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Orange County, CA (Noodles)
01/24/06 Dexter asked me to write something for the website about three months ago. I don’t write that much any more and I’ve started to miss it. So I thought I’d give it a try.We’ve been off the road for three months now, but I still have fond memories of last year’s tours. The Warped Tour was a highlight for me. I’ve wanted to be on that tour since it first started, and it didn’t disappoint. I got to really like some of the “newer” bands like My Chemical Romance, Avenged Sevenfold and Fall Out Boy. These bands have plenty of punk rock energy, but take their music in a lot of different directions. I like that. It’s good to mix things up.
Of course, there were plenty of “older” punk bands, most of which we’re friends with. Bands like Strung Out, Dropkick Murphys, MXPX, and No Use For A Name. Strung Out’s last record is their best yet, so it was great to hear songs off that every night. In New Jersey I got to play mandolin with Dropkick on “Black Velvet Band.” Now I can add “mandolin player” to my ever-burgeoning resume.
The Transplants were there too, and it was fun hanging out with them. Lars from Rancid came out to hang out with Tim for a while, and we all hung out together, flying around in Dexter’s jet. Those guys are hilarious. Lars never shuts up and is usually pretty funny. Tim can be quiet, but when he did say something, we were all in stitches.
One of the highlights of the whole tour was our motorcycle gang. A lot of us had these little 50cc motorcycles on tour with us (some of the less endowed members had to get 75cc bikes, no names). After the shows we’d all get on our bikes and try to find makeshift motocross tracks and jumps. Jordan from Strung Out was kinda like the leader, but Rory from No Use was our best rider. We were having so much fun one night that Higgins actually fell off his bike from laughing so hard. I fell off the bike when I rode it into a ditch one night on my way back from a poker game. Greg K was right there. He just laughed and kept on walking. If I said, “It’s really hard to ride a little motorcycle when you’re wasted,” would that make me the Bode Miller of punk rock 50cc motocross. Nyah, I’m not that good at it, even when I’m sober.
I did a little bit of fishing on the tour. I caught a couple of bass and bluegill in Washington. I also caught my fist ever salmon on our day off in Vancouver. I owe Kevin Lyman for that one. Matt from Avenged was on the boat that day and I gave him the fish because they were having a barbeque the next day. I hear it tasted good, but I fucking hate salmon. Unless it’s raw, with lots of wasabi. And beer.
Speaking of food. Shelly Lynn and the whole catering staff really take good care of everybody on that tour. They work their asses off! We helped serve dinner for just an hour one night and, while it was fun, I can’t imagine doing that three times a day, almost every day, for two whole months. Joe Escalante from The Vandals happened to be out that day and helped serve up the tofu. We all wondered how many of the vegans knew that the guy serving them dinner kills bulls as a hobby.
Some of the other bands that were cool include, but are not limited to:
Lost City Angels, Big D and the Kids Table, Valient Thorr, Strike Anywhere, Reggie and the Full Effect, Left Alone, Bedouin Soundclash, A.D.D., A Wilhelm Scream, Gogol Bordello, Hot Water Music, The Explosion and Go Betty Go. I know that there were others that really left an impression on me, but I killed a lot of brain cells on that tour. If I left you off the list, I’m truly sorry (unless you suck, in which case I did it on purpose).
That whole tour was a blast. I’d do it again in a heartbeat.
I’ll get into the Europe and Japan tours in a later entry, but you should definitely check out The Aquabats and The Letters Organize. Great bands!