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OUR VIEW
MOTORCYCLIST FED UP WITH ‘STUPID SPEEDS’ I PAGE B1
IT CAN BE A STRESSFUL TIME PAGE A3 FOR STUDENTS
HIP PRESENTATION PROVES CBC’s WORTH PAGE A6
THE ERA
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PEOPLE
Drummer crosses Canada in hippy-style tour bus BY CHRIS SIMON
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There were a few times during the last three weeks when Jack Feherty assumed he’d be taking an airplane back out west. Feherty, a drummer for the band Shotgun, was raised in Newmarket and attended high school in Aurora. He moved to Vancouver, British Columbia a few years ago and joined Shotgun — which also consists of lead singer Adam Janis, guitarist Davis Steele and bassist Spencer Dodd — shortly afterward. They’ve been growing in popularity and defining their sound and when they decided to tour Canada this summer, Shotgun wanted to travel in something memorable. So they purchased a 30-yearold school bus with about 300,000 kilometres on the odometer. After fixing it up, they hired an artist to paint the bus. It has a distinct west coast-theme, depicting the Rocky Mountains, nature, flowers and mushrooms. The concept takes you back to the early days of rock n’ roll and the ‘60s hippy movement, when bands would tour for weeks or months across the continent. But beds, cooking equipment, an X-Box and power inverters have been added to give the young men everything they need to survive modern life on the road. Once the bus was ready, they loaded up supplies, equipment and audio engineer Jordan Leganchuk and took off. The
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WANT MORE? For more information on the band, visit facebook.com/ ShotgunForAltamont or shotgunband.bandcamp.com.
bus barely made it up steep inclines at times, often created long lines of traffic and occasionally took a few attempts to start, but Shotgun arrived at Feherty’s parents’ house in Newmarket after a more than three-week journey. The band crashed at the house for a few days and played shows in the Greater Toronto Area, including a gig for family and friends in the backyard of the Feherty home. “We got verbally assaulted at one point for delaying traffic,” Feherty, wearing a sleeveless Slayer shirt and sitting on his parents’ deck, said. “But it gets better the more you drive it. We’re driving the cobwebs out of it. The bus is everything we need.” Each member has a different set of influences, ranging from Pearl Jam and Our Lady Peace to punk, funk and folk. That eclectic mix inspires a unique sound that they joke is similar to Alexisonfire, minus the screaming. “We’ve pretty much had a stop in every See page A4.
Susie Kockerscheidt/Metroland
Jack Feherty’s (front) band, Shotgun, is touring Canada in an old school bus designed by Emma Wetheril of Vancouver. Band members on the bus are Jordan Leganchuk (from left), Adam Janis, Davis Steeley and Spencer Dodd.
COMMUNITY
Homeless, pregnant: Newmarket woman spent 5 weeks on street Couple trying to earn enough money to get to west coast BY CHRIS SIMON
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Mike Barrett / Metroland
Kelsey Belcher and boyfriend Rein Hobe are hoping to find support for a move to British Colombia.
Kelsey Belcher and Rein Hobe are trying to get onto the road to recovery after an incredibly difficult last few months. The couple moved to Newmarket from the west coast in December to live with Hobe’s father. They hoped for a better life after ties with other family members became strained. But the relationship between the couple and Hobe’s dad quickly soured. So when Hobe’s father found out Belcher was pregnant a few months ago, he kicked them out of his
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YOU CAN HELP Anyone who can provide assistance is asked to call Belcher at 289-383-2536.
house, according to the couple. They spent the next five weeks living in a stretch of bush near Hwy. 404, and huddled next to a garbage bin behind a local restaurant, where they got by because patrons and the manager would often drop off food and hot beverages. “He didn’t want a pregnant woman
living in his house and didn’t want me to be with his son,” Belcher, 31 weeks pregnant, said Wednesday. “It’s harder than heck to get into any (shelter). I was getting sick and had to get out of the bush and into residence. You have no family around, nobody to support you. I grew up in the country and if you had no place to stay a friend would invite you to stay with them. When something goes wrong, they’re always there to help you out.” See page A4.
MUSIC
Thousands take in Hip concert viewing in Newmarket BY TIM KELLY
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hen it was all over Saturday night and Gord Downie, iconic singer of the legendary Canadian rock band the Tragically Hip, had taken his last bow in his hometown of Kingston, Aurora and Newmarket fans couldn’t have asked for anything more. “It’s amazing,” said Sandy Baslamisli, 40, who watched the show on a giant community screen at Aurora Town Park with about 2,000 other Hip fans on a warm summer night. “They’re a part of our history … it’s a sad night, an emotional night. They did a great job,” she added. Sandy’s husband Murat, 44, who saw the band live once, said “it was awesome, they left everything on that stage.” He said he wished, “Gord the best for his battle to come,” referencing the incurable brain cancer Downie told fans he was battling in May, before the band announced its final tour that culminated in Saturday’s show. That show, which was screened live on CBC and shown at public viewings across Canada, including in Newmarket, Geor-
Jay Gutteridge/Metroland
A large crowd watches a live broadcast of The Tragically Hip: A National Celebration at Riverwalk Commons in Newmarket. See Page A4 for more photographs. gina as well as Aurora, drew millions of adoring fans. They came to pay tribute one last time to a band with a 30-year history, 14 studio albums and dozens of songs that reference
Canadian themes. Downie has a beloved reputation as the band’s lyricist and charismatic lead singer and he didn’t disappoint — delivering hit after hit Saturday evening.
Shannon Drysdale, 39 of Newmarket, who saw the band six times, said she grew up with the band. “Their songs add meanings and memories to everything.” She said her favourite Hip songs are “Ahead by a Century” and “Bobcaygeon,” both of which made the cut last night. Marilyn Merrikin, 47, of Aurora, who saw the band eight times, was so excited about seeing the Hip, she made her own stylized Canadian flag and brought her daughter, Raygan, 18, along too. “Gord Downie and the Hip have played a huge part in my life. For over 30 years now, I loved the Hip, longer than my children have been alive.” Raygan was lucky enough to go to a show at the ACC in Toronto last week, seeing one of their final shows live. Lee Ehring, 55, who saw the band four times over the decades, said he appreciated how, “their music was a reflection of what’s going on in Canada, our history, our heritage. Not too many people wrote songs about hockey. “They were singing about us, here in Canada.” He said he will miss the Hip. “I’m probably going to go home and cry,” he said.
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