WARPED TOUR 2004- ANTI-FLAG

ANTI-FLAG- WARPED TOUR SUMMER 2004

June 29, 2004 Las Cruces, NM N.M.S.U Practice Field
June 30, 2004 Peoria, AZ Peoria Sports Complex
July 01, 2004 Fullerton, CA CSUF Athletic Field
July 02, 2004 Fullerton, CA CSUF Athletic Field
July 03, 2004 San Francisco, CA Peir 30/32
July 04, 2004 Las Vegas, NV Desert Breeze Skate Park
July 06, 2004 Chula Vista, CA Coors Amphitheatre
July 07, 2004 Ventura, CA Seaside Park
July 08, 2004 Marysville, CA Sleep Train Amphitheatre
July 09, 2004 Nampa, ID Idaho Center Amphitheatre
July 10, 2004 George, WA Gorge Ampitheatre
July 11, 2004 Deer Island, OR Columbia Medows
July 13, 2004 Vancouver, BC Thunderbird Stadium
July 15, 2004 Calgary, AB Race City Speedway
July 16, 2004 Bozeman, MT Gallitin County Fairgrounds
July 17, 2004 Salt Lake City, UT Utah State Fairpark
July 18, 2004Denver, CO Invesco Field at Mile High
July 20, 2004 Milwaukee, WI Marcus Amphitheatre
July 21, 2004 Martyland Heights, MO UMB Bank Pavillion
July 22, 2004 Noblesville, IN Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre
July 23, 2004 Cleveland, OH Tower City Amphitheatre
July 24, 2004 Tinley Park, IL Tweeter Center
July 25, 2004 Minneapolis, MN Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome
July 26, 2004 Bonner Springs, KS Verizon Wierless Amphitheatre
July 28, 2004 Atlanta, GA HiFi Buys Amphitheatre
July 29, 2004 Orlando, FL Central Floridia Fairgrounds
July 30, 2004 St. Petersburgh, FL Vinoy Park
July 31, 2004 Pompano Beach, FL Pompano Beach Amphitheare
August 01, 2004 Jacksonville, FL Jacksonville Fairgrounds
August 02, 2004 Charlotte, NC Verizon Wierless Amphitheatre
August 03, 2004 Virginia Beach, VA Verizon Wierless Amphitheatre
August 04, 2004 Bristow, VA Nissan Pavilion at Stone Ridge
August 05, 2004 Burgettstown, PA Post Gazette Pavilion
August 06, 2004 Camden, NJ Tweeter Center
August 07, 2004 New York, NY Randall's Island
August 08, 2004 Englishtown, NJ Old Bridge Township Raceway Park
August 10, 2004 Hershey, PA Hershey Park Amphitheatre
August 12, 2004 Quebec City, QC Colisee Pepsi Arena
August 13, 2004 Montreal, QC Parc Jean Drapeau
August 14, 2004 Barrie, ON Molson Park
August 15, 2004 Pontiac, MI Pontiac Silverdome
August 16, 2004 Cincinnati, OH Riverbend Music Center
August 17, 2004 Columbus, OH Germain Amphitheatre
August 18, 2004 Darien Center, NY Darien Lake Performing Arts Center
August 19, 2004 Foxboro, MA Gillette Stadium - West Parking Lot


june 24th 2004 pittsburgh, pa

i sit here in some ritzy hotel room in pitts, pa. earlier today i fucking got stuck doing shit work which didnt stoke me out. i am here to go out on the warped tour which in itself is kind fucked. well today i was in a room putting flyers in bag to give away at warped tour. it was so fucking tedious and weird. i am going out with a band to sell merchandise. not sit in an office and stuff 2000 bags(which i dont plan on doing) which are strictly for advertisement(the bags are for a record label and have the whole catalog of the label printed on them). such a waste. total fucking waste off plastic, paper and time in all honesty. its just something thats going to end up on the ground at the end of the day. i mean being involved in this tour is contributing to all of this.
i just saw 3 different news clips tonight on the news.
1- was for a couple of people who were with greenpeace here in PA who climbed a smoke stack at some power plant and hung a huge banner directed towards the bush administrations energy policy. these people where detained by police and the news said that they are facing between 5-20 years jail time. they are trying to set an example with these activists.-
2- shit is still fucking hitting the fucking fan in iraq. seriously shits fucked over there and yes it is all due to us. at least 100 people were killed today in iraq. again this is due to us "the free world". if we hadnt gone there and fucking detroyed peoples live and way of life this wouldnt be happening. WAKE THE FUCK UP!!!
3- another news clip was of more police abuse. i didnt catch where this took place but i saw the video and again the pigs fucked people up. this victim had his hands up and was surrendering and the pigs just rushed him and fucking brutalized him. WAKE THE FUCK UP!!! what has happened to human beings. it has never been this bad. never in history have people been so fucking inhuman.
all of this and i stuffed bags today. its so fucking weird. i honestly never would have thought i would be sitting in an office stuffing bags for tour. i mean come on. ha ha ha.
ha ha ha....i just another news clip. the title was "this years election is going to be closer then ever".... its made out to be this dramatic story. "it could go either way" with drum beats in the background. dun dun duuun. dun dun duun
are people actually this fucking stupid. its not working and this election isnt going to make a difference. its bigger then...what are the names? this world system is totally fucking eating the us alive and sooner or later is going to stangle us. we are on our last breath. WAKE THE FUCK UP!!!
so there ya have it. some random thoughts of mine.
i feel like i am kinda being negative at the moment but i am not. the people i am going to be with this summer are all really nice and i am excited to get to know them more. i have nothing against them at all. its just the bag thing totally tripped me out. thats it.

