Sweet home Ohio.

Ah, it was good to be back in the great state of Ohio today. Even though I've only called the state shaped like a pair of underpants home for a handful of years, I've grown quite accustomed to it and was happy to be back on Ohio soil, even if it was at the other end of the state. But even though the accents were a bit twangier down here in Cincinnati, every single person I met today was just as polite as us Clevelanders. Thanks to all of you for being so awesome today -- I think everyone's good mood is what put the rainclouds to rest (it drizzled a little bit in the early afternoon but the sun was out soon after).

I feel like I saw every single attendee at our booth today, as we went through every single tour program we brought in (even our emergency reserves) and our signings with The Color Fred and Mayday Parade were b-a-n-a-n-a-s. Tons of kids, all waiting patiently to have a few words with their idols of choice, with some seriously uplifting stories being shared from some people. It's so fascinating to me that someone will choose to open up some incredibly personal details of their life to a complete stranger, just because that stranger wrote a song that affected them in a special way. It really is a sight to behold.

Today wasn't the best day for me in terms of catching bands; I only caught the last song of the Aggrolites' set (a beautiful cover of the Beatles' "Don't Let Me Down," with the entire amphitheater singing along) and the first song of the Human Abstract's set (which was plenty metalicious and incited quite a vicious mosh pit instantly). I also ate my dinner while watching half of the Bronx's set -- they were really giving it all onstage, but sometimes, a band just doesn't connect with a crowd, and today felt like that. People, check out the Bronx. They are seriously awesome. I don't know how else to say it.

There's a water park next door to the venue we're at today, and supposedly a Warped Tour laminate gets you in for free. While I'm not much for waterslides anymore, I might go dip my toes in the pool for a bit (if only to wash off my feet, which aren't looking too clean at this point and time -- TMI, right?). Tomorrow, we'll be just outside of Indianapolis -- if anyone has any connections with the Indy 500 speedway and wants to give me a late-night tour of the place, comment on here immediately. I will trade a lifetime subscription to AP for a ride around the track in the pace car. Think about it.

Pittsburghettstown.

So today was the "Pittsburgh" stop of Warped, which was actually in Burgettstown, which I don't know where that is but it's apparently close enough to Pittsburgh to be billed as Pittsburgh. Get all that? Me neither.

When you work a booth on Warped, you're generally busy all day so the only bands you get to really watch are the ones on the stage set closest to you. Today, we lucked out bigtime and found our booth placed within spitting distance of the Hurley stage, which ensured we'd hear plenty of rock all day long. Of course, the downside to being that close to the Hurley stage is for the bigger bands that played it (especially All Time Low, We The Kings and, rather inexplicably, Mayday Parade) found their crowds bleeding into our booth and then some. It was tight today, but it actually kinda made it more fun. Bands who drew slightly smaller crowds but still put on a great show today included the Color Fred and Pierce The Veil. (Bands who didn't really do much of either were Automatic Loveletter and Greeley Estates.)

We also held pretty crazy signings today with Cobra Starship and We The Kings, both of whom drew a veritable shitton of people. One girl, while waiting for Cobra to show up, almost passed out from the heat. Let this be a lesson to all of you: DRINK WATER WHEN YOU'RE AT WARPED. Lots of it. Seriously. Seriously seriously. If you ask me really nicely, I may even give you a can if you look like you need it. But seriously, drink water. Spending $5 on a bottle of water is a better investment than whatever awful CD some local band is trying to hawk to you in the parking lot before the show.

Anyway, today was also the first day of the tour for Motion City Soundtrack, and they totally killed it. Make sure to watch this band if you're going to Warped from here on out (like I really needed to tell you that).

Okay, I'm about to fall asleep on the bus (which is doubly problematic because we're supposed to stop at a Wal-Mart soon and I kinda wanna go shopping in the middle of the night in sandals and knit shorts just because I can). Thanks for reading, I'll be back with more tomorrow!

How come it's called Englishtown if no one has an English accent?

This question was on my mind all day but I forgot to ask any of the fine people of Englishtown, New Jersey, if they had an answer. Oh well.

