So I usually write these long stories/blogs about our tours, but this time i documented it all on tape and made a video for it along with our newest song "Faking Smiles"... Enjoy our tour follies and keep an eye out for us out there on the road this month!

See you on the road!
-JONNY & WD


AUGUST TOUR DATES:
8/4 - The Slide Bar - Fullerton, CA
8/12 - The Dive Bar - Las Vegas, NV
8/13 - Martini Ranch - Scottsdale, AZ
8/14 - Atomic Cantina - Albuquerque, NM
8/15 - Benders Tavern - Denver, CO
8/17 - Liquid - Boise, ID
8/18 - The Sundance Saloon - Payette, ID
8/19 - The Central - Seattle, WA
8/20 - Hell's Kitchen - Tacoma, WA
8/21 - Tiger Bar - Portland, OR
8/22 - The Sports Bar - Redding, CA
8/23 - Camozzi's - San Luis Obispo, CA
8/26 - 710 Beach Club - San Diego, CA
8/28 - Martini Ranch - Scottsdale, AZ
8/29 - Perq's - Huntington Beach, CA
9/4 - The Viper Room - Hollywood, CA


VIDEO BLOG/ NEW SONGS:

There are a lot of new photos here and they will take you through the way we experience a show from start to finish. We hope you enjoy these!



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ONE NIGHT AT...




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BACKSTAGE & GETTING READY:










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THE CROWD GETS READY TO ROCK:






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THE SHOW BEGINS:






















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UP CLOSE WITH THE CROWD:








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JONNY:





































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PETE:













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MATT:










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CHRIS:










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THE SHOCKER & THE PINKY:








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AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION:









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FRIENDS ON STAGE WITH US:







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AFTER THE SHOW:






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FANS:










If you have any photos of yourself with the band, please send them to us so that we can add you to our slide shows and web page.


~Special thanks to all of our friends who took these photos for us: Don Richner, Elizabeth Thorp, Stephanie Pick, Pam, Jennifer, Amanda, Angelo, & any of you who we left out who sent in photos from cell phones and cameras. Thank You! ~WD

If you know anyone in a band who says touring is fun, well they just haven't been doing it for very long. Touring is not fun. Sure, it has it's fun and memorable moments, but touring is the hardest "job" I've ever had. If you want to put a major rift between you and your best friends, go on tour together. If you want have trust issues with your loved ones at home, do a tour with your band. If you want to struggle every day and not know if you'll have enough money to eat that day or have enough gas to get you to the next city, then just hit the road with a band.

I've worked every back-breaking and spirit-shaking job you can imagine. I started working when i was 13, filing in my Mom's pharmacy. From there i've worked in restaurants, bars, construction sites, and even the 9-5 bullshit... and none of those jobs breaks your spirit like touring does. The long hours driving in a van with no rear windows, heat or air conditioning, the complete lack of sleep, the stresses of money issues and breaking down in the freezing cold mountains or blistering hot desert, the physical exertion of playing our hearts out every single night, the mental exhaustion of wearing your heart on your sleeve every single time you take the stage as you sing about the most personal things in your life.... the highs, the lows, the funny, the mundane. Singing original material on stage is like writing in a personal journal and getting up in front of large crowds with a microphone and reading your deepest darkest secrets to a room full of strangers. I could go on and on, but my point is that nothing is more physically and mentally exhausting than touring regularly every month.

A lot of people asked me why there was not a tour tales from our last tour, and the answer to that question is that it just wasn't fun. It was all work and no play. Powering through cities, playing every night, sometimes twice a night, contemplating our future every step of the way. It was a hard tour.

Prior to leaving for this month long tour of the 12 western US states, I was not looking forward to another tour. I wasn't very excited about the prospect of sitting in a van with no air conditioning on long drives through Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and Nevada, but more than that, i wasn't excited about being on the road trough those states, and 8 others, with my best friends. Questioning your relationship with your three closest and oldest friends really messes with your head. But this is the lifestyle we all chose, and it wasn't a choice we made as adults or even in our late teens. You can spend a day in an elementary school and know who the kids are who will turn out to be doctors and lawyers. You can tell which kids will become athletes, politicians, social rejects, social butterflies with mid income service jobs, and you can really tell which kids are going to follow their artistic dreams at any cost.

Chris, Pete, Matt, and myself, all made a decision early on that we were going to take what we could in terms of education from school, thriving on knowledge, but never intending on pursuing a career in a studious field. We knew what we were getting into a long time ago... our parents gave us all the same lectures about putting our heads in the books to obtain a steady career in the work force with a reliable income. But we didn't listen, we did our own thing, staying true to our hearts. The entertainment industry is different from most others in that there is no guideline. For example, you want to be a lawyer, you go to college, then on to law school, pass a test, and practice law.... same goes for being a doctor. Sure it's hard work, everything in life is "hard work", but it's very cut and dry... black and white... you take the steps, you achieve your goals. Simple. Not in music. No matter how hard you work, there's nothing that guarantees your financial security. You have to be content in knowing that you followed your dreams at any price and are doing what you love to do the most. The moment that ideal starts to fade, you've got serious problems. And that's precisely where we were when hit the road this tour.