june 27th, el paso, TX

well our 30 hour drive is done. yeah! we drove from pitssburgh through ohio, indiana, illinois, missouri, oklahoma, new mexico and texas. it was pretty brutal but also pretty quick. we drove about 10 hours a day and then pulled over a got rooms. the country that we drove through was pretty amazing(i took a picture today. ha). today was the shit. we drove through texas today and then new mexico through the white sands area. i had never been through this area. it was flat as far as the eye could see with desert type mountains in the far distant. there where some storms you could see in the distance which was pretty cool cause you could see the whole sky and see the outline of the storm. the white sands area is a huge bombing, missle range for the military and their corporate cronies. RAYTHEON. when you drive by the range you see RAYTHEON's name on the the signs. crazy. private defense contractor. it was weird cause then it got me thinking again about everything. i have heard that there are military recruiters on the warped tour. i guess they have a tent and shit set up at most shows. WHAT THE FUCK? seriously. this is totally fucking nuts. i dont really know what to say about it. its actually fucking sick. i hope things have changed and they arent on this tour. i really dont know what ill do or say. something needs to be done. i mean come on. there is no need to go into this at all. have we just lost ourselves in this fucking insanity.
so i was also thinking about what i had written earlier about my thoughts. i dont want to come across as being negative. thats really it.
well tomorrow i plan on just taking it easy for the day. maybe go pick up a few things and then everyone flys in tomorrow and we have to load the bus late as shit tomorrow night(actually tuesday morning) at 2 or 3 at night. fuck. thats going to suck shit.
i also think tomorrow ill go and buy a camera maybe and maybe start taking pictures of some of my adventures. we will see.

june 30th, phoenix, az

just leaving the show sight. another field. ha. so the last couple days have been crazy. we were supposed to get picked up by our bus around midnight on the 28th to load shit up and then drive to the show sight. well the buses transmission broke. so the company was going to send us a new one from san diego(we are in el paso!!) and it would arrive around 8 in the morning. okay well my ass goes to sleep early to wake up and load shit. 8 o clock comes around and the bus isnt there. the bus driver calls and says he is 4 hours away. we have to be at the show sight at like 7. so we all pile in a penske and leave all the merch at the hotel and go to the sight. totally hectic. well so this was my first day. it was so fucking crazy but it all came together however all day our bus hadnt arrived. well after the show the bus still isnt there and we are all just waiting by some fence with all of our gear. just sitting there. ha. well the bus driver calls after he said he would be there 20 mins ago and tells us he is on the side of the freeway OUT OF GAS. seriously is that some shit. outta gas. that was a first. well i end up riding with the souls so i was there in the morning to set up. AF was late as shit because of all of it. well i didnt get a good sleep last night due to the the white castle being a little bumpy. actually hardly any sleep. well i woke up this morning and went to work. woke up around 7:30 and went to work. unloading our truck and helping everyone set up shit. AF didnt show up until 2 hrs after doors. my day was hot as shit and i totally thought i was going to pass out. it was hot as shit. i am surprised i that i didnt throw up. the show ended. today was the toughest show out of the 2. after the show i closed up and loaded everything into the truck and went and took a nice nice shower. nice but quick. we are now driving to fullerton, ca now and my ass is going to sleep. peace out.

july 4th. las vegas, nv

my computer is extremely dusty. today was a very dirty, long, slow day. its about 3:20 in the morning here july 5th. the show today was okay. it was pretty slow and also pretty small so the 2 added up dont equal much. we have the day off tomorrow which is nice. i just came back from some gathering/ party at the ole hard rock cafe here in las vegas. p.j.(AF-guitar tech) and i walked down to the hard rock tonight after both getting nice clean showers. we kinda both did our own thing which means i walked around for awhile checking things out before i ran into some peeps i knew. ended up staying out for awhile hanging with some random tour people. got myself a little buzz going on and then walked back the 4-5 blocks back to our hotel.
the last couple days were pretty cool. yesterday we played the pier in SF. the weather was pretty awesome. it was a little chilly but not super cold. i wore jeans all day which was nice. after the show we had an early bus call so thats all i could do.
the day before was pretty cool. i had heard about 1/2 hour before hand that ms. drew barrymore was coming to the show to interview punk voter and fat mike. well my booth was connected to the punk voter tent this day. i actually moved my table and bungy so drew could walk through my space to get to punk voter. that was pretty cool. she is just another person. but i know for the olngest time i have had a little crush on her in the sort of famous person crush sort of way. any how it was still the shit. some people around me took their picture with her and i was thinking about it however i dont have a camera and at the time i was a little hesitant which sucks now due to it probabaly wont happen ever again. ho well.
i noticed that i am writing a message about every 3-4 days which i wish i was writing more however on this tour its extremely busy as shit. those 2 things added topgether equzls some stress. i do want to write more to document everythijng i can however i am also extremely busy. today was cool. i am getting to know some rad people that i am exc ited baout getting to know very well in the next 6 weeks. anyhow my ass is tired so ill wirte more later.
peace


