Upgraded to WP 3.0 here. So far it’s snazzy. I’m sure most of the major changes are under-the-hood, which I like. Major navigation changes tend to lose core fans and audience members, although Facebook seems to be an exception to this rule… strange, no?

So it’s been a little while since my last update. Didn’t I somewhat promise more frequent updates? Hell naw. I don’t know what you’re talking about. *shifty eyes*

I last left you somewhere in California several weeks ago. Since then we’ve wrapped up that goofy “Parental Advisory Tour” (which I have to admit, was a very plain and boring name for a tour – hey, it wasn’t my idea, so don’t blame me) and started the “Pay Off the Van Tour.” Guess what we’re trying to do? Business 101: minimize liabilities, maximize assets. While the van will always be a liability of some kind with maintenance and whatnot, making monthly payments on it is quite an expense that we’re ready to be done with.

Thank you Aaron for introducing me.

Also the trailer that we bought from Indorphine is on it’s last legs. Did you know that if you squirt grease externally into your bearings that you end up compromising your brake system? I’m sure I vented about that at some point. Either way, it’s time for a new trailer. We’re also gonna end up ditching that extremely heavy merch monster that’s made of 2x4s, 4x4s, and plywood. It’s easily several hundred pounds. Turns out all that weight ended up bending the axles INWARD, causing our trailer tires to wear down very unevenly.

Wait, this isn’t the crap you want to read about. BEER AND DRUGZ LOL

Just kidding. I suppose I could talk about a few things that are actually interesting.

Anyway, the shows we ended up playing in the LA area and San Diego were great. Mower came out to San Diego to show some love, and it was greatly appreciated. It’s always reassuring to know our dumb band makes some sort of impact on other bands; enough for them to want to actually take the time to visit you when you travel through their hometown. Great stuff.

The Phoenix show was surprisingly awesome. We played so early that 30% of the overall draw that night was there so the show was a rough one for us. Yep, even in our hometown. The “Hometown Curse” applies to Psychostick in full force. Luckily some of our good friends came out and showed their support, and that was completely worth it. After we hit that last note and loaded out, I felt a huge sense of accomplishment. We hadn’t been an opening act on a tour for a long time. I’m proud of how we rolled with a lot of the punches that were thrown our way, made the best of the situation, and rose above the challenges.

After the show I was wandering around talking with some friends when suddenly someone I was once very close with appeared out of nowhere. We talked for a while and I find out she got married which took me by complete surprise. Definitely a wonderful thing for her and I’m very happy for her. What a character building experience. Mega congrats to you; you know who you are!

Anyway, Phoenix was the last show of the tour and saying bye to those fellers in Jello and Nashville was bittersweet. We spent the next day in Phoenix catching our breath, and from there my manager and I drove all the way back to KC, MO for a well deserved respite. I spent several days playing video games, sleeping, and hanging out with my lady. So freakin’ relaxing, lemme tell you. Touring is a lot like boot camp, y’know? Wait… no, I don’t know. I’ve never been to boot camp. Touring is like… touring. There’s nothing like it, and while it’s fun and insane, it’s exhausting. You quickly learn to appreciate time off and the simple, mundane things in life that most seem to overlook.

A delicious farewell.

We spent the following week preparing an extra-entertaining show for this tour that I’m on now, “The Pay off the Van Tour.” Before I knew it, I was packing my bags, running tons of errands, rehearsing, and kissin’ my lady goodbye for our departure. I do wish I had another week to catch my breath a bit more, but humorcore calls.

We played in KC first and it was a great show; ALL AGES finally! Tons of kids came out and rocked their faces off. Probably our best KC show to date. Next time I hope we can get the radio behind it.

The next night we were in St Louis for a incredibly badass show; 700+ people came out. Not for just us, though… heh. It was some festival show announcement… show thing. We killed it; such a badass show. I love Pop’s and the mediocre diner that’s in walking distance.

Next up was Danville, IL. Slang Metalfest, which is a local metalfest for that area. Turned out way better than I was expecting. Most “metalfests” that we play are chaotic and poorly executed. This was not the case at Slang Metalfest. We ended up meeting a ton of really cool people, including the guys in God Forbid. Maybe someday we’ll get to tour with ‘em. You know, once humorcore isn’t a scary concept. ;P

Chicago was our next stop. We got to briefly hang out with Murph and his crazy friends. Had some badass deep dish pizza. Can’t imagine not eating that when in Chicago. I wanted some Chicago dogs, but alas, this did not happen. Next time… next time…

Smash hit? Where's my fame and fortune?

We then headed to the Masquerade in Atlanta, GA and met up with Look What I Did (YEAH!). First time there, and it was awesome. Apparently this is one of THE spots in Atlanta to play; we played the smaller room downstairs and did extremely well. Can’t wait to head back.

That night we drove back to Nashville, then over to Cookeville for our “reunion” with Green Jello. They had almost everyone back in tow on this go-round, and we got to witness a different set with Jello. The turnout was bad, but the show was good. We were support for Jello, and after the whole thing was done I was glad to be headlining the rest of the tour. Except Skatopia and Mayhemfest.

We made the drive to Amelia, OH next. Good show; got to see Jake (ex-guitarist) and his lady. Good to see ‘em.

And then there was… Skatopia.

Now I can’t exactly give a fair assessment of this show. We didn’t have a set time, we didn’t know where we were playing, we didn’t know jack shit. That frustrated me. Turns out Bill in Green Jello got us a few songs in at 2:00 AM at this shack barn thing. So we waited all day for this. I pretty much hung out in the van to stay cool. I saw GWAR for the first time, and they were AMAZING. Almost right after that we hit the stage in the barn thing and blazed through 5 songs. Great reaction, lots of fun! Afterwards a bonfire broke out and folks started tossing fireworks into the bonfire, creating pure chaos. We escaped not long after that thankfully; I’m not crazy about that stuff.

We got back to Columbus, squeezed in some rest, and headed out to Mr. Smalls in Pittsburgh. AWESOME show. I love all ages shows; so much more energy than 21+. They were passionate about their Psychostick, and we gave it to ‘em good. Shows like that make touring worthwhile. Thank you Pittsburgh!

Look What I Did started to experience some van problems that night. As of right now they’re getting their transmission fixed/replaced, which is a bummer, but they’re dedicated and have assured everyone that they won’t miss any shows. What a great bunch of fellers; they’re so professional and easy to work with. Class act.

And now here I am, enjoying a few days off and updating you on most of the stuff you might care to hear about. I’m considering finishing watching Inglorious Basterds, but I might need to sleep in order to run errands tomorrow. Hmm, all work? All play? Stupid Last Airbender not coming out tomorrow…

I enjoy ice cream selection.