My limbs tied down by these weeds

I've had a pretty crazy weekend.

On Saturday, my band One Way Fare (myspace.com/onewayfaremusic) played a show at the AV fair. I had SO much fun. That was probably the best show we've ever played. Everybody was pretty solid and tight, and everything sounded good. We had a really good turn out (thank god...I worked my ass off promoting it, and if no one would have showed, that would have been reeeeeally shitty) and it was awesome to see all my friends and family there.

On Sunday, Helen and I went to the last day of the 15th Vans Warped Tour. The different kinds of people that come to these things always amaze me. This was the 3rd Warped Tour show I've been too, and every time, I always say that I'm not gonna go back. It's not that Warped Tour sucks, or that it's too commercial, or whatever whatever whatever. It's just...too effing hot. I would love Warped Tour if it say...started in August and ended in October. But oh well.

This year, I didn't really want to go because there was only two bands (being Thrice and Underoath) that I really wanted to see, and shelling out 40 bucks BEFORE ticketmaster service fees wasn't really worth it to me. So Helen and I decided against going to the Ventura date that was at the end of June (btw, the three Warped dates I've been to, Ventura was the best, simply because of the venue) mostly because of money. Helen has gone to warped tour every year for the past 7 or 8 years, so she was really bummed about missing out on this one. Anyway, a friend of Helen's or a friend of a friend...I don't really know...works for some radio station, and asked Helen if she wanted free tickets to the LA date at the end of August, and of course she said yes. (how could you say no to anything that has "free" in front of it?) So we ended up leaving late because breakfast took longer than expected, and got there about an hour after it started. We missed Underoath by about an hour. We The Kings played, and they're...okay. Entertaining at least. I saw a band I've never heard of before called There For Tomorrow, and I really enjoyed them.

Then we went and got over-priced lunch, and went to watch Thrice. This was only the second time I've seen Thrice, and they we're amazing. I saw them open for Alkaline Trio and Rise Against last fall, and was completely blown away. I've always been a fan of Thrice, but never really went out of my way to see them, but that show was just awesome. I missed them at Bamboozle earlier this year. I caught the last 45 seconds of "The Earth Will Shake." So when I was able to see them at Warped this year, I was pretty stoked. They played a couple songs from their new album and those gave me the chills. Their whole set did, really. They played a cover of the Beatles "Helter Skelter" but stopped in the middle of it, because two dudes were fighting. So Dustin called them idiots and told them to stop ruining it for everyone else. After that, they closed with "The Earth Will Shake." After Thrice played, we caught the last couple songs of Streetlight Manifesto's set. Those guys are always entertaining.

After that, I saw (but mostly just heard) Senses Fail. I never had the urge to go see them before, because I've seen plenty of live videos, and...well, frankly, Buddy always sounded like shit, and the whole band was sloppy. Not the case with this show. They were super super tight and Buddy sounded REALLY effing good. After that, we took a break and hung around in the beer garden. I felt much more comfortable there for three major reasons:

1) Shade
2) Somewhere to sit
3) Not ONE single 3oh!3 fan. (funny how that works. an area that's 21+ and there's no 3oh!3 shirts...)

After a beer or two, we went to watch A Day To Remember (the single bro-est band on the earth. even more so than Hollywood Undead). I've been into ADTR since Matt introduced them to me in high school. I went and saw them play at a shitty little club in Victorville with maybe 100 people 4 years ago, and afterwards, hung out and danced to Michael Jackson's greatest hits with them. Last year at Warped Tour, I saw them play on one of the side stages for...maybe 200 people. This year, ADTR played on one of the main stages for a few thousand people. I dunno...it was just weird to me...4 years ago, I'm hanging out with these guys in a shitty club, and now, they're playing for thousands of people fucking daily. I wish they'd played a song or two from their first record, simply so I could have a moment of nostalgia, but oh well. Anyway...good for them.

Then we caught a little bit of Less Than Jake's set. They're always fun. Then Chiodos played. I've always liked Chiodos, and I'm impressed by what they do. I was really into their first album when I first heard it in...2006ish? I think? somewhere around there. Might've been 2007. Anyway, Bone Palace Ballet came out, and I didn't really get into it. They were pretty good I guess. Entertaining at least. Their keyboard player kinda weirds me out though.

After Chiodos, we called it a day. I didn't have much of a desire to see NOFX and I'd rather gouge my eyes out than watch 3oh!3. Last year, I saw almost 2 songs of their set and it's really something I'd rather not take part in.

Anyway, Helen and I forgot sunblock. I hurt. fuuuuuck. haha. but the moral of this story is...Thrice owns.