The Gay Blades tour diary, part one [video]
posted by Scott Heisel at
3:49 PM
0 Comments
Blog
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Friday, November 14, 2008
Chiodos/Silverstein tour diary, part five (by Shane Told)
Hi kids!
What a crazy week it has been. Right after I finished the last blog, we got our costumes for Hallowe'en ready. We were the band "Dethklok" from the animated TV show Metalocalypse. It was so much fun to dress up, and Paul and Bill's costumes definitely came out the best. Chiodos was the Blue Man Group, except for Craig who was "The Big Bad Wolf". Alesana dressing up in bikinis was pretty classic, Escape the Fate dressed up as their album cover and A Skylit Drive dressed up as The Locust. (Not sure if they busted out "Moth Eaten Dear Head" though.) Since we were in New Orleans, I had a great time standing outside the venue with a "Sneaky Soda" watching the mob of ridiculous Hallowe'en costumes roll by. Good times.
After New Orleans we headed to Florida, which was amazing. In Orlando, I got to visit the NBA Cafe (those who know me know I'm a huge basketball fan) and also go on some rides at Universal studios Island Adventure. The "Hulk" roller coaster was totally insane. Definitely the most intense ride I've ever been on.
After our Atlanta show which was awesome as expected, we had a day off for election day. Being Canadians, it's interesting how much we cared about another country's election. But the fact is, that the US really has a lot of control over how our economy does as well (Not to mention other factors). To be quite honest I was seriously affected by this and I started getting pretty stressed out that there was a chance the Republicans could win again, as I have been disgusted with what has happened over the last 8 years. So a bunch of us decided to take our minds off things we'd get out of in front of the TV and the opinions of Fox News, and go to see the most ridiculous movie we could. So we went to see Zach And Miri Make A Porno. Well, we sure got what we asked for. It was totally ridiculous, but I have to admit it was pretty hilarious. I am gonna call it, Seth Rogen is the new Will Farrell. I don't know if I exactly recommend it, but if you're looking to sit back and just turn your brain off for 90 minutes like we were, it'll definitely do the trick.
So we come out of the mall movie theatre and there's a crowd of people around a television and it looks like the Democrats had just won Ohio. I knew that was pretty crucial, so that made me feel a lot better about everything.
I definitely don't talk about politics much, but I definitely am excited that America could rally together and believe in someone as heavily as they do for the future. It's a beautiful thing to see and I am genuinely hopeful for the next 4 years.
After the election we got to play my favorite venue ever, The Norva in Norfolk, VA. It's such a cool place, they always pack it full of awesome kids and they have awesome dressing rooms with every amenity you could ever want. They have a hot tub, and steam room as well as a basketball court, so it was a lot of fun. The show was sick of course. Kids went crazy, and we had one of the best shows of the tour.
Going up the East Coast we hit up Philly, New York and Massachusetts. All 3 of these shows were sold out and packed, and the crowds were so rowdy. In Philly, the recent World Series champs were so crazy that they were throwing shit all over the venue including all over the stage. Paul's drums got Snapple all over them (I don't know who drinks Snapple at a show...?) and Josh slipped on a marker someone threw on stage. I tripped as well, on a condom! That being said, the Philly crowd never lets you down and we had a blast.
New York was the biggest show of the tour sold out at 3700 tickets. Roseland Ballroom is pretty legendary so playing there was definitely an honor. Escape the Fate's bass player got stuck in a NYC cab and was 20 minutes late for the show which sucked, but other than that the show went off without a hitch. Afterwards we got to hang out in New York at this sweet Irish Pub where we sang along to Rancid, Paramore and of course, Katy Perry. Good times of course.
All in all this week has been so rad. The best shows yet, a new president everyone should be excited about, and a lot less bumps in the roads for the bands on this tour. We only have 7 more shows left! Hard to believe, I feel like this just started!
Love,
Shane
The rhythm section of Dethklok, Bill "Murderface" Hamilton and Paul "Pickles" Koehler getting ready to slay.
