Thurs. , Fri ., Saturday ; Phil's sitting in the corner . He's hoping to go fly fishing down in Chile . But for now , he's tieing flies in the corner . There's a snowstorm on the horizon and now that soundcheck is done most don't know whether to venture out or just stick around . There's love in the air but most people are definately near the ground . Re-charging the unchargable . Defying the critics and sipping tea . Bill and Joel are off to Capsule , Pete's having a beer with Buck( whose awesome secret fly-in was a real show stopper ), and Chris is admiring his new snare drum . Soundman , Steve ' Snickers ' Smith is clog dancing with all that nervous energy of his . I'm nearly shattered . Last night was a bit of a blur . A great dinner was put on for the whole party by club owner and generous host Jeff Cohen and his wife Tara . A good east coast girl. The Chateauneuf de pape went down a little too well and we , at least I , arrived with a belly full of jungle juice . A real rocking show by all accounts . Sorry for the hole in the wall .
Two Hours Traffic are opening tonight.
Once more into the breach and that'll be six .

Friday ; McGetts ...say no more . Also , Mr. Chill heated things up nicely with the sax and harp .It were a proper airing of Ashtray Rock for the all ages . Great to see Mike Campbell and Jordie Morgan bring a bit of class to the whole debauch .

Thursday ; La De Da : Infinite thanks to Gord Downie and Sarah Harmer and Bill Plaskett. Delicate to near destruction . Not one but two Brennan brothers and a nice bit of brass from Doug Friesen . A great night .

Wednesday , Horseshoe : Thanks to openers ,The Spades , for the rock . It 'twas another full house there to join the Down at The Khyber revue at the Shoe . Hot and heavy it was, with Gordie Johnson riding the 12 string on 2nd set numbers such as Face of theEarth , and Nothing More to Say to You . Where does he get that tone...?

But for this correspondent it had to be the appearance of our old bandmate , Sloan's , Andrew Scott , whom rocked the tubs through the first -ever performance of Heart to Heart with Lionel followed by a bittersweet rendition of the star-crossed and out of tune True Love Rules .

Tonight is La De Da , and it's another sellout for the old madam of Queen street . Get there early so as not to miss Pete Elkas and the Elkaholics, crooning through a smooth soulful glass of rum punch . Look for more Sonic Johnsonianisms and Joel's dad , Bill Plaskett . Also , a special trip from the Hip , the uniquely personable , Gord Downie , with his ode , 'Christmastime in Toronto ' . We learned it at soundcheck and it's positively frigging festivus .