Hey guys! This is Brandon and im posting Danny's blog from our recent NW romp. This particular blog starts on day 3 into day 4 of tour because the first 3 days were all driving to Seattle, where we had a no-crowd last minute show, at this rad venue called the Rendezvous Jewel Box Theater. Cool Place and even cooler Host. Thanx for puttin us up and giving us a starting point Seattle, we will be back and next time have it booked properly fo sho! After this we jammed to Portland Where we met up with our good friend Aaron from this rad band called "Prize Country," check em out they are amazing. They put us up in his place and we proceeded to have an amazing time, with some of the best people i have ever had the pleasure of knowing. Ill let Danny delve into the rest.

Touring in 1618 day four: Portland and Grants Pass

Portland couldn't get sweeter if it tried. There are some Reno transplants up here that are stoked that they escaped the tractor beam. That was for you Star Trek fans. Anyway El Cerdo killed it tonight with a mountain of heavy-heavyness. Their guitar player is an old Reno guy and not only does he shock it on guitar, but he goes way back to the Fall Silent days.(Danny played guitar for an amazing Reno band called Fall Silent-r.i.p.) Their drummer destroys also. The show was fun as hell. Jeez...

Jevan kept trying to get me to hop this train. Now if you are caught they can try you for terrorism and slap a huge fine on you. It false alarmed us a few times and then it finaly took off. Jevan being the straight up G that he is, ran that train like a damn freak.

There's so much to tell, so much radness has gone down. We have really tried to get at eachother with jokes and shit but we can't seem to piss eachother off. It's all fun and stuff. These dudes are great.

Thank you Scaring Sparrows for being rad. We will tour again fo' sho'.

We ate at The Vito this morning and I had corn cakes instead of pan cakes. I can't even begin to describe how tight that shit was. And we played Bocce Ball. We didn't really go exactly by the rules but it's still hard to play and it was cool to try to clack the balls around and stuff. Actually me and Grover's last round was mostly by the rules and when you play like that it's even harder.
 
I saw a bike, like a ten speed type thing that sold for 9 grand today at Aaron's shop. Crazed. 

*Day four official

So we drove to Grants Pass Oregon with an increasingly overheating van. I thought for sure we would crack the block and just die on the roadside. The forest up there is kind of prehistoric because they got those fern gully lookin' shits growing everywhere. Kyle and I walked through the forest and climbed over fallen logs and stuff. Upon arriving I wasn't too particular to the city until we came upon the venue. "Holy Shit"! I exclaimed when I walked in the place and it was right out of a Scoobey Doo episode. It was called "The Trove" and it was a friggin' costume shop with scary masks and fake blood. To the very rear of the store emptied in to a cave with a sound system painted all black with freakin' stage lighting. I knew somehow that the night would be interesting. So Grover and I venture on to the city streets. We tend to wonder together. It's good for us. We need to do that often. We need to journey off and explore and discover sick shit around the place. And boy did God himself orchestrate what is what I feel to be the greatest omen of this whole thing. We walk down about two blocks from the Trove and stumble upon a tattoo shop. But it's not an ordinary shop. As we walk through the front of it is lined with oil paintings of skulls and other images of malevolence. Both walls right and left have Aaron and I holding our breath as we become indecisive over whether we should study these other worldly windows of hell, or follow that buzz of a perfectly tuned shader machine. We do both. Stopping at each painting with scourge filled eyes and lewdly anticipating the next, and the next. We finally get to the counter and after discovering who owns the place, I still had to question whether it was real or not. I look over to see that it is yet no other than Trevor Barnes. A Reno native. Now this guy is sooo sick it's not even funny. And to his right, the man himself Jeff Gogue. Both tattin' up a storm and looking completely meditative during. After a short talk with Jeff and looking through his portfolio, I realize that this is the man that will tattoo me. After long internal debating over the months apprenticing at Evolution. I have met my man. I left there knowing in my heart that only God himself could have orchestrated such a meaningful experience for me as a very new tattooer. Jeff was very kind and informative. I like the guy. And his tattooing?.... sheeeeiit. Get down son.

We get back to the show ready to play so fuckin' pumped and this local band decides to show up and steal a set. The drummer held a mic and played one handed drums in the vien of shitty radio metal. I was so high from Gogue Art Gallery that this situation being completley fucked and lame didn't even phase me. We quit possibly played the most energetic set as band that we ever have. It's a new high score. Furthermore Jevan played all over the fuckin' shit so deep that it just pumped us even more. He added all of these tight fills, double stops, and set up early attacks to build his fills even bigger so when they finally turned the count over it hit your soul and blew it shit's out. Word up Jevan. I keep sayin' after all of the Fall Silent/ Evenground shows back in the day, it's ironic. 