Before I get into today, I should probably talk about last night. After I published yesterday's blog, I checked out most of Gym Class Heroes' set and then stuck around to watch a handful of songs from Story Of The Year, who closed out the fest last night (to a surprisingly large audience). SOTY's never really been my cup of tea, but it's impossible to deny they bring 150% with every set, whether it's 11:30 a.m. or 8:30 p.m. -- kudos to them for taking pride in their live show.

So after Warped officially ended, Famly Clothing and Street Drum Corps threw a "drum-off" in the parking lot for tour personnel, with two drumsets facing each other and plenty of burgers and booze keeping everyone happy in the quickly cooling air. After watching some of the competition go, my ego got the best of me and I entered (by the way, I've been playing drums for 14 years). And whaddya know? I actually won my first and second rounds! I was just as surprised as you are, but I guess I still have some chops even though I haven't played in a little bit. It was a fun way to sort of formally introduce myself to the tour (and a number of people approached me today and said, "Nice drumming last night," so I guess it worked). I eventually lost in the semi-finals to the drummer of Blameshift, but it was a close one -- and I had a blast regardless.

Before we got to Englishtown today, though, I had to crawl into my bunk and fall asleep, which proved far, far, far more difficult than you'd think. I'm a pretty big, tall dude and my bunk (which is very, um, economical on space) was definitely not built for a guy like me. As a result, I actually didn't sleep last night pretty much at all (but here I am still blogging for you fine people instead of napping). Today was a fun one: The sun was out in full force, and not a raincloud in the sky (thank god), There was a nice breeze going on, too, so it never was too hot (well, okay, that's a lie, it was hot the whole time, but still). We did a make-up signing with the Devil Wears Prada as well as a signing with the Academy Is..., both of which had very well-behaved lines (a shock, considering all the bad things I heard about the TAI signing in Uniondale, NY the other day). So big props to Englishtown for behaving. Also, even bigger props for whoever thought to give William Beckett a lemon with a stick figure version of himself drawn on it and then just in case he didn't get it, they wrote "William Beckett As A Lemon" on the other side of the lemon. Genius!

I again was only able to check out a few bands today, but they were all mighty impressive. Bring Me The Horizon (who have English accents, so they probably felt right at home) tore it up on the Smartpunk stage and had a heck of a big crowd for their blistering metal. The best part of the whole set was watching them get the entire crowd to do a circle pit around the sound booth, which ruled twofold: One, because the circle pit didn't stop for the entire song (muy impresivo!), and two, because none other than Kevin Lyman himself was standing on the sound booth watching the show -- looking out into a sea of bodies flailing around only to see Kevin, silent and stoic, just watching the show was as surreal a moment as any thus far.

I also caught 3OH!3's set on the Hurley.com stage which was nothing short of explosive. Those dudes know how to put on a live show, and it seems like just about everyone is taking notice (their crowd was also pretty huge for their stage). Gabe Saporta and Vicki T of Cobra Starship also made some guest appearances during 3OH!3's set, too, which got the crowd hyped up even more.

I also caught half of Four Year Strong's set, and save for one unfortunate act of dolt-on-dolt violence, their crowd was super-positive and having a blast. This band are gonna be pretty huge in the coming year, I bet. Maybe we should invite them to be on the '09 AP Tour.. whaddya all think?

Okay, well that's enough for now. We have an early bus call tonight because it's a long drive to Pittsburgh where we'll be tomorrow. See ya there!

They call it that because of the electri-city.

Wow.

Okay, first off, hi. My name is Scott Heisel; I'm the music editor over at Alternative Press and from today until a week or so from now, I'll be your Warped tour guide.

Oh, right, back to wow.

What the fuck, Scranton? Who gave you permission to have a huge-ass thunderstorm in the middle of the day? No one cleared that with me, and because of that, you will pay dearly. I don't know who exactly "you" in this situation is, but when I find out, hell will reign down upon you. Watch out.

