we went on tour from january 1st to january 10th with Orchestra of Antlers. below you'll read about what we went through & how our tour journey went. enjoy.
day 1:
we met with orchestra first thing in the morning & headed out to los angeles. the ride was long but we made it a good time. we ate somewhere at a carl's jr. henry ed wayne & i skated a bit outside & dominic popped his bike tire so couldn't ride. we played at the ten forward coffee & tea lounge on hollywood & vine. orchestra's friend trevor hooked it up with a show there. many people came down to check it out. we had fun, the owner hooked it up with coffee soda & pastries. thanks!! fun show. we were able to skate down the streets for a while. smooth ground. after the show we made the drive to our friend melissa's house where she had a spot for us to sleep for the night.
day 2:
woke up and i went out for a morning skate sesh with wayne & young eddy. we hit up a downhill bank for a while. after we set off a mustang alarm we decided to get back in & get ready. we all set up & headed out. we had time to kill so we went to ocean beach. the orchestra fellows chilled at the beach with dominic & melissa while gonz, young eddy, henry & i skated our way to the skatepark. it was super big with a lot of different things to hit. we skated the bowls & ledges most of the time but found the best sesh outside at the little kids bowl where we skated with kids like 7 and under. curb sized bowls. found a bump to gap after that we skated and dominic was getting nice jumps with his bike then left. we got pizza & salvadorean food near melissa's then went to the che cafe. our friend scott sanders greeted us there. he set up the show that night & also does local SF shows. we set up our equipment then watched orchestra of antlers play. they played super good, i was getting stoked. the crowd liked 'em too which is always great. after the played we set up our stuff & played our set. i felt we played good, i was super sweaty afterwards though haha. lanterns played afterwards & they brought the party. hella people. they're a good band i enjoyed them. the burning of rome played fourth. they were super rad. people compared them to man man, a rad band frm philadelphia. burning of rome was sick. they used theremins & pitch modulators, sirens, megaphones & all kinds of crazy instruments. the best part of it all afterwards was their van. it was like a school bus or something, so coool. we had to leave after they played. we made it back to melissa's & some of us stayed while the rest of us went out. hen, eddy & i grabbed our boards & skated while the other guys & lady walked to 7-11. the skate was fun bombing hills. we waited for the dudes at the bottom. we got to this super steep hill that ed & i bombed & also there was like a river or something wit a tunnel too that wayne got close to. we got to this place called the treehouse where there was a big party going on. they were chargin 6 bucks to get in which we didn't know so some people snuck in by hopping a fence. inside there was a bonfire going & inside the house a band playing. they were good. we went outside & chilled at the bonfire where we had some beers, ate chips & some girl threw a chair into the firepit. the ordstro and deers! guys were finishing their tour that night & played in san diego around the same time as us. they met up with us and chilled for a while then they headed back to the bay area. we skated & walked back to melissa's house where we spent the night again. we were all stoked that night.
day 3:
woke up at melissa's house, got ready & we all headed out to las vegas. it was about a 6 hour drive & we passed through the desert. it was pretty crazy to see just a bunch of space & cacti. when we finally got to vegas we got to the cheyenne saloon. the place was big & had a nice stage. we got there a little bit early so we spent the time playing games of SKATE, games of pool, biking & eating food at taco bell & wienerschnitzel. it finally came time to play. candyflip from salinas drove to vegas the day before & they opened. it was our first time playing with them. they're crazy! they played a good set. we were up next. after our set orchestra played they were sick & filled the set in between songs sayin "hella hella hella" haha. the show was super fun. stoked that all 3 of our bads are plaing again jan 30 at the retox lounge in SF. after the show we drove to the strip to find a room for the night. we were able to find a room at circus circus for 30 bucks! so sweet. we dropped off our bags in the room & went downstairs. we were all at the casino hitting up the slot machines & stuff. steve & josh from candyflip came down & chilled with us too. we wandered around the strip taking advantage of drinking & smoking anywhere. super fun since we can't do that in california. after a while we decided to get back to the room but bought a few drinks & food first. got to the room & hung out. it was crazy, throwing bottles out windows courtesy of steve and it didn't even break. we were on the 12th floor too. when it got later steve josh & his gf headed out back to old vegas where they had a place to crash. we chilled for a bit, finishing our drinks & listening to music before we fell asleep to the good sounds of boards of canada.