We played with a band from Iowa called "Giants". They are what I call Blisscore. And they do it well. I loved it. That sort of music settles me down and lifts my spririts simutaneosly. Grover rocked a straight 8 hour drive and I played breakdance beats mixed with Christian Death. Together we watched the sun come up and realized life is precious yet temporary. Live it to the fullest, but don't take it too seriously.

We slept in pure shade heat in Sac this morning. Grover threw a blanket down on some grass at a park and we passed out only to wake up with borderline heat stroke. We laughed about even though we knew it sucked. Tonight we rock Sac and tomorrow Gilman ST. in Berkely. Scaring Sparrows are purely stoked on rockin' that venue because that's more their thing. The underground punk/ crust scene. Kyle will go apeshit at that place. I can't wait to watch him beat himself over the head and face. I accidentally punched myself in the balls closing the door yesterday. That sucked and I was thinking about when I was young that I never wanted to work for the government when I grew up. I didn't plan on being a guitar player, it just happened.

I can't wait to get home and get to tattooing. I have so many new ideas after checking out Jeff and Trevor. And I miss boxing with Luke. Is that crazy?

*Sac

Last night was Shakers. Killer Sac bar with a mellow crowd. I swept peanuts in to a pile before we played. Appearantly they throw em' on the ground just like Ryan's in Reno. Jimmer has been great. Rare that I meet a man that I have so  much in common with in terms of straight up piratetry. Teddy from 5 victims also gave so much effort to pit stop us and get a last minute show off of the ground. He is a man that I can easily call "friend". One thing about Sac though is it's miserably hot. By noon one o'clockish  it seriously starts to suck. Yesterday we slept in a park during the day because Grover had driven the whole night. Everyone crashed on the ride so we get to Sac and everyone's like "sweet let's go to the mall"! Aaron and I hit the grass and like a half hour later we are awakened by a blistering heatwave. We almost died from heatstroke. Just another reason to start a band and go on tour, for reals.

Tonight it's Gilamn Street in Berkely. It's the CBGB of SF. I guess Green Day bought them a new PA and stuff so the sound ought to be pretty sweet. Scarring Sparrows will be stoked. This is why they even wanted to this tour to begin with. It's been hard for them because we have a little more accessable sound so we go over pretty good. They sound like Deadguy which is one of my favorite bands but people are frightened of them at times. Tonight they get to be fully appreciated. 

*Berkely

As we smash down to the Bay, this nice cool breeze clears out not only the piping hot heat, but the smell of balls and feet. Everyone passes out to the notion that tour is basically over save the grand finale, Gilman. Gilman is legendary in all ways in terms of underground music. Everyone and anyone who is remotely in the know of hardcore and punk knows Gilman. I've been to Gilman many times. Fall Silent played there often. The shows have always been amazing. This show was rad also. We played with all kinds of hardcore bands. Particularly 7 Generations. I think they are from Orange. The were heavy and bad ass. We played that show as fiercely as any. The songs were a tad rushed but they were tight and brutal. Jevan has come the furthest out of all of us. He has fashioned himself a hard rock metal sorta' crossover drummer. In a single bass setting, he still sets the feel so nasty and his drive pushes all of us to a greater performance level. It's rad. The sound was rad, the crowd was rad....it was all awesome.

Wondering around Berkely is nuts because it just keeps going and going. I had to physically force myself to walk back to the venue or else I would have wandered the city all night. I found a place called Lane Splitter pizza the had pizza by the slice. I freakin' love that.

This tour meant many things to me personally. Some of which include 1. I no longer live under the shadow of a Fall Silent has been. I have a new band with a new and energetic sound that rocks. The material is tight as hell and people are loving it. It's still in the vein of what I like to play, but with rock implications. It fuckin' rules. 2. I have changed as a person. I have redefined what is important to me, what I value. I forgive whatever has happened in the past and have tolerance and patience for the future. I'm not shaping my destiny according to sadness, pain, failure, or resentment. Those are merely ingredients for success so I have chosen to shoulder the former and celebrate the latter. 3. My life is only meaningful when I can get out of self and help someone else. Touring in a band makes you aware of how self serving you are. I realized that I want to be there ever more for my friends and family. I want to work even harder at my job and my music because those that are close to me are depending on it. It makes them want to push harder as well. 4. I love God. I am silenced by the miracle of life. To look around at the earth, humans beings, bodies of water. Everything is moving together to form this experience of life. And that what lies beyond this is incomprehensible. It steals my breath to take it all in. I have to contemplatively take it in small doses. But in the words of my best friend Jon, "This thing is moving, and better to move with it, accept it and recognize all of the little parts that make up the whole".

1618 northwest tour, done. Thank you to everyone that booked the shows, put us up, gave us money, applauded our songs and had a good time. We will be back soon!