2024 was quite the year! Lots happening around the world, in Canada, and right here in London, Ontario. Looking back over the year and even though we’re a few weeks into the new year, I have so many fond memories of 2024 that I feel compelled to share.

January

The year began with music. On New Year’s Day, I joined my dear friends John Young and Edward Platero for the first Pop Rockets rehearsal of the year. We’d played our first three shows in the preceding three months and were gearing up for an exciting year ahead.

Two days later, I performed a solo show at Mustang Sally’s. It was my first solo show using in-ear monitors and an issue with one of the main speakers led me to discover the gain knobs for the main channels on my new mixer. The Pop Rockets performed our first show of the year at Dundas & Sons. At the end of the month, I performed with Pamela Scharback at The Mockingbird.

Work-wise, I was in the middle of another project with the team at Make IT. January marked six years since my first project with Make IT and our twentieth project collaboration. The team at Make IT is equal parts talented, skilled, knowledgeable, professional, and compassionate. They’ve been supportive of me in good times and bad and we’ve built some really cool technology together. I am so grateful to be part of the team.

January marked six years since my first project with Make IT and our twentieth project collaboration.

Also in January, I built and launched a new website for my friend and musical collaborator, Jamie Shrier. Based on the work I had done to create PatrickDouglas.ca, I was able to quickly spin up a new Jekyll site for Jamie to update with his biography and a list of upcoming and past shows.

February

February began with an impromptu Pop Rockets show at the Richmond Tavern to cover another band’s cancellation. Despite the short notice, we were graced with the presence of New Democrat Party federal candidate for London North, Dirka Prout!

The next week featured one of the best open mics of the year as we celebrated Vinnie Vincenzo’s birthday. Vinnie has since become a good friend and works with the Pop Rockets as a sound engineer and stagehand. He has hosted open mics in London for thirty years and is an accomplished and entertaining multi-instrumentalist. I don’t mean to spoil a bit of November, but I built a one-page site for Vinnie, along with business cards I designed using a wonderful illustration of Vinnie drawn by Shaela Kinting.

A week later, I made my way to Kitchener to meet up with my friends Tyler, Mike, and Dustin to spend the night in Toronto and see Wolves of Glendale live at Velvet Underground. I arrived in Kitchener early so I could attend a remote client meeting from my friend’s house and was a little surprised to discover my friend wasn’t already home but figured he was finishing up some work.

I called to ask him about getting into the house and was met with laughter.

I was a week early 🤦‍♂️

So, I did the meeting, visited my friend’s super cool robotics factory, and then drove home.

A few days prior to this, I’d spent an evening at the Richmond Tavern with someone I met through the Winks open mic. We’d had a great time and continued chatting throughout the week. When I mentioned my scheduling mishap and newly discovered free time, she invited me to join her for a drink later that evening.

Amanda and I met up that night, and aside from a two-week trip to Newfoundland in August (spoilers! Apologies again!), we haven’t spent more than a couple of days apart since.

The following week, my friends and I finally made our way to Velvet Underground for Wolves of Glendale. I’d only seen one of their live videos and hadn’t listened to their music beforehand, so I was delighted to experience them for the first time in person. Their lyrics were as funny as their songs were catchy, and my friends and I had a blast.

Ten days later, Amanda and I saw City and Colour live at Budweiser Gardens (now Canada Life Place). I think it may be the last time I see a live concert from a seat—I missed the energy of being in the general admission area, swaying with the crowd, and singing along. Good show, but not as fun as Wolves of Glendale.

…we haven’t spent more than a couple of days apart since.

On the last Saturday of February, the Pop Rockets and I celebrated my 39th birthday by performing at Winks. The birthday gig drew a great crowd of friends and family, and we had an amazing night singing and dancing.

March

I saw Annie for the first time when it played at Budweiser Gardens for the Broadway in London series. I’d purchased season tickets the year before and had seen Jesus Christ Superstar and Come From Away. Annie was my favourite of the four performances I attended (the fourth was Little Women in April… whoops 😅), but they were all excellent.

The Pop Rockets played St. Patrick’s Day at Winks. We extended our usual set, playing four hours instead of three. We learned as many Irish songs as we could and also Jump Around by House of Pain.

I drove to Hamilton for Easter Dinner with my sister and her in-laws. It was delicious 😋

April

I worked a bunch. Amanda and I watched WrestleMania from home. The Pop Rockets performed at Winks on the 20th. I had my first rehearsal playing bass with Sarnia’s Best Worst Band, Beer Store Money. I performed a solo gig at Kelseys Original Roadhouse and, as noted earlier, saw Little Women.

