Back in Saskatchewan: Roadtrip to Joe Cocker & Tom Petty
A jaunt, skip, and a couple flights through, and I found myself back in Saskatchewan, in the city that rhymes with fun (Regina). However greetings with my hometown were cut short. Within 24 hours of landing I found myself on a drunken roadtrip to Saskatoon with some old friends to see Joe Cocker & Tom Petty sing their hearts out on stage at the Credit Union Centre.
The roadtrip
With a bottle of rum and a couple road-pops in hand I stepped into the backseat of an old friends car with hopes that this night would explode my mind with awesomeness. My friend Scott surprised me upon entry of the car with a bottle of Baby Duck Champagne. For those who don’t know, Baby Duck is a cheap, sparkling wine that costs next to nothing, tastes like angels, but is the cheapest most hangover causing alcohol that can be found in the LB’s (LB=Liquor Board Stores). I fist pumped in delight and said “Eff the rum, I’m on the duck!” I tapped bottles with Scott and took a swig that gracefully fizzed directly up my nasal cavity, causing a girlish, albeit sexy scream. I love roadtrips!
30 minutes out of the city
…and our bottles of Baby Duck were nearing the bottom. We were enjoying the sunny day, a nice reprieve from the insane amount of rain Southern Saskatchewan has been getting in the last few weeks. The windows were down, and cutting through the sound of the music was a siren. We knew immediately it wasn’t in the song. We were being pulled over. I laughed. “This sucks” I said to some of the guys in the car. We proceeded to hide our open booze so as not to get dinged with extra tickets. As I was hiding what was left of my bottle of Baby Duck, I was informed that there was some “Sticky Icky” in the car. Which didn’t come as a surprise, as this was a Joe Cocker & Tom Petty show. I nervously laughed. “We’re screwed” said one of the guys.
License and registration, please
The RCMP asked for our drivers licence and registration, asked what the hurry was, we informed him that we were going to a concert in Saskatoon. He left with our friends ID. We were all waiting to be told to exit the vehicle, or at the very least have the officer poke his head in and smell for booze, drugs, or dead bodies. Instead, we were given a warning. “Slow it down for the rest of the trip there boys.” We replied with a “Yes sir” and proceeded to drive off quoting every line from Super Troopers. Close call!
High fives
While at a piss-stop outside of Davidson we met several other Reginans heading to Saskatoon for the same concert and proceeded to tell them about our good fortune. High-fives were shared, and we proceeded to get back on the highway for the greatest show in the world. We arrived in Saskatoon, grabbed some food and beers at Avocados, a great little restaurant with a sweet patio. After a few Cracked Canoes we met up at one of our friends apartments for some more pre-drinking, the show was still a couple hours away after all.
You don’t have to live like a refugee
After consuming a large amount of rum & cokes, we were all sufficiantly lubricated for the show. We arrived at the Credit Union Centre with 12 friends, some new, some old, and a few I’ve already forgotten the names to. We grabbed our seats, a pointless object at a show this intense, and experienced the raw powerful vocals of Joe Cocker, and catchy riffs of Tom Petty. To say it was a good show would be the biggest understatement of the century. Ever.
If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed or receive updates by Email. Thanks for visiting!
My name is Corbin. I'm a 20-something guy from the flatlands of Canada. I'm currently a part time travel writer, web designer, and musician. I started this site in the hopes of learning a little more about where I come from. Somewhere along the way it decided to evolve into an independent travel guide for other backpackers interested in traveling Canada on a budget. Join me for the ride, and if you happen to be backpacking across Canada, feel free to contact me to be part of this Canada travel guide.
Please tell me the driver wasn’t drinking that stuff!
Also, would KILL to go to that concert.
Candice´s last blog ..E-Book Review: Nomadic Matt’s “How to Teach English Overseas”
No ma’am, there was 4 of us in the car. We had 1 of our buddies in the cockpit as designated driver. Poor guy drew the short straw. lol. But the concert…ah! It was like if you turned music into chocolate, then covered it with like ice cream, and honey, and all these other really sweet products, then consumed them all at an alarming rate, then got soooo spun up on all these sweets that you were all of the sudden singing all the girly parts to all the songs and reaching in the air like a rabid fan. It was that good.
Saskatchewan looks extremely flat. But sounds like you had a good time!
The best time!
DAVIDSON!!! supplying A&W to saskatchewan roadtrippers for years.
Driving up to S’toon from home (Regina) was always interupted with some A&W.
@Jaz – Davidson rocks. When I was a kid I remember stopping there on the way home from hockey tournaments in Saskatoon at least once a year. Ah the Teen Burger, never change.