So yeah, we had a really, really big storm today in Scranton, right as Relient K were taking the stage (and we were moments away from having our signing with the Devil Wears Prada). It got nasty really quick, and virtually the entire crowd was evacuated to under the pavilion at the venue we were at, which inadvertently gave the Aggrolites, who were playing on the Hurley.com stage, the biggest crowd of their career, most likely. (I, unfortunately, was not there to witness it as I had to go into crisis mode with Luis, our totally awesome booth worker, and our two mega-sweet street teamers, Rachel and [oh crap I forgot the other girl's name; if you're reading this, please don't kill me, other girl]).

Luckily, this was not a repeat of last year's calamity in Cleveland, and the sun poked through a half-hour or so later, letting all of the stages getting back on track. I personally only got to take in a few sets today but each one of 'em was a winner, starting off with back-to-back mainstage sets from Dr. Manhattan (who opened the whole day) and Against Me! (who dug deep into their back catalog, delivering "Walking Is Still Honest" and "Reinventing Axl Rose"). I also caught about half of Sky Eats Airplanes' set on the Hurley.com stage while I ate my dinner, and they had a pretty sizable crowd (albeit a crowd that just sort of stood there, waterlogged perhaps).

We just finished packing up our tent and now I'm sitting on our bus, getting ready to strap on my soggy shoes and head out to catch Gym Class Heroes. Should be a good one!

See y'all in Jersey tomorrow -- stop by the booth and gimme a high five, won't you?

Veggie Philly Steaks & The Escape from NY

Just as I was becoming accustomed to the dirty locker room smell of bus 11 "my tour ends here".  I believe that was the phrase Brett Michaels used on the VH1 reality show Rock of Love.  Don't deny that you all watched that!  I could have bet my life he was going to choose Daisy, the skanky chick at the end.

Right now  I am at the LaGuardia airport reflecting on the past day and a half.  Prior to arriving in Camden (near Philly), I heard horror stories about this place being the murder capital of the US.  I decided to google it to find out for myself.    Move over Camden you are no longer labeled the #1 "most dangerous" city in the U.S. according to a few loose stats I read online.  St. Louis has claimed that hot spot for 2007.  It seems Detroit and New Orleans are duking it out for the highest murder rates.

The Camden  signings included  Forever The Sickest Kids, The Devil Wears Prada, Mayday Parade, and Norma Jean.  Back to back action at the AP booth, fans will do anything to get a signature or if lucky, a photo.  Luis, our booth manager, instilled a great structure to this process.  Hand out 100 PunxDirtySecret cards to the first 100 in line with a recyclable.  A dual purpose is being served, saving the planet and creating less chaos.  In-between I managed to check a few bands from the back stage perspective, and work my magic using the video phone.  Story of the Year played an amazing set with my highlight being the newest release of "Wake-Up".  Unfortunately I only caught the tail end of Anberlin who rocked as well, and Max from Say Anything  pumping the crowd up.  The grueling day paid off once Luis brought dinner, the most amazing veggie Philly steak sandwich.  Warped Tour catering is fabulous!

On my last day we rolled into NY around 6AM after a restless night of no left turns in Jersey.  I got a chance to connect with our street teamers one last time.  They ruled!  All was going well.  I finally caught the stellar performance of the Hororrpops, my bags were packed, a cab ride to the airport  was schedule, and said my last goodbyes.  Should be smooth sailing home right?  Ha...not quite!  Anyone check out the girl walking through the venue with two bags and a suitcase?  Yep that was me.  The simple goal at hand was to make it to the Marriot to meet the cab right across the street.  Initially it seemed like a solid plan until I found out the venue was under lock down.  For those of you not at the NY venue, a huge fence scales the perimeter.  Logically I assumed there must be an entryway from the hotel to the venue.  Negative.  Security half heartedly tried to find a key to the three existing padlocked entrances as my ride followed me on the other side of the fence.  After walking the entire length I threw my suitcase at the driver and climbed it. Honestly I felt like I was attempting an escape from Warped Tour prison.

