cd's of 2007

the following cd's may or may not have been released in 2007 but were my most listened to cd's this year. deal with it.

band of horses - cease to begin
blink 182 - blink 182
saves the day - under the boards
jimmy eat world - chase this light
paramore - riot
regina spektor - begin to hope

paramore's album surprised me, the first song is soo good.

go listen.

oliver

20th June

so i finished the killswitch tour on the 10th at download. after the show we went to a hotel near the airport and myself and joel decided to drink all night. it was a good time, we listened to some jams and drank alot of vodka.

i got home, and found a job working in wetherspoons...sucks.

right now i am looking for a new place to live. i'm 23 in a month and i can't deal with living at home anymore so it's time to go and do my own thing. my friend chris is looking for somewhere to, so we're going to move in together and get a place in the city.

right now i have no tours planned. just gonna stay home and earn some money while i'm home. everytime i come home i think i'll see everyone all the time and it never happens, it's really weird how things pan out sometimes. i guess i never realised that people at home have lives to live too, i just kinda expected people to be free all the time. obviously not. i spend alot of time alone listening to music and watching movies. kinda like it that way now haha.

anyways i'm done.

jams:

matt skiba/kevin seconds split cd.
appleseed cast.

oliver

june 6th

bristol rock city!

we are in bristol. its always super nice here and i know a dude that works at the show that gets me baked. wooooop.

so we did paris last night, but it was a weird show for sure, small club compared to the rest and the kids didn't seem to be into it at first. killswitch tore it up though! a kid got onstage and howard picked up the kid with one hand, put him over his shoulder, carried him around and threw him into the crowd...it changed my life!

we left right after the show to get the ferry to england. i passed out and got woken up to go to customs haha, i somehow thought we were in england, and i was so confused i had to be told to get dressed. i was ready to go out there in my boxers haa. whoops.

the ferry sucked, took so long and i ate too much haribo. i got back on the bus and passed the fuck out. it was alright. i woke up at 12 to load in my merch and felt terrible. the venue tonight has vendors so i have a 'night off'. right now i am hanging in the dressing room with the killswitch dudes. all bad ass people.

me and howard realised we had alot in common today, i can see it becoming a beautiful friendship..he likes x-men, simpsons and transformers. what a guy.

thats all for now.

jams

the last blink 182 cd fucking rules, its my fucking jam.

oliver

june 4th

so i left for tour on may 30th. the band arrived in heathrow at 8am so i had to leave the night before and get on the national express. sick! (joke)

it sucked. the bus was so busy ha. i could not believe the bus was full at 1am. but whatever, listened to some like lions and some limbeck, did some chilling.

the tour has been good since we started. we jumped on a ferry after collecting all the gear and just hung out before we started in luxembourg.

the show in lux was pretty sweet. everyone was so metal. it was interesting for me ha. i am like a pop punk dude, surrounded by sweat and big dudes. fun fun.

then we did rock am ring and rock in ring, its kinda of like reading/leeds but in germany i guess. the bus was hot as hell so i didn't feel too good for the whole weekend, i spent my time eating and talking shit in the dressing room while german people sold merch for me. sweet deal.

a few of the dudes went to see smashing pumpkins so i went along, they sounded ok, wasn't feeling the new songs but the classics are always good.

after that we left for stuttgart and that's where i am writing this. howard is giving me shit for always being online..i told him the reason was because they are 'old dudes. and we have nothing in common.' his reply was as follows:

'fuck you hahaha, i will kick you little ass'

i believed him and shut up.

we are parked outside the venue and theres like shit either side of the road, i keep thinking i am gonna walk out in front of a truck..sucks.

thats all.

jams:

lux courageous
the starting line
mxpx

oliver

may 25th

after being home for almost a month, i have kinda realised a few things.

i decided when i got home i should spent alot of the money i made on tour paying loans and such. after doing this, i have spent the whole month either chilling with keogh or sat at home.

i have realised my friends mainly wanna do stuff involving money, no one is ever down to just hang out. it kinda makes me question my life at home. i mean sitting at home alone for a month? thats some bullshit right now.

