Aaahh…we’re almost done!  This past weeks however feels like it’s been 2 weeks because all the things we’ve been doing.

Boston, MA- Meet someone who primarily goes to Warped Tour just so he can stand next to the Truth truck and hang out and support us!  He had this funny Jackie Chan sign and he also had so many old Truth merch on (including to pairs of socks)!  Not only that, he was in the commercial where 1200 people “dropped dead” in front of a tobacco company’s building illustrating how many people die a day due to tobacco related deaths (One of my all time favorite commercials!).

Buffalo, NY- I LOVE being next to amusement parks….ESP if we can go in for free with our passes!!  Right after work we went right in Six Flags where me and Chelsea (along with Nick from As I Lay Dying) and rode roller coasters and ate Dippin’ Dots!  I seriously miss amusement parks.

Columbus, OH- 3 DAYS OFF!  YESS!  Much needed rest, relaxation…AND SHOPPING!  Yeah, I think I did some damage on my wallet, but I did end up with really awesome clothing.  I even had to buy a new duffel bag for my new stuff.  I also started a savings account, registered for school, worked out at the gym, and paid off a credit card.  I felt really productive that weekend!  I miss that bed and shower now though…

St. Louis, MO-  Ok…TERRIBLE day, mostly weather wise.  I volunteered to do inventory that morning with Chelsea.  Long story short…100+ degrees in the sun sorting though boxes of 5 days worth of merchandise.  INSANE.  We haven’t been in really hot weather in a while, so it was almost a shock to be in horrible weather conditions again.  I’ve must’ve seen so many people faint that day too.  Note to everyone coming to Warped tour: DRINK LOTS OF WATER!

Kansas City, MO-  Well…Bonner Springs, KS.  Weird, eh?  Well, the weather didn’t get any better, but at least there was the occasional breeze.  Another normal day.  Afterwards. Me Jeannine and Jess went to go watch Sum 41 who just joined the tour.  They put on a really fun show, I love when the bands include “audience participation”, haha.

But yea, that was my week.  Tomorrow is another day off, but we’re just driving most of the day.  I’m starting to get REALLY excited about finally heading back west!  I miss my California.  But awesome, at least I can say I’ve been to Kansas!

So we were off for 3 days in Colombus, Ohio while the rest of the tour made their way through the Eastern coast of Canada. Man, I wish I’d been able to join them, almost hid on the Meg and Dia bus to hitch a ride, but ended up truly enjoying my time off…

   I had the chance to hibernate and explore some vegan palaces with Tara. We were pretty much inseperable for the entire vacation, exploring the city, searching for radical bookstores, pretending to be Tegan and Sara. We were nerds to the max.

  I’m making some big changes in my life, as I’ve said before, facilitating a new home, a new world when I get back to New York and it is both sad and exciting. I hate to say goodbye. But I think I have to do it now, or never, and I know that the things that are meant to last will find a way of working out no matter what challenges they may face.

   I have a headache, think maybe its sun poisoning from the hot/humid day…Going to listen to some jazz in my bunk…

PEACE.

I am not someone who watches T.V. ever really. I used to but the past few years I’ve much preferred to read books,write stories and seek out adventures. It might seem sort of funny then that when I am not with the truth or touring with bands doing vegan outreach I make my ‘living’ working on the production of television shows. One of those shows called Fat March airs Mondays on ABC at 9 p.m. We are going to be off at that time in the hotel and I am looking forward to watching it. The shoot was much like warped tour. VERY,VERY Intense. It’s going to be cool to go back and see how it was all put together. Our crew became very close with the cast since we all lived together for ten weeks and I am excited for them and to watch the show.

Right now in the midst of three days off in Columbus,Ohio. I had dreaded the idea of spending three days in Ohio but it’s turned out rather nicely. The first thing I do in any city we hit up is figure out where I am going to be eating and I was taken aback by the plethora of vegan options here. Dinner the first night was a three course gourmet feast courtesy of Dragon-fly (neo V cuisine). I don’t know about you but any place that uses the word cusine in their name is usally too fancy for me to get down with. I didn’t know a word of what thier menu said but they seemed to be used to this. They use only local and organic ingredients…many which they grow right behind the building so I wanted to support them and give it a try.

I was in no way dissapointed. We splurged for the chef’s tasting menu and round after round of amazing emerged from the kitchen. It started out with fried okra,a tiny piece on a plum (or maybe peach?) tomato. It was the sweetest tomato I have ever tasted and was lightly dusted with cinnamon and basil…which tastes incredible. Next they brought out a truffled sourcream with a light bread and tomato in some reduced something or other drizzle. Seriously, Jeannine and I were in awe. There was also a bread and eggplant dip as followed by a tortilla with shockingly tasty sauce and filled with squash and peppers and onions. It was all light,filling and amazing. Everything tasted so fresh,it really makes you think about what you put in your body. You can taste the difference. Dessert was blood peach sorbet and peach shortcake. Layer upon layer of deliciousness. MMM. The chef kept sending out dishes “compliments of the chef” because they thought we were in a band or something. That has never happened before and it was flattering,fun and akward!