As you already know I made it to the airport, yeah!  On one hand I am anxious to get back to my own bed.  However, I will miss seeing some top-notch bands, the routine that kicked my ass daily, and most of all the friends I made along the way.

Until next year...over and out!

DM

Blame It On The Rain

It is quite possible that I did indeed bring the rain or so my new bus mates keep telling me.  Yes another fun filled day of showers but far less destructive than Mass.  

Today Gym Class Heroes did a signing and I got to meet Eric's dad (extremely nice guy by the way).  He stopped by the booth earlier to subscribe with the intention of acquiring a copy featuring Gym Glass.  Parents are amazing, always thinking long term for us.  These were going in the archives for him to look back on with his grandkids one day. After the signing I attempted to capture on video Travis racing away on his bright green motor bike.  Did you all seem him today on that, pretty crazy?  My technically challenged self missed the shot...dread. Yes the technical part is across the board.  I barely know how to adjust the volume on my stereo at home.

So all day I was asking myself how does anyone get used to sleeping on a bus, cold showers, missing catering by 5 minutes (and I was so hungry), sharing a bathroom with 17 people, lugging heavy boxes, no privacy, etc.  Then Against Me played and for the first time all day I forgot the question.

PHOTOGALLERY: Mansfield, MA

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Planes, trains, and taxis are the way to the heart of VWT Mansfield, MA.  After spending an evening in Providence, I was definitely ready for someone to bring the rock.  I finally arrived at noon and ventured to the AP booth.  There were a few sassy street teamers taking charge and kicking some ass!  Fred from The Color Fred as Nichole described does happen to be the nicest guy ever.  I am stoked he agreed to DJ our party in Milwaukee.

The weather was unusually cool which seemed to indicate a pleasant day ahead.  Of course I should have known a tornado watch and lighting storm were on the horizon.  Just as Gym Glass rallied the fans, the downpour ensued.  Mass scrambling to shelter began as we moved all the tables inside and lowered the tents.  We allowed a few dedicated Mayday Parade fans waiting for a signing to enjoy the view from our perspective.  Huddled under a tent watching a couple dedicated to standing in front of the desolate Route 66 stage with no shelter in the pouring rain.  Yes they did wait it out the entire 40 minutes. 

Needless to say the rain passed and we went back to business as usual.  Mayday Parade finally made it to the signing.  These guys definitely connect with the fans.  They arrived soaked, signed forever, and even took photos with the fans afterward.  Oh and did a short video blog.

Well, now I am on the bus hanging out with my new comrades for the next few days.  Buffalo here we come!

Finally! Your questions are answered!

Alas my good friends, we finally have compiled the answers to your most burning of questions from your most favorite of bands playing this years Vans Warped Tour. Enough blabbering, here they are!

3OH!3
Beat Union
Between The Trees
Bring Me The Horizon
Forever The Sickest Kids
Maylene & The Sons Of Disaster
Norma Jean
Rise Against
The Devil Wears Prada
The Briggs

Thanks to all you fans who submitted questions! If your date for the 2008 Vans Warped Tour has already come through thanks for you support and if it hasn’t we’ll see you in the pit!

Xoxo
AP, warpedtour.com and Musictoday

PHOTOGALLERIES: Detroit, Toronto

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PHOTOGALLERY: Montreal, QC (part3)

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PHOTO GALLERIES: Columbia, Cleveland, Toronto, Montreal

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PHOTO GALLERY: Columbia, MD

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DC? Maryland?

I've decided that since there are 17 people on my bus and that bus call is in 10 minutes with everyone wide awake that i will blog standing up at my bunk. Today was rad. We had 3 great signings with We The Kings, Gym Class Heroes and The Color Fred. For a second can we talk about how great of a dude Fred from the Color Fred is??? He's simply the nicest, coolest dude i've met yet on this tour. Just so friendly, totally into his fans and meeting them, and basically a genuine all around good dude.

The show was way hot but it seemed like every single person here today in the MD/DC area were stoked on life and totally into.

