Luckily the stage was heated and partially closed in but the gusts of cold snow and wind would still cause our guitars to go out of tune and our knuckles to stiffen up.

The stage was set on the frozen surface of the Rideau Canal where people were skating all afternoon during our soundcheck. Mick skated and so did Paxton (our guitar tech) but unfortunately I had to go searching for a new power supply for this computer. Roge (drummer) had to coordinate someone back home to find his cows that escaped his farm.

This year’s Winterlude will celebrate 175 years since the construction of the Rideau Canal, and the 90th anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge. The occasional snowflakes just added to the winter wonderland setting of trees with twinkling lights and skaters on the canal.

Well-bundled audience members crammed the front-of-stage, spilled over onto the ice surface, crowded the NAC’s second-storey balcony and thronged the Plaza Bridge overlooking the stage.

Randy was wearing fingerless gloves, and we opened with No Sugar Tonight/New Mother Nature. The crowd, which National Capital Commission officials optimistically estimated at 10,000, cheered and sang along with every hit. Let it Ride came off pretty good but the guitars started to go out of tune during Undun. I don’t think anyone but the band could really tell.

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