july 11th. leaving portland,OR towards the canadian border heh.

we just left the show sight here in portland oregon. we are on our way towards the canadian border. the tour has been going great. everyday is the same. work hard as shit and long as shit. its not to bad. if it wasnt for my neighbors i would fucking hate it however my little world is surrounded with rad people.
yesterday we played at the gorge. seriously it was one of the most amazing places ever. it was werid kinda that there was a venue or amphitheater in the middle of nowhere. the venue was built i guess by bill graham who wanted to build a place for the grateful dead to play. we were on the side of some mountain/ valley type place with the columbia river below us and you could see the river in either direction for miles. we were so high over the valley you could see everything. it ruled hard. i wanted to take a picture so so bad however couldnt come across a camera. again a missed picture. i need to get some sort of canada. the view i had yesterday was spectacular. yesterday was busy as shit as well and it sucked cause since it was on this side of this mountain walking up or down it was brutal. to go eat you had to walk down it and then back up. ouch.
the show today again was good. its so weird because to be honest every single day is exactly the same. its fun for what it is. i enjoy it. i havent really watched to many bands on it. i am not really interested in them at all. seriously most of the bands on this tour fucking suck shit and have no integrity. i dont want to sound to negative but most are in it to make a quick buck. the bands this year that is. alot of these bands just within the last year have become "big" so you have this whole mainstream thing going on. not that you didnt before. its the vans warped tour so its always been there. its just weird. its just funny cause there are so many crap bands out there. ha ha.
thats really all that comes to mind right now. i do want to write on a more daily basis however i am busy as shit so its not really going to happen.

july 14th, salmon arm, beautiful british columbia, CAN

sitting in the mountains.
the smell of pines
is this nature
or is this natural destruction

ha. these were my thoughts about 30 mins ago as i sat in front of our tour bus on a plastic chair in the middle of the rockies and played acoustic quitar. i am in the middle of the wilderness. the air here is so so fresh and smooth. you can smell the scent of the forest. but is it the smell of the forest or the smell of the forest getting cut down. i saw so many logging trucks today going through this little town in the mountains. while i was out on the water all and you looked at all of the mountains you could see tons of clear cuts and logging areas. i guess they are the same thing-clear cuts/logging area. anyway it fucking sucks that we are killing ourselves. thats pretty much where those thoughts came from.

okay so my day today was pretty unbelievable. actually the last couple days have been pretty rad. so we came into canada. the border crossing wasnt that bad at all. they woke us up around 4a.m. and made us get off the bus and go inside. they looked at our passports and then we took off. it didnt take long at all. i crashed out and woke up at our hotel in vancouver. i was up pretty early so i put some laundry in and found out how to get downtown. i waited for laundry and everyone to get ready and we all took the sky train into vancouver. i was stoked. i was also weirded out i guess we will say. i was in vancouver and so near alot of my extended family there but i didnt have any #s for them and didnt get in touch with them. i felt a little bad but i kinda thought that if i did get ahold of anyone it probably wouldnt work out due to the quick notice. who knows though. but yeah it sucked. it would have been cool to see my grandma who i may never see again. she does live 1 hour outside vancouver so i dont know if it could have happened. but who knows. sorry grandma and everyone else. well i ended up cruising out with everyone i was with and actually get to see the city. i have been to vancouver so many times with family however i have never been there on my own. so it was nice. we went and got some great indian food, ran a couple errands, and then some went back to the hotel and chris, neal, jeff(who is filling in for pat/AF due to pat leaving for 2 weeks. jeff is a good dude.) and i went to the bay and check out the bay. it ruled. the city of vancouver is surrounded by moutains and ocean. it rules. we saw planes taking off and landing in the water. there was this huge cruise ship docked at canada place where we were. you could see all of north van. we all cruised back and AF went to rehearsal with jeff and neal, p.j. and i went to some party that was for the warped tour. the party was okay. alot of people i didnt recognize and alot of bullshit talk im sure. p.j. took off so neal and i sat there for awhile and then we both cruised back to the hotel.
the show the next day in vancouver was busy as shit. the busiest i was seriously one of the busiest in the whole tour. i looked around and everyone was just chilling and i was non stop on my feet. very busy. it was nice when the show ended so i could actually chill out a little bit. we packed up and left to spend the next day in salmon arm(where i spent all of my canadian summers-well 20km from there)