i understand some people ask me to do stuff, but i am broke. there's nothing i can do about that. i am just down to hang.

i have learned not to bother with people anymore, it's just a waste of my time asking people to do stuff. no one wants to know.

fuck being home, and fuck whoever has better things to do.

jams:

alkaline trio
cassino
blink 182

oliver

may 11th

so it's been forever since i updated this piece. since the last update i did the following:

finished the us tour.
drink champagne on the last night.
flew from columbus to newark.
spend 6 hours at newark waiting for a flight.
watched remember the titans and planet earth on my macbook...sweet.
i then got on a plane and hung out with a guy that plays drums.
we had a seat in between us free.
i spread my legs and tried to watch 5 different movies.
they all sucked.
i arrived in heathrow and waited for the band for an hour.
we then waited for the bus.

then we started a uk tour that night in oxford. we then went to london, birmingham, manchester, newcastle and glasgow. the uk tour was pretty bangin. kids in glass houses are sweet bros. beat union rock it uk style and kill hannah are rad bros with crazy lights.

after we ended that tour, we jumped in a van and did the give it a name festivals. during this time..the following events took place:

we drove to birmingham. hung out with some sweet friends in mxpx and receiving end of sirens.
watched a bunch of bands.
ate sweet food.
watched jimmy eat world.
they were amazing.

after this we then drove all night to get to a festival in belgium called the grosrock festival...during this time the following happened:

i got woken at 9am to sell merch.
shitty deal.
i tried to survive in a tent full of sweat.
and sweaty people.
i saw old friends from holland.
i met some killer merch guy who was from belgium.
he taught me how to say 'one size only'.
i heard the ataris play an old school set.
it made my day wonderful.
we then packed up and left...
not before i ate more sweet food.

we then drove back to london for the last give it a name date. during this day the following happened:

i arrived at the venue.
i hung out with security dudes for awhile.
then ran into duncan and laughed.
i watched beat union.
hung out in the dressing room forever.
shouted at people about merch.
watched hit the lights kill it.
watched hit the lights get mobbed by a million people.
watched sparta kill it,
then jimmy eat world...wow.
i met jim adkins and acted retarded....'i'm your biggest fan...i love you'
jim said 'oh.....cool'
we then left.

we got to the hotel the night before, so we spent 2 nights there. during this time:

i complained about having to pay 12 pounds for parking.
i complained about needing 7 pounds fifty to use wireless internet.
i complained about the price of room service.
i complained about not being able to bring in food to the place.
i complained about everything.

after that i came home the next day and i have been here for 2 weeks. getting high everyday, doing nothing else. i took down some tiles in our bathroom. wow.

recent jams:

cassino.
1997.
kids in glass houses.

oliver

april 18th

its been 6 days since my last post.

its 4.11am and i am sat in a hotel in detroit, doing my laundry before we fly home and do our run in the uk.

since the 12th we did some amazing shows in chicago and milwaukee to name 2. the tour has been a real success and all the bands have been amazing to hang with. recently we started a valencia day where a member of valencia comes and stays with us at the hotel.

it started with shane, and then max. max came over after chicago and george ended up getting shitty drunk and somehow ended up back at our hotel. he came with 2 girls..he got in the taxi...the girls told him to jump the cab..and he couldn't so he told the cabbie the girls tricked him and instead of paying $100 for the ride. he pay $5. george is the man!!!

we then had a day off after milwaukee, brendan stayed with us and we headed to chicago for our day off. we hung with our friend jack, who scored me 50% off at paul frank (score!). i then left my shirts in his car (no score!).

i am now in a hotel waiting for my laundry and i spoke to my friend brandon on aol. he's one of the best dudes i have ever met and his band are amazing. go and listen to them if you read this. they are called i am the avalanche and they deserve alot of success.

i am flying home for a uk tour in like 2 days, its been the best tour over here, hopefully the uk will love hit the lights as much as the us does.

jams:

i am the avalanche
moneen
days away
the fray

oliver

april 12th

dream update.