The good and yet awful news is that tonight is my last night on the bus. We're booking it to Cleveland...as soon as out driver finds his way out of the woods and back to our bus. No really, there are huge woods behind the bus you have to cut through to get to the catering/production area. It's very hard to see and navigate. Anyways, unlike Chris, i'm actually not ready to go home just yet. I'm really enjoying myself but alas, work calls. Either way, tomorrow is the annual PunxDirtySecret.com Mustacho Basho and I have a solid feeling that it's going to be INSANE. Pictures and videos will be up from the party before you know it. See you next time!

p.s. GREAT NEWS!!! The Bouncing Souls joined the tour today and I almost peed myself in excitement. Make sure to catch them while they're on the tour!!!!

PHOTO GALLERY: Virginia Beach, VA

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PHOTO GALLERIES: Charlotte, Elkton

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Greeting from the back lounge of bus 11

Man. Charlotte. This is the day I've been looking for all tour. We had such a blast here and I think for a ton of people they felt the same way. We had so many people subscribing and joining us for our signings. We didn't have a single signing that I didn't have to turn people away from because it was so packed. People were camped out for The Academy Is as of 3 o'clock for a 4:45 signing. You guys are crazy to sit in the sun like that but hey, I say more power to you. When the show ended I was then escorted by Kevin Lyman's daughter and her teddy bear attached to a giant balloon, named "Floaty" to the showers. This girl was awesome and totally cute!

After the show Warped Tour was treated to a sneak preview of the movie The Rocker. Teddy Geiger, I'm not going to lie, was kinda dreamy haha. Jokes aside the movie was pretty funny but it did make me miss home seeing that it was based in Cleveland. Oh good ol' Cleveland America. At first I was counting the days until I was done, but now I'm dreading the end.

Now, it's time to brace myself and attempt to get ready for bed. Our bus driver, although a really nice dude, enjoys rumble strips and, as Keli from Hellcat likes to say, "dodging flying dragons going 90". I don't know about the latter but the rumble strips is a true story. As I'm typing this we just went over them twice. Something to do with ZZ Top and/or Def Leppard. Either way, Virginia Beach....we're comin for ya!!!

PHOTO GALLERIES: Petersburg, Miami, Elkton

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My apologies

My Dearest Texas,

I apologize for all of the mean, hurtful things I said about you. I was an idiot back then. For the truth is, Florida takes the cake on the worst states to work Warped Tour in. The swim-able humidity, the rain storms, the fire ants and bugs. It has been an awful four days. Today, thanks to the horse field we played in, the flies and gnats were all over the place and completely relentless. To top it off there were ants and now little bites all over my feet and legs. I am sorry again for all that i said, Texas. Someone has shown you up.

On that note Miami actually is one of my favorite skylines but man, that whole feeling like you can wade in the air is a killer. We had so many of you guys in line for Anberlin and Cinematic Sunrise signings and just as many people sign up for subscriptions. That had a LOT to do with my awesome Miami street teamers who rocked the hell out of the whole day/.

Sumo Saturday was cancelled due to the rain so we couldn't even enjoy that. Today i spent the whole day cleaning myself off because staying clean was impossible due to the mixture of dirt and sand. The Say Anything signing was painful for the band thanks to the flies. The Cin Sun dudes were too busy loving life and smiling to notice. They are some solid dudes!

Tomorrow brings us to beautiful state of North Carolina. I'm pretty excited! Mainly to be out of Florida but I think NC is so pretty. Come over tomorrow for awesome free stuff and special guests...I'm not telling you who it is but it'll be good. Stop by and see me tomorrow Charlotte!

All while watching Oceans 13.

I love Florida. I really do. I've been vacationing down here for as long as I can remember. The Keys, Miami, Orlando, Jacksonville, West Palm, Jupiter, etc etc. But i've always love St. Petersburg, so the fact that today we were literally right on the water. There's nothing more that I love than sea air and sand between my toes.

I noticed the kids were a lot of fun today. Joking with us and hanging out. Everyone seemed really stoked to be there...aside from one dude completely drenched in sweat swearing up a storm and asking me why I'm standing in the sun. I told him I was just hanging out, loving life. He shot me an evil look and mumbled something as he walked away. From what i could understand he said i must be a crack addict and/or a one legged duck....the latter i wonder about.