i woke up this morning and as soon as i was up i started my day. we had all planned on renting jet skis for the day on the lake. as soon as i got up, walked off the bus into this beautiful little valley ion the middle of the rockies. everywhere you looked was green forest. dense forest. i hoped on a bike and rode down the highway to try and find the harbor where we could rent jet skis. i rode through downtown salmon arm and came up on the harbor. i got some information on the rentals and cruised back to the hotel. everyone was sleeping still and i realized that i woke up earlier then i thought. everyone soon woke up and we all started figuring things out for our day. we called and reserved 6 six jet skis. walked down to the harbor and rented our little toys for 2 hours. i was so excited. my summer holidays were spent on this lake as a kid. who would have thought that i would be on tour and have a day off here. INSANE! i have so many memories from here. so we all went cruising out into the lake. we were about 30 mins from the actual resort that i used to camp at. we just kept cruisin. we were in the middle of this huge fucking lake which is actually part of 5 other huge lakes. it was so awesome. and the only thing surrounding the lake was huge mountains. the water was so nice and refreshing and very very clear. we ended up going through sicamous and into mara lake. it took probably 40 mins to get there. i rode my jet ski across the lake and went to check out the camping spot where i used to camp with my family. so so crazy that this happened. never would i have thought. it has changed alot from what i saw. i cruied back mara lake by myself. just cruising. i put my feet up and just cruised. i kinda wonder now what that would feel like on a motorcycle. played around for awhile and then in the distance i saw everyone cruising towards me. i was just in the water jumping off of my jet ski and swimming around. just like old times. good times. met up with everyone and played around more and then cruised back to the harbor. the harbor was in the middle of a bird sanctuary. our fun was done. ill never forget this day. we all had the time of our lives. after that we went and got some pizza and then i cruised back to the hotel/ bus while the others went to a movie. for the next 3 hours into the evening and sunset i sat outside in front of the bus and played guitar with a spectacular view of the rockies. it was a sight to be seen. i wish i was better with words because i cant really truly describe the sight. amazing. ha. i saw a huge storm approach which is still over head but hasnt started. i watched the sun come down and reflect off of the top of the moutains this orange, green color and then off of the storm which was a orange/ purple color. all while i was playing guitar and jsut jamming out. YEAH! well we have bus call here in 30 mins where we will start our drive through the rest of the rockies going to calgary. i get to see my brother and sister. yeehaaw!

july 19th, driving to des moines, IO

just woke up and still in the bus driving to des moines where we will spend the day off. its just the crew today. the band flew to LA to meet with a bunch of major labels. they will be back tomorrow so today we will enjoy our little freedom. the last couple days have been good.

a couple days ago we played calgary, AB which was very very busy. my sister and brother-jodi and travis- made the 8 hour drive to come visit me which was nice however i got to spend no time with them whatsoever. i hadnt seen them in 1 1/2 years and all i could really do or say was hi. it was the busiest day of tour so far and i was swamped. it sucked because i feel bad that i couldnt spend more time with my family seeing how i do want to get closer with them. shit. there was a big storm at the end of the show so we all packed up fast and early to avoid the downfall. well we didnt miss the storm and kinda all got wet. i thought that jodi and travis would stop by and they didnt so i was totally bummed cause now i couldnt even say good bye and who knows when i would see them again. bummer. well justin from the flag actually called them without me knowing and invited them on our bus while we waited to leave so that fucking ruled hard because i did get to spend at least 10 mins with them and they were able to be out of the rain for a little bit and i know some of them were stoked to be inside of our bus. it was a nice surprise and i am glad it happened. we then left for the border on our way to montana.

the show in bozeman was pretty shitty. what was shitty about it is that it was on some gravel/stone field which made for a dusty hard day. we had to push all our merch through this which isnt easy at all. your wheels on the had truck get stuck every inch and it takes like 2 people to push. then you ahd the dust. thankfully i had brought my bandana with me so i could use it as a sort of filter of some sort. also in the morning i totally thought i broke my foot. while loading out roach who does merch for the ole bad religion accidentally slammed a tent on my foot. my foot was underneath the tent and he didnt know it. fuck it hurt so bad however the pain didnt actually come for about 2 hours after it happened. i took a 1/4 of a vicadin and from then on it has felt better. i was so dirty after the show and didnt want to go to bed covered in dirt so chris head and i tried to go find showers however the ones we found had no hot water left so i kinda quickly rinsed off the best i could under the circumstances and went to sleep.

woke up in SLC for another day of warped tour. it was another show and kinda the same thing. the end of the day ended very quick due to another storm coming in quick and dropping lots of rain with alot of lighting so we had to take shit down. went to our hotel and had a nice warm shower which i hadnt had in about 4 days and went to sleep.