in my dream last night, I dreamt that for some reason someone was trying to set up a young black guy and so they planted a load of evidence on him and then killed his family, even his grandmother, but she was still alive when the police found her.


i then woke up and realized how fucked up this dream was, so I hung out in the back of the van for awhile before falling asleep and having another dream.

in this dream I dreamt that myself, and the hit the lights guys were robbing a bank. We had it all down to perfection, we went in through the vents, took out all the security cameras and tied people up, then we had a van pull inside the bank and load up and then leave before anyone realized what was happening. But for some reason we stayed before, then I realized that we were trying to find more money, so we went down a vent and found a safe but we couldn’t open it, so we called it off and got the van to come back.

in the time the van was away, the head of another police department in the area had recently had his house broken into, and had a security system put in. for some reason it was the same system as the bank, so he randomly caught what we were doing on camera….when the van pulled up we got caught by the police..then I woke up.

I passed out again, but instead of being in court, someone else was getting blamed. They were 5 soccer players, david Connolly, graham kavangh, phil babb and some others. I was sat next to roy keane, the sunderland manager and he was talking to me about buying a horse to get some money back so we could take over the club as niall quinn, the sunderland chairman was being charged too. At the end of the hearing, they played a weird song and everyone sang…then I woke up.

i am fucked up in the head.

april 8th

so we drove the 2-3 hours to the seattle show, i slept the whole way, which meant i didn't eat atall today.

we got to the venue and it turns out just surrender had a off so they came and hung out, they are at the show with us tonight too. they are a bunch of great dudes, it's good to see them for sure.

we decided to have sushi again tonight, and shane, brendan and george from valencia came with us, it was fucking rad. i love sushi, and i spend way too much in that place ha.

the show is about to start, so i am gonna roll out of here. more to come in the next few days no doubt.

jams

days away
love arcade
just surrender

oliver

april 7th

so i tried to document as best i could the 12 hour drive that happened last night...truthfully...i passed out after about an hour. i ate alot of crappy chips and a snack pack and hit the sack hard in the back of the van with nicholas. the drive wasn't too bad as i ended up sleeping for most of the ride. i woke up a few times as i always think i am about to fall out of the door. but it ended up being ok.

jams

new avril lavigne record
the boy least likely to

ollie

april 6th - part 2

tonight we embark on a 12 hour drive to portland and i am gonna do my best to update this journal as the drive goes on just so whoever reads this has an idea of how weird these drives can make people.

forgive durden just played their first set of this tour...and they were damn good. reminded me of all the great moments of gatsby's american dream.

ollie

april 6th

since the last blog we have been in hollywood and san francisco.

i hate busy cities, so hollywood was a nightmare haha. i bought an ipod case and new shirt though, thats pretty exciting right? i also tried to cross a street when a bum asked me for change...i said i didn't have any and he stepped out into the street..i had to pull him back, he was an idiot! after that i ate mcdonald's for the first time on this tour...it sucked.

san fran was a good time. it was all time low's last night on this tour so it was a feel good show. i had a beer or 2 and got pretty crazy when we went to eat in and out burger...thats when it happened....alex all time low....punched valencia's tech's sandwich...but he didn't know the sandwich punch rules...it was fucking amazing...scott looked so pissed off. i loved it. i loved it. i loved it.

we then went back to the hotel where i passed the fuck out and now here i am, writing in my blog.

jams

appease
taking back sunday
this is me smiling

april 3rd

we are in anaheim. the weather is super nice.

yesterday, we had a day off and went to san diego zoo. its the fucking best zoo in the world but they didn't have penguins...even the shittiest zoo's have penguins. that was the bad point of the zoo.

we then watched the championship basketball game between ohio state and florida...colin is a huge ohio state..and they got beat..it was a shitty time, we ate wings and pizza and watched the game..i felt bad for colin because he was so bummed.

we then drove to the hotel and i got high as shit. i realised all my dreams involve the place i am staying that night....it sucks!!!

in other news...erm....i rule?

