My eyes are burning. Sunscreen, dirt, and sweat do not mix. "Smells like Warped Tour in here." says James as he walks onto the bus. The sun has yet to fully set in the sky and we are all already filthy and exhausted. It's going to be a long summer but I'm excited about it.
We played at 3:50 today, the sun beating down directly on our faces. There's nothing that can really prepare you for playing outside in 106 degree weather, the first couple of shows are going to hurt, there's no way around it.
"Tweedle Dee" was waiting for us back behind our stage after our set. He had not told us that he would be there today. We fired our manager recently and have been taking meetings with new prospective managers. We've only taken three meetings thus far and I'm sick of them already. "Tweedle Dee" had contacted me by email a couple of days prior saying he'd be interested in talking to the band about possibly working with us. Yesterday we had lunch with "Tweedle Dee" and his assistant "Tweedle Dum" at a Thai Restaurant not far from the Fairplex. I knew he wasn't the right fit from the moment I saw him. He confirmed this when he started telling us about all the opportunities out there for us to tour places overseas playing for U.S. Army troops. You just don't really get it man, do you? He then went on to completely sign his own death certificate with us when I asked him to name all four of our full length albums. He could not. He said that kind of knowledge wasn't really important.
So, I was surprised to see him backstage considering just how horrible our meeting went. I mean, I thought it was obvious to everyone. I was also annoyed, he had absolutely no tact whatsoever. We were dying at the moment, gasping for breath, and he's all up in our business pushing agenda. Back off a little, in fact, fuck off.
At 5:30 we met with fans at our tent; signed posters, signed t-shirts, signed cds, signed records, signed seven inches, signed ticket stubs, refused to sign body parts, and took pictures. We were there for two hours, making memories, good times.
Quote of the day: "You're like the only band on Warped Tour that my dad likes."