awoke in denver which was yesterday for another show on another parking lot. yesterday was again very busy again. i would say about the 2nd busiest show on the tour. if it wasnt for my neighbors in my world i probably wouldnt be having any fun. i am surrounded by roach(bad religion) and the rad heather and amy(A3) as well followed by wilkie and bob. it fucking rules hard. we have a good team and everyone looks out for everyone else. it is so so awesome. i am so thankful for my company. the trio leaves in 4 days which is going to suck because i really enjoy heather and amy's company. oh well. thats tour. ha ha. very interesting indeed.

thats pretty much it for now. here still in the bus waiting to arrive in des moines. hopefully there is some kinda of a health food store or somewhere where i could get some good food. take care.

july 20th. in a parking lot in milwaukee, WI

the show is over. another show down the drain. the same as any other show although today was a little different because we were kinda indoors in some tent outside. i have kinda started to make new friends and now some of them our leaving in 4 days and it is going to suck. i mean thats what happens. i have kinda developed a little interest in amy who is with alkaline trio. oh well. the food at catering was pretty good toady. for dinner we had vegie loaf/ gray, beans, rice, a roll, peas and corn. there was alot of food and good food at that.

july 24th. leaving chicago and also leaving my new friends heather and amy from alkaline trio.

the last couple nights have been pretty crazy.

july 25th. minneapolis, MN driving to kansas city

its crazy when you work for a "punk band" and the first thing they say when you come back from working your ass off all fucking day(from 7 in the morning till 10 at night) is
"how did we do?". meaning how was merch sales. its quite a bummer. seriously thats the first thing out of most of their mouths when i walk in from a hard ass day. it sucks. thats there main concern it would seem like. not how are you doing? etc etc etc. money talks. that was just a random note.

okay well the last couple days have been interesting and fun. we played in indianapolis, cleveland, chicago and minneapolis(today). this past week has been fun. we played in cleveland which was fun. the show was underneath this bridge and in the cool industrial type area. it looked like it was going to rain but it ended up not. before the show started i was fortunate enough to get a shower and my friend andy was at the show before doors and brought her massage table so after my shower i also had a massage. what a way to start a day. the show was fun. after the show though was where the fun began. i hadnt really done to much hanging. i wanted to however after the shows are over everyone usually goes to their own little worlds and that where they are. so i usually just chill out but since my friends heather and amy where leaving i wanted to hang out. now that i look back at it i wish i hung out with them every night of the tour. oh well. so after the show i went in a did some work and put some jeans on and went to meet amy, heather and smith in the "cirlce of hate"(is what some people refer to it. hA ha). i hung out with them for awhile outside while some others were playing poker($100 hands- wow). i sat there with amy for a little bit and talked and then heather, amy, and i went onto their bus and hung out for a quick minute and then took off to go wondering. heather grabbed smith and someone else who i didnt meet and we all went cruising. the show again was in this old industrial area so it was pretty cool and it was right downtown which was busy because you are surrounded by the city. so we cruised along this old bridge which i kinda abbandoned and we came to the end which was a drawbridge for the river below. we sat at the edge and hung out for a little bit. hung our feet over and chilled. we were going to leave when someone decided to hope over this fence which was for the draw bridge. i was kinda intoxicated and was totally into it. it was so fucking crazy. totally reminded me of RVA. we had to climb these huge steel steps which were steep as shit and you had no room to move. it was pretty awesome. total rush. we were so high you could feel the wind and there was nothing around. if you tripped or fell you would be gone. so we went to the top and heather couldnt make it all the way up so smith and the other dude cruised down and amy and i hung out up there for a minute or 2. it was actually pretty rad. i wanted to hang out more with amy and now here i am. stoked. i know she has a boyfriend and wasnt about to do anything or even think of it. it was just cool. so we both climbed down together and had some laughs and then walked back to our busses and went to sleep. by far the funnest night of my tour so far.

woke up in chicago. this was the trio's last day which was going to be sad. # 1 because i am losing such good neighbors and my new friends are leaving. the chicago show was busy as shit. alkaline trio was even busier. those grrls had theirs hands full for sure. after the show was over unforutnately we again had another early bus call. most bus calls on this tour have been very early and then i find out that most the people i know actually have later bus calls then us. i dont know why but it sucks cause we could be hanging out. so after this show we all quickly hurried and closed down our world so we could hang out for a second and say our good byes. i was a little sad. i met someone cool and who knows what will happen with that. we cruised back to the grrls bus and hung out in there for a little while and tried to be as late as possible so we could say our good byes. i said good bye to amy and got her phone number to hopefully keep in touch. she is very nice. ha. i then ran back to my bus. again it was so nice to be near those 2 for this tour. we were all kinda on the same page and had the same things in common. yeah!

i felt it today. as soon as i was outside going to the truck you could tell something was missing. all day was like that. something was missing. for me at least. i am thankful for the time spent. but yes things are different now. thats the way it goes. well thats pretty much it up to know. ill write more when i can. peace

july 26th kansas city, KS

sitting here in the bus. just did my numbers and waiting to leave. some people are playing hockey on play station and i am just sitting here writing. the show today was pretty chill. i wasnt to busy which was a nice change due to being so busy the last couple days. just another parking lot. i found out today about the last last show of this years warped tour. rancid and sick of it all are playing amongst tons of others. it would be cool to go check out but instead ill catch a flight home.

