Liam and Me/Shiny Toy Guns tour recap
As much as I don’t want to start typing this I know I have to start sometime as this was probably one of the most spectacular experiences of my life.
Also, I have no idea about anything as far as dates are concerned, it’s one big blur.
So let’s get started! ( I just went to get a drink from the vending machine and only found about 20 Canadian quarters in my wallet)
I saw Liam and Me were playing a show with Shiny Toy Guns in Point Pleasant beach, NJ and I was totally down, I really like both bads and 15 bucks was a relatively inexpensive price to pay for the time in would ensue. I woke up bright and early on Sunday (I think) and headed off too Penn Station to catch a train to Pt. Pleasant, I stopped by the local bodega and bought myself some brews to make the night even more enjoyable.
By the time I arrived at the 34 st. station off the Q, I had 5 minutes until the train left so I had to sprint my ass all the way over to penn station, buy a ticket and jump on board. Thankfully I made it… I had to connect to a different train in good ol’ “Long Branch” and upon arrival I misread the time I typed into my phone and missed the connection. There was another train in about 2 hours so I went and got myself a sub from subway to pass the time. I finally arrived in Point Pleasant a little after noon and it was fucking frigid outside. It was the first snow I have seen all year and I had no clue where to go. I took a guess as to which way the ocean was and fortunately I was right and arrived at the boardwalk with just enough time to catch Carah and Chad coming out of a sushi place. Starstruck, I said something that made myself look retarded and they just looked at me and were like uhhh, yeah….
I chilled for a while until about 4:30 when I went inside and bought myself a medium pepsi and that’s where the fun begins. that cup was immediately emptied and good ‘ol Bud Light quickly filled the 21oz container.
By door time at 6 PM there was still no sign of Liam and Me which really made me worried because I always want to see my homies, kna mean? Anyways, I got inside, wasted, tried to keep my wristband from Studio B on from the night before but they made me remove it (fuckers) got up to the front row and got pumped. I quickly made some new friends due to my increased social awareness (thanks alcohol!) and they totally dug Liam and Me, as I was the only one that sang along to every single song.
by the time Shiny Toy Guns came on the place was packed and I was astonished at the lighting skills their crew posessed, they had six super high powered lights and it was awesome to say the least… Here’s a quick picture so you can understand where I’m coming from (I have many more like this :) )
The guns finished their set and everyone was happy, I stopped over at the Liam and Me merch tabel to talk with them for a while afterwards and this is where it all began. Me-“Yeah, I have to wait for my 11:30 train out of here, you guys need any help?” Matt - “nah, we’ve got it covered…” Me- “you su..” Matt- “You want to come with us to North Carolina for our show tomorrow? I’m sure we can enlist you to do something, or if you want, we can pick you up on our way to Canada on Wednesday” Me-“Oh hell yeah I’ll come to NC, and Canadia!!!!!” And that my friends is what sealed the deal, I had reading week all week in school so that wouldn’t be an issue and I was totally down to hit up the beatiful land to the north.
That night we left the venue (but not before I snatched a few wristbands incase I ever go back before I’m 21!!!!) and went to one of their freinds apartments nearby, I was introduced to Everclear and then we quickly made our way back into the van for the long ride to North Carolina. I took a long nap in the van expecting to wake up and be in a winterland of warmth but I was actually awake for most of the ride and we stopped somewhere in Virginia to get some sleep.
The next day we made the rest of the drive and North Carolina was not nearly as warm as expected. I was pissed to say the least.
We went in the venue, set up shop, talked to the STG’s for a while (turns out I’m the only one Jeremy has ever seen that has the same shoes as him!) Liam and Me played, I got a rush of fangirls at the merch table asking for the now depleated sample CD’s and then Shiny Toy guns went on and did their shit and we went out to some bar where I told my wonderful stories about my experiences with going to see the sounds and how I do things in NYC and blah blah blah.
Afterwards we hopped back in the van and drove straight to Philly where the band put me on the chinatown bus back to NYC so I could go grab some clothes and stuff for Canada.
The next day I set off for Philly once again but not before getting to Myrtle Ave. and realizing I left my memory card for my camera at home, forcing me to go back and get it and ultimately resulting in my missing the chinatown bus. No big deal, I went to take the next bus and ended up running all over China town looking for the damn cross street where the bus stopped, I finally found it and I was off to Philly for an insane tour of Canada.
Before I start this next portion let me point out that REAL Philly Cheese steaks dominate any other cheesesteak I’ve ever had.
