Line-up
- Kim Mitchell : Vocals/Guitar
- Terry Watkinson : Keyboards
- Gary McCracken : Drums
- Dave Myles : Bass
Bands
- Wireless
- The Battered Wives
Partial Setlist
- Toronto Tontos
Photos
Photos © Mike Young:
Photos © Jim Kelly:
Ads and Posters
Fan Stories
Jef Knight
My drummer Lyle, and I, decided we would hitchhike to Minden from Lindsay to see Max so we rolled up a bag of joints, as was the thing to do at the time, and headed thumbs-out up the highway. It was around noon on a very warm, sunny Sunday, perfect for adventure.
We got a couple of short rides that got us most of the way. Our third ride was a heavyset guy in a old, white towing truck. He was pretty cool - clearly an old hippy. Lyle asked him if he wanted to smoke a joint, and he said, “I’m already pretty high, but sure, why not!” A few minutes later everyone got all chatty. He asked us where we were going so we told him our plan to get to Minden early enough to meet Max Webster before the show. He then told us that he was in a band once, said he was the guitarist for Strawberry Alarm Clock. Seemed fascinating at the time, but in retrospect I have my doubts.
The towing truck took us right to Minden where we had lunch and enjoyed the sights. We figured that load in would be around 3 or 4 pm, and eventually made our way out to the Minden Arena. As we walked up the long entrance driveway a couple of Rider trucks pulled in and passed us. Our excitement was palpable - we were going to meet Max Webster!
Not wanting to get in the way, Lyle and I sat on the shady grass by the side door of the arena and watched as the roadies unloaded the Max truck. Being in a band that was getting lots of attention ourselves, we were amazed by the whole thing, and dreamed getting our shot at all of this.
After the roadies had emptied the truck the band members started mulling around outside. Kim Mitchell discovered a pile of old railroad ties out behind the arena, and began loading them into the truck. “Waddaya gonna do with those?” I asked, “Shelves for my record collection.” he replied dryly. Kim wasn’t too interested in chatting and went on his merry way.
Over by the door, Terry and Gary were just hanging out with some roadies. We went over and struck up a conversation with them. They were very nice guys, especially Gary. We all sat in the cool summer shade and Lyle passed around a joint. I don’t remember if the band members had any, but we all were having a pretty nice conversation out there. Then the time came for everyone to go in and get serious, and do a sound check. Lyle and I stayed for that, then went back to town for some dinner.
We came back to the Arena quite early, hoping to hang out with the band some more. Lyle went back to their dressing room, and the band told him to wait out in the arena. After a few minutes Terry, Gary and Dave came out to say hi, because Lyle, being a pretty cool artist, had something for them. He presented them with a very large painting he had brought, rolled up, that was Max themed. They were really excited to get it, because it was really great looking, and they were very thankful. As we talked more I finally got the courage to tell them about our band. I pulled out a demo tape we had recently recorded, and gave it to them. I was surprised when they told us that this was a pretty cool thing, and were eager to hear it. These cats were not like the average stuck-up musician types at all. But they had to get ready to go on stage, and headed back to their dressing room.
Lyle and I mulled around the arena as the crowd rolled in. We were pleasantly surprised when Brian, our bass player, and Kev, our singer showed up. The whole band was there, and Max Webster was going to be great.
The lights went down and the warm up music started. After a couple of songs the music stopped for a bit, and when it started back up they were playing our demo tape! Holy Fuck! A ton of our friends were there that night, including the big “rival band.” Our song, “Scary Brainz” played with its big punch ending, and without skipping a beat Max fired into “Here Among the Cats.” We thought we’d died and gone to heaven.
That pretty much promoted us to “gods in waiting” in our local music scene.