hope : born in a flame ; carried through a gate

Mood was anxious... frightened for the future. I was ignoring it anyway. But somehow, I stumbled upon my lost friend Fate, who gave me a very significant clue to something that would help me for something I am writing. I thought, like a bit of a cynical journalist, "great. I hope people will at least be a little nicer this time. And I better get a lot of anecdotes." Turns out... I got what I wanted and more.

I did many interviews, all with locals who are in love with the walls they were in between at that moment. Amazing stories of the past fluttered around me, to the beats of the beautiful woman who was playing guitar in the back of the room.



As everyone became merrier, and I started to sink into my 'fly on the wall' position (besides the "are you the party biographer?" or "hey, you want my autograph?" in response to the fact that I had my notebook out) I started daydreaming if every person around me were a rockstar but I could never surely tell.

It was then that a very familiar face walked by me, and then two more. I thought, "hey.. now THEM i am SURE of."




James Hall. Sam Roberts. Eric Fares.

I must have looked pretty silly. And after I ran out to call my roomate who's been in love with the middle man for ages, I hitched my high journalistic horses and proceeded to get my interview with Sam Roberts.

"I don't know if I walked in on the average night or the best night of the year," he said. "Just from the photographs on the wall to the beer that's good, to the food on the table, everything seems to be top notch, you know?"

He told me he'd give me a better impression of the place after his first Polish beer.

"First of all, what I've gathered anyways, this is a very musically oriented place," he said. "Aside from the fact that there's live music playing, people can live and work and call this place their home away from home, their lives revolve around music. It means that I already feel more welcome than I otherwise would."

By this time, I felt like I had already drank a few beers myself. (Did not!) I was high on journalistic life, and I haven't had that feeling in a while. Fate may have brought me there, and him there, but it's journalism and the art of questions that kept the conversation going (I can't just reveal ALL of it to you now, can I?)

P.S. Try and imagine how great this was to me. It's not like I've never talked about him before.
Examples: A, B, and C.

P.P.S. Thanks Vanessa for taking the photos.

P.P.P. S. I obviously missed Winter Gloves & Levi Weaver. HOWEVER, I am guaranteeing you coming up will be a new BestFirst and a review of the sold out Franz Ferdinand concert in Toronto!