So on July 3rd the four of us piled our sleeping bags and gear into the trailer, and closed the van door. The fact that there are no windows in our van brings in the darkness with the thud of the closing sliding door, trapping the heat inside... it's hell in a van. Our band has known each other our entire lives and we've said everything there is to say to each other, know everything there is to know. So after the first 20 minutes on the road, it's silent... just the wind and the roaring little 6 cylinder engine working harder than it should to tow a trailer loaded heavier than it should be. You're on edge every second and you feel like quitting the band because someone reclined their chair back a little too far for your liking.

Our first few shows on this month long tour were in northern California. Agoura Hills, just an hour north of LA, was our first stop. A lot of our So Cal friends and fans made it out to this show to say their farewells to us. It was a good way to kick off the tour because we had our friends there to ensure that we had a good time. We got back into the van with smiles on our faces and drove through the night into northern Cali. We arrived in Santa Cruz at 7:00 in the morning because we had a 10:00am show in the Santa Cruz 4th of July parade. We played for 3 hours that day, entertaining the early morning drunk patriotic locals. We had another show that same night in San Francisco so we couldn't stick around to celebrate the 4th. The only fireworks we saw this 4th was through the front windshield of the car in the far distance over the water. We unloaded the trailer for a third time in less than 24 hours for our 3rd show in less than 24 hours. The show in San Fran was a good one. San Fran is slowly but surely becoming better and better for us. It's a tough tour stop for us but we're dedicated to starting something cool up there. That next morning we headed back down to Santa Cruz to play an all ages show in a bowling alley. This tour has had more random show venues than any other. So far we had played a couple of bars and music venues, but we'd also played a parade and a bowling alley, and we had more odd stops to come along the way. After the Santa Cruz show we got into the van, exhausted from barely getting any sleep over the past 39 hours where we played 4 shows, and drove through the night into Portland Oregon.

I like Oregon. One great thing about touring is being able to see this amazing country. The scenery is stunning. Oregon is so green and lush with trees. Our gig there was at a Pizza joint called Rock N' Roll Pizza. The owners there love our band and gave us a great opportunity to play on the same night as a battle of the bands. We were set to play AFTER all the competing bands and BEFORE they announced the winner. The theory was that all the fans of the competing bands would still be around awaiting the judges decision and the room would be full for us. The plan worked to perfection and we had a good crowd to play for. After we explained to the audience that we were not a part of the competition and we were just there to entertain, everyone seemed to loosen up and just enjoy the show. It was a really great gig. The bands in the battle were a Hip-Hop Rap group, a Metal band, and a Screemo/Emo act. The hip hop group was straight gangsta'. That's not a stereotype either, these guys were Crips and proud of it... blue bandanas, sagging oversized jeans, the whole 9 yards... and there fans were even more "gangsta'". The Metal band was true to form... long haired head bangers who's fans were GIANT white males with shaved bald tattooed heads. The Screamo/Emo band was also exactly what you would expect from a band in that genre. Dyed black hair, cut unevenly and covering one eye, tight black pants, quiet and reluctant to smile or show any emotion (which is wonder to me why they call it "Emo" when the only emotion they show is the screaming and yelling going on by the lead singers on stage). Needless to say, this was not the best mix of people to be in the same room together. You could hear the racial slurs flying if you were close enough to the Crips to hear what they were saying about the Metal Heads. And if you stood near the Metal Heads long enough, you would over hear some of the most disgusting a derogatory terms that civilized society deems shockingly insulting for this century. The Emo camp just kept to themselves for the most part. But even with all that said, everyone from Emo to Metal Head to Gangster... EVERYONE in the room enjoyed our band and our performance, and we were complimented by fans from all of the other bands.

However, this night was FAR from over. They still had a winner to announce and there was an erie feeling in the room that this was a recipe for disaster. The crowd was worked up, drunk, and yelling for their favorite bands... which really had nothing to do with the music but more to do with what scene you were a part of. Two acts would move on to the next round and the judging was based primarily on the audience's cheers for their favorite band. The truth is that the Metal band had the loudest voters, the Emo band was the most musically talented, and the Hip-Hop group, well, they were the most scary. The judges, obviously influenced by intimidation and blue bandanas in back pockets, voted the Hip-Hop group on to the next round as well as the Emo kids. The Metal band got robbed. The contest was based on the audiences approval and the Metal band had the loudest fans BY FAR. Within seconds the first fight erupted inside the club. The venue was under-staffed and barely got control of the situation. They tried to empty out the club as fast as possible which essentially just moved the fight outside. It was mostly shouting and screaming back and forth at first but then a fan of the Crips, A PREGNANT GIRL, started swinging with one of the fans of the Metal band, and this giant Metal Head wasn't pulling any punches either... they were going at it! From there it became an all out riot... Gangsters vs Metal Heads, and an Emo kids somewhere in the mix getting a pounding from both. The pregnant girl who started it all got in her car and pulled into the battle field, or, the parking lot. She didn't need to pull in, she could have just left, but she didn't. She screeched her tires, put her hand on her horn, and drove straight into the center of the parking lot. Seven tattooed Metal Heads surrounded her car and started beating on it... kicking it, hitting it, spitting on it. Then the pregnant girl did something that scared me to my core.... she put her foot down on the accelerator and just drove... straight through the crowd with reckless abandonment. Both Gangsters and Metal Heads jumped out of her path of destruction, but some were not so lucky. She struck the security guard from the venue, flipping all 400 pounds of him into the air and on to the floor. A passing cop car happened to see it and tried to stop her, but she sped off. Later that night as we got onto the freeway we saw her car pulled over by 4 or 5 police officers. It was a crazy night.

