Tour Diary…Born Ruffians #1

Hello internet users and people who print out the internet to read it on regular paper (do you exist?). My name is Mitch and I play bass for a band called Born Ruffians, and we are currently on a North American tour in support of our new album, Say It.

There are seven fellers in our van because we’re travelling and playing with Young Rival, a rock and roll band from the rock and roll town of Hamilton (of the rock and roll province of Ontario).

So now is the time that you hum the Perfect Strangers theme song  in your head as I introduce every person in the van:

Luke – Guitar/Vocals (Born Ruffians)

Steve (“Mike Dakota”) – Drums (Born Ruffians)

Andy – Keys/Guitar (Born Ruffians)

John (“Demetri”) – Bass (Young Rival)

Aaron (“Dr. Edward Poon”) – Guitar/Vocals (Young Rival)

Noah (This is his sexy glamour shot that I took without his permission) – Drums (Young Rival)

And there are no known pictures of me, so in order to know what I look like, you’ll just have to combine Jack White, John Belushi and a modern incarnation of John Goodman’s Dan Conner in Roseanne – all comparisons I’ve received this tour. With the body of Usher.

We hit Victoria after four shows in the US that included confetti,

balloons, a failed marriage proposal on stage,

me smashing Luke over the head with my bass, about three broken bass strings, two shirtless men (one of which was the dude proposing), one pantsless man (for real) and we also played songs. We also discovered that men like to get naked to our music, but not women.

In Victoria we played with Mother Mother at this massive church.

The crowd was great and really receptive, but the highlight had to be when they all rose out of their seats and gradually danced up to the front of the stage during What To Say.

Right after the show, there was the after party (then after the party, we went to the hotel lobby) that Young Rival was playing. That night we discovered that even if no one knows they’re playing, Young Rival attract girls to their shows from all corners of the city. Their music is like some kind of conch shell that only babes can hear.

In Vancouver we returned to playing our own show, and it was maybe the wildest of the entire tour so far.

The place was crammed, people brought balloons again, I got blasted in the head with an empty can of PBR, Steve tore his shirt on the steel cage that surrounded the stage, and fans invaded the stage on our last song (before the encore even!) and they pretty much obliterated our gear. Between the steel cage and beer can to the head it was more like a pro wrestling show than an indie rock show, and THAT I can get into.

From there we spent two days driving, where we encountered this herd of wildlife.

Last night was Edmonton, yet another show that included balloons and sheer chaos.

There was no steel cage to climb, so it was back to being like a rock show again, which is okay too. At the end of our encore, my bass strap popped off and into the crowd. After the song I tried getting it back from a fan, which turned into a tug of war, which would’ve been embarrassing if I lost, because she was a small girl. But I won BECAUSE I AM A STRONG MAN.

We’re in Calgary right now getting ready to soundcheck. The sound guy just read us a short story over the PA. It was bizarre and pleasant all at the same time because he has the voice of a book-on-tape. Now he’s just naming cities and imperial measurements into the mic…

See you in five days!

Ruffian Mitch