On the last day of April, I discovered that a corner of my house’s foundation was crumbling 🤦‍♂️

May

May featured another Pop Rockets show at Winks; another Beer Store Money rehearsal; a trip to Stratford to move a futon for a friend; and—on a less fun note—a tick I removed from my pup, Billy.

Musically, I played my first live gig with Beer Store Money at the Richmond Tavern; my second gig of the year—this time with my dear friend and musical collaborator, Carly Thomas—at The Mockingbird; and a performance at a coffeehouse event at St. Peter’s Anglican Church in my hometown of Dorchester.

June

June was packed with even more music: a duo gig with Jamie Shrier, followed by a solo gig at Kelseys Original Roadhouse, another coffeehouse gig at Army Navy Airforce Club 393, and a Pop Rockets gig at Winks.

Later in the month, I spent the day at the Ontario Institute of Audio Recording Technology to record a song I co-wrote over a decade prior right before I first moved home from Vancouver. The song, Boombox, was originally released back in 2014 on Steady Diet by Raised on DJs, a new-wave album spearheaded by vocalist Kevin Gau and producer Sean McKay (SPM). I’d started playing the song acoustically at open mics where it was warmly received, so I was excited by the idea of recording a new version of it.

Unfortunately, my performance on the recording didn’t live up to my expectations, so for now, that project remains on the shelf. I’m hopeful I can take another crack at it this year.

After many hours of research and speaking with a few fellow homeowners, I hired an engineering firm to do a full architectural assessment of the house, including the crumbling foundation. They sent me drawings and gave the rest of the house the A-OK.

July

July started with another Pop Rockets gig at Winks (sensing a trend yet?), followed by a camping trip with Amanda, Jamie, and local chef Phil up in Algonquin.

Amanda and I drove my trailer north, making it just past Mitchell before the right trailer tire blew. We pulled over, only to realize we didn’t have the right tools to remove the tire. While on the phone with CAA, a kind passerby stopped, pulled out his power drill, and replaced the flat with the spare in minutes. We were so grateful!

At this point, I discovered that I had accidentally set Google Maps to avoid highways when plotting our route 🤦‍♂️ Eager to make up time, we pressed on–until we hit Orillia, where our second trailer tire went flat.

After loading the trailer onto a massive flatbed, the CAA driver dropped it at the nearest Canadian Tire, where Amanda and I spent our first night camping—in the parking lot. We woke up before the store opened, and after a short wait, had brand-new tires installed and were back on the road to Algonquin’s beautiful crown land.

Amanda and I spent a couple of days camping with Jamie and Phil, including a failed attempt to canoe with Billy in tow, then spent the rest of the week camping by ourselves. Amanda cooked several 5-star meals over the campfire 🤤

That Wednesday was Amanda’s birthday (the reason for the trip), which we spent mostly in the trailer to avoid the rain. Despite the early setbacks and the rain, the trip was fun, relaxing, and memorable— everything you hope for when camping.

Later that month, I performed at my first Pride London Festival with Carly Thomas and her band. This time, I played both guitar and keyboards for the first time with Carly’s band.

The next day, I played my least favourite show of the year. I won’t go into details or name the venue, but it was the last time I’ll ever perform there.

Amanda cooked several 5-star meals over the campfire 🤤

After a duo gig with Jamie and another solo gig at Kelseys, the month rounded off with my favourite Beer Store Money gig of the year at the Dresden Night Market. Things were a little hairy as we awaited a band member who arrived late, but in the end we had an awesome time performing on that stage.

I hired the Foundation Brothers to fix the crumbling foundation. From what I could tell, none of the three men who arrived were related, but they did do a very good job.

August

In August, I finally met my second niece! My brother, Rob, and his family moved back to Newfoundland in 2023 and had their second daughter a month later. I was finally able to make my way East to visit in August and spent two weeks fishing, exploring, and connecting with my nieces. Newfoundland also features delicious food and breathtaking views, so it’s always a pleasure to visit.

It was also my first proper vacation from work in a long time. I still checked Slack occasionally, but I maintained more distance from my computer than ever before. Little did I know that it would be another few months until I’d be working again. That’s not a spoiler, that’s foreshadowing!

The Carly Thomas Band also travelled to Windsor for their Pride Festival. Later that night, Carly, band member Imogen, Amanda, Amanda’s friend Wendy, and I took in the sunset at Mitchell’s Bay.

August ended with another camping trip, this time a little closer to home at the Fanshawe Conservation Area. It was my first time camping at Fanshawe and Amanda and I had an amazing time. Amanda cooked several more 5-star meals over the campfire and we enjoyed several beautiful nights under the stars.

Newfoundland also features delicious food and breathtaking views almost everywhere you turn, so it’s always a pleasure to visit.

