I think by now the cat is out of the bag: Dan hasn’t been feeling so hot.  What started as some additional vocal gruffness at the Communitea Cafe has since snowballed into an all-over pale-faced affliction.  Of course, coming off a six-week stint in the summer hemisphere, a pale-faced Dan appeared every bit as ruddy as the Edmontonians lined up along Stony Plain Road opposite the seedy Double D Diner in the -14° chill.

A wholehearted subscriber to the “if you can’t fake it, own it” philosophy, Dan opted to share this information with the crowd at Haven Social Club, adding that the straw-coloured beverage in his hand was in fact Pedialyte, not beer.  Riding a wave of sympathy - and seriously, by his own count the man has slept in his own bed a total of 4 nights since September - the band began set one of two at the twice-sold-out Haven.  The resulting hour was akin to a strong cup of soul-warming coffee while camping: it might be a little gritty, but given the circumstances, it really hits the spot.

If possible, set two was even more awe inspiring than the first.  Ever eager to employ the powers of comedic lubrication, Dan regaled the crowd with a joke befitting the dodginess of the neighborhood that awaited outside.

“A man walks into a motel and, noticing the ‘Satellite TV’ sign at the reception desk, says to the clerk, ‘Well, I certainly hope the porn channel is disabled”.

“Certainly not!”, the clerk responds, “It’s just regular porn, you sicko!”

I’ve come to expect Dan’s crowd walk-about during the penultimate ‘Robots’, but tonight’s featured a surprising trip to the bar to pour a beer.  “The last thing I wanted to do was drink it,” Dan confessed afterwards, “But…”

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Jonathan Taggart is a documentary photographer and writer based in Vancouver.

www.jonathantaggart.com
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