Where Is Erin?: May 8, 2010 - Big Blog! From Anaheim!

Hello from backstage at the Chain Reaction in Anaheim, CA. I'm sitting next to Stu, Alexisonfire's tour manager, and the bathroom. Oh, my delicate senses...

It's been a pretty eventful few days since the last time I updated my little bloggy here. We went to Austin, then an insane last minute house show in El Paso, and then an sweaty show in Mesa, AZ and met the man behind Salvation Mountain. SO much has happened! I don't even know where to begin, really. Eh, I guess I'll just go in chronological order.

Austin... I love visiting this city. Awesome people, awesome food, you really can't go wrong in Austin. We were at Emo's for the day, which you already knew because that's where I typed up my last blog. I'll just get to the part with the photos:

I found this setlist stuck to the speakers when we were loading in our equipment. Stu says it's from their Saskatoon show on the Billy Talent tour. I thought it was silly, so I had to share.

La Dispute played first.

Lee and Jim watched from side stage.

Al waiting to make his entrance when Therefore I Am began their set :

This guy was pretty amped on the band. I think his arm makes him look like one of those plastic monkeys from that barrel of monkeys game. Anyone remember that?

Have I mentioned how much I loathe polls in the middle of the stage? Arrrgh...

Everyone was in good spirits in Austin. Lots of hangs in the merch area. Here, Jordan (Ratbeard) snagged my camera and snapped this gem.

Check out these merch doods. Oh, what's up babe central? Oww! Tip your merchies, kids.

Lee getting ready to take the stage for Trash Talk's set.

It's hard to tell, but that's Adam (yep, the merch dood) working that crowd up into a frenzy, screaming into the mic.

I enjoy occasionally invading people's personal space; like Spencer.

This is Vass, La Dispute's bassist. Vass has many skills and interests, like drawing. He's quite good. It may have something to do with him drawing every day. He also really, really loves soda. Actually, "pop." In fact, he has a blog devoted to pop - Buds n Suds. Go take a little peek!

The Alexisonfire doods like to have a little group chant thing before they play. I think this one was "Men!" (I could be wrong...)

Here's Al with a couple of friends from back home, who now live in Austin : Chris Preese (former vocalist for Vanna) and Sarah. I definitely didn't recognize Chris when I first saw him. Last time I saw him, he was less... beefy? Think of how Trent Reznor went from slim guy with long hair to beefcake with a buzzcut and that's what happened here. Crazy!

Awww, Juice... He always looks so bummed out. I like to make him tell me fun or happy stuff that happened during his day with the hopes that I can help him look on the brighter side of life. I'd like to think it works. Sometimes he smiles. Be nice to Juice. Maybe give him a hug or something.

After finishing their set, the Alexisonfire guys headed straight for the outdoors to cool off, where there were plenty of excited fans who flipped when they had the chance to meet the band. Autographs all around...

... Dallas was exhausted ...

Alex lost his mind slinging CDs with Colin. It's all about the hustle, people.

This lovely lady showed Wade her Alexisonfire tattoo.

Ok, so I've just been ambushed by Adam. The following photo is from when a big group of us went to The Brixton (a bar that one of Brian's friends owns) after the show. The following words are not mine. I hope he doesn't say anything not nice about me. So yes, here's Adam :

G thinks Erin is weird.

Ok, so that statement is true. Garrett does tell me I'm weird. Correct me if I'm wrong, but is that not a smile on his face? He totally likes me. We're buds. And if not, I still have a little time to win him over. Travis, however, appears to be out of time, as George has decided to do away with him.

After super fun bar time, we hopped in the van and began our long haul to El Paso, TX for a show we booked 2 days in advance at the Nay Lair with our friend, Thomas. This is Thomas :

After something like 13 hours in the van, it felt good to get out and stretch a little bit.

So, the Nay Lair is essentially just a house. Thomas and his roommates put on shows in their living room. You'd never be able to guess just by looking at it, but there's something special about the shows and the people here. El Paso has a real music community. Kids are stoked for new music and are super supportive of each other. It doesn't matter that the air conditioner was out of commission, or that it was a weeknight, or that some of these kids had never heard of Therefore I Am before. They're open-minded and full of energy. I love coming to the Nay Lair.

The first band I caught was a two-piece called DRB.

Here is something you will only ever see at a house show. This sign rules :

Alex manned the merch, which was set up ouside by the front door. It was way too crowded to set up inside.

Second band, The Avindale.

