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I've been busy, and I've been remiss. That's not really an excuse, that's just the way it is but you don't really  need to know that... The point is, I always knew that my pal Steve Poltz was awesome in all the senses of the word (even the ones that have been bastardized over the last decade) and tonight's show illustrated that very point...

Holy smokes, if you're a music fan and you don't come out to see Steve, you suck, plain and simple. OK, maybe you just don't know. Maybe you didn't see him at StanFest. Maybe you missed all the articles in the newspapers. Maybe you were living under a rock!?!

The point is, get your ass out to the shows that are left, because it's anyone's guess when Steve is going to be back. As always, I insist on a money-back guarantee on shows we present at The Carleton. Given what I saw tonight, my guarantee is as safe as milk (as Captain Beefheart would say). Be there or be hopelessly square.

Steve Poltz at The Carleton - Tuesday, July 8th and Wednesday, July 9th - tickets are $20 plus taxes - you don't need dinner reservations, but I'd make them if I were you :')

That's right, patio. If one is on Argyle St., one needs to have a patio, so we went to great lengths to make sure The Carleton's would be very, very nice. It is. It's cedar, don't you know. And there are nice comfy chairs and some lovely plants that we're hoping the late night denizens of the street won't decide to just uproot and strew about the place...

This particular patio, I might add, gets more sun than any other spot on the street, so you can watch the sun go down whilst cooling your heels (and quenching your thirst) with a nice beverage and/or perhaps some of our great food.

Please  come by to check it out. Oh, and we have music out there too!

I've been in the Music Business pretty much forever and I've prided myself on the fact that I've always been able to hold my own; keep my act together; pretty much handle myself in any situation, regardless of how sleep deprived or just plain addled I might have felt and I was young then! I thought the resaurant/bar business would be a breeze compared to that. I had friends who'd been in that business before look me in the eye (kinda sideways) and say, "What are ya...NUTS!?!" I ignored them - and don't get me wrong, I'm glad I ignored them - but I hate to admit I now know what they were saying. It's a lot of work. If you want to know exactly how much work, just come to The Carleton and ask for me and I'll be happy to tell you about it. After about an hour (before I've taken my first breath) you can feel free to ask Securtiy - if we had any - to have me removed from my own premises! Anyway, what I wanted to talk about is our live entertanment. I'm thrilled to be able to schedule some insanely great entertainment for you, our patron - or potential patron. Can't wait to see jill Barber tonight. We sold out Joel Plaskett's two shows without even publicly announcing them and I was hoping we could do the same for Jill's. Hey, I was a little nervous about it, didn't want to let Jill down. As it turns out, I needn't have worried. Tomorrow's show is officially sold out. Tonight's show might have a half a dozen tickets still up for grabs.Snoozing is losing at The Carleton. You're gonna want to be on our mailing list if you're interested in getting tickets to performances where you can be guaranteed a good meal, great sight-lines and great sound, in a place where we'll throw out bozos who insist on talking through shows. It's simple to do. Go to the "NEWS" tab on this website. Click on Newsletter (this is something we - and when I say "we," I mean Cliff and Andy from EverAge who designed this website for us - thought I'd do in future) and hit the "subscribe" button. This will get you advance notice of upcoming shows at the very least. When I get some sleep, I swear to all that's holy to anyone, I'll try to attach something not too annoying to show announcements. I promise I won't, "Spam-O-Rama" you... promise... 

• Steven Joseph Joshua Poltz - July 7th, 8th and 9th ($20 + tax)
• Gordie Sampson - July 21st and 22nd ($30 + tax)
• Nathan Wiley and Christina Martin - August 3rd ($20 + tax)

 Back to the restaurant/bar subject... I've gotta say, for a place that's barely been open a month, our kitchen staff and what they call, in the biz, "Front of House" (servers, managers, et al)  have been nothing short of fantastic. I'm very proud of everyone involved. If you've been to The Carleton before, I'm sure you've noticed we don't suck. If you' haven't been yet, c'mon down. What have you got to lose? 