We were hoping for a little less excitement in the state of Washington where we played 2 shows in Tacoma and Seattle. Tacoma was a new stop for us and we played a venue called Hell's Kitchen. So now we had played a bowling alley, a pizza join, and a kitchen.... and we still had a strip club on the itinerary! It was an all ages show and it went amazingly well. We sold more CDs and merch at this show than any show on tour ever. We'll be back to Tacoma and Hell's Kitchen again soon. Seattle was next and Studio Seven was playing host to us that night. It's a giant warehouse in an industrial area of the city with great sound. They fed us and paid us before we got on stage and we got to play with some other touring bands passing through Washington as well. Over all, Washington was a productive stop.

Driving out of Washington and on our way to Montana, the scenery is breathtaking. The mountains, trees, rivers, and sky are absolutely incredible to look at. We drove through the night and into the morning. Some time in the early morning while it was still dark we pulled off near a camping stop in the alpine forrest. Pete got out t throw away some trash. I watched him struggle with the trash can lid and I couldn't figure out what was happening. Each time he pushed his trash in, it would pop half way out. So he put some muscle into it and forced it all the way down. It stayed down for a few second and then, like an explosion, it was thrown back in his face and a creature jumped out of the trash can, brushed by Pete, and made a run for the forrest. It was just a raccoon but it sent Pete screaming and running back to the van in fear. If you're laughing right now, I want to see how you would react in the pitch black night in the middle of a forrest when a wild animal jumps out of a trash can at you..... ok, I guess it is kinda' funny.

We got to Missoula Montana early in the morning. We have some friends out there so we called them up and told them that we had arrived. They were wake-boarding up at "the lake". They asked if we wanted to join them and we agreed. We ended up not making it to the lake because we passed an overpass that was about 35 or 40 feet above the Blackfoot River, when Pete and I decided that we wanted to jump off of it and then relax at the little river cove right beneath the overpass. So we put on some shorts, walked discretely to the edge of the over pass, climbed over the barrier, counted to three, and jumped. We hit the cool water hard and swam over to the river bank fighting the slow current. The rest of the group met up with us and we spent the day laying in the sun and swimming in the river. It was perfect.... the sun, the cool and clean snow run-off water, the mountains surrounding us with pine trees filling every square inch of mountain... it was just amazing. We got to catch up on a little bit of sleep while we were there and after that we got ready for our show. The local bands in Montana are thrilled to have touring bands coming through their little towns because it keeps the music scene interesting and alive in a small town where there really aren't very many local bands or much of a music scene. The camaraderie between the musicians is awesome, so we drank and hung out all night. Besides enjoying performing in Montana, the state also has some of my favorite scenery in the world... only second to the California coast from San Francisco to Oregon.

From Montana we had a long two day drive into Colorado through Idaho, Wyoming, and Utah. We typically play a show in Utah to break up that drive, but this time we had to cancel our Utah tour stop in favor of getting to Colorado a day early for a show with our friends in the band "itis". And the venues just kept getting more and more interesting... This show was at a bikini contest hosted by the local rock radio station. It was BY FAR our best show in Colorado. We played for a big crowd who really enjoyed our band... not to mention playing for hot bikini contestants who really enjoy our band isn't so bad either....

Itis is an amazing band but they are even more amazing people. They are so accommodating to us and we've all become really close friends since we first started playing together over a year and a half ago. You'll see a lot of Itis and Warner Drive doing events together in the future.

So far the weather had been kind to us. The heat was bearable up to this point, but we had the hot-as-hell stretch of the tour staring us dead in the face. We were on our way to Texas now and I was dreading the humidity in Houston, our first of three shows in the state of Texas. What we didn't know was that it had been raining so hard and for so long in Oklahoma, Kansas, Texas, and Arkansas that the states were flooded! It was a scary drive.... sheets of rain pounding the car. I've never seen rain like that in my life. It was absolutely frightening! But one good thing about the rain........ no sun! It was still humid and sticky, but it wasn't insanely hot. And I'll take rain over a 117 degree day in the sun ANY time!!!!! The state of Texas is a new tour stop for us so we're starting from scratch there, but we're starting to make some fans in the cities that we visit. Austin is a music town filled with open minded people wanting to hear good music, and San Antonio was surprisingly fun. We walked "The River Walk" which is just beautiful, ate Mexican food on the river banks, then played a killer show at a place called "Jiggers". It was awesome! It was our best show in all of Texas. We can't wait to get back to Texas again on our next tour.

