The Slim Cessna Experience
July 26th, 2002 / The Dominion Tavern (and beyond)

Well it finally came to pass at the Dominion on a rare cool July eve. Slim & his Auto Club rolled into town late after being treated shabbily at the border and held up for almost eight hours. Dog tired and a little distracted they managed to settle in and relax with a Dom-home-cooked meal and some pints in plenty of time to witness Casey Comeau and the Halfmilers bellying up to the stage. This band of local luminaries gave us a solid set of their engrossing countrifried surf and garage rock sounds. Lots of good vibes there and we can expect great things from this magnificent ensemble of familiar faces. Soon the night gave way for Auto Clubbin' and the time of reckoning was at hand. Time to see what the new band changes would bring. Still with a nucleus of Slim, Munly and Dwight from the last time they were here, but now with newcomers Malcolm (drums), Judith Ann (bass) and Reverend Adam Glasseye (pedal steel), there was no sign of unfamiliarity amongst as they comfortably tore into their set, without soundcheck and had the room burnin' in no time flat. Wasting no time, there was plenty of Munly-crowd interaction and the instruments and vocals were revolving furiously, as all came together for an exciting and mind-altering hoedown. The crowd was overjoyed and responsive like almost no other the Tavern has seen. Eventually a totally spent crew of musical genii were able to peel themselves away from the stage. Afterwards Slim, all bleeding from his elbow from yet another infamous stage collision with Munly, apologized for not playin' so well as I patched him up. He proceeded back upstairs and almost passed out and wasn't even able to finish his beer. Thing is, if these guys had a "bad show" and are still ironing out the kinks with the new line-up, imagine what nirvana we are headed towards next time!
Their odyssey continued Saturday, after some much needed rest, as they headed up the 7 for an engagement in Perth at the Stewart Park festival and later the local Curling Club. It was mostly a sparse and polite affair as Perthites probably didn't understand what they were getting'. Slim wished that we all coulda been there for the Curling Club show, they really felt at home and look forward to comin' back to the Dom again soon. We already can hardly wait. - aardvark