice fans of ours brought in a cake to help us celebrate out 20 years of doing whatever it is that we do.

Sorry, it’s all gone!

We might try to go on for 20 more years now, just to get another cake.

And so it begins…

The first show of the western swing of our big  20th anniversary tour was in Winnipeg at the West End Cultural Centre, a place that we love to play. The place was full and the audience was a little on the  rambunctious side– mooing frequently in an almost threatening manner. Fortunately there were no injuries, and a good time was had by all.  And what did we do after the show? Well, we put stuff back in the van!

Ah, the romance of the Canadian entertainment business. But it gets better! The next day we got up early and drove all the way to Moose Jaw! Now, one of the perks of being in a touring musical comedy act is that you get to see the beauty of Canada over and over and over and over again. But because we’re so nice, were going to share some of this with you; here’s what we saw out the window:

Quite the view.

We were playing at the lovely Mae Wilson Theatre, in Moose Jaw, and strode purposefully toward it.

This show was also an astounding success. The audience especially seemed to enjoy Mike’s repeated mentions of a place called Walrus Nostril.  (Unfortunately, Walrus Nostril only exists inside Mike’s brain—a place you don’t want to visit.)

Then it was off to Regina, where we performed at the Casino, which only seems fitting since seeing one of our shows is always a gamble. We forgot to take any good pictures there, so instead please enjoy a photo of Trevor’s feet taken from a not-entirely-pleasing perspective.

And now, it’s off to Lloydminster, the city so great that one province isn’t big enough for it!

The 20th anniversary tour has begun! Yes, it’s been 20 years since the birth of the Arrogant Worms and we started the tour where it all began–in Kingston, Ontario.

Spirits were high as we got ready to celebrate our dubious accomplishment and, even with a snowstorm outside, the people came. As part of the 20th anniversary tour we’ve decided to perform songs that dropped off the set list years ago. The ones we played that night were “History is Made by Stupid People” and “Carfull of Pain”. Both went off without a hitch, except for Trevor savoring his harmonica solo in Carfull perhaps a bit too much.

But the highlight of the show was the appearance of the original line-up back on stage for the first time in… in… well, we don’t know exactly, but it’s been a while. Yes, John Whytock and Steve Wood, members of the original four (the trading cards from this year are very valuable now) jumped up on stage and magic ensued. It was as if time had stood still (except for the whole “looking old” thing) as John sang “Don’t Go Into Politics” while Steve thwapped joyfully on the bass. Curiously, neither of them asked to re-join the group afterwards.

Where does the tour go next? Good question. First we’re taking a couple of weeks off to recover from all the excitement of the Kingston show, but then we’re playing almost all of Western Canada, starting in Winnipeg and going all the way to Vancouver Island. Also, our new album Hindsight 20/20 (well, not exactly “new” it is a Best Of, after all–although it does have a funky re-mix of the Last Saskatchewan Pirate) is now in stores. If you can find a music store, that is. If not, it’s also on iTunes and Maplemusic.com.

We hope to see you on the road!

Oh, here’s a picture of the Arrogant Worms 20 years ago!

Well there’s nothing like a big finish.  We had a fantastic time at Hugh’s Room in Toronto for our last show of the year.  The crowd was in a great mood and we didn’t even ruin it for them.  We even saw some Christmas sweaters!  This was the closest to Christmas we’ve ever done a show here and the festive spirit was electric.  Most people had finished their shopping but for those who hadn’t, there was a table covered in our CDs blocking the exit door.  The show made equal fun of Santa and Toronto’s mayor Rob Ford who is considering cancelling Christmas dinner next year because of excess gravy.  It was a really fun night and our 21st show at this great Toronto venue.

Now our attention is on the full release of Hindsight 20/20 and a spring tour.  Check out www.arrogantworms.com for tour dates.  More will be added soon.  Hope to see you out there somewhere.    Happy New Year!!!

Hamilton.  The Hammer.  Steeltown.  Home town of Mike McCormick.  And we thought meeting the Mayor of Mississauga was cool.  This is Mike`s town.  He knows these streets like Springsteen knows the streets of Freehold, NJ.  Well sort of.  You see a lot of them used to be one-way streets and now they aren`t and Mike doesn`t like change so the drive in was a little harrowing.  Once there, it was his show.  In the same building was The Nutcracker but we usually don`t draw the same audience.  In fact we had an empty table right in front of Trevor.  Just four empty chairs staring him in the face. The theatre wasn`t anything like the picture but just image the front centre section empty for a show and you`ll know how Trevor felt.  Those seats didn`t stay empty long though as some intrepid fellows saw an opportunity and took their new seats.  Trevor even joined them while Chris sang Dad Threw Up on Christmas Day.  He made some new friends.  That’s what Christmas is all about!  The rest of the show was just about Mike and his failing memory of his Hamilton childhood.  Good times?

PS:  There won’t be about a post about the show in Alliston on December 16th because the show has been postponed to May.  It’s a weather thing and we hope there won’t be several feet of snow there in May.

How nice to be back in Mississauga!  We have played the Living Arts Centre a few times now and it is always fun.  We even had a Christmas condo (tree) beside the stage to add to the festive frivolity.  The show was a lot of fun.  We are really enjoying playing the songs from Christmas Turkey.  We really should sing them all year long.  Seems such a shame to limit them to December. As fun as the show was, the ultimate highlight came at intermission when we had a visitor to our greenroom.  We don`t get a lot of celebrities popping in so you can image our excitement when Hazel McCallion, the Mayor of Mississauga came in.  For those of you who don`t know, she is 89 years old and has held the office for over 32 years.  They call her `Hurricane Hazel`. She`s been on Regis and Kelly.  That`s how big she is!!   She just kind of wandered into the greenroom and asked us who we were.  We told her, she laughed and she left to go back to the Christmas carol show in the other theatre. Regis and Kelly!  C`mon!