Jeremy Porter Road Blog

Road Blog: Friday September 09, 2022 - Montréal, QC

Road Blog
September 9, 2022
Montréal, Quebec

We left our AirBnB in London at 9:30am and navigated our way through the city back to the 401 through apocalyptic construction zones and morning rush hour traffic. Jacob was at the helm and Gabriel was riding shotgun and navigating. It was a beautiful day without a cloud in the sky. We stopped for a quick breakfast at a Tim Horton’s in an EnRoute service plaza that turned out to be anything but quick. I got a 10 pack of Timbits to share with the boys and they kept us busy `til we got close to Quebec.

We arrived at our AirBnB that is just over the Ontario border in a little town called Coteau-Du-Lac. It’s a beautiful neighborhood and a really nice half of a house. I have my own bedroom in the basement where I’m tap-tap-tapping away and the boys are upstairs sleeping. We didn’t have much time for rest because we wanted to get into the city and see some sights before load-in. Montréal is one of my favorite cities and Jake’s never been, so we didn’t want to be rushed. I drove us in and Jake was navigating as we listed to The Nils, my fav Montreal band, which is tradition.

We stopped at a street fair on Rue St. Catherine where Jake jumped into a bookstore that wasn’t everything he’d hoped and I got some more medicine for my throat. From there we did a loop through the Old Port, which is a really old part of town very reminiscent of old Europe. Then it was up St. Laurent to Barfly, where we once again got rock star parking (a rare thing in Montréal) and loaded in. I said hi to Eric Kearns , our host and the commissioner of the Hangover Golf tournament that’s happening today. Our annual trek to Montréal is the kickoff party, and Eric is super cool to keep asking us back. Big smiles and hugs with Anthony, the owner, who is a real character and a good friend.

We walked around the block to a restaurant called La Portugalia where we ate at last time we played here. As you can probably guess, it’s Portuguese food. I got a plate of chicken scallops for the table and a half chicken, spicy, opting for the side salad over fries in a rare moment of good judgement. It was an amazing dinner.

Back at Barfly (Montreal) the Hangover Golf draft was in full swing as we ordered a round and hung out with friends. Dany Laj and Jeanette came out, good pals from Dany Laj and The Looks we’ve played with and seen a few times over the years. Dave got me all caught up on his annual adventures into the depths of the Canadian wilderness and told a hilarious story about seeing some rare trumpeter swans on a remote Canadian Lake and trying to record their calls. Ilse, another friend we’ve known for years, came out and we had a great chat. (just to name a few - can't tag everyone but we love you!) It was so awesome to see everyone after a couple years away due to the pandemic.



Slippery Hitch went on sometime around 10 I think. I’ve known Scott, their drummer, from the band Half Measures, who we played with before. They were a trio, fantastic soulful stuff, rocked at times, a little proggy at others. Great songs, great singer – a fantastic set. We were setting up when the entire stage right half of the stage went dark with no power. A small army, half inebriated, did their best to fix it but the problem wasn’t going anywhere so we ran a small extension from my side and we were in business. We played to a great crowd who weren’t bashful about live, loud, rock and roll at all. My throat gave some problems for the first half of the set but settled down a bit for the last few songs. It was a great time, great room, great crowd, great people. Montréal and Barfly remain one of my top places to play.

After a long period of socializing, packing up, and loading out, we finally hit the road at about 1:30am, Gabe at the helm, me navigating. Our GPS Karen Jacobsen - The GPS Girl has been finicky, so we had my phone wired into the truck too. We got back to the AirBnB around 2:15am. The boys, none too pleased that I cranked Fed Bear by Ted Nugent just before we got back.

Today it’s back west, all the way to Windsor, with a daunting bitch of a 9 hour drive ahead of us, including the nightmare of Toronto traffic. But tonight we’re playing Phog Lounge in Windsor with our best Windsor pals The Trudys and SOUTH RIVER SLIM! Hope to see some Detroit friends out! Just fill out the ArriveCAN app and come on over!

THANKS and love to Barfly and Montréal! See ya next year!!!! Xx

Please forgive any typos…this was done in less than ideal conditions on no sleep and in a big hurry).