There is a ton of food related blabbing in this journal but I can’t help it. It’s been great…there is even a ALL VEGAN BAKERY here called Pattycakes. We are at the mercy of the tour for food usually so it’s nice to actually pick what you eat (even though the tour food is usually pretty decent.)

Other than eating it’s been mostly icing of my foot and trying to rest up for the end of tour. Thank you so much to all of the amazing people we’ve been meeting. Everyday I am suprised how all of this can still be fun,exciting and new…so seriously…thank you.

That is all for now…homesick but happy…until next time.

Locals Only,
TaRa

I can’t wait to finally sleep in my own apartment in Brooklyn! I miss all my hometown friends, but it will definitely be a hard goodbye to all the amazing people I met on the tour this year!

I know the highlight of the summer will be when we finally get to the George (pronounced GORGE) in Washington- the view is so beautiful!

It’s all almost over. 12 days left. 9 shows left.

What’s up kids. It’s Chelsea. You may (but probably don’t) remember me from the Truth tour in 2005.  Well I’m back and better than ever. I finally get my turn to blog to all you guys. I’ve been out for about 2 weeks now and Warped Tour is just as I remember it…hot, sweaty, hot, sweaty…you get the point. Oh but I forgot to add lots of fun. The crew and I actually are in some weird small town right outside of Columbus, Ohio for 3 days while the tour is in Canada. Can I just tell you how comfortable our beds in the hotel are? Seriously, from the minute Jessica and I got our room, we didn’t leave our beds. I feel like I’ve been sleeping in a huge cloud. Makes me never want to sleep in my coffin (bunk) again. Hmmm let’s see…we went to a mall and of course spent way too much money in forever 21 and target. Oh and I yelled at people working at Tmobile because my sidekick doesnt EVER work. I bought some hair dye and re-dyed my hair black because being in the sun every day for 10 hours, it was starting to get really light. I also took about an hour long shower which was sooooooooo amazing. I’m not sure if all you readers know how horrid showers in venues are and how there is NEVER any hot water after about 800 other people shower in the same shower.  Scotty took the crew out to dinner last night and we all played some weird trivia game at the restuarant that they were airing on the tv. I’m sorry my sentences probably aren’t making much sense right now. I think I slept too much haha. Well, I’m going to go jump in the hot tub and relax some more. Gotta take advantage of the days off while you can ya know?

I’m glad to be back though and if you’re coming to a show please come out and say hi to me!!!!

I am listening to some old a new found glory and crusing down the highway in the tour bus at a leisurly 60 mph heading to Columbus,Ohio from Buffalo (B-low!) for three amazing (and much needed) days off.

The kids in Mass were some of the nicest I’ve met on the entire tour. We had huge crowds and tons of participation the entire day. It was awesome. I understand what bands mean now when they talk about how the kids at a show can make or break it for them. Having everyone so into what we were doing really gave me more energy and helped us brave the intense heat. Mass also meant the end of the tour for my friends Monty Are I which was a bit of a bummer. On such a massive tour it always feels more like home when you see old faces. My new friends Donny and Ken also had thier last day of tour today as did the Rainforest Action Network booth which always had my favorite shirts and stickers.

I did get to purchase a sweet book on the history of the Black Panther’s before they closed up shop and look forward to reading that in the next week or so. I haven’t read as much as I wanted to on this tour but then again I am busier and more tired then I ever though I’d be so I suppose it makes sense.

With the end of tour approaching I am a bit sad but also looking forward to getting back to some normal things-like my friends, sitting on my porch and nursing my broken foot back to health.

Locals Only,
TaRa

This evening the Warped Tour caravan will leave us behind as it heads into the temperate climate of Canada, providing three days off and some highly required rest. The past four days have involved grueling twelve-hour drives, some of which I cannot even comprehend the route. If possible, it would be quite beneficial if someone could explain to me how going from Indiana to Pennsylvania takes half the amount of time than the drive between Indiana and New Jersey. Ignoring my personal shortcomings concerning the complicated fact that I apparently live in a three-dimensional world, my days have been eventful. During our day off in Indiana, replete with exuberance from considering the concept of a mall, I managed to buy 18 pairs of socks. Obviously, we only have nine days of touring left, so my purchases were somewhat excessive. Nonetheless, one can never have too many knee socks … or, at least that is what I need to convince myself.
 Ironically, my socks adventure proved to become even more inane as the emergency room in  “Boston” (better known as Attleboro, Massachusetts) decided that part of my toe needed to be removed. Before I get into the gory details, quick rewind to my least favorite venue of Cleveland, OH where hail storms initiated what I perceive to be an apocalypse. That lovely (too bad sarcasm does not come through typing) day witnessed me unknowingly cutting open my toe, which then hung out in dirty rain water for two hours. In the end, it became quite unpleasant looking and failed to improve. Hence, Scotty finally suggested that I had it looked at. I will never enter a hospital again, as I believe the removal of any amount of my toe is completely unnecessary. So, now I sit, an invalid with a left big toe covered in gauze. At least I was not the kid in the ER who got elbowed in the face during Coheed … my toe may be slightly unfortunate, but at least my face is still intact (well, at least as intact as it began).