We had yet another signing today with Cinematic Sunrise. I'll tell you what, Craig Owens could be one of the nicest dudes on the tour. First of all, he's got just this really cute smile! I'm not talking cute like "OmGzZz" cute but like "awww..." little puppy cute. To top it off he took pictures with everyone in line, just about 100 people, and gave out hugs and high fives. The best part of the signing was talking about how creepy the picture of him is on the cover of the new AP. After about a second of deep meaningful thinking he grabbed a box cutter and chopped up his picture to make it into a mask...for himself.

After a nice shower a couple of us went to a sushi bar nearby to escape a gigantic downpour. We played operator like we were 4 again and a few practiced their drumming with chopsticks on the table. To our surprise we didn't get kicked out, but a few spicy tuna rolls and a shot or two of saki later and we were walking back to the buses all the while singing old Weezer songs.

Tomorrow brings around Miami weather, yet another rendition of Sumo Saturday, and more signings with Craig and the rest of the awesome Cinematic Sunrise.

Yo, AP! Where’s my Q&A with my favorite Vans Warped Tour bands?

Attention all you super-dedicated fans that ordered your VWT tix through the warpedtour.com presale (powered by Musictoday):

We know, we know. It’s been a while since you ordered and you’re dying to see the responses to your questions. We’re putting the final touches on getting all the questions you submitted after the live chat ready for you to see, we just need a little bit more time. In the mean time, here are some of the more, um, interesting, pieces to keep your brain busy:

3OH!3:
Q: If you guys could take any celebrity with you on Warped Tour who would
you take and why?
A: Miley Cyrus. I'm actually not at liberty to say why.

Maylene & The Sons Of Disaster:
Q:If you had to describe your music as a flavor of ice cream, what flavor would you be?
A: Mint chocolate chip: Smooth and delicious.

Rise Against:
Q: How do you feel about fuzzy pink pants?
A: They look good on you…


The rest of your questions will be answered! Some decidedly more serious, and others equally as not serious at all, are coming soon. Check out AP’s VWT blog in the next few days to find them and of course, our amazing friends at warpedtour.com & Musictoday will let you know the very second they’re up.

Xoxo
AP, warpedtour.com and Musictoday

PHOTO GALLERIES: Atlanta, Orlando

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Everyone is speaking spanish...and i don't understand it

I'm going to go this entire blog without talking about the weather because I'm pretty sure we all know by now what it's like. Plus you can imagine what it must be like in Florida.

First off I want to thank both my Atlanta street team and the girls that helped me out today in Orlando. I don't think that a lot of the warped tents would function properly without street team help so right off the bat, thank you guys!!!

Tonight after the show was over everyone showered...or should have. It's incredible how a a shower can make you feel like a whole new person. The thing is tonight was also the first night i felt right at home. We sat outside in lawn chairs, drinking beers, went to a BBQ, people playing corn hole *or whatever you call it*. It was just fantastic.

I like to think that warped tour is like getting a tattoo for me. While you're getting it done it's like "Why did i do this?? Ugh it hurts so bad this was stupid!" but once it's all done and over with you think back and go "...you know, it wasn't so bad. I want to do it again!!" Right now, getting up and functioning by 7:45 am is rough, setting up, taking down, being dirty and sweaty all day, getting the same damn songs stuck in your head every damn day...but I bet as soon as i get home it'll be all i want to do.

Well until that time comes I'll continue living and loving it up.

Photos of Angels And Airwaves in Pomona, CA

PHOTO GALLERY: Atlanta, GA

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A warped past

I've been going to the Vans Warped Tour since I was 15 years old. If you're keeping track that's been 8 solid years. For the past 4 years i kept saying, "ehh....I don't want to go this year, there are only a few bands playing that i want to see" or "i don't want to deal with the heat or the crowd". Yet every year i end up going and having a freakin blast! There really is something about warped tour that's enticing. Maybe it's being able to meet my favorite bands (i still have pictures of me with MXPX from YEARS ago) or maybe it's just learning about new bands. There's something totally rad about it.