jams

like lions
gatsbys american dream
sherwood

oliver

april 1st

dream update:

in no order. i had one big dream that first i was at a huge party and most people i know were there. then i went to a meeting with some girls i know and watched a movie..then a member of slipknot came to the hotel we are staying in san diego..we shot him in the head and chest and he fell off the roof into the pool but survived....that's when i woke up literally 5 minutes ago....


oliver

march 31st

its early and i just woke up.

so thursday night we drove 15 hours to get to tempe arizona. i took a sleeping pill and lost my mind (see the dream update), we got into tempe and hung out in the hotel for a few hours. we then got went to get food which was a good time as it was band appreciation day (see end of blog). we then stopped off at the hotel to collect the volcano and we all got high as shit and watched blades of glory.

that movie is so funny i felt the need to start a new paragraph! it was pretty immense. but i don't remember much apart from being high.

today we have an early show in arizona before we drive to san diego tonight, while in san diego, i plan on getting some ink (see below) done. how exciting? not very.

dream update:

in the dream i ended up fighting people who lived under water...it ended with me against their prince and i stabbed him in the heart and saved the world. i got back to land and there was a big celebration, even joseph from ten was there cheering me on. it was a pretty sick dream. i wish i remembered more.

jams:

avril lavigne
christians and lions
hanson

oliver

band appreciation day - when on a day off, some bands will pay for a movie and meal to show how we all appreciate being on tour, we had one last night.

ink - slang for tattoo.

march 30th

we are on the last night of the run in texas. it started with a 12 hour drive from florida...it sucked. i couldn't feel my legs after 8 hours and i felt like i was losing my mind ha. we got to texas and ended up in a creepy hotel..creepy because i didn't see any other guests in the 2 nights we spent there and also because everytime i stepped outside there was a police car sat outside..weird.

valencia's van broke down in florida so we had shane ride with us for a few days. it's always a good time when shane is around, he's a heavy drinker and clever thinking. a good combination. so he stayed with us for 2 nights while the van got fixed. the 2nd night he got hammered drunk. to be expected and sure to be continued.

we are now in dallas and apparently there are hurricane warnings so there isn't many kids at the show yet. its kinda weird. so i'm here talking to my friend jess online. reading some stuff, listening to hey mercedes over the pa. its a good time.

dream update:

dream number 1. spiderman attacked me, even though i told him i was a nice guy. he refused to listen and as he was about to kill me. i woke up freaking out...fuck you spiderman.

dream number 2. i dreamt we were at the venue we played earlier in the night, but for some reason i didn't load the merch in the trailer..so i got out and loaded. but it was mad heavy so this old dude helped me. it turned out it was tyson ritter's dad. he plays in all american rejects...so we loaded the merch and he told me stories about his crazy son..i woke up convinced it all really happened.

yes i am retarded.

jams:

hey mercedes

oliver

march 24th

so its been a few days since the last blog. since raleigh we have done atalanta, jacksonville, orlando and west palm beach.

all the shows have been pretty sweet so far. all time low are on the bill and they are going down really well, sweet guys too. its funny that in the states people tip merch guys, i kill it every night, its ridiculous..i'm not complaining.

as the tour has gone on..dave has become more and more retarded. he makes alot of fart noises on the phone to his girlfriend..sometimes he pretends that someone has called him and he'll speak to himself on the phone, saying weird shit all the time. hes the man.

in the van i have moved seats..i started on the bench behind the driver but now i am at the back. which is just like a bed pretty much, a ton of covers and sleeping bags. i sleep all the time now, maybe its the reason i don't update my blog ha. i love it.

the weather is florida has been awesome. however the venue last night had no air con, and that was fucking shitty. as you may have noticed i don't tend to swear much in this blog. but that had to be said, it was so stupid.

i listen to the new just surrender and sherwood albums all the time. and then talk about their finer points with brendan who plays the axe in valencia.

jams:

just surrender
sherwood
mae

ollie

march 18th part 2

i am currently in the smallest venue in the entire world. im gonna try and get a picture up on here sometime if i can, but this place is nuts, it apparently has a capacity of like 400 but it looks like it holds 100 and after the show it turns into an open mic hip-hop night. fo sho.