tonight while i was closing down a fire fly came into my tent and flew very close to my face and just hovered there for awhile. it was kinda cool. reminded me of home. so we are going to drive to nashville tonight and have a day off. i have never been to nashville or TN either so it will be pretty nice. then we play atlanta and the (i)nc join the tour which will be nice. well thats really it.

july 27th somewhere in TN

i am fucking pissed off. well more bummed then angry. frustrated. we were supposed to have a day of in nashville TN. well we do have day off in but not in nashville. somewhere thats 30 mins from nashville. what the fuck. i am bummed because i have never been to nashville and also because we are staying in the fucking sticks. bad fucking call. i guess we stayed here so mike(bus driver) could go fix the bus. what i dont understand is that the bus is mobile and we are not. the bus could have dropped us off at a hotel in nashville but instead it dropped us off in the sticks with nothing around. oh yeah there is a mall. i dont want to spend my day off in a fucking mall. i wanted to have a good day off with a health food store and check out the city. aaahhh!!! frustrated!!! the whole warped tour is staying in nashville at some hotel and just as expected with the AF they stay somewhere else. instead of staying where everyone else is, being near shit and having people to hang out with besides the AF dudes we choose to to stay in the stix. i am told from tito that "this day is actually for mike". ha ha ha. great. fuck the band and fuck the crew. i mean i know its not like that but its just frustrating. mike could have driven there. its that easy. so thats where i am right now. super bummed out.

well things kinda took a slight turn a little while ago. i actually was in the mall for the second time today. the first time sucked and didnt help my day. well i go back and while i am walking through the mall i run into wilkie. it was totally rad. i was pretty stoked to see him. him and some others were going through the same thing we were. their bus was geting fixed and they were staying up the street. so i am actually going to go see a movie with them a little later and then probably come back here and get on the bus and head to atlanta.

july 31st. miami, FL

i am here just wrapping up my night. today sucked just like the last 3 shows. florida sucks. i am not into it. the people and the weather blow. uh....well not all the people obviously but in general FL blows. today roach broke and mangled his finger. he was trying to make some sort of a drain with our tents and his finger went into my fan and chewed it up. i heard this loud clank and looked at roach and knew he was in trouble. he took off right away and went to the ER and found out his finger was broken. yeah. what a bummer. it sucked big time. there was blood everywhere. it could have been so much worse. he is so so lucky he didnt loose his finger. then the rain came and man did it come hard. most of my shit was soaked and i was drenched. the rest of the day i was walking in soaked clothes and shoes. oh well. it happens. thats really it. after the show i quickly went for a dip in the pool that was on the grounds and thats really it. now here i am just writing and about to hit the bunk and crash out. one more show and then we are out of FL and begin our trip up the north east coast which shall be fun fun fun. peace.

august 8th. driving to NYC from new jersey

i am riding on the bad religion bus tonight to get to the city earlier then what i would have if i went with our bus. our bus call was like 4 am and i didnt feel like having to wake up at 6 and getting off the bus due to no parking in nyc. i have the flu/ cold right now and want to have as much sleep as i can. the last couple days have been crazy and brutal. we played nyc yesterday and it was b y far my worst show of the tour. i was not happy one bit. to be honest i was super frustrated. i was getting sick and we were playing on a dirt field. it was the dirtiest show of the whole tour. breathing in mass amounts of dust is not good. so yesterday sucked and today was better but still a bummer due to my sickness. we just finished our 12th show in a row and i am looking forward to our day off tomorrow.

so much has happened in the last week or so. alot of crazyness. we played our shows in FL which sucked. after the show there was a big party. so after the show i went and caught a shower and met up with the inc dudes. i am so stoked they are on the tour. they rule hard and i totally have a good time with them. well i met up with them and hung out for a bit and then we all went down to this party thing. there was an open bar and music getting played. all we did all night was just dance. it was so much fun. yeah! there hasnt been to many nights like that on this tour so it was a nice change. late bus calls usually mean fun times of some sort.

we then made our way up the east coast with a show in charolette, NC. rumor had it that it was supposed to storm that day and be pretty crazy. i put on the swim trunks and prepared but nothing came. it passed us and was heading north. there was another rumor floating around that night that the next show in VA could get cancelled due to the approaching storm.
yeah! 2 hours away from home and the possiblity of the show getting cancelled. yeah!

