On The Road Again: Before You Exit, Part Three

[The Orlando, FL pop-rock quartet Before You Exit are currently on their first cross-country tour in a bus. As they travel, the band will be filling AP in on how the tour is going. This is part three of the series! Photos by Chris Martin.]

Vancouver, British Columbia (January 20th)
First show for our band out of the country was so much fun! Having the opportunity to play a show out of the country like this was a dream come true for us, and Canada treated us with nothing but love. Getting to Canada was a different story however. After the show in Boise, we had the day off for traveling. The ice, snow, and cold weather were almost unbearable, and the driving conditions got pretty bad at points. Our bus slid off the road at one point, and almost did two other times. I remember having to get out of the bus and spend an hour and a half putting the chains on the tires, which was very tiring. But, after all that we got to the border safe and sound without any scratches or bruises.

The agents at the border were really cool, joked around with us Americans, but were still very serious at the same time. It only took about 20 minutes for them to search the bus and then send us through, which is apparently not very long compared to some of the border stories I’ve heard. It was only about a 30 minute drive into Vancouver. It was a pretty gloomy day, but the city still was one of the coolest sights I had ever seen.

It was a little rainy when we got into downtown and to the venue, but I was too distracted by all the cool sights, like the famous Rogers Arena. We loaded into the venue all smooth organized, and everything went all right. We played at a place called the Vogue Theatre. The crowd was really energetic and we had a lot of fun being there, Canadians really know how to party it up!
–Thomas Silvers

Seattle, Washington (January 21st)

After a late night of crossing the border and driving through the snowy mountains, we finally arrived in Seattle, Washington. We arrived at the El Corazon, which was a venue that we were already familiar with due to the All Time Low Tour. We loaded into the venue, got set up, sound checked, and prepared for the nights’ show. We played an acoustic song for the line while they waited in the cold and everyone sang along!

The crowd was amazing and extremely energetic! We had a blast playing to a sold out crowd and we couldn’t have been happier with the reactions. Surprisingly, there wasn’t even any rain… In Seattle!

After the show, we walked to the very first Starbucks ever! So not only did we have an awesome show, but we also got to taste a little bit of history. That night we spent that the night and took off in the morning for an early drive to Portland!
–Riley McDonough

Portland, Oregon (January 22nd)

Today we played in Portland Oregon at the Hawthorn Theater. We arrived here and it was pouring rain but we unloaded anyway and got everything set up inside. We played here a year ago with All Time Low and A Rocket to the Moon. The guys from Rocket and City Comma State decided to pull an early tour prank on us and taped all of our picks and drum sticks together so that it was impossible to pull one out without all of them coming with it.

We played and the crowd was really interactive which made it an awesome show. We snuck out to go to a famous doughnut place while Allstar Weekend was playing. The shop was called Voodoo Doughnuts. These were the most odd and random but delicious doughnuts we have ever had. We got back and hung out with fans until the venue shut down and then we packed up. We played a private acoustic
party on our bus for a little while and then we headed to our hotel. It was a fun day!
–Braiden Wood

Chico, California (January 23/24)

Long drives! Gotta love 'em.Today consisted of nothing but lying around the bus all day and being the laziest we have ever been in our lives! During the day we sat around, watched movies, got on the computer, and just talked as the day passed by. Finally we entered the beautiful border of California! First stop? In-N-Out Burger for dinner and a restocking of food from Walmart.

Bright and early the next morning we headed right over to the El Rae Theater in Chico, California. The venue was a very old and ancient looking theater with brown cloth seats from the front to back of the room. Tonight the stage was small so there wasn’t much room for moving around but that didn’t stop from us having a great time. The show was small and intimate but that didn’t stop Riley from misplacing his foot and plummeting off the stage after the show! Now that we know he’s okay it has been the story of the week that everyone has been laughing about.
–Connor McDonough

Sacramento, California (January 25)

Today we played at a venue called the Ace of Spades in Sacramento. Braiden obviously had to pull out his card tricks sometime. The venue was very open and had a cool vibe to it, and the crowd was totally engaged and having a good time during our set. We met a lot of awesome people but there were also a lot of people that came from the Chico, California show to see everyone again so it was good to see some familiar faces too. We can’t wait to come back!
–Thomas Silvers

San Francisco, California (January 26)
Tonight we played the lovely town of San Francisco at The Fillmore! The venue was insane and the catering was amazing! We loaded up a rise elevator to the huge venue. We spent the day setting up and hanging out in San Francisco. The venue reminded me of an opera time layout, without the seats of course.

It felt so cool to be able to play in a venue where legendary artists like Jimi Hendrix, The Foo Fighters, and No Doubt had played before. We were are so fortunate to be able to play in venues like this and hang out with so many new people every night. This tour has been so many great memories in the making. We can’t thank you guys enough for all the continued support you give us.
–Riley McDonough