BALM Squad

Coming up this Friday! Thrash can party time with .beers
Huge thank you to Los Bozos for setting this show up to help us recoup after our Airline losses last month, we are very grateful to have such an amazing and supportive scene. SEE YALL THERE

So let us tell you why not to fly WestJet .

We knew we had entered the circus when sometime between connecting flights (Ottawa>Toronto>Calgary) they managed to snap the headstock off this $2000 Les Paul during its transference of being gate-checked, even within its reinforced flight case. We discovered this in Calgary and began the first of many claims for damages and neglect, one that was denied because the exterior of the case wasnt damaged enough (implying we knowingly packed up a broken guitar 🫠). We tallied this as a loss and began to move on.

After another uncomfortable flight, compounded by the cattiness of their staff after we expressed they had broken our gear, we landed in Mexico City. Upon waiting at the baggage carousel for about an hour and only receiving 1 of our 3 checked pieces of luggage we began looking for answers. Let me add this particular circuit (Calgary to Mexico City), we came to find, is notoriously incompetent and many Reddit posts attest to their unwillingness to be helpful and the loss of luggage. After being mislead for another hour an employee (one of CDMX Westjet's entire staff of SEVEN) informed us that someone on the Calgary end picked up our merch bag and simply deemed it "too heavy" to travel. The heaviness we paid an additional $100 on top of regular fee to ensure we had it with us for an international tour.

We had one night in Mexico City before heading north for a two week tour, now with a broken guitar and thousands of dollars worth of merch nowhere to be found, along with another regular suitcase with personal items for no plausible reason. We filled out their half-assed report sheet and began another claim online to somehow get our merch to us before our first show the following night. We then found out that would be impossible as the only flights they have between Calgary and Mexico are once daily with a 1am skeleton crew.

We started north with a show or two between the only logical next airport city to retrieve our luggage, Monterrey. After daily one sided phone calls and no updates online to the whereabouts of these bags we came and went from our shows in northern Mexico. Even after consulting an employee at CDMX airport, and speaking with numerous agents, after a week they simply did not know where 77lbs worth of our tour exclusive merchandise was. The loss of potential revenue was being felt hard, our fury with their neglect harder.

We made our way back south and on our only off day spent it chasing around agents back at the Mexico City airport to absolutely no avail. Just more wasted time and effort they made no attempt to match. By the end of our show dates and not a single call on their behalf, after paying a (great) luthier in Mexico City around $500 to fix the guitar they broke, it was time to fly home.

Our last hours in Mexico were spent, once again, trying to get to the bottom of where our belongings could possibly be at the CDMX airport. They'd promised to fly them to Monterrey, then to an address of our choosing, but after 15 days they still dont even know where they are. We barely made our flights after once again coming up empty handed in dealing with them, and after checking the last possessions we did have, arrived in Ottawa with one less bass guitar.

After specifically telling the Westjet agent in CDMX he needed to put the bass and it's jumbo case in oversized priority we were shrugged off and assured it would all be good. A round trip, 3 lost articles, one broken guitar, a tour that ended as a loss with no ability to generate money from merch sales, and an almost mockingly callous airline responsible for it all.

We still dont know where the luggage is after daily correspondence. We're still down a beloved custom bass. We're still provided nothing but brush offs and false assurity.

Feel free to share and maybe spare another touring band this kind of nightmarish mistreatment.

Mexico was a f**king blast! We want to thank every venue, promoter and attendee for such a beautiful time but above all the man who was truly the lifeblood behind Blood, Sweat and Beers : . An absolute treasure who put it all together and ensured everything went off without a hitch. Te amamos carnal!!

That being said WestJet absolutely f**ked our lives up to and from; follow up post to come regarding that.

Viva motherf**king Mexico 🇲🇽 🖤

Amazing first night in Querétaro, onward to Saltillo tonight!
BALM

A few updates to Blood Sweat and Beers 🇲🇽!
Just over a week until we head south ⛓️

MEXICO DATES, VENUES AND TOUR EXCLUSIVE MERCH 🇲🇽 💀 🇲🇽

Join us THIS THURSDAY in a funding drive for / rip fest! Additional to Tuesday's sick line up we'll be joined by Kleener (TO) , Constrictor (Sudbury) and new local riot grrls Candy Says ⛓️

JANUARY/ENERO 🇲🇽 ....details to come 🙉🙈🙊