May 2, 2010 - Hiya from Hattiesburg, MS

Man, it's been tough trying to make this blog entry happen. Much has happened by way of distractions and wonky internet connections. Biggest news is that Brian turned the big TWO-NINE yesterday. Yep, the twilight of his twenties. As a gift, I dedicate this blog entry to you, Mr. Brian "Briceps" Marquis. Happy Birthday, dood.

Right now I'm standing in the kitchen of three guys who are putting on a show in their living room in Hattiesburg, MS. It's almost 11pm. We've been here for a couple of hours now. The drive from Greensboro, NC was somewhere in the ballpark of about 14 hours, and after the show tonight we still have another 7 hours or so to Houston, TX. I'm tired, I'm wired, I'm determined to get this blog done so I feel like I've accomplished something! That being said, let's backtrack a few days, yeah?

The Social in Orlando, FL was a pretty crazy show. It was the first show Trash Talk played on the tour, so everyone was excited to see what they had in store for us. I've heard so many crazy rumors that I was anxious to see for myself. But first, La Dispute played their set. The place was packed and kids in the crowd were stoked. I, unfortunately, was not so happy with my photos of them from that show, so this is all you get (sorry) :

 

Therefore I Am played second. I managed to snap a few that I liked :

 

This particular photo is another one that falls into the category of "should-be-tossed-out-but-too-funny-not-to-share-so-I'm-gonna-post-it-anyways." Here's what's funny about this photo; the guy with the fluffy black hair and the weird look on his face. The only words you can read on his shirt are "fat kid." Made me giggle. You? Maybe?

 

 

Next up : Trash Talk. I had no idea what to expect, but I'd heard that their crowds can get pretty brutal, so I opted to plant myself side-stage. I'm glad I did because some of those kids were out of their minds!

 

 

It's a little dark here, but the singer, Lee, has actually wrapped his mic cable around that guys neck.

 

 

 

There was a photobooth at the club. I loooove photobooths. Juice had a couple of photostrips at his merch booth. How adorable, eh?

 

Alexisonfire closed out the show. The place was jam packed and there were some pretty serious super fans in the crowd, like these two doods on the far left. I loved watching them rock out!

 

This guy was awesome too. You could tell that the music really moved him. I love that. :)

 

George showed off his manly muscles when he pulled this kid up out of the crowd and threw him back into the audience.

 

 

Oh, how I love to watch Steele play. He makes THEE best faces!

 

From Orlando we cruised to Tampa to stay with one of the guys' friends, Chelsea. We got there pretty late and she had the living room all set up for us to crash for the night, with air mattresses and blankets and such. She even had a sweet pair of PJs for Alex to wear. Check out these sweet jams :

 

Tampa was pretty close to St. Pete, where the show was to be the next day, so everyone was able to sleep as much as they wanted. That's the best feeling; waking up when you're body feels rested.

 

Chelsea brought us over to the salon where she works with the guys' other friend, Leah. They gave everyone haircuts on the house. Even me! How sweet is that? Thank you, ladies!

   

From there, we zipped off to St. Pete for the show at the State Theatre. The last time I was at this venue was about 4 years ago with another band I used to work for, Head Automatica. Man, do I miss them! One of the funnest nights of the whole tour was actually the night we were at the State Theatre and went to this little bar called the Emerald or something like that just across the street. Ah, I digress... But I really do miss them.

 

Therefore I Am was slated to play first that night, so they were able to do a little soundcheck before doors.

 

Some backstage hangs before the show began...

 

I had a little time before doors to scope out the food situation in the area. On my quest to find a place called "Burrito Boarder" (which was delicious, by the way), I bumped into a couple familiar faces at a cigar bar around the corner.

Favorite shot of the night of Therefore I Am :

 

Favorite shot of La Dispute for the night :

 

I tried to keep a safe distance during Trash Talk's set. I managed to sneak up into the balcony to get a better view and not get whacked.

 

But I came back down after a bit. I was feeling a bit more brave when I realized that this crowd wasn't quite as crazy as the one in Orlando.

 

 

 

And a few photos from Alexisonfire's set :

 

 

George pretending to lactate all over the crowd.

 

After the show we went to a bar down the street to hang with some friends the guys had in the area. As luck would have it, the bar had a punching video game thing. We had some fun with that bad boy. Brian actually set a new record for the bar : 928! Woo!