day 4:
the roads are long & it's still super fun. we left vegas in the morning & drove out to phoenix. arizona was crazy, with deserts & cactus all over. long roads of nothing maybe a random house or 2 or an rv parked in the desert. we almost ran out of gas when there was a gas station like 30 miles away but we were able to get to a gas station. in there they had all kinds of weird things for sale like rattlesnake keychains, daggers & raccoon tails. i bought myself a nice baja there. we made it to phoenix at around 630 or so last night & got to erin's sheppards. we got some food at dunkin donuts & church's chicken. inside the place was rad, couches, a music area, pool tables & darts. the barteneder ID'd us all & was suprised because he thought we all drove from california to phoenix to watch the bands. haha. dominic, derek & i each knew people from there so they came down to support & brought friends. derek's friend beau is in a band london airspace & they were able to open last minute. the were sick. burn riders played next. they were good as well, sweet songs. orchestra played next & they did a super good job. the crowd seemed to like them. we also got up & sang along with them for one of their songs. we set up our stuff after & played. the crowd enjoyed it so that made us stoked. we had fun. the other 49 played last. they set the show up for us so many thanks to them for that. they were super good! we all enjoyed them so much everyone got one of their cd's. we chilled for a bit then headed out. everyone went to beau's house & i stayed along with my lady kelly, who flew from SF to check us out, and her cousin joanna who lives nearby with her boyfriend chris. we stayed at her house that night & hung out while everyone else was at beau's, hanging out and jammin'. it was a good night for all of us. thanks to everyone at phoenix who made the show possible & everyone that made the night a great one.
day 5:
we left phoenix kinda late yesterday. the drive was rad though, we saw all these rock boulder structure things. they were cool. but we were worried we wouldn't make it to the show on time so we tried to not make any unneccessary stops. we got to el paso & the soho lounge was in downtown. a nice downtown! there was also a christmas scene set up with all these lights & small mission displays. gonz, allyson, derek, wayne & i walked around trying to find an open liquor store but had no luck, and we ended up walking to the mexico border. kinda sketchy so we walked back. somehow henry & young eddy somehow found beer nearby! lucky dudes, it's cool though $1 PBRs at the bar is what we found out. dominic rode his bike & i skated with him for a little before the show started. when we got inside, there were hella people inside almost packed. we were stoked. the first 2 bands that played were good but i didn't catch their names. orchestra played & they destroyed. we played after & derek & wayne from orchestra joined us on "destroyers," adding vocals to the song. tour special. after we played we drank texas beer & watched in science and love play. they played super good, they had sweet electronics with them too & even played a ladytron cover! we all were dancin to these guys. super fun. after the set we chilled outside & i skated a bit until i slammed on my face off a nice marble ledge. the sound guy angel invited us over to his house a few minutes away. we chilled with him & his girlfriend cassandra & their pets chela & payasa. chill. we watched at the drive-in & morrissey videos off youtube through their big screen tv. afterwards, he let us all crash at his studio across the street! we were stoked & super thankful that angel & cassandra hooked us up. thanks guys!! we all went to sleep & some of us took showers before since we had the longest drive ahead the next morning & had to wake up super early. el paso is a rad city & everyone there was super nice. we gotta come back.
day 6:
thank you,
we woke up early & left angel's house. we had a nice drive ahead of us. we hit the road & about halfway, we stopped off to eat. we were at a sonic burger but we all decided it was too cold & windy to eat outside, so we went across the street and ate at dairy queen. it was pretty good. we all got back in the van & continued driving. we got to austin,tx in the nighttime, right on time to load in. so we got everything in the venue & hung out. it was free week in austin so all the shows were free. at the red 7 where we played, there was an indoor & outside venue. we had the outside which was pretty rad cuz you can see all the building outside. around the block & all over the streets were people hopping around from the various bars & venues that occupy the area. it was so sick to see so many places right next to each other. the fact that it was free brought in a lot of people to come check out all the bands, especially at the red 7 where we were playing. milk thistle played first. they were super good. afterwards, orchestra of antlers played & they put on a great set. we played afterwards too. after us, the el paso heist played. those guys are crazy! so good. we were all in the front for them just dancing & feeling the music. we had a great time. we hung out with those guys for a bit after the show & when it was time to head out, logan from el paso heist offered to let us all crash at his place. so we got our stuff ready & headed to his place, where some of his friends were too. we hung out & talked about life & drank some texan beer (shiner blonde) until we all passed out.
day 7:
got up kinda late, and that's when we knew we weren't gonna be able to make it out to las cruces,nm on time no matter how fast we smashed, so we had to cancel. we were all kinda bummed to miss out on that show. so we decided to hang out in austin for a bit longer. we thanked & said goodbye to logan & got back in the van. that morning, the weather was pretty cold, coldest so far. we drove over to guitar center nearby to pick up some stuff we needed to replace some equipment that have been broken during tour. outside there was a fat bank that i skated with henry & eddy. dominic also rode his bike on it, and we all took some pictures on it while some old lady watched us. pretty cool. we also stopped off at office depot to buy some blank CDs to hand out tour samplers since we were all out at that time. when we left, we heard a weird noise coming out of the van, we checked it out but couldn't figure it out, it eventually left. after that, we decided to get some food. we were all stoked about texas, especially austin, and we wanted to eat some bbq. the place we wanted to hit up was out of the way (we had to hit albuquerque the next day) so we looked for a more local place. we stopped off at ironworks bbq. while parking, we saw that we couldn't reverse anymore. we all had to hop out of the van to push it backwards. crazy. we soon found out that we had transmission problems. at ironworks, they had a fat selection of meat, sausage, brisket, ribs, ham & more. good prices too! we all sat down & munched away. the food was super good & the plates were fat. we got back in the van & discuss our situation. we thought it would be too risky to drive halfway to albuquerque with a bad transmission & every mechanic was closed by the time we found out, so we thought it would be best to stay another night in austin. so we found a hotel to stay at & we all got in. earlier that day everyone checked their grades online & saw they passed most of their classes, also austin is way rad so we decided to just party & bring our instruments inside to jam all night. the weather was super cold still, about 32 degrees but we were inside so it was ok. logan came down to hang out with us for a while too. we had a great night just hanging out, and making new music with both our bands included.
