Trois Rivieres en Blues 2009

Although we were excited to be going to Trois Rivieres to perform, there was something sad about this day. It was our last festival show of the summer. The summer just flew by lousy weather and all!! But that wasn’t going to let us down. We had a show to perform and what a show it was at Trois Rivieres en Blues.

When we got on stage the sun was shining and there were over 300 people in the street waiting to see what Runaway Slide was all about. Judging from their reaction, the people from Trois Rivieres love their blues.

Thanks to John Saladino of Korg Canada for loaning us a Samson wireless system for our guitars. It was definitely liberating and sounded great. This enabled the guitar to be played in the middle of the street up to 100 feet from the stage. The people definitely got a kick out of that.

The people in Trois Rivieres were very friendly and supportive. They showed their appreciation by taking pictures with us, picking up some of our t-shirts and posters.

Another highlight in Trois Rivieres was getting the opportunity to play along side Paul Deslauriers and his band during the evening jam. They’re all great musicians with Sam Harrison on Drums and Greg Morency on Bass. The picture above comes from a local paper and also from the Cyberpress.ca. Also joining the jam was Jim Zeller.

Let’s not forget to thank Ann and Domenic for the hospitality that they showed us and our families. They are friends who live about 15 minutes outside of Trois Rivieres and invited us all to their home for a delicious brunch.

We’ve had one of our best summers as Runaway Slide! We’ve been playing show’s after show’s more than any other summer. It has made us improve as a band and as individual musicians. Thanks to Brian Slack of Zeb Prorductions for believing in us, to our parents for making it possible for us to play our music and to travel, and to fans like you that make us want to continue to do what we are doing.

This may be our last summer show of 2009 but not our last show of the year. Check out our schedule on our websites for upcoming shows. Also don't forget to sign up on our website so that we can send you our newsletter with surprises about what's coming up next for Runaway Slide.

<

Thank-you for reading our blog.

Justin, Adam and Matthew

http://www.runawayslide.com/

Victoriaville Blues Festival 2009

When we arrived in Victoriaville Trevor Finlay was doing a sound check. He was performing with Domenic Romanelli on Bass and Sam Harrison on Drums. Unfortunately, we don't have any pictures of him or his band :( After their sound check it was our turn. They had a very nice stage setup. However, we only saw the tip of the iceberg. Things really came alive after dark with their light show and smoke machine.

The lights were amazing!! We were also told by some fans that the sound was great! Victoriaville went out of their way for this show. We were very impressed. Kudos to the city, organizers and all the staff. Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate this time. After 45 minutes of our 60 minute set it started to rain with thunder and lightning. The large crowd that had gathered started to leave.

Those with umbrella's remained but then it really started to pour. The sound men had to come and cover everything on stage as the wind started to wet all the equipment. We took what we can and went for cover. The organizers had a trailer home behind the stage reserved for artists so that's where we stayed with our parents for at least an other hour until the rain calmed down. By that time all other shows were cancelled including Trevor Finlay.

Despite what happened we still ended up having a great time. While we were in the trailer home we had the opportunity to speak with our agent, Brian Slack. Sam Harrison also had a chat with us. Angel Forest dropped by to say hello.

Thanks for reading our blog.

Justin, Adam and Matthew

http://www.runawayslide.com/

Donnacona au Rythme de Blues 2009

On Sunday August 16 we were invited to perform at the Donnacona au Rythme de Blues festival http://www.donnaconablues.com in Donnacona, Quebec which is about two hours from Montreal and thirty minutes from Quebec City. It was a very hot and muggy summers day, weather that we haven't had much this summer. When we arrived the festival organizers were very friendly and made us feel right at home.

Before our set, blues guitarist Shawn Kellerman of Hamilton Ontario was performing his set. Shawn blew us and the audience away with his great high energy and powerful guitar playing.

While we were waiting for sound check, Jim Zeller, Harmonica player extraordinaire dropped by to say hello and we asked if he can pose in a picture with us. We've met Jim many times before at other festivals and we also jammed with him last year at the 2008 Tremblant Blues Festival. It seems like he's playing everywhere. Must be a very busy guy.

We couldn't wait to see the last show of the evening with Steve Hill and the Majestics and we weren't disappointed. They really rocked, playing a high-energy rock with a mix of blues. The festival ground was packed with people by the time this concert started.

