Hey everyone,
Sorry this took ridiculously long to post; things have been pretty hectic on my end.
Ok, so the basic idea was that I was going to go into the tour "No Parents No Rules" tour with a list of things I would try to find and capture via photograph. Unfortunately, my external hard drive crashed in the beginning of the tour so I was limited to the number of pictures I could take for fear of having nowhere to store them. My average number of pictures a day dropped from about 200-300 to about 20... Not good.. Luckily, about half way through the tour I snatched up a new hard drive (thanks Herm) and hit the ground running.
Despite how hard I tried to make up for lost time, there were a few items on the list I wasn't able to photograph... You have my word though; I promise to find those things that I vowed to document and bring them to you one way or another.
Alright.. It's business time. The tour was a lot of fun; it was great to be on the road again and seeing everyone we haven't seen in ages. Since I was looking for specific things to photograph during the trip, these images will hopefully give you a more detailed view at all the little things that happen on tour.
A Group Hug:
Alright. So this is classic "last day of tour" celebration. This was in Orlando Florida on the sidewalk in front of the venue. Everyone was all rambunctious/acting a fool all over the place. Needless to say Floyd was out of his mind this evening. I took this picture while laying on the ground looking up at some point between Floyd getting his boxers ripped off and the tour picture... It was a great evening.
Every Band/Crew Member's Hair Messed Up:
This one was pretty difficult.. Going into the tour, I didn't think it was going to be that difficult to get everyone's hair looking crazy mostly because my hair looks absurd in literally every picture ever taken of me. Based off of personal experience, I assumed it was the norm to have terrible hair 85% of the time, but the more I looked, the more I realized that everybody's hair was pretty tamed the majority of the time.
This was actually on a good hairday.. The red mesh bag that once held oranges proves to be the only force under the sun capable of controlling my hair. Usually, my hair resembles some sort of hybrid mass consisting of a grown man's comb-over coupled with 1980's mullet.
This is Jay Pad, he did merch for us on this last tour. This picture picture doesn't necessarily showcase "messy hair" per-say. In my opinion, the fro screams nothing short of "awesome." Despite my pleas for Jay to rock the fro, he generally straightens his hair every day. Jay finally allowed me the pleasure of witnessing the fro first hand during the first week of the tour in our hotel room. Needless to say, Jay's hair exceeded my expectations.. To all you fro bearers of the world.. Rock On.
This is a little bit of a stretch, but Spanky's hair is perfectly straight so this intense action shot was the only way to view his hair in an altered state. Not everyone can have hair as perfect as Jay's...
Dan was particularly difficult because he sort of rocks the messy style as it is. This picture was taken during the morning drive to Toronto from Michigan. We were all pretty exhausted and most of us were getting trying to get some rest before we hit the border. I think just because Dan's hair is the only thing really visible, it qualifies the image for the "messy hair" category.
This picture was taken during a brief downpour in Disney on an off day. We were waiting to go on the Safari in Animal Kingdom and were caught of guard by the rain. As you can see, Abir's hair is understandably squashed by the rain. Chris doesn't look too happy about it..
It took great strength on my part to resist cropping myself out of this image; it actually proves my point that my hair is usually out of control... Anyways, this is supposed be Jessica's hair going wild. This was taken in the van after a show in Arkansas. There a few other pictures that were taken around the same time as this, all of which are equally hilarious. I really should post them.
I love this picture. It is literally impossible to describe what it is about Chris that makes him appear so unusual.. Is it his hair perhaps? For all intensive purposes I'm going to say "yes," but this picture needs to be framed it's so hilarious.. (looking back, I'm probably the only one who is going to find this funny... It's ok though.. If one person chuckles then I am satisfied.)
I saved the best for last.. If this picture doesn't bring an immediate smile to your face then I don't know what will. This is Floyd... Raw.... Unedited... Behind the scenes Floyd and it is great. We stayed at Dan's house in NC and this was taken the morning we arrived.. Floyd's hair/entire body is priceless.
Addiction:
So this was more of a personal addiction for me. When we stopped at a gas station I would often grab a chilli cheese dog for lunch. They're cheap, generally delicious, and goes great with an Arizona iced tea and a few Reeses cups. I know Dan gets down on the Hot Dogs as well and was even accused at one point of stealing a "Bahama Momma." Chris generally messes around with the corn dogs, a food that I won't even consider unless purchased at my favorite North Carolina hotspot...
That hotspot I was referring to is none other than the infamous Cookout of North Carolina. Cookout has become a huge tradition for our band and after every show at the Brewery there comes an immediate pilgrimage to the fine establishment. There's nothing I enjoy more than getting my food and sitting on the red outdoor benches and conversing with all our friends from the area. It's amazing how literally everyone from the show comes out and hangs. I love the food, I love the people, I love the good times... One could say I'm addicted.
Nostalgia:
This one goes out entirely to Dan.. We visited Dan's home in North Carolina for the first time this tour and got to experience Dan's origins. I was definitely not disappointed.. We enjoyed big breakfasts, a beautiful beach, a little ghost hunting, a nice movie, Floyd almost losing his fingers... Like I said, a great time.
