The Deaner just might be the most famous lowlife Albertan in the world. He was just a regular guy, drinking and partying and givin’er every day until a couple of filmmakers decided to make a movie of the life of him and his friend Terry.
All of a sudden, Deaner became a cult hero, his hard partying ways a rallying cry to many, even as they watched him lose a testicle to cancer in FUBAR and try to get on workers comp in the sequel.
Now, Deaner is taking his life on the road with his band Nightseeker. He’ll be doing a live commentary of FUBAR 2 and playing a show this Saturday, Oct. 15, at the River City Pub.
“I heard that’s where all the bears go to *beep* party,” he said in an interview last week.
“They just love it there. Even though it’s a really dangerous place to party they keep *beep* showing up. They must really love it.”
I told him that at least eight bears have been killed here recently after digging around through people’s garbage for food. “Sounds like my kind of place,” he replied.
When we last encountered Deaner he and Terry were living up in Fort McMurray. Since then, Deaner has moved back to Calgary and got to work making Nightseeker a real, working band.
With the move, the band has changed. On guitar and vocals is a fellow named Ian. “He’s got this amazing ability to sing and play guitar at the same time which is pretty f’in rare, other than like Jimi Hendrix. He sings like an angel and he plays like Tony Iomi,” said Deaner.
Also on guitar is Choyce, described as the “psychedelic riff master.” Psychedelic probably being the longest word Deaner has ever used.
On drums is Deaner’s buddy Poof. “He’s like the artillery in a war. He’s like ‘Boom, boom, boom!’ Cannon shots from the back, and we’re the front guys running around with big guns.”
On bass and vocals is the Deaner himself and, yes, he’s still got his falsetto, as he demonstrated to me on the phone. He also said his bass playing has got way better. As he put, it’s like he has an extra finger.
I asked him how the new line-up compared to the one we saw in the movie. “We’re a bit more Sabbath and maybe a bit more Iron Maiden-y,” he said. “Most of the guys in the other band were just drinkers and the guys in this band, they’re smokers too. You get that element of psychedelicness.”
The show at the Regent will also include a live DVD commentary by Deaner. He’ll let us in on some secrets, like the fact they used two identical cars in the movie.
“I’ll be like, ‘Oh yeah! I remember that!’ or ‘Oh yeah! That chick has really nice boobs.’ or ‘Oh yeah! I lost $10 to that guy in a bet.’ Just like little tidbits.”
This will be Deaner’s first trip to Revelstoke, as far as he knows. He may have been here before in a drunken haze but he won’t actually know until he gets here.
“We’ve managed to put music and a show together that takes music to the next level,” he said. “Stokians are going to be *beep* stoked.”
Nightseeker plays at the River City Pub on Oct. 15. Monster Truck is opening and the show will be preceded by a live commentary of FUBAR 2 by The Deaner. Doors open at 9 p.m.