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…

Tour has been so far:

Ball4Real, baby wipes, Kaddisfly, Hansen’s Root Beer, The Simpsons Movie, Chuck and Larry, hotels, days off, sleepless nights, friends, Long Island, Friday’s, Fuse TV, motorcycles, Harley Davidson, Smashing Pumpkins, MSTRKRFT, mobile internet, sunscreen, and lastly no sunburn!!!

Ironically, our day in Cleveland, OH began with a concert attendee stating, “it never rains at our shows!” I can guarantee that statement as patently false. Not only did the sky literally open and flood the zone enough for our dance floor to become a mobile raft, what I believed to be ice cubes tossed around by a disgruntled person, turned out to be hail. It was somewhat awkward when I discovered that my rants, originally directed at the invisible person, were actually spoken to the sky. Nonetheless, we managed to survive, donning truth® ponchos and wading through knee deep water.
 Traveling the eight hours or so to New Jersey, we seemed to enter an entirely different climate. After two weeks of perfecting my tan, the harsh sun of NJ (also known as Philadelphia apparently) managed to decimate my efforts as my skin now matches my hair. After infusing my blood with energy drinks, I even managed to gain the courage to speak on the mic … well, for about five seconds to make a pair of “bffs” smell each others’ beyond sweaty sneakers. After spending the day outside in the humid heat of around 100 degrees, I must admit I feel slightly guilty and empathetic for those two.

So I thought I’d take some time out to discus the different types of showers you come across on the Vans Warped Tour.

A lot of shows are held at amphitheaters which usually have a couple of showers in the green room.  These are normal showers but the catch is, there is 800 people trying to use 2 showers so the lines tend to back up and there isn’t always hot water in the showers.  wait time + a 5min shower = about 90min

Some venues have no showers to offer what so ever so warped tour gets a few rooms at a hotel and runs a shuttle to and from the venue.  These are really nice showers in a hotel room but the catch is the travel time to the hotel and the wait for the shower can be crazy long.  Travel time + wait time + 5min shower = upwards of 3 hours. 

The quickest shower on the tour is the finding a hose or anything else that is spitting out a steady flow of water (misting tents are great).  These is a really quick and easy shower, there is no wait and gets you just as clean.  The odd thing about this shower is that you are often showering with an audience.  These can be kind of weird for some people but hey if you want to get clean in a hurry this is your best option.

There is also the lucky people who have a shower on there tour bus. There is no wait and no travel time.  However, the catch with having a shower on the bus is that you may only shower for about a minute.  Turn the water on to get wet, turn is off to lather up, then turn it on again to rinse off, and then you are done.  It may be quick but very convenient.

Also, please note, it is polite to spend no more than 5min showering…you will be timed!

Till next lesson,

Mickey