ollie

march 18th

its 8am and after driving through the night, we got to a hotel in raleigh at 7am. i was asleep in the back the whole time and managed to convince myself we had crashed. so when i woke up i started asking people about the crash. im ridiculous ha.

on the way to raleigh..we stopped at wawa which is like a petrol station and a subway sandwich built into one. its the best thing ever, whenever i'm in philly i eat wawa like a religion but i didnt have chance after the troc show. so i ate one tonight and it was amazing. truly amazing.

i am a simple man with simple needs. or just wawa hoagies.

jams:

sherwood

ollie

march 17th

so we just finished the philly show. the last few days have been pretty insane. last night was just surrenders last name, so everyone in the hit the lights/just surrender hotel posse got pretty drunk (except me and evan). so we got up at 11am and got food. and the snow that was around the night before was getting heavy......a 4 hour drive to philly took 8 hours...i wanted to cry. my laptop died too. it was the worst thing ever, some cars crashed and shit. crazy son!

tonight was philly. i love philadelphia. we got to the show late so i missed all the bands while trying to catch up on merch sales. i did a good job son!!!

i saw my friends and it was awesome. even georges parents came over and said hey. it was a great time. valencia headlined the show...i was on tour with them in 2005 and we did a show to 150 people. in march 2007 valencia headlined the troc to 1200. it was so amazing to see great people do so well and play to so many people.

im feeling good. and slightly baked.

jams:

like lions
lux courageous
midtown

oliver

march 15th

so the tour has passed through a few places since the last update. new york was pretty insane too. they decided to setup the merch inside the room (apparently this never happens) and kids started going crazy during the hit the lights set. some guy ran into my table and i grabbed him..i wanted to punch the dude so bad. but im pussy. colin said he saw me from the stage grabbing some dude haha.

the tour is getting better and better as it goes along, its just surrenders last night tonight though and that sucks. im really getting into them live and they are good dudes.

the van drives are always pretty interesting. the other night dave was wasted and his girlfriend called him, he ended up making fart noises at her for about 10 minutes, it was hilarious...trust me. after that happened, some people went inside to the hotel and me, dave and nick decided to continue making fart noises for about 25 minutes..to the discomfort of nate's girlfriend..whoops.

i have decided to start a dream blog too. as i am having weird dreams...

the other night i dreamt i was with the hit the lights dudes on a train and we decided to steal the train. so we did that. but we couldnt turn it around so we got off and stole a milk van instead...we had some fun on the van and then i got off and went into a restaurant..i decided to buy the restuarant after literally being insane for 5 seconds and i went into business with my dad. thats when i woke up and realised im insane.

more to come.

jams:

the movielife
days away

oliver

march 11th

this tour is insane. the best time i have ever had and its only the 4th night. im currently sat with the merch listening to valencia play. we are in rochester and for some reason the venue is fucking freezing. its the worst thing ever.

just today i heard some of the new just surrender material and it sounds amazing. i highly recommend checking out their stuff.

we have a day off tomorrow and i'm hopefully gonna go and check the 300 movie. i havent really heard much about it but then i saw a trailer last night during the show....oh my god. it looks sick!!!

jams:

just surrender
blink 182
o-town
mariah carey

ollie

march 10th

so we are into the 3rd night of the tour. we started in columbus and we played pittsburgh last night. everyone on this tour are cool. the secret handshake are opening the shows and they sound real good. alot of dance vibe with that band and they just have a singer/keyboardist and then a drummer. its awesome. just surrender play next and after a rough first night. they killed it last night, i've been into this band for a long time so its great to see them live for a week. valencia are a ton better live than when i worked for them, which says so much as they were great back then.

hit the lights kill it. thats all im gonna say. i've seen this band play alot lately and they are a great live band. the shows have been packed so far, its awesome to see people coming to check out 4 awesome bands.

the weather has been kinda strange so far. ohio was cold as shit. pittsburgh was cold and then got real nice in a few hours and now we are in a hotel somewhere and theres snow outside...i dont get it!