so i woke up in virginia beach. ame out of the bunk area and looked outside and it was totally pouring rain. big time! the show was totally going to get cancelled. i stayed inside for awhile and then saw roach walking. i joined him in my swim trunks and we were the only ones out at 7:20. we walked around for a second and then decided that its fucked and we will just go into our buses and wait to see what happens. hung out for a little bit and went back outside to hear that the show was going on. insanity. there was a hurricane/ tropical storm and they were going for it. $$$$ so our little world hunt out inside the box truck for about 1 hour just talking. there was nothing we could do. it was raining so hard and no one wanted to set up in it so we wasted as much time as possible. set up in the rain and went through the day. it rained all day and that was that. it sucked big time. after the show there was a big party. so i went and caught a shower and met up with the inc dudes. i am so stoked they are on the tour. they rule hard and i totally have a good time with them. well i met up with them and hung out for a bit and then we all went down to this party thing. there was an open bar and music getting played. all we did all night was just dance. it was so much fun. yeah! there hasnt been to many nights like that on this tour so it was a nice change. late bus calls usually mean fun times of some sort. and the best thing is it was totally cleared up by night time. the stormn was gone.

i remember waking up not feeling good at all. the night before took its toll. so the show was in DC and again it was just another show etc etc etc. however there was some total crazyness later in the day. we were sitting there and this huge 10 second gust of wind came out of no where and almost picked up all our tents. while i was holding on to my tent i looked in the distance and saw this huge radio tent get picked up off the ground. this sucker was huge. i saw it get picked up and tear this whole section of chain link fence up with it and throw it into the air. as soon as it happened i knew someone most likely got fucked up. well for about 20 mins after there was nothing. the show was still going on. it didnt even stop. well then comes this ambulance through the crowd and then i knew what it was for. another ambulance arrived and then 20 mins later i see this helicopter in the distance and thats when i knew someone was really fucked up. the helicopter came in and landed right behind stage. well i guess what had happened is that when the tent got picked up it actually brought people with it and pinned them in between the fence. i think there were about 6 people who got hurt. one on the people actually stopped breathing for 10 mins or so. yeah total bummer. all of this at a show. bum out. since then i have heard that the person probably wouldnt survive but again its just from what i have heard. that sucks.

we played pittsburgh and then onto philly. both shows were the same as the rest but the philly show was the first show with people stealing. there was one incident where someone stole a bad religion belt buckle of the table and roach leaped over the table and had the dude in a head lock and then there was one after the show ended. we were all counting out and someone walks by nofx's tent and grabs there banner and runs. i hear william yell and see him hop over his table and give chase. i hop over my table and start chasing this dude as well as ryan and josh. 4 of us running through the crowd chasing this dude. well the dude couldnt go anywhere due to the crowd so we caught up to him. the dude kinda got rolled. i did see him get a slight knee to the head when we all had him pinned down. the cops came and the dude fessed up and that was that. it was crazy looking and seeing us all chasing this dude.

yesterday i missed the boss. i was taking a nap when bruce springsteen came into the INC tent and fucking hung out with them. insane. thats pretty cool. i guess he was kinda incognito so who knows if i would have recognized him. oh well.

then there has been all of this other drama in the last week or so. just bullshit to be honest. i do think people have been pushed to their limits with this 12 shows in a row.

august 9th, in NYC in some crazy ass hotel(W-wonderland hotels) in time square

today was a day off that was much needed. we arrived about 2 in the morning at the hotel where the BR was stayin so neil and i caught a cab to our hotel. the hotel was in the middle of time square and was the craziest hotel i have been in. you walk in off the street and the walls and the roof are all water. you catch the elevator to go up to the check in booth. i remember coming out of the elevator to this kinda electronic music and these crazy huge lamp shades. to be honest i am sitting in the lobby right now and i dont know how to really explain it. all i know is this place cost some money and was payed for by some major label. definitely the nicest hotel i have stayed in. well enough about that. so i woke up this morning and went to catch some breakfast with crystal and lars at kates joint in manhattan. then i cruised around the city for a bit and bought some cold medicine. met up with jorge and janelle for diner and then from there i came back to my hotel. NYC fucking rules. i would never live here but coming here is so much fun.

well we have a show tomorrow, then a day off, and then 8 shows and tour is done. i cant wait for tour be done. this tour has been so long and draining. warped tour is fucked. thats all i can say. i mean i have had good times and i have met some rad people but over all its just insane. there is not 1 punk thing about it. its a summer rock festival that caters to the mainstream whatever that is or means. the amount of waste that comes with warped is unbelievable. after every show the parking lot/ field looks like a fucking war zone. garbage everywhere. bummer. plus 90% of the bands suck fucking shit and have no fucking balls to keep it real. i mean real in the sense of not partaking in this corporate rock world. again its just my opinion. ha. then again people could also say that i am part of it as well. who knows.

everytime i write these little journal type things i wonder if i should censor myself more seeing how most of the time i send the emails out to people. yeah i want to write and say what i feel but then i also dont want people to think i am talking shit etc etc. and also on the other hand there are 2 sides to every situation. hell just cause i write something one day does not mean that i feel that way the next. i kinda just write what i feel at the moment and see what happens.

