Well, it sounds better than “bar-hopping”, doesn’t it? Besides, there was only one bar, er, pub, involved so there was no actual hopping to speak of.
So I saw a posting right on this here Facebook about a band called Lotus that was playing at The Rusty Gull Pub in North Vancouver. Now I had never heard of The Rusty Gull but I DO know and like Lotus, so I thought, what could be nicer than to dress up a bit and take in an evening of Lotus. There would be at least one familiar face there – I know Terri Breeze, their bass player, very well.
I was going to need some motivation, though. A single older woman going out to a bar for the evening? Should I? Shouldn’t I? What if I …? What if I don’t …? I consulted my dear friend Janean, who said, essentially, “Good grief, girl! Get out there!”
So here I am, looking nice but not over-the-top and single for the evening. I was apprehensive – would I be approached? Would I be ignored? Would I even be able to get in? However, I had just driven for almost an hour to get to North Van and I certainly wasn’t about to chicken out now.
In I went. I headed to the back, where the tiny stage was, and sure enough, there was Terri, making some last minute tweaks to the sound board. She was surprised but very happy to see me. She suggested I sit at the table where her wife and a bunch of the band members were – imagine that! Me, sitting with the band!
As it turned out, pretty much everyone in the place was “sitting with the band.” The stage is so tiny and the room so shallow that no-one is more than twenty feet from the stage. We were practically ON the stage!
It was a pleasant evening of meeting new friends and chatting while we could – until the music started. Lotus’s music is striking in its easy energy, and they know how to fill a room without being deafening. Their music could have you swaying in your seat with your eyes closed, or it could have you up on the dance floor in no time. Lotus is an all-woman band (except for their guitar player), and their voices blended into tight, full harmonies.
After Lotus finished their too-short set, we were treated to another fine band, the Alan James Out of the Blues Band. It turned out that three of their number were also in Lotus – but the music was totally different. They did a lot of singable stuff, as well as some just plain ol’ twelve-bar blues you could hum and harmonise along with even if you didn’t know the words.
I had to leave far too early. I’m sure Alan James and his group were still going strong by the time I got home an hour later!
What a wonderful evening. I’m grateful for all kinds of things – old friends and new, a good swift kick in the ol’ motivator from Janean, and some excellent music.
And only one bar, er, pub involved!