And then Therefore I Am played. Thomas put them up second to last to make sure that kids were able to see them in case the show was shut down early. (You know: weeknight, neighbors, loud stuff after a certain hour...)

Things went OFF during their set!

Ever crowdsurfed in someones living room?

They made Greg crowdsurf. I couldn't stop laughing.

... and then he joined the circle pit.

... it's like the energy from the people combined with the intense heat somehow unleashed Al's inner-caveman.

It was so insanely hot in there that we had to take a break in the middle of the set to avoid people passing out. Chris took off his pants and literally played in his skivvies.

Ladies and gentlemen, it's my pleasure to introduce you to Toast. Toast was the first person I ever met at the Nay Lair. He introduced himself with a great big hug right off the bat, and continued to hug everyone many, many times throughout the evening. Toast is good people.

Stoked.

The Nay Lair show was easily one of the best shows of the tour for Therefore I Am, and it was thrown together totally last minute. El Paso, you are something special. I hope you guys all know how lucky you are to have the amazing community that you have.

This is Blythe and her mom, Jo. They live pretty close to El Paso and told us to expect them at the Denver show... Denver! They're going to travel to watch my friends play music. That's just too cool.

Circle pit hi-fives for headlining band, Thomas and Toast's band, Barbarian.

Barbarian played the most unexpected cover song ever : "Send Me An Angel." It was a real crowd pleaser :

Next stop for the TIA party train : Mesa, AZ. Thomas from the Nay Lair warned us that the air there is so hot and thick that it feels like you're wearing a sweater. Too true, dood. Too true! The venue is called The Nile. It's an old converted theater and the actual venue part is downstairs in the basement. You'd think that it would be less hot down in a basement, but you add a few hundred bodies and even the walls will sweat.

There was a local act last night called The Constellation Branch. They had a very different sound from any of the other bands on the bill. Actually reminded me a bit of Ours or Jeff Buckley, but a little more experimental-sounding. Maybe it was just the pipes; that guy can belt it!

Totally awesome backstage hangs! It got quite loud in there, since the PA was nestled into the wall connecting the backstage to the front of the stage. The variety of facial expressions in this photo kills me. So does Colin's epic hair.

In this photo, the boys are watching a movie trailer for The Human Centipede. It sounds like one of the most twisted, disgusting movies ever. I don't even want to talk about it.

Therefore I Am played second.

Wade and Juice. Having the greatest time ever.

Random merch table shot. I just like it.

One of the things I love about this tour is how everyone watches eachother play. Here's Jordan from La Dispute taking it all in :

And here's Jordan playing a show :

Next up : Trash Talk.

It's a little tough to see it, but Lee shoved that guy's head up under his shirt and pulled him up on the stage by his head.

This might be one of my favorite stage moves : the old "pull-your-friends-shirt-over-his-head-when-he-isn't-looking" maneuver. Nice one, Lee.

Alexisonfire : Check out that girl in front of Steele in the white shirt. Losing her mind!

After the Mesa show, the La Dispute guys invited us on a little group bonding adventure. We followed them overnight and arrived around 6am in a place known as Salton Sea in California. Basically, it's a lake that's been ruined by too much salt from a military boo boo a while back. The shore was covered with dead fish and other bones and such.

Alex really seemed to connect with the land...

Brad, Colin and Lazer decided to sleep on the beach. I was too put off by the dead fish and potential creepy crawlies to even consider it. I slept back in the van.

After everyone had slept for a few hours, we followed La Dispute way out into the desert to a place known as Salvation Mountain, which is basically this crazy, colorful mountain made with 30 years worth of love and devotion, an incredible amount of adobe and lots of paint with a single message : "God is Love." Mind you, I don't consider myself a religious person, but this was pretty cool.

The man behind this amazing mountain is Leonard Knight, a 79 year old man who has lived and worked here by himself for the last 30 years. He greeted us with a kind "Hello! You are welcome!" and gave us a guided tour through what is now considered a national treasure.

These are Leonard's blue birds. This little nook and the birds were featured in the "Into The Wild" movie.

This photograph was taken by a National Geographic photographer and then mounted into an adobe wall in Salvation Mountain. He later gave me a puzzle of this photo and some magnets to share with friends.

In this little room were more blue birds, photographs of the mountain over the years, awards and articles about the Mountain.

Look at all of that paint! Leonard says it's all donations that keeps him up and running, as well as whatever materials he finds in the desert, like old tires, car windows, etc.