day 8:
we got up around 11:30, stressed that we were gonna check-out late. luckily, check out time was noon so we were relieved. we got back in the van & tried to find a place to fix it. we stopped off at one place, but we decided to find a different place because we thought it was sketchy that the guy only looked at our van for like a minute. so we drove around and found ike's transmissions. the owner ike, checked out our van & took it for a drive. he told us that it really was our transmission & we had to get it fixed. he gave us an estimate & we all had to have a group talk to see what we were gonna do. none of us had the money available to fix it & we all had to get back home. we were stoked off austin so we didn't really mind being there another day, even though we had to cancel another show, this time in albuquerque. luckily some of us got paid that day so we were able to get our paychecks deposited into our accounts, so we told ike we were down to get it fixed with him. it was already like 2pm out there, and he said if they don't have it fixed by 5pm, their closing time, then we would have to wait until monday to get it finished. we asked him to help us out as much as he could. he took the van in, and we waited outside in the freezing cold. ike didn't want us to freeze so he offered to take us to the closest mall, which ended up being the mall with the guitar center we visited the day before. we didn't know how close they were to each other! so we hung out at guitar center for a while until we all got kicked out due to a power outage on the whole block. we went out to find a place to eat, but everywhere we tried they were all closed because of the power failure. we finally found a subway across the street which was surprisingly the only place with power in the whole 2 blocks so we bought some sandwiches. the people working there were super cool, talking to us so much that they forgot what we ordered, haha. nice people. during our lunch, ike called us telling us that the van might be delayed because their shop was affected by the outage too. we were bummed. we went back to the mall & hoped for the best. as 5pm got closer, ike called us telling us the van had been fixed. we were stoked! he picked us up in the van & went back to his shop to pay. we hooked him up with CDs and shirts & he asked to take a picture with all of us. ike the man!! thanks! as soon as we got in, we started the drive of death to tucson,az to make the final show of tour. we thought we might as well finish the tour & try instead of just giving up and going home.
day 9:
we got to tucson at around 3pm. we got there a little early so we went to eat at in 'n out. after that, we hung out outside a bit skating & biking and doing whatever to kill time. we had to load in at the rock at 5pm and it was closeby. when we got to the rock, the guys that worked there told us we could bring our stuff in, so we did and got settled and chilled for a bit. we saw bands & people come in while we waited. we were stoked to play at this venue, because we saw some bigger bands are gonna play there, like winds of plague or warsaw. the band line-up was super huge at this show, probably around 9 or so bands that night. we were able to get middle but we had to share a set with orchestra of antlers. it wasn't that bad because we were sharing equipment anyways so it made in between set times shorter. we both played fun sets, giving our most since it was the last show. eddy was working the lights which came out great & the bartender worked the fog machine, which we asked not to be used but were used anyways, haha oh well. a few bands played after us and we stuck around to check them out. crossing sarnoff, the last band, was sick. the dudes were super nice too. they'll be in SF in february so check them out. after the show, we said our goodbyes and left tucson. had to go back home.
tour was a great experience. we had so much fun & our friendships with each other & the other band members grew more than we expected. the road was a wonderful thing & super cool to see what's outside of california & the bay area. we thought it would be rough, with shitty situations & rude people but everything was completely opposite. not even one run-in with the cops. we wanna thank everyone that helped us out on this tour, all the venues, bands & people that hooked us up. special thanks to melissa in SD, beau & joannah in phoenix, angel in el paso & logan in austin for helping us out with a place to stay for each of those nights. thanks to scott sanders, trevor, aaron & the other 49, in science & love, the el paso heist & crossing sarnoff for helping us all set up shows in their respected areas. million thanks to ike the man, for fixing our van & the people in austin, tx for being super rad people. we wouldn't have had a tour without you & most of all we wouldn't have had the best time ever without any of you & your help. thanks to everyone else that we might've missed & to everyone that came out to our shows whether you heard of us or not, it helped. sorry to the people in las cruces & albuquerque, nm for not being able to play. we'll hit your town soon. for real.
see ya on the next tour! northwest 2010... soon!
thank you,
commissure
