Home Now, Part 1 of.....3?

There were numerous times during tour where I would hope to write something, anything about our current trip. Instead, I'd either stare at a blank screen and tell myself I'd write a hilarious, thoughtful and crass entry about life on the road....tomorrow. Well, that clearly never happened and now here we are, back from tour and home. No blog updates. Wait. Well, what about some pictures? Nah, I wasn't any good at snapping photos and the lesson I learned when I was young was if you're not good at something right away either quit or take a nap, so I did both. Either way, I promised myself I would write something tonight before the crushing weight of real life beat me down into a state of depression that would render both my brain useless. So, basically, I have ten minutes to finish this nuisance. Let's go.

Two weeks is a short time to be gone and this trip felt like it was actually broken up into two different parts. Well, three actually. This was due to touring with three different bands at three different times. In the beginning we started out with local friends and heroes, Forfeit. I'm told by the kids that they're a hardcore band. I don't really listen to hardcore anymore minus Ruiner and Another Breath. As I've mentioned over and over again I only have time for old Saves The Day and Third Eye Blind but I make an exception when it comes to Forfeit. I swear to god, if I still had health insurance I would have moshed for them in Boston. But alas, I'm old, don't drink milk and therefore brittle so I had to pass on owning the pit. For now. Either way, we only did a weekend with Forfeit which I believe entailed Syracuse, Albany, and Allston (Boston). All three of those dates were extremely well attended and while in Allston, during Polar Bear Club's cover of "Ten Minutes", I stage dove for the third time in my career as a show goer. After that particular show, Forfeit and PBC parted ways. Well, sort of. That night we stayed in the Allston area while Forfeit attempted to go back home for we no longer needed their services. Their attempt was futile however because the van they call home broke down about a half an hour out of town. But you know what? Enough about them. This isn't a Forfeit blog. If it were all entries would be about Floorpunch, lifting weights and weed. Man, that doesn't sound so bad. Tell Steve Baby to get on that.

After a date by ourselves in New Haven, Connecticut, we headed out towards Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to meet up with tourmates Fireworks and once again The Swellers. Yep, The Swellers. Again. I think this was our third time out with that band since August. I could be wrong about that but details, specifics and women have never been my speciality. The point is this. If I had to liken The Swellers to a sexually transmitted disease, well, one that I may or may not have, it would be herpes. They're permanent and impossible to get rid of. So what do you do? In the case of herpes, you borrow your mother's cover up and hope you don't sweat that day. In the case of The Swellers, you lie and tell them it's great to see them and that we're totally going to do this again sometime. Yes, you lie. Oh, I'm kidding. About the herpes.

As far as Fireworks is concerned, I was really looking forward to playing shows with them. Goose and I are big fans of the band and it's always good to have a band on tour that you're excited to see play every night. While I didn't get to really talk to any of the guys in Fireworks in Philadelphia, the show was a success and actually sold out. The next two shows after Philadelphia were in Baltimore, Maryland and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and both without The Swellers. I didn't actually get to watch any bands at the Baltimore shows due to the venue reaching capacity. Instead, for once I sat behind the merch table, which was upstairs, and fulfilled my duties as merch guy. The show in Pittsburgh had a mediocore turnout but the space was exceptional based on the fact that you could bring your own booze into the venue. That night, Fireworks and PBC both holed themselves up in the same house after a night of boozery at a local bar that currently escapes my memory. The highlight of 14 dudes sharing the same floor space was one of the Fireworks roadies sharing his ability to fart on command. Ah, adulthood.

I just sat here for close to twenty minutes trying to figure out where the fuck we went after Pittsburgh. I had to ask my mom. She knew right off the bat. She should be PBC's tour manger. It was Indianapolis, Indiana in the basement of a church. While the show attendance was a bit thin, positive aspects of the show included a Christian opening band that included a keyboardist that looked eerily similiar to David Bryan of Bon Jovi and a wheel chair bound man circle pitting. Side note, don't ask me why I know what the keyboardist of Bon Jovi looks like, the 80's were tough on us all. I'm pretty sure we drove directly through to Chicago immediately after the show since we were scheduled to play there the following night. I remember the weather was as cold and bitter as most women I'm attracted to so it was decided that drinking boxed wine in the van was the only way to stay warm.

That's it for now. Tomorrow I tell you about my seven hours spent in an impound lot in Chicago. Until then, send women.

P.S. Listen to Make Do And Mend, we played a show with them in New Haven. Good music.