So, two days ago in Indy Scotty and Sean (the diabolical duo) conspired against me to unleash the most heinous scheme.  Near the end of the day Scotty pulled me aside saying that he needed to talk to me right away which was really odd because I was on the mic at the time giving out the last of our merch for the day.  I should have seen this coming because at the end of the day one of our fun games that we like to play is to dump a bucket of ice water on a kid who has been out in the hot sun all day and wants to cool off   Well, when Scotty started talking to me about some of the most random stuff Sean came up behind me with a bucket of ice water and dumped it straight on top of my head. Needless to say, it was incredibly shocking (and cold). The look on my face was priceless.  Lucky for Sean and Scotty I know how to take a joke, but they better be ready for some pay back, cause it will come, and no guarantees that is wont be painful, ha ha ha!

Till next time,

Mickey

Aside from the CRAZY tornado/flood/hailstorm in Cleveland, I would say the past week of shows were pretty “normal”.  When I say “normal” now however, it now consists of traveling to new cities everyday, working 8 hours in the sun, and playing dumb (but fun and amusing) games with people to give them free merch.

Flogging Molly and As I Lay Dying just joined the tour so I can’t wait to check them out.  I actually still have a lot of bands to check out which usually I miss either because I’m working or after working the long day I just want to eat, take a shower and go to sleep.  They change the band schedule everyday so I never really know what time the bands come on.  I’m just hoping that I can see one of the bands on my list soon before the tour ends or they leave the tour.

Other than that, life on the road is still good.  Still homesick, but I’ve got used to the touring life now.  Everyone is really friendly; it’s like one whole touring family.  I met Nick from As I Lay Dying in the lunch line the other day and so far he’s one of the nicest band members on the tour.  We started talking about Hawaii, San Diego, Shaved Ice, and other stuff that just reminded us of home.

I did, actually, have a chance to take in a couple of cities in the past week.  On the Camden, NJ date I got to take a ferry over to Philly where we had REAL Philly Cheesesteaks and got to see Jeannine’s sister’s house.  On The Long Island date, I went to go visit my friend Christine in Manhattan and hang out with her a little bit (I MISS New York!  It made me want to move there!).  On our day off (2 days) ago in Indiana we went the Circle Center mall in downtown Indianapolis and just shopped all day.  So yea, at least I got to experience all that.  Can’t wait to see Boston either!

So there’s only about 11 workdays left!  I can’t believe how much we’ve done already; excited to almost be home, but sad that it’s almost over.  Hey, we’ve done a 12-day stretch before, but this time it’s better cause we’ve got many more day off’s in between.  Just a few more days on the east coast, a couple in the middle, then the rest back in the west coast!  Yeaa!

P.S.- Shout out to Cory…thanks buddy for visiting us in Cincinnati!

I should start by saying that we experienced the most intense storm I’ve witnessed at our Cleveland show…Lightning, thunder, torrential rain, and hale…Kinda thought we were gonna die…Ran to the bus through the storm, hale cutting our faces, trudging through knee deep water, watching the other vendors struggle to save their merch…Everyone kind of came together to help, and eventually nature brought the most amazing sunlit skyline out for us to enjoy the rest of the day/evening…

We finally did it, hit Camden (close to Philly) and the New York show and I was reminded of how much I love the places I call home…Great people…great times! I got to take the ferry to Philly from Camden and it was so funny to remember having taken the very same route in my adolescence.

The New York show may possibly have been my favorite show yet…I actually got on the mic and the crowd was so supportive, so into the games, so into my lame jokes…I was honestly touched…There were amazing people, some hung out for most of the day, and our zone really became a tightly knit community…I love when that happens…

Next, Englishtown, NJ where the venue was actually on an auto race track…so bizarre to have Kevin our bus driver take us for a ride on the track, yes the bus with all of us in it…I’m including a picture. I have to mention Kevin too because I’ve become quite attached to him. Since I wake up about an hour earlier than everyone else here, I get to bond with him in the mornings after we’ve arrived at our destination…Going to miss some of my new family members on this tour like crazy when its all over…

On that note, this tour has had a profound effect on my life…making changes, becoming the person I think I may have been too afraid to be in the past…I feel fortunate for the people I’ve met, the places I’ve seen, the experiences I’ve undergone…wow…Less than 3 weeks to go…so sad…