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