New Travel Book: ‘Around the World in 57½ Gigs’
Travel Blog • Eva Holland • 11.05.07 | 10:44 AM ET
Author: Dave Bidini, also the author of Tropic of Hockey: My Search for the Game in Unlikely Places and guitarist for Canadian indie legends The Rheostatics.
Released: Oct. 30, 2007
Travel genre: Musical quest
Territory covered: Gigs on four continents, from Mongolia and Finland to Sierra Leone and Newfoundland
Promo copy: “When it looks as if the Rheostatics are breaking up after more than twenty years together, Dave Bidini is left feeling adrift from his moorings and decides to go on a very long road trip, playing solo and finding out about the state of rock ‘n’ roll around the world. Accompanied much of the way by his friend Al, who also has a solo act, Bidini sets out for London, England, his springboard for travel to Finland, Russia, China, Sierra Leone, and Ghana, punctuated by trips to Newfoundland and Gananoque in Canada, and to New York City… Peopled with hosers, the über-hip, and the profoundly baffled, and brimming with tales of playing in strange venues to bemused locals and the odd drunk, Around the World takes readers on an unforgettable, ear-opening swing through the world of rock ‘n’ roll.”
Critical verdict: “Around the World in 57½ Gigs” is “a powerful read and a fascinating combination of travelogue, confessional memoir and musical history. Bidini narrates his adventures with a mixture of comedy and introspection. In addition, he hungrily delves into the musical history of each region. Readers get to learn about the Finnish Elvis, aspiring rappers in Sierra Leone and struggling rockers in China who can’t find a gig unless they’re willing to play entire sets of cover songs.” (Chart Attack) “Bidini’s ironic Gen-X approach results in honest, unfiltered observations, such as when he describes street life in the emergent China, Russia’s Wild West cities or the “church mouse” audience of a Finnish pub with an Irish theme in a town between Tampere and Helsinki…Bidini is part musician, part travel guide and a walking music encyclopaedia who wears his influences like his signature fedora.” (Toronto Star)