ShaNathan Explosion says Hallowe'en is so BRUTAL!
Dethklok and crew before they go on stage at House of Blues New Orleans. They've already sold this place out 7 times.
Our tour manager Sean works hard while Bill buys records on Ebay.
Sean gets ready to challenge anyone and everyone to a game of NHL 09 for xbox.
Shane and Rich Nandes cool off from the hot Florida sun at Universal Studios Island Adventure.
Shane says "pass the rock" at the NBA restaurant in Orlando, FL.
What a crazy week it has been. Right after I finished the last blog, we got our costumes for Hallowe'en ready. We were the band "Dethklok" from the animated TV show Metalocalypse. It was so much fun to dress up, and Paul and Bill's costumes definitely came out the best. Chiodos was the Blue Man Group, except for Craig who was "The Big Bad Wolf". Alesana dressing up in bikinis was pretty classic, Escape the Fate dressed up as their album cover and A Skylit Drive dressed up as The Locust. (Not sure if they busted out "Moth Eaten Dear Head" though.) Since we were in New Orleans, I had a great time standing outside the venue with a "Sneaky Soda" watching the mob of ridiculous Hallowe'en costumes roll by. Good times.
After New Orleans we headed to Florida, which was amazing. In Orlando, I got to visit the NBA Cafe (those who know me know I'm a huge basketball fan) and also go on some rides at Universal studios Island Adventure. The "Hulk" roller coaster was totally insane. Definitely the most intense ride I've ever been on.
After our Atlanta show which was awesome as expected, we had a day off for election day. Being Canadians, it's interesting how much we cared about another country's election. But the fact is, that the US really has a lot of control over how our economy does as well (Not to mention other factors). To be quite honest I was seriously affected by this and I started getting pretty stressed out that there was a chance the Republicans could win again, as I have been disgusted with what has happened over the last 8 years. So a bunch of us decided to take our minds off things we'd get out of in front of the TV and the opinions of Fox News, and go to see the most ridiculous movie we could. So we went to see Zach And Miri Make A Porno. Well, we sure got what we asked for. It was totally ridiculous, but I have to admit it was pretty hilarious. I am gonna call it, Seth Rogen is the new Will Farrell. I don't know if I exactly recommend it, but if you're looking to sit back and just turn your brain off for 90 minutes like we were, it'll definitely do the trick.
So we come out of the mall movie theatre and there's a crowd of people around a television and it looks like the Democrats had just won Ohio. I knew that was pretty crucial, so that made me feel a lot better about everything.
I definitely don't talk about politics much, but I definitely am excited that America could rally together and believe in someone as heavily as they do for the future. It's a beautiful thing to see and I am genuinely hopeful for the next 4 years.
After the election we got to play my favorite venue ever, The Norva in Norfolk, VA. It's such a cool place, they always pack it full of awesome kids and they have awesome dressing rooms with every amenity you could ever want. They have a hot tub, and steam room as well as a basketball court, so it was a lot of fun. The show was sick of course. Kids went crazy, and we had one of the best shows of the tour.
Going up the East Coast we hit up Philly, New York and Massachusetts. All 3 of these shows were sold out and packed, and the crowds were so rowdy. In Philly, the recent World Series champs were so crazy that they were throwing shit all over the venue including all over the stage. Paul's drums got Snapple all over them (I don't know who drinks Snapple at a show...?) and Josh slipped on a marker someone threw on stage. I tripped as well, on a condom! That being said, the Philly crowd never lets you down and we had a blast.
New York was the biggest show of the tour sold out at 3700 tickets. Roseland Ballroom is pretty legendary so playing there was definitely an honor. Escape the Fate's bass player got stuck in a NYC cab and was 20 minutes late for the show which sucked, but other than that the show went off without a hitch. Afterwards we got to hang out in New York at this sweet Irish Pub where we sang along to Rancid, Paramore and of course, Katy Perry. Good times of course.