Funny, this bar/restaurant business... Days and nights blur into one long, neverending stretch of experience that doesn't seem to lend itself to breaks that allow for any serious reflection. I'm not used to that! Having said that, there have been a significant number of blips that do merit noting:

We lit our sign last Saturday night! I know it doesn't sound like a big thing but it's at the very least, symbolic - at least to us. It now shines like a beacon up (and down) the lengths of Prince, Argyle and Barrington streets. It truly looks like it belongs there. I hope people are drawn to it like moths to the proverbial flame.

We also got through our so-called "Grand Opening." Truth to tell, this was something we didn't really give much thought until our pal Terry David Mulligan suggested he'd like to come out to cover such an event for his Hollywood and Vines TV show (Star! TV) that he hosts along with Jason Priestly. Well, when Mully says jump, we usually do, so we organized the aforementioned opening to give him a decent excuse. A fine night was enjoyed by all (with thanks to our suppliers as well as some governmental and private organizations too numerous to mention here). Jason seems like a nice guy and Mulligan stayed up waaaaay past his bedtime.

We're also gearing up for next week's Jill Barber shows. There is more info at the "Music" tab on this site. Tickets are available at The Carleton and I strongly suggest you get down there to pick yours up before they're all spoken for. You should also make plans to attend the Steve Poltz shows coming up on July 7th, 8th and 9th. Steve will, I'm sure, be getting a lot of media coverage, so watch out for that.

And finally, we've just confirmed shows for Gordie Sampson on July 21st and 22nd. Gordie does not get around to too many perfomances in this neck of the woods, since he's become a Grammy-winning songwriter (Jesus Take The Wheel). He's got a new album in the works and this will be a rare opportunity to catch his, very engaging, act. While I'm on the confirmation subject, Nathan Wiley and Christina Martin will be sharing the Carleton stage on August 3rd.

Lastly - but not leastly - we'll be building our patio over the next couple of days. If you've got too much energy and feel like grabbing a shovel, come on out to help. With any luck, we'll have that sucker up and running by Friday. Let's hope the weather doesn't make us all look like tools!

Well, we've finally decided that there's enough correct information on the site to "let those lizards loose" and get it "live," as they say in TechWorld.

That means that you can now get information on what we've got to offer for food and beverage, as well as information on upcoming shows and other, interesting stuff. If you're interested in the shows - as you should be - please go to the "News" tab and click on "Newsletter." Once there you have the option of giving us permission to put you on our Newsletter list. That list is the one we'll be using to alert our customers about shows we've just confirmed.

You'll then get first shot at buying tickets before any announcement is made to the general public. Don't worry, we won't sell your email address or even bother to bug you with mundane stuff like what the soup of the day will be. If you want to find that out, you can check other areas of the site.

If you have any questions, comments, criticisms or nice things to say about the website, or any other Carleton experience you've had, please feel free to go to the "Contact" page to let us know.

Thanks!

When I decided to open a bar/restaurant, I had no idea I was going to be practically living in the place. Good thing I like it!We're running around like freaks, trying to finish off all the little details you probably won't even notice: getting the patio built, lighting the sign, trying to find plants that won't die and desperately trying to find time to make some decent playlists for your listening pleasure. Lots and lots and lots still to do.I'll also be getting tickets printed this week for both the Jill Barber and Steve Poltz shows coming up. You can find out more about those by going to the music tab and clicking on "upcoming shows."Got a phone call from Steve Poltz yesterday. He was beside himself because he'd been allowed to dress up as the Polish Sausage for the "mascot" race they do in Milwaukee at Brewer's baseball games during the 7th inning stretch. He finished last and almost peed his suit, he was laughing so hard. Speaking of Steve and baseball, he'll be singing the National Anthem at the Jays game in Toronto on June 11th, methinks.Hopefully, you'll be reading this soon - website is due to go up this week as well. It won't be complete but it'll be up. Make sure you go to the Newsletter tab and sign up for the mailing list. I promise I won't bug you needlessly but I will be announcing shows to our mailing list before the general public gets to hear about them. You're gonna want to be on that list!Hmmm, I wonder where I put my wallet...

Seems like a complete blur but we've now been open for a couple of weeks and I'm happy to say, it's going to be as fabulous a place as I'd hoped it would be.

The food is great and the rooms are beautiful. We've still got a lot of tweaking to do but most of the work has been done and it's definitely ready to be populated by customers. Actually, the customers seem to be coming already!

We recently kicked off our live entertainment program with two mind-blowing shows from Joel Plaskett and some of his friends (his father Bill Plaskett, Ana Egge and Rose Cousins). Both were sold out (duh) and the standing ovations each night left no doubt as to what the audiences thought of them.

We already have a couple of more artists booked into the room: Jill Barber on June 18th and 19th and Steve Poltz on July 7th, 8th and 9th. I've also got something tentative slated for later in July but i can't tell you about that just yet. Stay tuned, it's pretty exciting...

It's been fun seeing old and new faces in The Carleton and we've had visitors from all over the country come in to wish us well.

But enough of this writing, it's time to start working on the patio!

Bar construction is moving ahead at a scary pace. I'm learning terms I never thought I'd live to learn, like HVAC, hood extraction, specific area venting, etc. and they are seeping into my head whether I like it or not... And just when I think the coast is clear, I'm saddled with sickness. I think it's a recurrence of my annual bout of bronchitis but it's got me basically bedridden and that's not fun, especially since we're pretty much on the home-stretch in the completion of The Carleton.

It's funny, we've been working on this so long that just getting the place built seems like an end in itself. I've got to snap myself back to reality to realize that it's only the very beginning and that - as hard as this has been - the real work will start in a scant couple of weeks.

So, I'm looking forward to (a) getting better, and (b) gearing up to host friends, acquaintances and flat-out strangers to our new place. We should be painting by the middle of next week so that floors can go down and the equipment can roll into place and we're determined to have the doors open before the end of the month.

I'm also starting to work on the live entertainment aspect of the club and should have some concrete information on that in the very near future. Trust me, it'll be exciting news...

Cough, cough, cough. Woe is me, hahaha...

Mark April 7th, 2008 on the calendar; it's the day we got our liquor license for The Carleton. In a completely anticlimactic hearing at the Utility Review Board (your guess is as good as mine as to why this is the body that approves these sorts of things - are we a utility?), we were granted our license - pending the issuing of all the necessary public safety permits - and will be able to serve our customers properly upon opening.

In other construction news, our awnings are now up on the building, natural gas installation is imminent, our H-VAC system is ready and waiting for the juice, power is flowing to the various wired elements of the space, the sound system is due for install at the end of the week, drywalling will be over in the next couple of days (don't get me started on that nightmare), painting should commence by the end of the week, floors will go in next week, lights will go in next week, our sign should be ready next week... What could possibly go wrong?

It's time for me to start thinking about what this place is ultimately going to look like - and sound like. I'm going to go to ground to attend to these details and let's remember that God (or success, as I prefer to liken God to) is in those details. Wish me luck...

Campbell

At least that's what my parents keep telling me. The journey to take The Carleton from just another half-baked idea to a physical reality has been long and fraught with strangeness but it is finally coming to an end so, basically, this is to let you know that we can actually see the light at the end of the metaphorical tunnel. The real light - truth to tell - is coming from the hole in the roof where the new air conditioning unit will be going this week! The worker bees are beavering madly away and should have this thing open in some fashion in the next few weeks to provide you with another dining and entertainment option in the heart of Halifax's fun district. And oh, if you happen to see me on the street, you might not immediately recognize me. I've decided (probably not wisely) to put off shaving until the day we open. I'm about a week and a half into that stupid idea and am reminded daily why I detest beards so much. We're also working hard on this fab website so we can get you more information without you having to brave the crap weather we're being subjected to. Check in often, we'll try to be entertaining...