September & October

September marked a huge milestone for the Pop Rockets. On September 7, we began our two-month residency at Winks. As you may have noted, we had maintained a monthly gig performing there through the year and were stoked for the opportunity to perform weekly.

Though we weren’t able to pack the place every week, we did have a couple of very successful nights during that two-month stretch. In particular, the Saturday before Hallowe’en saw a fantastic turnout and great retention of the crowd throughout the night. It was really nice to end our residency on such a high.

The experience caused me to realize I need more education and/or experience promoting events. I’m still unsure what else I could have done to make every week a success. I’m hopeful I’ll be able to work that out this year.

On September 14, the Pop Rockets attempted something none of us had ever tried before: we played two shows—a total of 4.5 hours—in one day. That afternoon, we performed a ninety minute set at Sidelaunch Brewing for their Brews & Views event. Scheduled to coincide with the London Airshow, the event featured live music with jets flying overhead during the show! Definitely one of the coolest gigs we’ve played. That night, we continued our residency at Winks.

The Pop Rockets performed at our first festival when we made our way to Rodney, Ontario for the Roots & Revival Festival near the end of October. I also performed my first gig at Palasad Socialbowl with Carly Thomas.

In early October, I began work on a side project. Whenever I perform–either solo or with the Pop Rockets–people request songs I don’t know or at least don’t know how to play. That said, I love when I can play a song that someone requests, knowing they’ll truly enjoy it.

To that end, I designed and built an app listing all of the songs I know how to play, allowing audience members to request a song with a single tap. When a song is requested, the band receives a push notification in real time. I haven’t tested the system in a live setting yet, but plan to do so soon. If you’re curious to see a preview, you can check out this screen recording showing how the application works.

…the Saturday before Halloween saw a fantastic turnout and great retention of the crowd throughout the night. It was really nice to end our residency on such a high.

October also marked my parents’ 55th wedding anniversary. Married in 1969, they vowed to stay together ‘til death, and they did. I still miss them every day. I especially missed my father at the end of October. Halloween would have been his 74th birthday, but the night before marked three years since his passing.

November

I had the opportunity to perform with Carly Thomas and her band at the Richmond Tavern for the VENUExVENUE concert series here in London. Our gig was on a Thursday night, the first night of the series. The setup was a bit chaotic, leading to some early discombobulation, but once we got going, we had a blast performing together again.

I worked with my friend Jay to replace some rotting fence posts in my backyard. It took a few days due to inclimate weather, but we were able to get them replaced and get the fencing back up before the first snow of the season. Unfortunately, I didn’t get the tops of the posts cut before the snow fell, but at least the fence isn’t toppling over as it has in years past. ☺️

December

Finally—another work project! In December, I started on a new project working once again with the amazing folks at Make IT. Also, I published two case studies documenting a couple of projects I have built with the Make IT team over the years:

1. A responsive web application for the Yukon Environmental and Socio-Economic Assessment Board.
2. A modern trading system for a Calgary-based energy brokerage.

December also brought an exciting addition to our family! On the 4^th–our ten-month anniversary–Amanda and I adopted a new kitty. We met Claude while shopping and walking Billy at the new PetValu on Wharncliffe Road.

Claude is a tiny ball of joy who unfortunately had a rough start in life, living on the streets with his siblings. They were found at the corner of Commissioners and Wonderland, and Claude was the last to be adopted.

His information card indicated he was “very affectionate”, and we can gladly report this is true! Claude has a lot of energy and loves to chase Amanda’s cat, Opie. At night, he transforms into the ultimate cuddle bug, stretching out across our laps as we watch television and soaking in the pets and cuddles. He even gets along with Billy! He’s a real sweetheart.

Later in the month, Amanda and I hosted Christmas dinner for a few friends and family. We made a big turkey dinner with all the fixings and topped the night off with pie and eggnog.

[Claude’s] information card indicated he was “very affectionate”, and we can gladly report this is true!

The following week, the Pop Rockets were honoured to grace Winks once again to celebrate New Year’s Eve. We spent the month of December learning as many new songs as we could, while our bassist and visual artist, Edward, put together all new 3D environments for our interactive visuals—including an amazing countdown animation featuring a rocket blasting off into space! He also hand-crafted 50 friendship bracelets to hand out through the night.

The show itself was awesome. The bar was packed, the energy was high, and the Pop Rockets played our hearts out. We had so much fun and are grateful to the owners and staff at Winks for entrusting us with such a big night.

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Overall, 2024 was an amazing year filled with family, friends, work, music, and love. I’m grateful to have met and built a loving relationship with Amanda, to have my amazing friends John and Edward with me in the band, to continue collaborating with the talented team at Make IT, and for good health and happiness. Here’s to another great year ahead!

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