After Texas we were facing another 18 hour drive into Albuquerque, New Mexico. By this point I couldn't bare to be in the van for another moment... at least not right away. We hadn't had a break from driving or playing a show in so long, and the thought of being in that van for another 18 hours without any breaks in between was too much for me to bare. So as we were packing up the trailer after our show in San Antonio, the guys and I had a conversation that went something like this:

Jonny: "Fellas'... I'm not going with you. I'll meet you in Albuquerque."
Guys: "What the f*ck are you talking about man? Get in the f*ckin' van, we have a long drive ahead of us."
Jonny: "No... sorry guys, I can't ride in that van another second right now. It's driving me stir-crazy"
Guys: "Well what do you plan on doing then?"
Jonny: "I'll get a hotel, stay the night, and fly out in the afternoon."
Guys: "What if you don't make it to New Mexico in time for the show?"
Jonny: "Don't worry, I'll make it. I just can't be in that van for the next 18 hours."

Long story short, I got out the laptop, booked a flight for $110 on JetExpress (which I had never heard of, but who cares, it was cheap), went into my bag and took out one pair of underwear, one clean t-shirt, a toothbrush and my cell phone charger, and said goodbye to the guys. From there I got into a taxi on rout to the closest hotel. This was the best decision I had made all tour. I got to sleep in my own bed, had a bathroom all to myself, slept like a baby late into the afternoon the next day in an air conditioned room, had a quiet lunch on The River Walk that day, then went to the airport for my flight. The only draw back was that when i got to the terminal where I waited to board my plane, I noticed that the plane was TINY!!!! I have a fear of flying as it is, but the sight of this small plane scared the crap out of me. I tried to change my flight to a bigger, more well-known, commercial airline, but it was too late. If I wanted to get to New Mexico in time for our show that night, I had to get on this flight. So i reluctantly boarded the plane, kissed the doorway of the small flyer on the way in for luck, shook the pilot's hand, buckled up, ordered three Bloody Marys, and sat through the short two hour flight with white knuckles. Aside from some turbulence, I got to Albuquerque safe and sound... but I couldn't say the same for the guys....

Apparently, somewhere in the dessert on rout to New Mexico the van started to show signs of trouble. It was slipping in and out of gear for the entire ride in. As they pulled in to Albuquerque the van stalled out altogether. The gig wasn't very far from where the van stalled so we were confident that we could get to our show. A friend of ours named "The Civ" from a band called "The Ground Beneath" picked me up from the airport, and me and the band met up at his place to shower up and change for the show. I guess all the van needed was a rest after a long haul because it started up just fine and got us to our gig. We've made some good friends in New Mexico and the show went really really well. We even had a surprise appearance from our friends Austin and Jaena from back home. We all got an early night because we had to get the van to a transmission specialist in the morning before hitting the road for Arizona and our show there that very next night.

So after a transmission fluid fill-up, a quick look over the engine, and a topping-off of our gas, we hit the highway bound for Arizona. We were on pins and needles the whole way because we were sure that the van would break down at any second. But as we gingerly drove on the freeway at 40 miles per hour with big-rigs honking at us as the passed by at almost double our speed, our van, little "white lightning", said: "I think I can, I think I can, I think I can" the whole way up into Flagstaff Arizona and on into Phoenix. A seven hour drive took almost 12 hours, but who cares, we made it safe and sound!

Arizona can be hit or miss... there are two venues that we seem to frequent and those 2 places get better and better for us. This last show in AZ at The Martini Ranch was great! We played first, which usually sucks for a touring band, but we were opening for some local home-town heros and they had a good turn out, so we got to play for a lot of their fans. Everything went smoothly until we got our gear of stage and outside behind the venue getting ready to reload the trailer and head home.... can you say "monsoon"?

I've never witnessed a monsoon in nature. I watch a lot of Discovery Channel and National Geographic so I've seen lots of "Planet Earth" and "Killer Weather" documentaries, but I had never been right smack-dab in the middle of one. The wind, the rain, the sand, the dust, and the lightning, in over 100 degree weather, are intense! It's everywhere and all at once. Our gear got thrashed! It's all STILL brown from the wind and rain beating the sticky dust and sand against it from that one night in Arizona. And just then, as quickly as the monsoon hit us, it was gone. We packed the trailer and hopped back in the van, headed back home to California.

There's nothing quite like that final few hours on the van ride home. All of the concerns and stress we dealt with as the tour kicked off are now gone. We've made it through, safe and sound, and still a band. Nobody quits, nobody turns on their band mates, and nobody got hurt.

So allow me to refer back to my opening of this Tour Tales... Touring IS fun! If you want to create an unbreakable bond between you and your best friends, go on tour together. If you want learn the meaning of love and missing your loved ones at home, do a tour with your band. If you want to struggle every day, pay your dues, and not know if you'll have enough money to eat that day or have enough gas to get you to the next city because you've put your blood sweat and tears into something that you believe in, then just hit the road with a band.

Yes, I said it.... regular touring is mentally and physically exhausting, and the most spirit-breaking job out there... but it's also the most rewarding. And as you drive in to California, heading West on the 10 Freeway, and you see that first highway sign that says 200 miles to Los Angeles, you forget about the lows and you concentrate on the highs. Spirits are lifted, friendships have been solidified, and fans have been rocked. You're reminded in an instant why you do what you do, why you love it so much, why you sacrifice so much for it, and why you love it.

