I did a series of Road Blogs for Property Of Zack on our tour with August Burns Red, Bless The Fall, and Defeater. Here's the fourth installment:
I know what you’re thinking, where was week four’s update?? Or, who is Beartooth?? Or, why am I reading something written by the bassist?? I’ll address the first of these because the other two hurt too much. Now, I turn these tour journals in on Thursdays. As many of you may know, for the majority of readers of Property Of Zack, and for all of its staff, last Thursday was our Thanksgiving Day. A day in which society shuts down to embark on a certain path of uncomfortable feasting with family and friends. Which eventually ends in a tryptophan endured coma. And there’s not much Americans enjoy more than a good excuse to not work and to, instead, indulge. S0 I have a lot to catch you up on. But don’t fret short attention spans; I’ll keep it brief… maybe.
Last week was luckily spent amongst many family and friends seeing as how we spent the majority of it in the good ole Midwest. We had the immense privilege to play House of Blues Chicago two nights in a row and they were some of the most enjoyable shows of this tour so far. Plus it didn’t hurt that we all had a lot of friends and family that just so happened to be in the city at that time so it made it feel that much more comfortable. But it paled in comparison to actually going back to our home state, which we did right after Chicago.
It’s always great playing back at home on tour and we were able to play there twice in the same week. We happened to be scheduled to play Toronto, ON, CA on actual Thanksgiving Day. And it turned out that we had an off day between Cincinnati and Cleveland. So we coordinated with our vocalist, Caleb’s, parents and set up a big Thanksgiving feast back in our hometown of Columbus. The whole Defeater camp and a few stragglers from August Burns Red and Bless The Fall’s groups were able to make the trip up with us and joined in on the good time. It was two nights and a day filled with gluttony and ping-pong.
Be careful not to blind yourselves from the glare off my Father’s dome piece on the left there. Immediately after the Feast we had a show in Cleveland that was a good end-cap to our three days home. It was a little difficult to leave after sleeping in my own bed again but we had/have the rest of tour to finish up. Plus it made it easier that the day after our Cleveland show just so happened to be in Michigan on the Wednesday before the Ohio State vs. Michigan game. If you don’t like sports, football, or aren’t American I can understand you not having any idea what I’m talking about. However, to us Ohio and Michigan residents that tiny little football game means a great deal of pride. So our guitarist, and my stage right companion, Kamron, Elliot from Bless The Fall, and myself decided to have a little fun with Michigan and put our sporting dominance on display.
(It was Movember, don’t judge me by my moustache.) Luckily people that are really into music usually aren’t that into sports so I don’t think we alienated too many people with our brazen Ohio State “patriotism” behind enemy lines.
This was the last of our American shows before we headed up to Canada for two shows, in Toronto and Montreal. These shows were some of the biggest and most insane of this whole tour. We were very much taken aback by the response we received up there seeing as how we’ve only been up there once before and played in front of maybe 90 kids in each of those areas. It was a crazy experience to say the least and incredibly humbling to be able to play a different country and be able to have a family already set up there. This is an extra thanks to you Canada, we appreciate you.
Next up was our descent down the eastern coast and the beginning of our final stretch of shows to finish up this tour. Dates included playing in Defeater’s home area in Worcester, MA and that place did not disappoint in the least bit. I wouldn’t have been angry if it would’ve been a bit warmer, but it’s winter, what do I know. Next we played at Best Buy Theater in Times Square in NYC. Saying that is still a little surreal and knowing that our bands’ names were plastered on a marquee shooting across all of times square is something I never thought I’d see. As much of a headache as New York can be for a touring band, this was actually one of the easiest trips I’ve ever experienced in my years of touring. And turned out to be a lot of fun.
This capped off the cold shows of this tour as we began to head south where we played Asheville, NC, Atlanta, GA and last nights show in Jacksonville, FL. Asheville was a lot of fun I don’t think I’ve ever been to that town and it was really calm and inviting. A nice reprieve from the craziness that was NYC. And what would one of my journals be without me talking about food (Yeah, I know I talked about Thanksgiving earlier but that’s different. Leave me alone). Asheville also provided us with the food heaven that is the glorious Cook Out. If you’ve never been I suggest you drive to southeastern United States and get you some. It’s a place riddled with deep fried glory accompanied by a large slate of different types of milkshakes and other goodness.
We were tired but there is sheer jubilation in our hearts at that very moment as we emptied our wallets and filled our hearts (stomachs). Atlanta followed suit with the past two weeks and compounded on top of them. I can really only speak for myself on this issue but Atlanta was one of the most emotional and intense shows I’ve ever played and definitely the most on this tour for me. Maybe it was the spirit of The Chariot roaming around the halls of The Masquerade (the venue we played). I don’t know exactly why, I can’t pinpoint it, but something more than a band playing and some kids watching was happening in that room and I felt it with every ounce of me. To go off a little from my normal talking points, that’s the reason we love to do this. We as a band get up there to let it all out. And to know that the crowd of people in front of you, who are just like you or me, are letting it all out on the same level you are, is just the most unreal experience. Emotion and passion is what drives us.
We have one more week left of this tour now. As much as my body and mind are both worn out, I can surely say I’ll miss this tour. It has brought out some of the best of people and I thank you for that. But we can wait for my heartfelt and touching goodbye for next week’s installment, assuming that I’ll write another one. But for now stay street.
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