Tour Journals
May 2005

Tuesday, May 03, 2005
Tusla, OK

Wow. Welcome to another "first day of tour" tour journal. To continue with our theme of first days, we will again fill this space with disclaimers of 'technical difficulty' and sob stories about why we had such a rough night. Actually...i think i just covered it. I think its going to take another day or two until we get the hang of this tour. We were happy to see our buddy Justin Grymen of Philmore tonight. Our buddy Bryson took us to Sonic for lunch, and for that we gave him a golden miniture statue of lady liberty. Its worth about 1.3 million dollars. Also, we met the Madden boys earlier, and they're really nice. Benji said he likes our record. He = :-). Just so you all know, our set is only 25-30 minutes. So if you come out to see this tour, don't expect more RK than that. I'm sick of being a computer nerd, so i'm going to go do something else. Probably play our Tiger Woods video game. Cause thats what cool kids do. matty t.

Thursday, May 05, 2005
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Today was substantially better than yesterday. Well, at least as far as the show is concerned. As far as our dressing room was concerned, it was substantially worse. Ha. We played at the fair grounds in OKC, and our dressing room smelled like 10 horses had finished a game of poker in there the night before. (and horses don't interrupt a game of poker to go to the bathroom ... if you get my drift). I think they were betting with cow chips too. So there was quite the odor. So, despite the invisible floating particles of horse manure, we had a good day. My buddy Kyle Simmons from Sly's Alter Ego had a birthday today, and he and his bandmate, Jeff, picked me up and took me out to pick up a lovely toothbrush to replace the decent one that I had left in a hotel in Nashville. I always buy the most expensive toothbrush I can find. Cause if its a $5 toothbrush and you use it for a month, it averages out to about 16.6 cents a day...that means its about 8.3 cents a use. Where as a $3 toothbrush only saves you a few cents a day. Go big. Always go big. till tomorrow matty

Monday, May 09, 2005
(Greenville, IL, Springfield, IL, and Indianapolis, IN)

Well... since the tour is over half way done and we just got the tour journal up and working we're going to be squeezing three shows into each entry. John and Jon are going to help out so you guys don't get sick of my sense of humor that lacks the humor part. (my sense). Greenville - Today was a festival. We played with some of our really good friends House of Heroes and Sanctus Real. Our old stage manager Don Garthy (Dan Gartley) is the new bassist for Sanctus, and today was his first show. It was so much fun to watch him. What a champ. We also got to use our new backdrop for the first time tonight. Its huge... I never thought we'd ever get a backdrop, but I'm glad we did. I just wish it was a 48ft wide plasma screen TV. I'd put it in my bedroom. I'd watch sports bloopers on it and laugh until my sides hurt. Springfield, IL - Back to the GC/SP tour today. Jon and I ate lunch at McDonald's today. I wasn't really aware of this, but Mac D's is Jon's favorite restaurant in the world. Cute. A buddy of mine took me to Best Buy and I bought the new Discover America album for Hoopes. I listened to it and liked it. The show was really fun tonight. We're so glad that no one is throwing sharpened Good Charlotte glow sticks at us while we're playing. Afterwards me and some buddies went to a coffee shop and I got a delicious strawberry smoothie for an even more delicious price. After that I went to this crazy store called Walmart. It was beautiful. I bought some rollerskates, the new Toby Keith record, and a bag of gummy worms....ALL UNDER ONE ROOF!!! I will now repent my lies. Indianapolis, IN - The way the tour busses were parked today allowed for a small crowd of Good Charlotte fans to gather by a fence and scream their little heads off every time the GC or SP boys got off of their busses. It was so silly. It reminded me of the times when we play a 6flags and we park by a roller coaster. Every minute and 38 seconds you hear the coaster go by accompanied by a train full of screaming girls. One time Benji jumped around the side of the building and did a little dance just to taunt the ladies. The show was a good time. Just our normal 30 minutes of fun. I can't wait to get back to Indianapolis. I really can't wait.

Monday, May 09, 2005
Kansas City

Cinco de cinco y cinco cinco cinco. The fifth of five and five five five. Probably not the perfect translastion....but wow, there was sure a lot of fives today. I got some high fives from some pals (five of them to be exact), and I had five o'clock shadow and drank five Five-Alives (thats a juice drink). Today was our favorite show of this tour so far. The crowd was way cool, and our set is starting to come together. We're still yet to get a sound check on this tour, but rumor has it that Good Charlotte is giving us theirs in two days. (they're flying out to go see the new Star Wars movie with Lucas himself, i think. haha...Lifestyles of the Good and the Charlotte) So, they won't get to the Springfield show in time to sound check. Relient K will be sound checking. I'd rather sound check then see the new Star Wars (to be taken with an overdose of sarcasm). So....after the show I ate some cheese sticks at Sonic with my friends Liz and Kayla. Everyone else in the band was STARVING, and they had no way to obtain any food. I was the envy of the whole gang. Then later...at 230am they all stopped at a Steak & Shake. I was so happy that I didn't eat. 230am Steak & Shake = good idea that quickly = bad idea. Matty T.

Tuesday, May 10, 2005
Cleveland, OH - Tower City Amphitheater

Hello RK crazed fans, this is John. I'm the one with an H that plays the bass notes that make the ladies swoon. That or drop dead. And this is my first time posting on this here Tour Journal. Tonight we played in Cleveland, OH, at the Tower City Amphitheater. Everything broke on stage tonight. I broke 3 bass strings, some hillbilly broke the banjo, Dave broke his cowbell, Hoopes broke his calculator, and Thiessen broke his left vocal chord. And in the midst of this melee I came to the realization that Drew Carey was correct in his assertion that Cleveland does indeed rock. Instead of giving the show two thumbs up I will give it an index finger and a pinky up.

Wednesday, May 11, 2005
Columbus, OH - PromoWest Pavilion

This is Action Journalist John reporting again, with up-to-the-minute news in the daily lives of Relient K. Today's special includes some breaking developments in gas prices and the fleecing of American Rock. Stay tuned especially for the good bit at the end. We started today doing a radio promotion where they gave out free gas for 97 minutes. It was actually the first time I heard RK on the radio, and boy howdy was it glorious. We were supposed to actually pump the gas, but when we got there there were already attendants standing there waiting. So instead we just "mingled" and chatted with the people getting free gas. It was a happy time. Jon and I did get to wash some windshields, though, providing a much needed service at no cost. The worst part of the day for me was when I nearly passed out inhaling all the helium from a balloon. The best part was the high-pitched voice that followed. Oh yeah, the show was fun, too. This is the good bit at the end.

Thursday, May 12, 2005
Ft. Wayne, IN

This is the third reigning post in the John Dynasty. Hey, remember Kevin Arnold's mean older brother Wayne from The Wonder Years? Well, we played at his fort tonight. It was mostly couch cushions with a sheet thrown over, which makes me surprised that so many kids came and actually fit in it. It was fun, though. We pretended that we were out in the woods hiding like a desperate gang of thieves (the kind that rob from the rich and give to the poor). Then we were the Swiss Family Robinson and I was a monkey butler, Dave being an irate native that I had to ward off. After our games we had Tang and Nilla wafers and played a rock show.

Friday, May 13, 2005
Clarkston, MI

What up, its jon (not to be confused with John - you'd be dumb to make that mistake). Clarkston was a really cool day. Really cool. At least 60 degrees. The show was alright too. It was just RK and Good Charlotte. Once it stopped raining me and benji snuck into the golf course next to the venue, and had a crazy 7 holes, until this guy named larry chased us clear across the course on one of those high power gas carts, and demanded we pay for the 7 holes. Unfortunatly, I had forgotten my wallet in my other shorts, and benji was broke, so we had to trade some merch for compensation. He looked really good in that pink shirt and wrist band… heres to you larry, and again, im sorry for calling you scarry larry. God speed.

Saturday, May 14, 2005
Orlando, FL (Cornserstone FL)

J to the O N writing. Cornerstone florida was a great show. Thanks for all you who came out to watch. I got to see a lot of killer shows while I was there… Emery and Anberlin were great. I got to see a lot of good friends while I was there, including my dad. It was a good day. Thanks to Jamie, joey, fireflight, kyle and leslie for hangin out. Due to the union strike that happened the day of our show, security was a no show. So we got to meet about 200 of our friends backstage. Thanks for hangin out… sorry about signing that one kids Gucci bag, I coulda swore I heard him ask… live and learn man, live and learn…

Monday, May 16, 2005
Hershey, PA

What up world wide web browsers- Jon here… Hershey was a cool show. I got to meet a lot of cool kids that came out to support us. We actually got to meet the vice president of Hershey chocolate, and apparently hes a huge fan. No, I mean really huge… it must be all the free chocolate. Matty took a swim in the chocolate river and apparently contaminated it… we ended up costing them about 40 billion dollars, but I guess that's just life...

Tuesday, May 17, 2005
Portland, ME

The abbreviation for today's state is probably the most self-centered thing I've ever seen. It's basically like "Hey, I'm hot stuff. I live in the sate of ME." Despite that, I love Maine. We haven't played here since 2000, so we were pleased to be back. My aunt and uncle live in Maine, and I used to spend my summers there as a young boy. My uncle is an amazing painter, and he got me into playing guitar and the movie Harold and Maude. Check out his art at www.lindenfrederick.com. He paints quite the picture (they look like photos). We went to a record store and got free stuff today. That was GREAT. Dave got all these World War II dvds, and he's in informative television heaven. Today I started what I am deeming a new trend for me and my pre-show activities. I snuck into Simple Plan's dressing room and stole a red bull before we played. Thats like a triple rush. The sneaking. The thieving. And the red bull. The show = fun. Of course. Later... matthew t.

Wednesday, May 18, 2005
Providence, RI

Star Wars. Midnight. We saw it. Even though that's technically what we did tomorrow, I'm doing tomorrow's tour journal, and I want to talk about it NOW. We loved it of course. As mentioned earlier, GC got to see the movie a few weeks prior with George Lucas himself at the Skywalker Ranch. Well tonight, Joel, Paul, and Billy saw the movie again in the same theater as us. I did some quick math, and figured out that we got to see Star Wars episode III with George Lucas vicariously through Good Charlotte. SO...that makes us VERY VERY cool. I should probably forget about all my friends and only hang out with professional soccer players. I've definitely outgrown my current level of social interaction. So today we got to go to another record store. Our buddy Jon won $500 of spending money at Newbury Comics. We got to go along and help him pick stuff out. We did a great job, I think. We also got to pick out a few things for ourselves as well. FUN. I stole another red bull tonight. But I got caught. Security pulled me out of SP's room as I screamed "I would've gotten away with it too, if it wasn't for you darn kids!!!" Then someone pulled my Matthew Thiessen mask off to reveal that I was indeed Hulk Hogan the ENTIRE time. matty t.

Thursday, May 19, 2005
Springfield, MA (6flags)

Today was pretty typical. Jon and John got in a wrestling match that lasted for about 6 and a half hours, I got trapped in the freezer section of your local grocery store, and Hoopes sat in a chair. The show was at a 6flags that we've never played before. I think I've written in the tour journal about how I thought we had played every 6flags this country could throw at us, but again I type corrected. The show was indeed a pleasurable experience, and the people that we came in contact with before (and after) should be knighted. They were that great. I'm going to go knight someone thats not expecting it. Matthew Arnold Thiessen

Friday, May 20, 2005
Tom's River, NJ

You know how in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe it was always winter and never Christmas? It seems like this tour has been always raining and never not raining. Tom's River, NJ, today was no exception. I'll bet his river was coming up over the banks. Man I wish I had my own river. John's River, MN... I like the way that sounds. Tonight they brought in Famous Dave's for dinner, and since we just played with Good Charlotte tonight that meant more ribs for me. Man I wish I had my own signature barbecue sauce line. Famous John's... I like the way that sounds. John Warne

Sunday, May 22, 2005
Buffalo, NY

Today was the only show that we're playing this month where we're the last band on the bill. That means that we're not playing in a hockey rink or large arena type place. Yay! The show was in a fun little venue called the Sphere. We had the honor of playing with our heros, House Of Heros today. Also joining us was a really rad band called This Day And Age. What a fun night. Both bands were as rock and roll as granite and pillsbury. Our really great friend Sam Barnhart (formerly of Bleach) has decided to join us on the road and assume the role of road pastor for a few days. We're so happy to have such a good buddy joining us. To celebrate his arrival we all went out into the street and shot pistols into the air. The police were called ..............................................................................................................................................by us.....we needed more gunfire. M@E.T.

Monday, May 23, 2005
Utica/Rochester, NY

Joining us for these tour journals is going to be our good friend and ferret companion, Will Ferret. Hey both of these shows were in upstate NY. I like to eat guinea pigs. And regular pigs. Nothing super crazy happened either day. The 24th was Dave's 2cnd year wedding anniversary, so congrats to him. I stole his keys. He still hasn't found them. Matt T and Matt H went to a couple of radio stations in Rochester and played some of their songs acoustic. One of the stations let the guys have a ton of free cds and stuff. Matt H got the new System Of A Down (among other things), and Matt T got an Mxpx DVD (among other things). I got Ferret Bueller's Day Off on DVD. Good flick. Anyway...I need to get back to being up to no good. later Will Ferret.

Friday, May 27, 2005
Philadelphia, PA - Atlanta, GA

5/25 - Wow...today was silly. We were playing on a pier in Philly, and it was COLD. It was RAINY. It was FUN. My good buddy, Joe Marlett (engineered our record) was in town and he and my buddies The Transit War (check them out) came out to the show to chill with us. Also, my pal Ryn-o from Don't Look Down showed up. We spent the beginning of the day in NYC taping some stuff for MTV2. It was fun. The VJ was a sweetheart and a half. He asked us some questions that we weren't expecting. Thats always good. Anyway...I'm aware that we're a month behind on posting tour journals...so its already aired and stuff...boo hoo. After that we drove to Philly in a van and joined up with the crud4weather. 5/27 - Atlanta was fun. Warmer than Philly by far. We didn't really do much all day. Just hung out. I was pretty under the weather when we played, so it probably wasn't our best show ever....but it was good to get to play. Always is. Matt H's dog came out to the show today. He's bitten me twice. I may throw him on a rotisserie grill one of these days. Wiener dogs. Ugh. matty t.

Saturday, May 28, 2005
Jacksonville, FL

Today's show was 2,000 lbs. of fun. I assign 300 lbs. to the amount of ping pong that went on. 500 lbs. goes to the crowd that went b-a-n-a-n-a-s. Another 100 lbs. is attributed to the inordinate heat. 600 lbs. goes to the chessing I did with Dave. I wonder if clowns give up their red noses for lent, or their ridiculously big shoes? The final 500 lbs. goes to our stage manager Nuke's fascination with time travel, be it by machine, portal, or otherwise. All told, 2,000 lbs. of fun. John Warne

Sunday, May 29, 2005
Pompano Beach, FL

Hot one today. Humid one today. That, I suppose, is the reason we decided to go golfing. It was Hoopes, Josh (our driver) and myself. I'm telling you, if you haven't seen Hoopes golf you're missing out. It is a thing of beauty; a thing of infinite wonder. I shot about a 196 while he easily breezily swept us with a 62. I just pretended it was bowling scoring. Unfortunately Josh neglected to use sunscreen and turned out the color of a lobster after, say, two hours in the ol' pot. As for me, I played it cool until I ran into my own parked cart and got a golf ball sized welt on my noggin. Jumped right out in front of me, I tells ya. So I played the show in a daze as the rest of the guys wavered in an out of my vision. All eight of them played splendidly. John Warne

Orlando, FL

Ello. thats hello with a british accent. lets all try it..."Ello." there, thats better. Jon again. i want to get right to the point. we played in orlando and it was fun. orlando has really become our second home. i think by december we will have played there like 9 times this year. it was my first time at hard rock live. its a pretty cool place. they have a lot of rock and roll nostalgia there. the cool thing is, is when youre an artist, you get to actually use a lot of the memorabilia. hoopes was really into the prince section. he really got the hang of walking in heels by the end of the day. i wont lie, there were a few times where he took a spill, but he got right back up on that horse... the kids got heart. of course dave was busy reading old love letters from judy garland, john warne was riding elvis's motorcycle around, while Matty laid in a replica of brian wilson bed, just like brian did. i had a dandy time browsing brett michael's bandana collection, very extensive... to make a long story short... it was a sold out show, lots of fun. we had a lot of support there, and for that, we are grateful. Jonathan Schneck

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