I'd have to say my all time favorite warped tour experience was 2003 in NYC at Randall's Island. Ask any vet of warped tour about Randall's Island and you'll hear a huge long groan followed by "I fucking HATE Randall's Island". Regardless, I stood outside for a long time to get a good spot for Rancid because my love for Tim Armstrong is undying. Some look-at-me-i'm-so-tough-and-punk-rock type girl elbowed me so hard to get my spot that she gave me a black eye. Not caring too much I let her get in front of me right as the pit opened up like a storm cloud. Next thing I know, that same girl gets an elbow to the mouth. Three teeth spew out of her mouth onto the ground and she starts sobbing and dripping blood. It was all I could do not to laugh because she turned from a hardcore punk rocker to a (for lack of better terms) total wuss.

That sort of thing no longer happens on the warped tour and to be honest it bums me out. What I do love about it is that everyone here is still having a great time. I love seeing the lines like we had today for Mayday Parade, The Color Fred, and The Devil Wear's Prada. Just hundreds of kids waiting to shake the hands and get t-shirts signed by the bands that they admire and adore.

The bands and the crowds on this warped tour may be totally different than that 2003 warped tour and prior, but the passion and excitement is still all there. These kids get just as stoked for Jack's Mannequin's set as I was to see NOFX and get just as star struck to meet Gabe Saporta and Cobra Starship as I was to meet Less Than Jake.

It's just basically comforting to know that every kid at every date are the same stoked kids. It's refreshing that I can still see myself, mind you the 7 years ago me, in everyone that stops by to sign up for an AP subscription or get an autograph.

That aside, make sure that if you come to the next week of the tour to check out Cinematic Sunrise and stop by the AP tent to get their autographs. You won't regret it.

Booze, love and voodoo from Naw'lens

I saved you all from an incredibly uneventful blog by skipping yesterday and combining it with the events of today.

To start off yesterday was so boring, dusty, and hot. The heat, as all Texans know, gets crazy and i saw at LEAST 3 people pass out. Listen, getting an August Burns Red autograph does not out weight how you feel. They may be dreamy or totally awesome but does spending the rest of the day passed out make up for a signature? The venue was, well, not a venue at all actually. It was a horse racing track and a very dusty one with nothing but dirt, some grass, and obnoxious little rocks everywhere. To top it all off there was no BBQ or any after show events to speak of. Everyone took it easy with footballs, beers, and lawn chairs around the bus area.

That's when we arrived in New Orleans for a solid day off.

This place is INCREDIBLE!!! The food, the architecture, the fact that you can drink on the street!!!! It's been such a great day. As soon as we got here I was dying to explore seeing that I had never been here before. I dropped my bag and rushed out the door. After taking in the tastes, sights, sounds, and a few daiquiris...while walking down the street...I headed back to the hotel for a totally refreshing dip in the pool to cool down before the ghost tour. Oh yeah, I said ghost tour. This isn't your lame haunted house ghost tour and no they didn't send you around with Electro-Magnetic Field (EMF) detectors or Electronic Voice Phenomenon (EVP) recorders...yes I am the nerd that watches every paranormal show I can find...but more of a neat history lesson. Yeah, learning on my day off is totally lame but the stories I heard were far from lame. Suicide, torture, grinding up the wife you just murdered and selling her as sausages...that's the kind of history I can get behind! Teach me that in high school history class and perhaps I wouldn't have fallen asleep so much Mr. Boone. Just saying.

To be frank, I ended my night early. There's something about people bothering you to go into their strip club or bar that just irritates me. Not to mention, at my old age of 23 I get tired early, perhaps due to the Warped Schedule of waking up early every single day. The good news is there is yet ANOTHER day off tomorrow, this time in Duluth, GA. Maybe not the most exciting place to have a day off but that's why I like it. I plan to do nothing all day long. Typically when that is my plan something real awesome happens.

Here's to hoping I didn't jinx myself.