Tour Part Two-California Leg Done and Done

Well, the tour was done a little while ago. I do want to keep things compartmentalized however, so I'm going to have to break up the rest of the tour into separate blogs...they'll just all be written today since I have time.

Alright, after our overnight drive from Rock Island, IL to San Jose, which I am VERY proud of my team for being so adamant about doing, we crept on into San Jose, CA in the late evening. I checked with my mates to see if it was alright for me to take the car on down to Los Angeles, A) so I wouldn't have to pay for a rental car B) so I could go see No Doubt C) so I could save us some money by spending the night at home. They were quite cool with it which rocked.

It was a nice drive down the 5 the next morning, and around 11ish I was safe and sound back in Los Angeles. I believe that day I went home to check on my mail, then went down to Torrence, CA to see another old tourmate of mine, Matt, who was working for the same company, but on a different tour. Matt and I had promised to see the new Harry Potter movie together, and it just so happened Matt found a time that worked for both of us that day. Due to LA traffic, though, I was a little late. The movie was good though, and Cliff, Matt's Asst Tour Manager, also joined us. Afterwards, we went to some Dog-named bar and insisted that Cliff get a Hot Toddy to relieve himself of a cold he was fighting off. He wasn't too impressed with our remedy, but I think it might have worked for him in the long run :)

Later on, Matt's cousin, Chris?, joined us along with Matt's friend, Jennifer. Jennifer was showing us some of her jewelry collection which was very pretty and apparently she lives very close to me in the Valley so hopefully I'll be seeing her again sometime. Chris was a fun hang too. He was telling us about being a pilot and flying for private affairs in different places. Very exciting stuff. It was very good to meet some of Matt's family and friends I always feel like you learn a little more about a person by meeting people they've grown up with.

The next day was No Doubt! I had some breakfast with another former tourmate Susan, and her boyfriend, Steve at the Griddle. Matt was supposed to meet up with us, but he ended up sleeping in, which was a bummer but understandable, touring does make one tired at times. Susan and Steve told me they were going to go kayaking that day in Marina Del Ray and invited me to come, however I couldnt because of No Doubt. I then went back to my house and got ready for the concert. Alexis, who i was going to the show with met up with me and we then headed down the 5 to the show in Irvine.

On the way we stopped in Seal Beach for a drink at Dan's Beachcomber? at least i think that was the name of the bar...it was an awesome scene in there. Very tropical and jungle like. We went at happy hour too, so we were able to get a nice cheap dinner and a drink. We still however have no idea what a beachcomber is....

After drinks, we went to the No Doubt show and it was pretty great. I would have to say that it was good seeing them at a regular show aside from the Friends and Family show i went to earlier this year. I think there was just more energy on stage, and they changed a few things in the show too, which was neat to see. The openers were The Sounds and Paramore. I went in a fan of The Sounds and not a fan of Paramore and left with an entirely reversed opinion of both bands. Probably would have still liked The Sounds if Maja (the lead singer) wasn't gyrating all over the guitar players and looking like she stepped out of a Vogue magazine....

The next day I drove back up to San Jose and did a site check, the gig the day after that went really well! We got some high marks from our client and he said to our bosses and IMG Live that we were 'a well-oiled machine!' which was awesome.

When the San Jose gig was done, me and my team drove down the 5 again. Rod was dropped off in West LA, I went home, and Araceli took the car on to San Diego. A few days later we met up to do our gig in Pasadena, which was another success, then split up again in the same fashion. This time however i drove down to San Diego with my friend, Katie, to see another No Doubt show with Araceli and her buddy Dustin. At the first show I went to, there was a guy there offering $20 tickets and the seats were pretty good, not grass seats, sitting seats, at the amphitheater! So i nabbed a few for us to go see them.

It was a long drive to SD, but staying there made me realize how I should try and make a long weekend trip outta that place sometime, there is alot to do down there that I'd like to take advantage of sometime. Katie and I grabbed a drink before the show at some nearby shopping street place...Old Town? i think....then met up with Araceli and Dustin. We got there a little later just to catch No Doubt, which was awesome...i really didn't wanna sit through the whole show again....the only thing we had to deal with was knocking some 8 year olds outta our seats, since we arrived later, oh kids!

The seats were great, the show was fabulous, the ride home took longer then I liked, but the finale was awesome and memorable. At the first show, during the encore, No Doubt had all the bands come out during 'Stand and Deliver'. They had Hayley Williams and Maja come out to sing verses and their band members all came out at the end and ran around on stage. Being it was the last night for Paramore No Doubt first came out during Paramore's set and danced around in costumes, then during 'Stand and Deliver' paramore and the sounds came out all wearing tu-tu's to play off of the large pink tu-tu Adrian wears during the encore. During the second finale we saw, Shirley Manson came out to sing Hayley's part since Paramore was no longer on tour, and The Sounds came out dressed as No Doubt which was hilarious!!!!

Anyways, show was good, drove back up to LA after this, then went down to Marina Del Ray to go kayaking with nick and emily. that was another good time, then we went for mexican food and margaritas right afterwards. I also was able to put in a little bit of work at Center Staging while i was home. It was good seeing everyone again for a bit, I did miss working there.

My team later reconveigned and we went down to Tustin, CA for another gig. I went back up to LA that night to save more money, then on to San Diego the day after that, then back up to LA the night after the event. I'm glad I did, it was good to be at home for a bit and save some money in the same process. I was also able to have dinner with Cricket, Jesse, and Ryan too. We went to eat at Pann's and Jesse asked if I'd like to have the room that was open in their house...after a little bit of convincing and a night at their place I decided it would be a good move. I love my room in my place now, but it's gotten to the point where I'm just not happy there and no matter what I do to try to make myself happy there, some of the same problems will still exist. So to the other side of the hill it is!

Araceli and Rod picked me up at my house on Friday and we drove to Vegas. We had been talking about going to Pink Taco FOREVER and went there straight after we checked in. I also invited my friend, Jacob, to come with us and then we went to go see him play at Excaliber right afterwards. It was such a great night. His friend, Tony, who I'd met earlier that year, was also playing and it was great to see him again too! Jacob was sooo awesome playing, I was swooning at the bar watching him sing! haha! I just love guys who show off their talents, whatever they may be, it's truly one of the most attractive things to me. Anyways, after dancing around, and Araceli NEARLY losing her wallet, we went back to the hotel and next day on to Denver, CO.

We drove all day to get there, nothing to eventful aside from a late check-in and 8am check-out. On ward we went to Lee's Summit, MO, which didn't turn out to be a bad location I think...can't really remember....sooo many hotels....but it was a good adventure for the second leg none the less! Anyways that concludes this little update, check out da next one for more fun on the road :)