So why no reunion shows for a couple years? Well,
everybody had their lives and it wasn't easy coordinating things; time just
went by with no one having much impetus to get anything moving. The release
of When We Ruled became that impetus. When
was the most logical time for five busy people to get together and play some
shows? Boxing Week: when everyone could take holidays. So with a warmup gig
for radio contest winners a couple weeks prior, The Pursuit of Happiness played
five shows in six days, from Boxing Day to New Year's Eve. It was a pretty
surreal situation for five people who hadn't been in a van together for three
years, with lives including a husband, two wives, two long-term significant-others,
multiple new careers and a newborn baby. But it was a chance to have a lot
of fun, dredge up a lot of memories, sell some records, make a lot of people
happy and maybe find some closure. The chance was taken, played for all it
was worth, and dearly appreciated.
The penultimate show during that week, at Lee's
Palace in Toronto December 29, is now featured as our exclusive MP3 of
the Week series on the Audio page. For a review of
that show, check here.
(thanks Brad!) You can find some great video clips
of that night, the first night and the last night on our
xdrive space (login: tpoh@canada.com, password: pursuit). Here, though,
are some photos from some amazing fans who were kind enough to share them.
If you have any more photos, please send them along. Huge thanks to Nick
Sciarratta, Peter Lopez,
Ross Sedgewick, Andrew Lee (who took the photo above), Spencer
Taylor, Stephen
A. Gazzola (architect, Guelph ON, and our exclusive Waterloo photographer),
Mark Inward (our
man in Hamilton) and Mitsuyo Okada. Special mention to Kris Abbott-McNeil
for her help on Mitsuyo's material.
December 26, Big Buck's Mountain Lodge, St. Catharines
December 27, The Underground, Hamilton
December 28, Starlight Social Club, Waterloo
December 29, Lee's Palace, Toronto
December 31, Victoria Park Bandshell, London
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