Our band Warner Drive and the guys in it are my entire life. We're a band of brothers intent on the same goals. We perform the music from our hearts, stay true to ourselves without getting caught up in image and scenes, and play the music that we love to play for the people who love to be a part of it. We've met some amazing people along the way, have the most loyal fans in the world, and have touched the hearts of so many.

Warner Drive is here to stay because it's in our hearts... and the more we grow and the more people who tell us that Warner Drive is in their hearts as well, the more driven we are. It's good to have you all along for the ride. Now hold on tight, it's gonna be a wild one!

-Jonny
Warner Drive

TOUR TALES: VOLUME 11

Touring the Southwest... These are some of my favorite states to tour. We hit Cali, Las Vegas NV, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, and Texas, and do a few shows in each state. Basically we're working our way east to Texas and then we hit all the same states in reverse order on the way back home. This is a month long tour for us and a long time away from home.

We figured we would tour the Southwest because it's still winter, and the north and mid west are just too cold to be touring around this time of year. So the idea is that we stick to the "warm states", right?.... WRONG!!!!!... I'm writing this from Colorado where we have 3 shows over the weekend. Last night it was 12 degrees as we were unloading the trailer into the club. Our instruments were frozen! (not to mention my toes, fingers, and face).

I think that once we hit the road tonight and start our drive to Texas, Oaklahoma and Kansas will start to gradually warm up, and when we get to Texas it should be so damn freezing anymore.

You would think that i learned my lesson from last time, but here's a word to the wise.... don't tour in states where it snows with nothing more packed that cut off pants, no socks, and a bag full of t-shirts. The point is that just because it's spring in Cali, doesn't mean Old Man Winter has moved on from the other states in this country.

So, our first state out of LA was Arizona. We met up with our good friends in the band "itis" and we played at a bar that we visited on our first trip out to AZ called Joe's Grotto. "itis" rocks, which is coincidentally their website: www.myspace.com/itisrocks. these guys are the best. we know them from Colorado, but they happened to be in AZ at the same time we were so we decided to get together for a show. We had a blast in AZ with them. We met up with some good friends who were all hammered before we got to the club. So hammered, in fact, that a couple of them got kicked out before we even got on stage! Another friend of ours was sporting a new tattoo on her lower back: "Warner Drive". Now, "I" don't even have my band's name tattooed on me, and this girl did. That's called "die hard" ladies and gentlemen.... die... hard. It's an amazing thing to know that our art has touched someone so deeply that they would go out and get our band's name tattooed on their body. This isn't the first time either... i know of at least 5 other people with Warner Drive somewhere on their bodies. It's pretty damn amazing!.. But i just hope we don't get sued for our name again and have to change it.

Next stop was New Mexico. We took the scenic rout this time because we had time to kill.... WRONG!!!!!... The drive was gorgeous, but our little 6 cylinder van, towing a trailer full of gear, had a lot of trouble through the climbing hills and twisting roads. Needless to say, we pulled into the venue in New Mexico at 9:00. Our set time to start playing..... 9:00. We jumped on stage before saying hi to our friends, and did our best to rock out.... sober. hahaha. The show was great. We played with a band called The Ground Beneath, who are such good people and shred it up on stage as well. New Mexico has become a fun stop for us. Originally, we would just book a show there on an off day because one of my childhood friends lives there now with his wife and 2 babies, and we like to stop by on our way between AZ and CO to say hello. But the more we would play there just as a "filler show", the more friends we were making. New Mexico is now a staple on our tour schedule. Our shows there continue to get better and better.

We were supposed to spend the night in NM with my friend, but we had heard that it had snowed 2 feet in CO, which was our next stop. So we figured that we should probably hit the road that night instead, just to be sure we got to CO in time. As soon as we got to the first of the CO passes, snow covered the ground. We did about 25 or 30 miles per hour the whole way, which made our trip to the CO border about 8 hours into the early morning. It's pretty scary to drive through the snow with a tiny 6 cylinder van and a trailer, but to do it in the pitch black night is even worse! So when the sun came up, it was a relief. We couldn't increase our speed, but at least there was some light now to guide our way. We got to CO safe and sound after driving all night. We arrived some time around noon after a 12 hour drive. We usually stay with our friend Stacy in CO, but when we arrived this time at her place, she walked us towards a different building near her complex. She had a surprise for us but wouldn't tell us what she was up to. In her giant complex, there are some apartments that come furnished and can be rented out on a daily basis for business execs, etc... Anyway, Stacy had rented us our own apartment for our stay on CO. We had our own beds and 2 bathrooms (which helps when one guy in your band has to do his hair before ever show and another guy [me] likes to take 30 minute showers). Our friend Roel had also ordered some lunch to be delivered to the apartment upon our arrival. I swear, i've never seen hospitality like i've seen in Colorado.

We left Denver for Colorado Springs , where our friends itis are from. They couldn't play with us because they were on tour themselves and we missed each other this time around. So we played at their home-town bar without them for the first time. A lot of their fans came out to see us and we had our returning friends as well. It was a great show. Mark and Craig from itis had sent a friend to come see us who we had met on our last trip through the Springs, and she had keys to their house. She was given instructions from itis to open their house up for us. So again, we each had our own beds and 3 bathrooms this time all to ourselves. The fridge was stocked so we made ourselves a hardy breakfast in the morning. Again, CO hospitality simply amazes me!

