Fred on arrival

THURSDAY, JUNE 12
On the day we’re due to fly to Toronto we also squeeze in a quick live session on Ryan Tubridy’s morning radio show. This means leaving Cork at 4am to be at RTÉ for 8am. From there we have to go straight to the airport to fly to Toronto. Throw in a two-hour stopover in London and you get the picture: we’re all fairly frazzled by the time we arrive in Toronto on Thursday night. While most of us go straight to the hotel to get some sleep, Joe goes straight to the pub to meet the natives.

FRIDAY, JUNE 13
We descend on North By Northeast (NXNE) headquarters to register and get our welcome packs. Now we’ve received quite a few welcome packs in our time, but these are something special – fliers, stickers, biros and best of all, a little key-ring with a blue light.
But we don’t have much time to enjoy our newfound bounty, as we have to head to our first gig of the weekend – an outdoors lunchtime show to promote NXNE.
The organisers told us that the set-up for this gig was pretty small. However, when we arrive we’re greeted by a massive marquee with a giant PA system. There’s also a separate green room tent with full catering and a team of masseuses. I guess there’s a difference between Canadian and Irish ideas of ‘pretty small’.
It isn’t until we’re halfway through a tray of sandwiches and a couple of muffins that we learn there’s been a mix-up at City Hall: they’ve issued permits for two different events at the same time – our one, and the Sears Kids Cancer Bike Ride. Lance Armstrong is leading hundreds of cyclists on a ride across Canada to raise funds for cancer charities.
Far from being sent packing for eating Lance’s sambos, it’s decided that the only way to sort this out is for us to open the Kids Cancer Bike Ride Show. And so we do. A crowd of a couple of hundred shoppers and office workers stop and listen, clapping in all the right places.
Our evening showcase is in a bar called Cameron House. It’s a tidy venue, with a capacity of about 100. Luckily when we go on the place is full so we lash through the set with gusto, pausing only long enough to allow Joe a moment to exercise some Irish charm on the masses.

SATURDAY, JUNE 14
On Saturday afternoon we’re invited to play at a party at a recording studio outside Toronto. They throw a big bash each year to coincide with NXNE, with nice food and drink and a little stage out the back garden where people get up and play.
So we arrive at what looks like a perfectly normal house in a row of other perfectly normal houses, but inside is a rather nice recording studio full of revellers. Because we aren’t too sure what the set-up is we’ve brought all our gear. So we lash it all out of the van and within minutes are melting the faces off people who moments before were enjoying polite conversation and hors d’oeuvres.
We don’t have long, however, to bask in the glory of our performance as immediately afterwards we receive a phone call from the festival director to say an act has cancelled for that night – can we fill in?
The gig is in a venue called Kathedral. It’s quieter numbers-wise but the sound is great. The feedback from the crowd who are there is very positive. But don’t take my word for it – we’ve posted reviews of the gigs from Torontoindie.com on our MySpace page.
After all this, I’m beat so I retire to the hotel. The rest of the lads head out to check out some other bands. Joe, in particular, has to do his homework for a live phone interview with Alison Curtis the next night.

SUNDAY, JUNE 15
We have Sunday afternoon free to wander round Toronto. The only thing going on is the NXNE Wrap Party – again there’s lots of free food (grilled cheese sandwiches!).
We bail fairly early, as we’re heading on to Boston the next morning. The highlight of the party is meeting a woman who informs us she’s head of Universal Music Canada’s Latin Department. Amongst other things, she force-fed Jamie a Twinkie, presented us with a set of Travel Scrabble, and then promised she could get us a collaboration project with Ricky Martin – but then she went to get another drink and we never saw her again. Still, we remain optimistic.