At our arrival at the festival, a great blues guitarist and francophone singer, Mike DeWay, who we've met before asked if we were interested in jamming with him and his band (Jeff Poirier - Bass and Phil Bernatchez - Drums) at the end of the evening. We couldn't resist. It must of been something like 11:30pm by the time we started to play. Even though it was late on a Sunday night the place quickly got packed with people. Other artists also jammed that night such as Mo Blues on guitar, Rock Laroche - Bass player for Steve Hill, and Clio - a blues singer. We had a great day but we were exhausted. :)

Thanks for reading our blog,

Justin, Adam and Matthew

www.runawayslide.com

Kitchener Blues Festival 2009

The Kitchener Blues Festival was our first performance in Ontario, Canada. It was cool to travel to this part of Canada. The people were very friendly and were certainly blues fans. Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate. That's been the theme of this summer here in eastern Canada. It's the worst summer ever weather wise. However, it has also been our best summer in terms of all the shows that we have done and have yet to do.

Fortunately for us and the blues fans, we performed under a huge tent for our first show and inside a Pub at our second show. Our first performance, under the Downtown Business Tent, lasted an hour and fifteen minutes. We played covers, all of our original tunes and a little bit of acoustic. After our show we spent some time talking to fans and we were happy to have also sold some of our Runaway Slide tshirts to new fans.

The Kitchener Blues Festival organisation and its volunteers were professional, friendly and supportive. They also had a chef prepare excellent food for us after the show. While we were eating we enjoyed the music of Jordan John and The Blue Angels. Great show.

At our second show, we had the pleasure to perform together with Alex Tintinalli and Colin White. Two excellent young performers. We each played a couple of tunes on our own and then we jammed it out all together. It was a really fun and memorable time. I'm sure we'll get to see them again in the future.

Thanks for reading our blog :)

Justin, Adam and Matthew

http://www.runawayslide.com/

Runaway Slide at the 2009 Tremblant Blues Festival

The weather was overcast on July 19, 2009, the last day of the Tremblant Blues Festival. It rained on a few occasions including during the sound check for the preperation of Runaway Slides 4pm show. People started to come early in order to secure their seats. By the time Runaway Slide started their show there were about 200 blues fans. By the end of their show the audience had grown to about 350 fans.

Runaway Slide were prepared for a 45 minute set but ended up taking a little over 50 minutes with their encore. Their setlist included a mix of electrifying covers and originals. For the first time they also included an acoustic set of three songs.

Wouldn't you know it, half way through their set it started to rain. The rain came down pretty hard. Some people left the their seats to go take cover nearby. Most people remained with or without their umbrella.

It was disappointing for the boys to see their fans get wet but the show must go on. So they decided to call upon the rain gods :) to help with the wet situation. Out of their arsenal of songs they pulled out George Harrisons, "Here Comes the Sun."

Wouldn't you know it, right before the end of the song the rain stopped and the sun showed it firey face bringing cheer and applause from the crowd. It was magical! The boys continued the rest of their set under the sun.

After their show the boys took the time to speak with their fans, take pictures and sign autographs.

www.runawayslide.com

A New Runaway Slide fan

Runaway Slide gets a new fan! On July 2, 2009, Runaway Slide performed in an outside venue organised by the City of Montreal. Once again, the weather cooperated. Apparently it was raining all over the island of Montreal but for some reason all we received were a few drops.

There was a good turn-out. There were at least 100 people that came out to watch the show. There was also a few people that started to dance to our tunes. :)

Also on the venue was the band Macedoine who played ambient rock music. Very talented and friendly bunch of guys. As a matter of fact, the singer of Macedoine, Mikael Thériault, played in a show back in 2006 where Runaway Slide first debut.

Our next show will be in the Tremblant Blues Festival on July 19.

Ciao,

Justin, Adam and Matthew
http://www.runawayslide.com/

Runaway Slide - Canada Day Parade 2009

On July 1, 2009 we participated in the Canada Day Parade in Pierrefonds. We had a blast! It was quite an experience. A lot of work went into the preparation of our float. Thanks to our parents, relatives and friends for a helping hand. We couldn't have done it with out them. Love you guys! A special thanks to John for taking care of our sound.

It was a two hour ride through the streets of Pierrefonds/Roxborro. We were happy to see that many people come out to watch and dance in the streets. It was a little bit of a balancing act to ride the float. We were stopping and going and that would jolt us forward or backward. We had a couple of good laughs. We're also glad that the weather cooperated. It was suppose to rain all week long. We almost decided to pull out of the parade earlier in the week. We're glad we didn't.

We have another show in the park tomorrow (July 2). I hope you can all be there.

Ciao,

Justin, Adam and Matthew

http://www.runawayslide.com/