I just took a shower and shaved and we're getting ready to go back to Denver for our last CO show before heading to Texas where we've never toured before. Tonight is an all ages show and there a few youngsters out here in CO who are big fans, so we're excited to see them all before we leave.

Amazingly, i haven't injured myself or been arrested as yet on this tour. But we're still in the first week of a month long tour, so there's plenty of time for for that. hahaha... until tour tales 11...

-Jonny, and Warner Drive

Ohhhh where to start where to start???...

So after heading up to Portland and playing a couple of really fun shows we headed to Seattle Washington for 2 consecutive shows in a city where we have never played before. Seattle is a beautiful city and Washington is simply magnificent! We played a Coffee/Tea House on our first night where we played on the smallest stage in the world (yes, smaller than San Louis Obispo). We set up while people worked on their lap-tops and chatted while sipping tea. As we lugged in our giant amplifiers, bass rig, and drums into the place, we got some really odd looks from the patrons of this fine establishment. We plugged in our instruments just to sound check and immediately drove out about 10 people. Soon our friends and fans from up in the NorthWest showed up and it felt a bit more like a "show" atmosphere. As we started our set, I really don't think the people at that coffee house knew what hit them. We were LOUD! Our fans knew what to expect so they were ready for it, but the "newbies" were definitely a bit "Shocked" (no pun intended).

The show went well and the next day we had a show at a "real venue". It was Sunday Afternoon Punk Rock at the Sunset Tavern. This bar has punk bands playing all day long and it was the perfect atmosphere for us. We were hammered by 3:00 in the afternoon and took the stage around 6:00. This place was a lot of fun, but mostly because of our friends that we had met in Seattle who made us feel right at home. We played with our friends 3 Inch Max who we hosted while they were in So Cal. If you get a chance, check these guys out, they're really great guys and we like their band a lot.

We came home from the show, showered up, and packed up to leave for the long haul to Missoula Montana at 5:00am that morning. We've been touring in a brand new van because gas milage on our bus has becoming unaffordable at 6 miles to the gallon while pulling our trailer. We affectionately call our new means of transportation "White Lightning" because it's a white van with no windows (which makes riding in the back seat extremely boring). But the White Lightning gets 3 times better gas milage than the bus and we can drive it a bit faster as well (or so we thought)...

Anyway, we packed up White Lightning and hit the road for Montana.... Missoula or bust Baby!... We didn't even get 1 block from the house we were staying at when we noticed White Lightning acting funny. It wasn't exactly going anywhere when Chris put his foot on the accelerator. Now, I'm no mechanical genius or anything, but I DO know that a car is supposed to "go" when you put your foot on the accelerator.

We were stopped in the middle of the street, in an intersection, engine running, and barely moving an inch!... 3 Inches Max! HA! Matt told Chris to put the van in 1st gear and try getting us across the street into the parking lot directly in front of us. We figured that we could call AAA to tow the van after we detached the trailer and parked it in the lot until we figure out what was wrong with White Lightning. Luckily, it was 5:00am and there was no Seattle traffic on the streets just yet. With Chris' foot all the way down to the floor, the van finally started picking up momentum... I'm talking about 3 miles per hour...3 Miles Per Hour Max (it's still close). And with our newly gained momentum we approached a stop sign. Peter and I enthusiastically encouraged Chris to just blow through it otherwise we would never get back up to speed again since we were on an uphill grade and we would be stuck in the middle of the street again. So with the engine ROARING and the van traveling at 3 miles per hour, Chris prepared to barrel through the intersection and into the parking lot.

Side note: What's Murphy's Law?... What can go wrong will go wrong?... How about: When it rains it pours...? Well use whatever fun little phrase for bad luck you can come up with.... but just as we got up to the intersection... out of nowhere, like a bat in the night... a BLIND MAN stepped into the intersection to cross the street. People, I'm telling you that this man was nowhere to be seen until he stepped into the intersection. It was like he was somehow beamed onto the sidewalk at the very moment that we were going to blow through the stop sign. And remember, this man was blind, so it's not like he was going to see us coming and we were only going to scare him and make him freeze if we honked our horn. So instead, we stopped the van and all of our momentum and once again, we were stopped in the middle of the street. Pete and I got out to help push while Chris floored it in first gear which seemed to help. We finally got White Lightning into the parking lot where AAA came and towed her away.

Long story short... and $3,000 later... White Lightning was returned to us... new transmission and all! I guess while driving up the hills of San Francisco and Seattle (Queen Anne), White Lightning's transmission gave way. We were instructed to keep her in 3rd gear the whole time and not to exceed 55 miles per hour. Which mean that "Lightning" no longer applied to White Lightning, so now our van is just called "Whitey"... creative, I know... what else would you expect from lyrical gangsters like Warner Drive?

In the time it took for us to fix Whitey, we had to cancel 3 shows... 1 in Montana and 2 in Utah. For all our friends and fans in those states, we apologize and we PROMISE to be back through there soon after winter and Mother Nature allows us to make the drive.