after the show last night, they had a dance club and it was $1 for a bottle of coors. i spent $24 and got pretty drunk. on the way to the hotel, we stopped for gas after i moaned about being hungry...i then got out...went to a big sign..peed on it and got back in the van and fell asleep. i have no idea this happened or why this happened. i was wasted i guess.

more later gators

jams:

as tall as lions
the format
just surrender
the movielife

march 7th

i flew into ohio yesterday, the plane ride sucked so bad. i really hated it, the dude next to me was cool though and kept me pretty entertained by making out with his girlfriend. it was one of those planes where instead of giving you a tv in the back of the seat in front of you, they give you the one that falls from the ceiling, and i hate that shit.

i had to connect in newark and the security were assholes. they didnt tell me anything..so when i went through the beeper thing, they starting giving me a ton of shit for stuff i didnt do...it was ridiculous.

but i finally got to ohio and the dudes picked me up, they flew in the day before me, so i guess they were waiting on me. ha.

we got back, hung out and went to eat mexican food. it was amazing, plus we got to catch the reno 911 movie which is the funniest movie i have seen in a long long time. we finally ended the night in a karaoke bar that did beer pitchers for $2. obviously the perfect way to end the first night ha.

today we did alot of stuff to get ready for tour. me and evan cleaned out the trailer while htl practiced their headline sets. its gonna be a sweet sweet tour.

thats all for now as jetlag is catching up with me.

jams:

like lions
days away
i am the avalanche
hit the lights

february 18th

i have quickly come to the conclusion that going home and working a job is worse come down in the entire world. i have 2 weeks of work left before tour. hopefully time will fly, even though i'm not having fun.

jams:

gatsbys american dream
mates of state
this is me smiling

february 8th

so we just finished the manchester show of the plus 44 tour and we have southampton tomorrow and then i am finally home for a few weeks.

all the crew that work for plus 44 have so nice to us, its been insane. they really take of people. i think john has a thing for their head of security KP, they get along reeeeal nice.

all for now.

recent jams:

further seems forever.
like lions.
alkaline trio.

february 4th

so it's been awhile since i updated this..

i finished the hit the lights tour yesterday and then jumped right on a plus 44 tour working for the maple state.

after 2 weeks of tour i have finally caught something and my throat sucks right now. i think i caught it from shaant from cute, he got real sick on that tour too.

things are pretty good though. i never have time to charge my ipod so that kinda sucks and i dont have a charger for some ridiculous reason. its a sad state of affairs.

more to come...

recent jams.

explosions in the sky.
frou frou.
hot hot heat.
the maple state.
plus 44.

january 27th

so tour is around 5 days old, so far we have done nottingham, newcastle, glasgow, manchester and leeds tonight.

all the dudes on tour have been really cool to hang with. everyone is pretty young so i guess everyone is just out to have a good time.

we went to manchester last night and ended up trying to get into a karaoke bar, we got in but it ended up being super expensive. we ended up in satans hollow which was alright, i havent really been there for a long time so it was nice running into a few people.

the show just ended and theres a club night after the show, its probably going to be a messy night.

more to come..

oliver

recent jams

explosions in the sky.
hit the lights.
plus 44.

january 27th

so tour is around 5 days old, so far we have done nottingham, newcastle, glasgow, manchester and leeds tonight.

all the dudes on tour have been really cool to hang with. everyone is pretty young so i guess everyone is just out to have a good time.

we went to manchester last night and ended up trying to get into a karaoke bar, we got in but it ended up being super expensive. we ended up in satans hollow which was alright, i havent really been there for a long time so it was nice running into a few people.

the show just ended and theres a club night after the show, its probably going to be a messy night.

more to come..

oliver

recent jams

explosions in the sky.
hit the lights.
plus 44.

january 20th

so i just got the new fall out boy record..

its so good. i recommend it to anyone.

3 days till tour.

oliver

recent jams:

fall out boy.
jimmy eat world.
taking back sunday.

january 19th

i just started this blog as a way of keeping things interesting for me on tours.

i leave this tuesday for a tour working for hit the lights and once that finishs i go out with the maple state on the plus 44 tour.

more to come....

oliver

recent jams:

like lions.
days away.
limbeck.