AUGUST 13TH montreal, can. sitting in the bus waiting for bus call to drive to toronto

the show today was the busiest show of the whole tour for me. i was slammed from start to finish. it is good for the band however i am not getting a percentage so i dont get rewarded for working my ass off. oh well.

the last couple days have been pretty busy for me work wise and have had some good times in between work. we came into canada on our day off however sat at the border from around 8 in the morning until they let us through around 4. kind of a bummer. i was hoping to spend more time in montreal on the day off. as soon as we arrived at our hotel we all took quick showers and headed into the city. i had made plans to meet up with my friends ben and rupert at the pub they were working at. we caught a crazy cab ride to a train station. arrived on saint denis street and went to eat at some noodle house. it was neil, tito, christoph(from austria). from there we caught the subway to ben and ruperts pub and hung out there a couple hours and had a coulple beers. rupert had to work late so ben and the rest of us cruised down to fous fous electric for skate or die night(half pipie inside the bar). this place is seriously the shit. there would never be a place like this in the states due to insurance costs. its seriously a rad bar. big as shit as well. so we hung out there all night and listened to some fucking punk rock and actually watched some band cover punk songs and people would come up and sing old punk songs. tito sang some black flag song. it was pretty rad. we were all just a little tipsy. so we caught a cab back to our hotel due to having missed our train. the cab ride was pretty insane. the cab dude had no clue where he was going and was totally blasting bob marley. we were all jsut singing at the top of our lungs with the windows down. good times. then we cruised back to our hotel and crashed out due to having to work in the morning.

the next day we played in quebec city which i had never been to. the show was pretty fun but also a little difficult due to my lack of french. it made the day that much longer. after the show i hung out with lars and ludwig for awhile. it was pretty late and we decided to get a cab into the city. i had never been there before so it was pretty cool. we got out and went into a couple bars. the last bar we went into we were stopped at the door and i was asked to remove my hood. some fancy place i guess. then the security guard gives us all free tix and we cruise in. at the main door everyone was givin flash lights because there was this flashlight party going on. it was actually pretty crazy. everyone dancing around with flashlights and the bartenders had light around their necks. it was pretty cool. we had our fun and then we cruised back to the buses and i went to sleep.

the show in montreal was cool. it rained hard all day long which sucked and made for a frustrating day. it sucked big time. mud everywhere.

the show in toronto was cool. all 3 canadian shows i was busy as shit. the busiest i have been all tour were these 3 shows. pretty hectic.

AUGUST 15TH, in detroit waiting for bus call to drive to columbus, OH

only 4 shows left!! fuck yeah!!!!
the show today was another busy busy show. nothing much happened today. i managed to get a shower in. probably the last shower i will have on the tour. i am looking forward to getting off. i can sense my patience getting lower and i am getting more frustrated these days. i mean its bound to happen. you work 15 hours a day for 2 months straight dealing with people every minute is pretty crazy. it fucks with your head and makes you feel weird. i dont want to have frustrations in my daily life etc etc.

august 17th, sitting in the parking lot in columbus, oh

well the warped tour is coming to an end and just in time. last night there was some drama. i am not going to go to into. well someone in my group and someone in the INC were kicked out of the "circle of hate". to be honest its just total drama. high school bullshit. it seems like this tour is made for drama. everyone seems to have something to prove and or say. it totally sucks. usually when i am on tour its fucking all good. well this tour their are the fucking elitists and the non elitists. what a bummer. i guess people just come from different worlds then i do.

well today was pretty cool. the show was small and actually the slowest show of the whole tour. i was able to chill and relax. well tim armstrong is in the house. yeah! he is here to practice for the last show. rancid is playing with green day, sick of it all, and tons of other bands. well lars fredrickson and the bastards were leaving today and it was planned that INC, lars and tim would play a rancid song. i went on stage to watch the whole set which fucking ruled and then for the last song they played OLYMPIA. fuck yeah! good times.

August 20th, sitting in a greyhound about to leave DC for RVA. yeah!!!

tour is over. it ended last night. 2 months we are done. fuck yeah. so i was supposed to fly from pittsburgh and arrive in rva in the late evening. well i found out that taking back sunday was playing the 930 club here in dc today. soo last night i hitched a ride with them here to dc and arrived in the morning. i called a cab to take me to the bus station and i am now on my way home to rva. it kinda worked out better and only cost me about $35 to get home at noon instead of 11:00 at night. cant wait to get home. i feel bad because the flag payed for my flight home its just i didnt feel like sitting in an airport all day.

so glad tour is done. i am going to try detox from it all. the warped tour is the hardest tour of them all i would say. it sucks people i think this tour can totally jade people as well. either that or the people are already jaded before the tour. however i do think the tour really does contribute to it. i notice it in my world. i know personally there were times where i was very frustrated and treated the klds i was helping not as nice as i should have. it totally sucks bigtime. thats the last thing i want is to get frustrated etc etc. so for that reason tour ended just in time. helping thousands of kids for 2 months straight everyday takes its toll. ha. if it wasnt for the people i was by i would have lost my fucking mind. i am glad because this was my first warped tour where i have done the whole thing, intense. well thats pretty much it. tour is over. i could keep writing about things or end it. i am going to choose to end it and enjoy my short bus trip home. peace