We were pissed about canceling these shows and the band's moral was in the dumpster. We were spending money to feed ourselves every day while we were stuck in Seattle and not making any money because we had to cancel our shows... plus, we had spent $3,000 on a new transmission. And to make matters worse, stopping in Montana and Utah breaks up our drive and allows us to earn money along the way into Colorado. Without these shows, it's a long drive and a lot of money in gas.

How long, you ask?..... try 26 hours long!!!!!! That doesn't count the 4 hours we took to sleep. So 30 hours later, we pull into Denver Colorado. Exhausted from the drive, dejected, cold, and broke because we literally spent our LAST dollar at a gas station in Fort Collins, our good friends in Denver~ Stacie, Jeanette, and Roel~ greeted us into their home. We only had about an hour to settle in before we had to be at the venue for our show.

Now, Denver has always been a good stop for us.. I would go as far as to say that it is probably our biggest fan base outside of Hollywood CA, but still not quite the numbers we do at home. And all I can say is that if we played in ANY other city after absorbing such a crushing blow from Whitey breaking down and the consequences that followed monetarily and emotionally, we would have been in seriously bad shape. But NOTHING could have prepared me for the AMAZING turn-out that we had on our first night in Denver. As I said, we've always done pretty well in Denver, but now we had proof that everything is working the way it should be, because each time we go back to Colorado, more and more people are coming to see us... and this place was PACKED!!!! and not just packed because it was a Friday night at a bar, it was packed for us... Warner Drive. The fans all knew the words and sang along to their favorite songs... we saw familiar faces AS WELL AS new faces all singing together in unison. It was really an amazing feeling and put us on cloud 9. We needed a show like that after having such bad luck over the week that preceded it.

The next day we had a show in Colorado Springs. None of us realized how far outside of Denver "The Springs" are. So everyone that we had promoted to for our Colorado shows all decided to come to the 2 shows in the city rather than go to The Springs.

We were set to play with a band who we had seen the guitar player of at one of our previous trips to Colorado. This guy is good... and I don't mean pretty good... I mean that he is probably the best guitar player I have EVER seen play live in my entire life, and that's saying a lot because I see a lot of guitar players in the bands from signed major bands to small local acts. His name is Craig and he plays in a band called "itis". We had never seen iItis before because when we met Craig he was performing in a different band as a side project called "STD". Craig and itis were going to put us up for the night and had also invited us for dinner at their band house before the show, so we got to The Springs a little early to meet the guys.

These guys are seriously not only some of the nicest guys I've ever met, but DAMN can they cook!!!! It was a feast! Chicken thighs is a red wine sauce with portobello mushrooms and artichoke hearts... Lemon herb chicken... Home made potatoes... home made salsa... vegetables... the whole 9 yards!!! With full stomachs we dragged our asses to the show. itis set it up so that they opened for us, then let us play a set, and then they would play again after us. They did this so that their fan base would stay to watch us play. And let me tell you, itis' fan base is no joke! Their fans LOVE them and they are a big deal in Colorado (as well as the other cities they tour).

So even though all of our Colorado fans were coming to the 2 Denver shows, we still got to play for a full house in The Springs....... Thank you itis!!!! ~And another thank you to itis for stopping during their set to tell the audience about out misfortunes in Washington with our van, while holding out a donations basket and raising over $200 for us. Compiled with the money that we made from the club, and our earnings from selling CDs and t-shirts, "The Springs" proved to be more than just fun, it was extremely productive for us... Craig, Mark, Tom, and Mike, you guys are awesome! Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that itis lives in a big house in The Springs where Pete, Chris, Matt, and I ALL had our own bedrooms. It was sooooo good to sleep in my own bed again after sharing beds, floors, and couches for the past month.

If you get a chance check out Itis: www.myspace.com/itisrocks ~As good as the are as musicians, they are even better people and I can't thank them enough for their hospitality and support. They will be sharing a stage with us In LA in the future FOR SURE and when they do, don't miss this band!!!

OK... on to our 3rd and final show in Colorado. This was an all-ages show at a venue in the heart of Downtown. Some of our new fans who had seen us on Friday in Denver came back with their kids and I fell in love with a little blonde girl named Natalie. I want a little girl EXACTLY like her. Not only was she as cute as a button, but she was so outgoing and affectionate. Natalie, if ever you get grounded by your parents you can always run away from home (if you can find someone who will sell a 4 year old a plane ticket) and come live with me! hahaha. But about the show... we had A LOT of new people come out see us and we had a blast at the venue. Lastly... thanks for the $350 bar tab Lisa!!!!!!

We hit the road on Monday afternoon (today) after lunch with Cassie, Leslie, Roel, and Stacie at Illegal Pete's (insanely good burritos!), and we're headed for New Mexico to stay with Mine and Matt's best friend from childhood, "Bob" (refer to Tour Tales 5 and 6).

***THIS JUST HAPPENED~ We stopped in Trinidad Colorado (aka: butt-f*ck nowhere) at a Burger King where we ran into another touring band from LA that we had played with in Portland Oregon just 2 weeks ago... The Kelly Parker Band... talk about a small world! They are headed into Denver and we're headed to New Mexico where they had just been.... this is freaky!

