Last year, Sunshine Coast’s Selahphonic enjoyed house parties in L.A, had a “rad” three days at Canadian Music Week in Toronto, headed to to Dive Bars and Rehab in San Jose, not to mention big water falls and big bridges… And they treated us all to their experiences in this exclusive Travel Diary. This one’s a must-read, so read on! And don’t miss their latest music video “Ghosts of 1999” which you can watch at the end of the article…
OH the dilemmas! Do I sleep and feel fresh for the first show the day we arrive, or watch as many in-flight movies as possible and feel like I got my monies worth out of the airline? Movies!!
We arrive in L.A to fumble our way through the airport to our van hire place (kind of regretting the movie choice) to drive on the wrong side of the road to play a house party with the most insane outlook.
We were stoked to arrive in Canada for the first time and be able to play to an all ages show in a place called Waterloo (i know what your thinking). Only found one good coffee in this place thank you DVLB it was like sweet nectar.
Toronto is like Melbourne’s Brunswick street on heat! There are more venues, more bars, more just cool hangs than we have ever seen. We kicked off our first showcase at the tightly packed Painted Lady with the Footstep crew, we got see Ash Grunwold play a killer set, then we rushed across to play at 1am at Cameron House 5 mins around the corner.
The Aussie BBQ we love! Nothing like eating a gourmet snag before walking up on stage and playing our final set for the CMW and then chilling out the rest of the afternoon watching our Aussie crew play. The highlight was the Pierce brothers doing their thing, with digeridoo’s, drum sticks and lots of hair (freaking legends).
I didn’t think you could stare at a waterfall for 2 hours, well we did. Unbelievable. Nigeria Falls you are glorious!
This is what the beauty of crashing mates houses looks like, tight, close and tight.
Rehab and the Homeless. Last time we were in San Jose we met this guy with the biggest heart and genuine concern for the homeless and those who are wanting to rehab from addiction.
So this time we went to the place he runs called cityteam and played at to full room of men in rehab and guys just needing a place to stay the night. Honestly this was the most humbling and hugely confronting experience as men who would seem in the hardest moments of their lives still would dance and erupt with applause for this middle class Aussie Band. It was life changing stuff.
All things in America are big and going to see the Golden Gate Bridge was no exception to the rules. FREAKING MASSIVE!!!!! The best part is there is guys surfing waves under the bridge. This is now on the bucket list.
Next the excitement of seeing the big bridge was finding some cheap dumplings in the heart of San Francisco. Thanks Dick Lee!!!
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