Tour
Journals
February 2006
Wednesday, February 15, 2006
Kansas City, MO
Hey hey! Back at it again. After a two month lull, we played our first show of '06 yesterday. Of course (as most of you are probably aware) it was Matthew Hoopes' birthday. We had a lot of fun celebrating, and we're looking forward to maintaining that celebratory attitude for the ENTIRE REST OF THE TOUR. We hope you decide to come join us. Also, one of my least favorite things is talking to kids outside the venue that didn't get their tickets before a show sold out. Its a heart breaker. Don't break my heart, please. Maxeen and The Rocket Summer were excellent, by the way. Don't forget to subscribe to our podcast on iTunes. It will be an excellent compliment to the tour journal. Matthew T.
Friday, February 17, 2006
Salt Lake City, UT
Today was our 3rd time playing in SLC. Everything was great today... the attendees, the other bands, the venue ... everything. We met a couple of kids that came from Alaska. We fed them cake. It was something that they had never seen before. They tried to eat it like a bear would, but we taught them to master the plastic fork utensil. Silly Alaskans. Not a ton of other stuff went on today. I honestly can't think of anything interesting. Maybe I'll tell a tale of a more eventful day. Years ago, on the day I turned six years old, my father came to visit me at my Mom's house. He gift wrapped some Transformers with the funny pages from that Sunday's newspaper. We got to go for a ride in his hatchback, and since I was the birthday boy, I got the coveted "I'm sitting backwards making faces at the drivers behind me" seat. I played with my new toys the whole way from St. Catherines, Ontario to Toronto. The drive is an hour our time (an eternity - 6 year old boy time). Moments prior to arrival, my pops finally revealed the secret of our destination. It was Paramount's Canada Wonderland (a theme park). It was the first time I had ever been to any place of that nature. After riding the Scooby Doo Ghoster Coaster and meeting The Flinstones, a sunny memory had been branded into my impressionable mind. A memory that I still reflect upon often. So, if I didn't say it back then.... thanks Dad. Matthew Thiessen
Saturday, February 18, 2006
Boise, ID
I don't know if you are all privy to this information, but I think it needs to be said that O' Boiseans are O' Boisterous™. They'll pop right out of the bag if you give them the chance. I'd suggest you do. So tonight's show was at the Big Easy, which means that's it's very easy to fall off their big stage, if you give them the chance. I'd suggest you don't. About ten seconds into our first song I came dangerously close to falling off the stage into a deep dark hole that happened to be filled with, among other things, potato chips and non-fried spuds of varying varieties. Luckily I regained my balance and didn't fall down like a complete dork; I just stumbled like a partial one. In other news, our birthday parties are turning out to be a success. If you happen to be in the fan club please contact the correct people to ensure a celebratory and participatory spot. You will receive at least one of the following four things: a) a marquis cut diamond, b) an authentic velociraptor claw, c) neither a nor b, or d) cake. Please remember your party hats and a nice gift for us Hoopes. John Warne
Sunday, February 19, 2006
Spokane, WA
Hoopes got a really, um, nice gift for his birthday. Have you ever been flying on your way to a board meeting and flipping through the latest issue of SkyMall to come across the wild new gazetry known as Robosapien? If you have then you'll know the craziness that was Hoopes' gift. To test it out he set it up outside by the line of people waiting to get into the show, controlling it from inside the bus to increase the "wow" factor. Among other things he made the Robosapien dance, belch, lie down, stand up, and ask for change. One person in line turned from a crotchety old curmudgeon into a resourceful, dynamic youth with a new lease on life, so I can't but assume that the Robosapien was satisfied. Tonight's show was punctuated by a chant of "MON-TA-NA!" over and over. I like wide open spaces, too, but it seemed like a weird thing to choose as a mantra. Thiessen chose "Spokane has spoken" as his, but it didn't seem to catch on. Pity. John Warne
Tuesday, February 21, 2006
Calgary, Alberta (Canada)
Today was our first of three Canadian shows. Talk about pros and cons. Our cell phones cost like 70 cents a minute up here, which means they're off limits. Which means my Mom and I don't get to gossip about old lady McCleary and the mysterious "mail man" that shows up daily without any mail. BUT. Today's show is the biggest of the tour so far. Who would've guessed!? Calgary! Somewhere that we've only played on the Warped Tour. We had a really fun time playing the set. (ha! that sentence sounds like an excerpt from a 5th grader's "What I Did On My Summer Vacation" report). John Warne got the idea that we should make a cartoon, so we started working on Episode 1 today. Its going to be pretty funny, I think. We'll keep you updated Matty T