All in all this week has been so rad. The best shows yet, a new president everyone should be excited about, and a lot less bumps in the roads for the bands on this tour. We only have 7 more shows left! Hard to believe, I feel like this just started!
Love,
Shane
The rhythm section of Dethklok, Bill "Murderface" Hamilton and Paul "Pickles" Koehler getting ready to slay.
ShaNathan Explosion says Hallowe'en is so BRUTAL!
Dethklok and crew before they go on stage at House of Blues New Orleans. They've already sold this place out 7 times.
Our tour manager Sean works hard while Bill buys records on Ebay.
Sean gets ready to challenge anyone and everyone to a game of NHL 09 for xbox.
Shane and Rich Nandes cool off from the hot Florida sun at Universal Studios Island Adventure.
Shane says "pass the rock" at the NBA restaurant in Orlando, FL.
posted by Scott Heisel at
4:15 PM
0 Comments
Monday, November 10, 2008
Monday, November 3, 2008
Chiodos/Silverstein tour diary, part four (by Shane Told)
Wow the third blog already so that means the tour is half over! I'm
kinda bummed about that because it feels like it just started. It always
happens on these tours; the last week everyone starts hanging out all the
time and really bro-ing down and then next thing you know its time to go
home.
It's Halloween and we are in quite possibly the best city for it, New
Orleans. Apparently they have the world's scariest haunted house here, and
someone has actually died attending it. I think we gotta hit that up after
the show! If you haven't been to this city, it has a lot of personality and
definitely a bit of a spooky vibe. I can't imagine the characters that are
going to come out on Bourbon Street tonight.
We just came through Texas where the shows were amazing... Well, San
Antonio was anyways. In Dallas, about 3/4 of the way through the set the
entire PA just stopped working. We had no power whatsoever. It's funny
because this has never happened before in the 1000+ shows we've played, many
of them in the sketchiest venues ever, and this time it happened at House of
Blues! I had no idea what to do, and it was completely out so I couldn't
even talk to the crowd over the mic. So I decided to grab an acoustic, tell
everyone to be super quiet and play a couple songs while they fix the sound
problems. It was beautiful, I couldn't believe how quiet it got in that
place. You could hear a pin drop. So I sang a Saves the Day song. After
finishing it and still having no power, I had no idea what to play. So I
randomly busted out a song I haven't played in probably at least 10 years...
Basket Case by Green Day! Everyone sang along and it was awesome. The
power came back on right at the end and the energy did as well. Afterwards
I felt bad that the kids had to miss a few songs and sit through that break,
but most people seemed more excited about it! One kid put it best, when he
said: "If things like that never happened, no one would have anything to
talk about, that's what stories are made of". I found that to be very
profound.
As we've been criss-crossing the west and south and we've been seeing
friends from all over... But in Tulsa, OK the other night we got to hangout
with our best friends in the world, Bayside. We have experienced so many
ups and downs with those guys, it is so amazing to see them doing so well.
They truly are our brothers. So what did we do? Challenged them to a game
of NHL hockey for Xbox. You'd think our Canadian hockey blood would let us
beat them, but Bayside is from the north, and they handed our asses to us.
If you haven't checked out their new record "Shudder", make sure you do, its
by far my favorite Bayside record.
This wouldn't be my blog if I didn't talk about Las Vegas. Those of you
who know me, know I frequently get the gambling bug. I decided to take it
easy and not have my usual night of high stakes poker, tequila shots and
blackjack. My sister lives in Vegas so we hung out and played some slots
and drank some BL's (bud lights). And I won $500 on a slot machine! Pretty
damn awesome. Afterwards we went over to the Hard Rock for the Escape the
Fate CD release party, and those dudes were surprisingly chill. I thought
being in their hometown, new record and everything we'd see some Motley Crue
type of shit, but apparently those dudes can mellow out with the best of
them.
It's been another awesome week. Next week I'll let you know about what
kind of craziness we'll get into here in New Orleans on Halloween, Florida
(always a good time), and the start of the East Coast dates (not stoked for
the cold again!)
