Rock ‘n Blues At The Station Pub In Downtown Abbotsford
Posted by Musician | Filed under Performances, Photos
On February 12th, Deception, along with a number of other local bands, christened the stage at the newly renovated Station Pub in Downtown Abbotsford. This effort was led by Abbotsford’s own Paxton Bachman, whose Blues band kicked off the night as the first band on the new stage.
It was a Thursday night filled with great music, as Downtown Abbotsford was rocked by the some of this city’s most well known musical acts.
Deception was the second band up on stage that night. As you can see, the stage is actually not that small. It can accommodate a 5-piece if you don’t have too much gear…
Now poor Gary is forever having a hard time with band photos. He is always behind the front line, or behind his cymbals, or as in the case above, behind a microphone. So I decided he needed a little something “extra” to indicate just how much he means to us.
So Gary, in honour of your gold medal performances over the years, I hope you enjoy this touch of gold edging in your stylized portrait. 
Jammin’ At The Church Of The Blues
Posted by Musician | Filed under Performances, Photos
Our 2 shows at the Historic Dewdney Inn, AKA, The Church Of The Blues, were a great deal of fun, and were full of surprises.
On Saturday night the place was packed when we got there to set up, because a ball league had some kind of event going. There wasn’t a table or seat to be had for hours. The crowd stuck around for most of the pm, and even our last set, from midnight to 1:00 am, saw dancers on the dance floor, and patrons enjoying the atmosphere of the pub.
On Sunday, the jam started at 3:00 in the afternoon, and the visiting talent, didn’t disappoint the crowd. Again, a special event was going on. This time it was a birthday party. A table of 15 party-goers came around 3:30, and the last of them didn’t leave until around 8:15, which coincidentally, was when we started our last song! Besides the B-day party crowd, the place again was packed, and finding a table was difficult.
Here are a couple of photos I took before we started the jam. Pardon the blurriness. My camera doesn’t have an image stabilization feature, and I had a bit of a tremor yesterday. (I really need a new camera!) Just click on either image to enlarge it, and you can then scroll through both of them that way.
The musical talent that comes weekly to jam at the Church Of The Blues is varied and quite diverse. Yesterday we had a couple of harp players, a few guitar players, drummers, a bass player, and a vocalist. (I hope I’m not forgetting anyone. If I am, I apologize!)
On a personal note, I really enjoyed having the opportunity to play with Corey Lavigne & Dave Conroy again. Both of these guitar players are very different to both each other, and to Art in their playing style. Working with them gives me a great chance to try different things, and groove on different riffs.
Yesterday I also had my first opportunity to play with Gerald Charlie, on his original Blues tunes, that were featured on his CDs. That was a great experience! Again, a very different Blues guitarist, and I found myself doing very different types of licks and riffs.
We’re looking forward to our next weekend of shows at the Church Of The Blues. If you haven’t yet checked out the music at the Historic Dewdney Inn, and you like the Blues, you owe it to yourself to do so. The music is great, and so is the atmosphere & the food.
Gettin’ Ready
Posted by Musician | Filed under Performances, Photos
Tonight we’re playing the first of our 2 shows of the weekend, at the Church of the Blues, in Dewdney. There’s a lot of prep work that goes into all of our shows. Art does most of it, since he owns and maintains the band’s sound equipment.
He has recently had some repairs, maintenance, and upgrades done, and also added something, that I don’t really understand, so he’ll have to write about it. It’s an amazing addition however. The sound coming out of the PA is so different, it is incredible. The clarity, crispness, and definition have never been as good. I’m hearing things I’ve never heard before.
For me, I have regular maintenance to perform as well. Saxophones have approximately 500 parts, and when they are played, the springs, rods, keys, pads, levers, and rollers are all exposed to stresses. The harder you play: the more stress they’re exposed to, & the more you need to check everything over before a show. I play pretty hard with Deception, so before a 2-day series of shows, I have to unstick sticky pads, apply tenon oil, and check everything over. This helps avoid nasty surprises on stage.
So here’s a picture of my workhorse… My Selmer Mark VI tenor, just after it got its pre-show maintenance. I love this sax. It was built in Paris, France in around 1972. I got the horn in 1981, and it has been my favourite tenor ever since. It’s travelled a lot with me; done a lot with me; played a hell of a lot of different styles of music with me; and never let me down.
Hopefully we’ll see you at one of our shows this weekend. If you can’t make it out either tonight, or tomorrow afternoon, check out our upcoming shows page, to see when and where we’re playing next.
New Year’s Eve
Posted by Steve | Filed under Uncategorized
As I have been available for a few jams at the “Church of the Blues” on Sundays at the Historic Dewdney Pub, I got the call from Dave Conroy to come out on New Year’s Eve and play with the “Church of the Blues Allstars” for the first set. Gerald Charlie and the Black Owl Blues would play two more sets after that.
It was a good crowd in spite of the weather, which was snow! We had three guitars in the front line with Dave, Cory Lavigne, and Larry Stiles, Greg Thompson on drums and myself squeezed into the corner. These guys will keep you on your toes with changes (it’s not all blues), but it is fun and challenging.
Art and Sharon Panchishin came in with Randy and Doreen Mathers as a last minute decision to go out, so I got to sit with some people I knew for the midnight meal and Gerald’s sets.
I also came in with Karen the following Sunday for the jam, there were several other bass players there and Bob was playing a Gibson Thunderbird Bass on the flat where his top keyboard would normally go! I went on for the last set, but the crowd had mostly departed as it had begun to snow quite heavily again, there were four inches on the car when we decided to go.
A Friday Night Of Blues At The Gourmet Gallery
Posted by Musician | Filed under Performances, Photos
On Friday night we had the chance to play for the new owner of the Gourmet Gallery in Abbotsford. Deception has been playing at the Gallery for many years, but Kimberly Arthurs has only owned the coffee house/art gallery/antique store since November. This was our first time playing there since she took over.
Photo by M. Margison
We played to a packed house of patrons who seemed to really “drink in” the electric Blues sounds that Deception is known for. Speaking of “drinking in”…
Kimberly has found out that she needs to buy more of certain brands of beer for our fans. She had been given a list of fan favourites to buy, and thought she bought enough. But the number of people there that night, surprised even us, and the supply in the cooler didn’t quite go far enough. However, people do adapt, and were quite happy with their 2nd choice. They did come for the music after all…
Photo by M. Margison
…And the music didn’t disappoint, despite both Art and Gary struggling with a viral infection that was effecting their throats and their vocal chords. Art and I just did slightly longer solos than normal, and we just had to be more selective in our song choices.
For us, playing the Gourmet Gallery, is like coming home. It is a great place to play music. The ambiance, the crowd that actually comes to hear the music, and the staff, all blend together to make this a very comfortable and pleasurable place to play.
Abbotsford has so few venues for live entertainment, that we really owe a big ”thank you” to the establishments that host live events. If it weren’t for places like the Gourmet Gallery, the performing arts in this town would have even fewer outlets then they do.
So “thank you” Kimberly for carrying on the tradition that Diane established, and continuing to have live acts at the Gourmet Gallery. We’re looking forward to playing there again in ‘09.
Deception is the Abbotsford-based blues band formed in the mid-90s by guitar player Art Panchishin.