 

Yep, even I took a whack at it. I wound up with a 4-something. I beat Travis. That's all that matters - ha! Travis lost to a girl!

 

    

The next day we were in Atlanta, GA. That was to be the day that I was going to blog. I had made the decision to do so, and I went to the backstage area and set up my work station and had a nice internet connection going and everything... And then this happened :

 

I mean, seriously... Could you concentrate with all of this? Um, I'm gonna go ahead and say "nope!"

 

These things also happened : Kevin wearing the remnants of what was to become Jordan's new shorts, and a haircut for shaggy old Alex.

 

So I wound up just doing a little photo editing and snapped a whole bunch of photos throughout the night, beginning with La Dispute.

  

 

Backstage hangs between sets.

 

Therefore I Am.

 

Can you find Alex in here?

 

The barricade situation at the Masquerade is a little wonky. It's basically just a short wall in front of the stage that you can only get into from the stage because there are giant speakers blocking both sides. So when kids started crowd surfing, the security guard started catching the kids and shoving them across the stage to go back into the audience. The kid in the photo was literally pushed into Dallas while he was playing. It wasn't the only time that happened, either. Might be time to make some improvements, Masquerade. Just saying...

 

 

Crappy barricades aside, I do like coming to the Masquerade. In fact, I look forward to it, as do the guys. One, because the food is always amazing:

Reason number two for liking the Masquerade : I get to see Brittney and Connor. They're the best! This photo is actually from after the show when we went for midnight birthday drinks for Brian. Yeah, dood!

Here's a few random backstage hangout shots. Just because I like how they turned out.

 

 

 

More fun from post-show bar time - Brian taking a shot. Lime and tender kisses provided by Greg Mills.

 

Getting weird. I'm apparently building a collection of photos of Brian smooching doods.

 

This is Chris's cousin, whose birthday also happens to be May 1st. Woo, double birthday party time! Brian's having a great time, haha!

 

When we finally left the bar and returned to the van, we found this little present on the antenna of the van. I think it may have been from Brittney and Connor, but I'm not totally sure. What a lovely way to end the evening though, eh?

 

The next day (which was yesterday) we were in Greensboro, NC at the Greene Street Club. When we arrived, Alexisonfire were soundchecking.

 

 

They sounded so good you couldn't help but sit and watch for a little bit.

I had never been there before, but it was pretty cool... Aside from the air conditioner being broken. The place was like a sweat lodge by the time everyone crowded in there for the show, along with the heat from the stage lights.  

 

 

 

Ladies and gentlemen, please meet Aderik (I hope I've spelled his name right). This is Garrett from Trash Talk's nephew. He's adorable, and he isn't afraid to throw insults at adults or hold hands with older women, aka, me. In short, he is awesome.

 

La Dispute. It was so freaking hot in there!

 

I took a quick breather during their set to run outside, where I found these guys hanging out :

 

And when I ran past merch, I found the perfect photo opp. I like the progression from grumpy Juice, to "excuse me?" Greg, to "cheeeeese" Lazer. Yeah!

 

More La Dispute. I actually really like this one :

 

Then Trash Talk took the stage. Once again, I chickened out and hung out on the balcony. I brought little Aderick with me.

 

 

 

 

Spent a little time hanging at the merch booth before Alexisonfire's set. Awww, how cute are these boys, eh?

 

... And then I tried to brave the heat and the sweat to snap some photos. It didn't last too long though. I really hate being covered by the sweat of strangers. Yick.

 

 

After the show, we met up with Phil (from To Speak of Wolves) and his wife Natasha. It was Phil's birthday, too. May 1st was a popular day for being born, apparently. They took us to a North Carolinian delicacy known as "Cookout." Best milkshakes EVER! I had peanut butter, chocolate and oreos. It was so thick it kept collapsing my straw when I tried to drink it.

Alex had a milkshake too :

They let us shower up at their apartment. We also got to hang out with their awesome doggies. This is the newest edition, Bubbles:

 

And this is Piles. Such beautiful dogs, aren't they?

 

 So here we are! Today! Hattiesburg, MS. It's hot and gross even though it's 1am. The bands have both just finished playing and are loading out gear and hoping to grab showers here at the house before we all depart for another long-ish drive to Houston, TX. We're looking at a sold 6 or 7 hours. Not really interested in getting back in the van at this point, but I'll be excited once we get there. I'm hoping it will be a little less humid than it is here.

Alright! I must pack up and get out of here. Until next time...