So this is were the nostalgia factor comes into play. This is a picture we found in Dan's living room of a younger, less hairy Dan. A lot of things have changed since Dan was this little, but one thing hasn't; Dan still loves his Mommy.
Fun fact: Prior to playing drums, Dan played the violin or as they say in the South, "The Fiddle." After years of being apart, Dan is finally united with his old fiddle.
A Street Performer:
So we went to Disney on this tour were the streets are paved with happiness, joy, and street performers. This woman almost gave me a heart attack when she came swinging out of the woods while dressed like a bundle of grapes.
This owl had a pretty sweet gig that consisted of hanging out on this woman's arm and staring at people in order to entice them into going and watching the Bird show. It worked on us.
Jay and Dan decided to try their hand at performing on the streets of Disney.
Light Bulbs:
If anyone came to any of the shows on the tour then you probably noticed the massive "TSH" flashing on the back of the stage during The Secret Handshake's set. These letters are actually made of hundreds of little light bulbs and are triggered to the music. This was taken during TSH's sound check on the first day of tour.. Everyone appears to be pretty mesmerized by the lights.
A Crowd:
Pretty Straight foreword.. A crowd of people in Erie Pennsylvania... Why am I taking pictures and not playing? No good answer.. More from this show in a little bit.
Evidence That Weather is Schizophrenic:
This was taken on our way to Jacksonville FL in the midst of some ominous storm. This storm snuck up on us and it was very sunny just minutes before... This picture also displays our random collection of nothing that hangs from our rearview mirror.
Mustache:
Seeing as I am obviously lacking in the facial hair department, I decided to call in some help on this one. This is our homie from Georgia. This guy actually donated his old N64 to us last time we ran into him and just when I thought he couldn't get any radder, he grew a mustache.
Sweet Tea:
Sweet Tea: The South's take on speed. One serving of this drink contains more sugar than any one human should drink in a year. This is my boy CP representing the pride, and official beverage of the South..
That's right baby... Sweet Tea.
Goldfish:
This picture is an amazing example of fate. It was literally the first day of tour and I was looking at my list of things to photograph, and as I look up from my computer I see Chris snacking on a bag of Goldfish. In this circumstance, the snack is doing more smiling than Chris.
Ocean Water:
The day we stayed with Dan in North Carolina we hit the beach for some premium relaxation. It was great. The weather was great, the waves were crashing, the picnic was flowing, and the frisbee was a throwing. In the midst of all this excitement we got a little carried away and decided to throw Floyd into the ocean. Floyd was being lame as hell and hadn't touched the water at all.. He was literally sunbathing all day so we decided to put a stop to it.
The Ultimate Catch:
I was actually the one to add this item to the list for the sole purpose of incorporating a frisbee picture in the blog. I've been playing Ultimate for the past few weeks since I got home. We had been throwing the disk around nearly everyday this tour and this is probably my favorite frisbee picture I got.. Chris is doing some sort of crazy squat grab to make the catch. The man you see in the left of the picture is my man Old Faithful from The Dangerous Summer. His throws were always steady and smooth.. If you're reading this Old Faith, then be ready to catch that disk when you least expect it. It'll be there.
Risk Taking:
The girl we have here took a huge risk this day in coming to the show in Erie. It appears as if she is having a great time.. she "feels good".. all is well... This poor girl has no idea what harm is soon to come her way... Coming out to the show turns out to be the biggest risk she has ever taken... I'll explain further:
Jump:
As we zoom out farther on the picture we see AJ, the lead singer of The Dangerous Summer ready to take a jump off of the stage during The Secret Handshake's last song. The girl to the left of the victim who is being pointed to by the white arrow sees the impending threat of being squashed and is ready to make moves. The girl to the right of the picture who is being pointed to by the green arrow spots me snapping pictures and is obviously amused by the approaching scenario. The guy in the red hoodie who's head is circled in blue is also aware of the immediate danger approaching and has an unmistakable look of fear on his face... Let's take a closer look..
Yep.. This guy knows he's in the danger zone and is prepared to leap any distance escape being crushed.. Unfortunately, our victim is 100% unaware of her impending doom...
So I actually missed the brief second that AJ was airborne but I caught him just moments afterwards. In this frame, AJ has divided the crowd.. The majority of the crowd was able to avoid the blow of his body.. all except our poor victim who took the brute of the fall to her face. If AJ had jumped just inches higher, his crouch would have avoided making contact with her face but as the picture displays, he clearly fell short.
I was actually considering using this picture for the "ultimate catch" category referring to the victims hands which are holding on for dear life to AJ's thighs and butt... The ultimate irony in this picture has got to be her T-Shirt.. "I feel good"
This is her first gasp of fresh air after the accident. At this point, AJ is collapsed on the floor.. It is just starting to hit him that his stage dive was unsuccessful.
And here we have our victim's triumphant return to the concert.. The same people that took off in every direction now welcome her back to the show.. I give this girl major props.. She came to a show, got crushed and ridden to the floor, but is still "feeling good."
So that's all I got! I'm going to add other pictures as I see them in the upcoming months. We're going to be writing and demoing songs this summer and I'm going to try to stay on top of my game and post something every few days. Thanks so much for reading this blog. I can't wait to see everyone on the road again very shortly!
Best,
Rob