Well.... here I sit in the back seat of White Lightning... excuse me... Whitey... and I'm typing away since there's not a damn thing to be seen out of our no-window-having van... writing the 8th installment of Tour Tales. I hope you're enjoying reading about these experiences as much as the guys and I are enjoying living them.

Until Tour Tales 10..... Jonah, OUT!



PORTLAND, OR:




SEATTLE, WA:







DENVER, CO:

YOU GUYS ARE THE BEST!!!!

We love our friends and fans with all our heart and we can only hope that you guys had as much fun as we did on Friday night at the Viper Room. WOW!!! THAT PLACE WAS PACKED TO THE BRIM!!! OVERFLOWING OUT ONTO THE STREET! The energy in the club was unreal and it's a night we'll never forget. It was just bananas in there and YOU all make that possible.

Thank you for coming
Thank you for singing along
Thank you for knowing all the words
Thank you for shouting and screaming
Thank you for the cheers
Thank you for dancing and jumping around like crazy people
Thank you for enduring the hot sweaty packed-like-sardines venue
Thank you for connecting with our art
Thank you supporting us

WE HAVE THE BEST FRIENDS AND FANS IN THE WORLD AND WE APPRECIATE EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU!

We'll see you on the road and back here in LA on Sept 18th @ The Key Club w/ Metal Skool.
(TOUR SCHEDULE LISTED AT THE END OF THIS EMAIL)

-Jonny and













VIDEOS
WARNER DRIVE~ VIPER ROOM VIDEO



WARNER DRIVE~ ALL BY MYSELF (Live from the Viper Room 8/25/06)
..>


WARNER DRIVE~ "LIVIN' IT UP" (Live from the Viper Room 8/25/06)
..>


WARNER DRIVE~ "THE VIPER ROOM" (Live from the Viper Room 8/25/06)
..>


TOUR SCHEDULE

Go check it out here and repost this bulletin to all your friends:

"BROKEN" by Warner Drive available NOW
at the Warner Drive Myspace Page:

This is top secret information for the few of you who actually read blogs and keep a close supportive eye on the band.

After working the Vans Warped Tour for the past week, Victory Records gave us an opportunity to open up for one of their bands at the Roxy THIS Friday night (July 14th). We play at 9:15 sharp and the band that we'll be opening for is called "Spitalfield".

This is a fun opportunity for us because normally when we play a show at the Roxy we have to headline and sell it out... That's a lot of pressure on us, so we're so excited for an opportunity to just show up and play... We don't have to do ANY promoting and we get to play for Spitalfield's crowd (if they have one). So if there are 600 people there, great! But if there are only 25 people there, that's great too! we're just excited to play a show where we're not responsible for bringing the crowd for once!

So if you see this blog and want to come to the show, be sure to be at the Roxy at 9:15 this Friday night. Ticket's are $10 and unfortunately, because we're just an opening band we have no list or any type of discount.

Hope to see you there!

-Jonny
WARNER DRIVE

My friend Sean sent me this video link that he took on his digital camera from the first song at our show on Saturday @ The Roxy... you gotta check it out!

WARNER DRIVE ~SOLD-OUT~ AT THE ROXY THEATER
(It might take a minute to load depending on your computer~ and turn on your speakers!)










If that doesn't work then just GO TO THESE LINKS:
WARNER DRIVE 1~ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9tZXKE2I2U
AND
WARNER DRIVE 2~ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwjIAXVPR8k




If you were there then you know how incredible of a night it was and thank you all so much... but if you didn't make it out that night, check out what you missed and don't miss another Warner Drive show ERVER AGAIN!!!!!

I've been telling everyone I know that if you didn't like that show then you just don't like our band... because that was the best show we've ever played.

WE SOLD OUT THE ROXY!!!!! That's over 650 people, all there to see us headline there at our record release show and party.

We started a bit late, but we were ready to play on time. The club owner and booker wanted us to stall because they wanted to keep cramming people inside. I know the line was long but thank you all for being patient and being there for me.

That show marks the biggest day of my life.. a day that my Father was so looking forward to before he passed away. I know he was there in spirit and helped to make the show a success, but ALL OF YOU who came to support me and the band made that night possible as well. Your support touches me deeply.

My friends and fans are dear to me and i wanted all of you who were in attendance know that I absolutely love you all.

We're currently riding in the bus on our way to Bakersfield for another show tonight,and then further north to san fran and nor cal for the next couple of weeks. internet access is hard to come by on the road so i'll try my best to check mail, but be patient with me.

THANK YOU ALL FOR THE BEST NIGHT OF MY LIFE!!!!!!

-Jonny
Warner Drive

PS- We'll be posting pics from the show as people continue to send them to us, so if you have any, please send them our way.






((((TELL YOUR FRIENDS TO ADD US AND SHOCKER.INC.))))





SHOCKERS.INC.







PICTURS YOU GUYS SENT TO US:





































PICTURES OF THE BAND ON STAGE:
































































PICTURES OF FANS WITH OUR MERCH GIRLS MARISSA AND BECCA: