It was intended to be a one-night joke but it lasted six years. Now, it’s over. After forming on a dare in 2003, Winnipeg punk rock outfit Shrimp is calling it quits.

“We don’t have the time to put into it anymore. In between gigs we’d ask each other, ‘Do you wanna play?’ And the answer would be, ‘No.’ So we thought, let’s just call it quits and put on one last big show,” guitarist Arlea “Battered Shrimp” Ashcroft explained over beers at the Royal Albert last week with her bandmate, singer Catherine “Raw Shrimp” Famega.

The band – rounded out by bassist Rea “Deeply Fried Shrimp” Kavanagh and drummer Dee Dee “Caged In Shrimp” McCaughan – will take its final bow this Saturday, Oct. 3 with a gig at the Royal Albert.

Opening for the band will be their friends in Trouser Mouth and Ditchpig – the two bands that dared them to form in the first place.

“We’re all in the arts and we have a lot of friends who find us highly amusing,” Ashcroft said of the band’s formation. “After some drunken boasting that we could do what they were doing, they dared us to play a show.”

The band was dubbed “Shrimp” by Trouser Mouth guitarist Zip R. Head after he dreamed about an all-girl band with that name. In the two weeks between the dare and Shrimp’s live debut in July 2003, the girls in the band borrowed instruments, learned power chords from their friends and wrote three songs.

Between the three songs and some stage banter, their first set lasted five minutes.

“I remember being scared,” Famega said.

“It was terrifying,” Ashcroft agreed. “I had to write ‘Don’t forget to play’ on a cigarette pack and tape it to my mic stand.”

“ We never claimed to be musicians.

Catherine Famega, singer

One thing led to another and the band was soon playing its second gig at the Royal Albert.

In the years that followed, the band went through a line-up change, were featured in a three-page spread in the Winnipeg Free Press, recorded a CD (2006’s Peel n’ Eat), were the subject of a nationally-aired short documentary on CBC TV, sold a song to a Comedy Network TV show and played with members of bands like Propagandhi and American Flamewhip.

Ashcroft and Famega are quick to point out that they were extremely naïve when the band started, with zero knowledge of how to play their instruments. They didn’t plan for things to happen the way they did.

“We’ve never claimed to be musicians,” Famega said.

“All of the things that happened were astounding,” Ashcroft added. “Every time we thought we were done, something new would happen.”

The band’s final show will mark the release of Smell My Finger, a live CD recorded earlier this year at the Times Change(d).

Even though in some ways it was all just a joke, Ashcroft is sad to see the band end.

“We’re really lucky to have so many people who are real musicians who supported us,” she said, tears beginning to fill her eyes.

“I’m just a girl from Transcona, and like any Transcona girl, I’ve always dreamed about being a rock star. Whether we were rock stars or not, we sure felt like it. And it was awesome! We got to follow our dreams and give it a shot.

“At the end of the day, we kicked some solid ass.”

Published in Volume 64, Number 5 of The Uniter (October 1, 2009)