Oh yeah, don't forget if you are 18, get out and vote! No excuse! It's
an important one this time!
Peace and Love,
Shane
kinda bummed about that because it feels like it just started. It always
happens on these tours; the last week everyone starts hanging out all the
time and really bro-ing down and then next thing you know its time to go
home.
It's Halloween and we are in quite possibly the best city for it, New
Orleans. Apparently they have the world's scariest haunted house here, and
someone has actually died attending it. I think we gotta hit that up after
the show! If you haven't been to this city, it has a lot of personality and
definitely a bit of a spooky vibe. I can't imagine the characters that are
going to come out on Bourbon Street tonight.
We just came through Texas where the shows were amazing... Well, San
Antonio was anyways. In Dallas, about 3/4 of the way through the set the
entire PA just stopped working. We had no power whatsoever. It's funny
because this has never happened before in the 1000+ shows we've played, many
of them in the sketchiest venues ever, and this time it happened at House of
Blues! I had no idea what to do, and it was completely out so I couldn't
even talk to the crowd over the mic. So I decided to grab an acoustic, tell
everyone to be super quiet and play a couple songs while they fix the sound
problems. It was beautiful, I couldn't believe how quiet it got in that
place. You could hear a pin drop. So I sang a Saves the Day song. After
finishing it and still having no power, I had no idea what to play. So I
randomly busted out a song I haven't played in probably at least 10 years...
Basket Case by Green Day! Everyone sang along and it was awesome. The
power came back on right at the end and the energy did as well. Afterwards
I felt bad that the kids had to miss a few songs and sit through that break,
but most people seemed more excited about it! One kid put it best, when he
said: "If things like that never happened, no one would have anything to
talk about, that's what stories are made of". I found that to be very
profound.
As we've been criss-crossing the west and south and we've been seeing
friends from all over... But in Tulsa, OK the other night we got to hangout
with our best friends in the world, Bayside. We have experienced so many
ups and downs with those guys, it is so amazing to see them doing so well.
They truly are our brothers. So what did we do? Challenged them to a game
of NHL hockey for Xbox. You'd think our Canadian hockey blood would let us
beat them, but Bayside is from the north, and they handed our asses to us.
If you haven't checked out their new record "Shudder", make sure you do, its
by far my favorite Bayside record.
This wouldn't be my blog if I didn't talk about Las Vegas. Those of you
who know me, know I frequently get the gambling bug. I decided to take it
easy and not have my usual night of high stakes poker, tequila shots and
blackjack. My sister lives in Vegas so we hung out and played some slots
and drank some BL's (bud lights). And I won $500 on a slot machine! Pretty
damn awesome. Afterwards we went over to the Hard Rock for the Escape the
Fate CD release party, and those dudes were surprisingly chill. I thought
being in their hometown, new record and everything we'd see some Motley Crue
type of shit, but apparently those dudes can mellow out with the best of
them.
It's been another awesome week. Next week I'll let you know about what
kind of craziness we'll get into here in New Orleans on Halloween, Florida
(always a good time), and the start of the East Coast dates (not stoked for
the cold again!)
Oh yeah, don't forget if you are 18, get out and vote! No excuse! It's
an important one this time!
Peace and Love,
Shane
Our pals in Bayside and us enjoy a fun loving NHL 08 tournament on Xbox
Our guitar techs Kevin and Paul-Marc are serious about Texan beer
Paul-Marc celebrates that Wal-mart in Oklahoma has his favorite
t-shirts.
Craig from Chiodos showing us the secrets to his fine figure.
Billy tries to chow down on some vegan ice cream without getting it in
his mustache.
Texas edition.... So you know it's good!
Looking bummed out at the Grassy Knoll in Dallas, TX.
Dallas, TX the Grassy Knoll and street where Kennedy was shot.
posted by Alternative Press Magazine at
1:56 PM
0 Comments