Wednesday, February 22, 2006
Edmonton, Alberta (Canada)
By the time this journal is posted, the podcast for today will probably already be up. We played THE BIGGEST MALL IN THE WORLD today. I think we say that 18 times during the podcast. Anyway... the show was equally as packed and enjoyable as yesterday's. We played in this venue called Red's. They had a bunch of arcade games and bowling and stuff. It looked fun, but the cruelty of Father Time prohibited us from indulging in such game-like activities. I watched a bunch of kids sweating their butts off to Dance Dance Revolution all day. I think they were playing that game for about 6 hours straight. If I had found a magic genie lamp amidst the stuffed animals in "The Crane" game, my first wish would've been for an air-rifle with a scope. Sniping nerdy DDR obsessed kids would've made my little day. My second wish would've been for infinite wishes, of course. Matthew Thiessen
Friday, February 24, 2006
Vancouver, British Columbia (Canada)
The Vancouver show was by far the roughest and toughest of our Canadian performances. I think we were about due for an extra crunchy show (*peanut butter reference. Extra crunchy means it wasn't smooth) The weather was pretty great, though, and that always makes the corners of my mouth turn up. While in Canada, the Canadian Olympic Men's Hockey Team totally blew it, and everywhere you went you saw weeping women and children, bars filled with depressed men drowning their despondency, and riot scarred buildings smoldering in the ashes of what once was excellent Canadian architecture and pride. Don't let your sled dogs keep their tails between their legs for too long, Canada. Its just a hockey match. Haha. Matty T.
Saturday, February 25, 2006
Eugene, OR
welcome race fans. this is my first tour journal of the tour. today we played in eugene oregon. also, today we almost missed our show in eugene oregon. i think it was about 7 am i heard a rumble and felt our bus pull off to a stop. at this point, i assume were at the venue, and its around noon, roll back over and go to sleep for another 3 hours. though for some reason today, i.. actually, well, i guess i did that. BUT... at 3 pm i woke up anxiously anticipating a fast food burger or slice of grease pizza, and walked into the front of our bus, to see the beautiful tall trees of washington. yes, we in fact broke down. the story i heard goes as follows... there was an angry driver that we cut off somewhere in canada. he followed us over the border and attempted to ram us off the road, but he was in a 83 Volkswagen, and we of course a bus. he actually went under the bus (think chevy chase in vaction), and jumped out of his car and held onto the undercarriage of the bus (think keanu reeves in speed). he somehow maneuvered his way towards the back of the bus, and onto the trailer... he then took a swiss army knife (this is in fact an assumption, i didnt actually see the swiss emblem, it could have been a cheap knock off), and using the little scissors, he cut off one of his pants legs, and in a desperation move, managed to get it caught, and tangled in the axle of the trailer... AND THEN ** warning: if you have a weak stomach, you should stop reading... ** i watched a kirsten dunst movie...** Ok, back to the story... he jumped and did a barrel roll into the woods, never to be seen again... our tailer bearings locked up, and we started basically dragging our trailer... luckily a good ole washington farm boy with a pick-em-up-truck stopped to save the day. he graciously carted our bus driver not once, but twice to the auto parts store to get us up and running. we kindly paid him in hummus and 8 bags of doritos that we had on the bus. he grinned from ear to ear showing off all 3 of his teeth. we pulled into the venue 30 minutes after maxeen was supposed to go on, did a quick in, and got the show up and running. it turned out to be a great show, it was sold out and the kids were awesome. thanks everyone for coming!!! ps. i love the pita pit. love always. jonathan david schneck
Sunday, February 26, 2006
Orangevale, CA
So... We toured through mountains, snow, sleet, plummeting Celsius temperatures, and The BIGGEST MALL IN THE WORLD... all to get to sunny California and bask in the tropical climates and talk like Michelangelo from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Unfortunately, our only CA stop was filled with rain, fear, and chilly temperatures. How depressing. Fortunately for us, the people that came to our show cheered us up and brought us smiles from home. I had Round Table pizza for dinner, and that made me talk like Michelangelo from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. So... I guess I accomplished SOMETHING today. MT