We set off for Canada and made our way to Batavia (near Buffalo/Rochester) before we stopped at a hotel to sleep. The next day we made the long drive to London Ontario, Met one of the two most famous punk bands from china called “Brain Failure” at customs and arrived at a pretty cool bar called “call the office.” I was excentric that I was actually legal for once in my life and the drinks were less than five dollars! The doors opened and the show started with no more than 30 people in the venue!!! I couldn’t believe it! Oh well, it was still fun but we ended up leaving about halfway through Shiny Toy Guns set. I immediately passed out in the van as we headed to Toronto to stay at Ryan’s freinds apartment. I woke up about halfway through when we stopped at a rest stop and immediately felt like puking. I was pretty proud of myself for holding it back. By the time we got to Toronto I don’t even know what time it was, I woke up as we were parking in some parking lot for a restaraunt called “The Keg Mansion.” We were then invited inside the mansion next door from some gay drugged out guy with a dog named Spencer. I questioned what the fuck was going on the entire time I was inside but we finally left after he tried to convince me that I was gay because I have pink hair. It’s 2007 d00d, I’m just a badass!
We finally got to sleep, 6 dudes packed in a little living room. It smelled wonderful the next morning as we awoke to have breakfast in a very familliar place, I came to the conclusin that it was the same restaraunt I had eaten at 7 years ago on the Toronto trip with school, what are the chances!? Afterwards we walked around the city for a bit, bid our farewells, and set off on another long ass drive to Montréal. We finally got into the city and after searching for a hotel forever because the wireless internet in the van wasn’t working we just decided to chance it and hit up the travelodge, we got up to our room AKA CLOSET, got ready, and went out to some club/bar with Chad and Jeremy from STG’s and a bunch of the dudes on their crew. Here’s a little lesson incase you ever have the chance… Never play Chad in foosball, you will not win. He was so confident that we played him for his Grammy.. HAHAHAH. Anyways, I don’t even know how much money was spent on that foosball table that night but I can tell you it was well over 50 dollars in the now dominant Canadian currency. There was also some crazy French DESPERADO that was getting so pissed because he couldn’t win hahahah, maybe next time young chap. Sometime throughout the night I went to grab some pizza accross the street, 99 cent pizza!!! It was so good… and cheap. We went back to the hotel and I once again passed out immediately.
the next day we set off to Québec City for the second to last show on the tour. It was a short 3 hour drive during which everything turned to French and everyone turned extremely good looking hahahah. We got to the venue dubbed “Chez Dagobert” and upon entry I knew it was going to totally and completely rule. It was a big downstairs lounge area with 3 mini bars. Everything was all set up and ready to go so I took a little walk… It turned out that the entire upstairs was this huge club in which I knew crazy shit would be happening in the later hours. Liam and Me played to a fairly responsive and fairly large crowd, pretty much filling the lounge area. After the set I went back to the merch table, sold some stuff, took some pictures of Shiny Toy Guns, packed everything up and got ready for one of the craziest nights of my life…. I somehow managed to meet these two girls whom we partied with the rest of the night, we took some shots, drank some drinks, and went upstars to be greeted by a club far superior to those I have been to in NYC (excuse the bad grammar/spelling, I’m becoming extremely bored). I’m not really too sure what happened the rest of the night, I know Chad, Jeremy, Liam and Me, and some other people were all up front showing Canadia how we do things. hahahah, and probably making asses of ourselves…. I would write more about the night but I really have no clue as to how shit went down, you’ll just have to piece together your own story from the pictures (at a later date).
AHAHAHAHHAAHAHAH
Alright, so we hopped in the van after a fucking awesome night, I passed out before we even left and did not awake until be were in the great town known only as “Drummondville.” Before I go any further, allow me to say that I have never been as cold as I was when I stepped foot out of the van in this town, it was unbelieveable. I passed out on top of Ryan as soon as I sat on the bed haha. the next morning it was back to Montréal for the last day on tour with the Shiny’s :(.
We arrived at the venue extremely early as it was only a short one hour drive from Drummondville. The venue, called “Just Pour Rire” (just for Laugh’s) is a comedy club/concert venue downtown, we took a walk to a coffee shoppe because Liam and Me were getting interviewed
After that, we went back to the venue to load in, and then disaster struck, someone had smashed the side window in the van and stolen 3 laptops and a few iPods, two of the laptops also had passports in the bags. It was a tragic end to an awesome tour but the dudes from Liam and Me weren’t about to let someting like that hinder another awesome performance. Before the show we were all backstage drinking some shitty 4.5 percent alcohol beers, and red bull, as well as eating some really good deli foods, Liam and Me played, and stated “on a sidenote… our van was broken into and all of our laptops were stolen today, so you can find us over by the bar” I went up to watch this local band I had never heard of called “CLAASS” They were insane, apparently a sideproject of the band known as “We Are Wolves.” Before they were finished playing I went backstage again and was able to talk to Carah for the first time (aside from a few words here and there), she was really nice and let me fufil my dream of getting a picture with her and making my friends envious :)
I talked to her for a bit and then they all went on and played another awesome show
Afterwards, we hung out in the back for a while and then parted ways, Larkin and I had to run on The Shiny’s tour bus because Mackenzie left his bag with all the money in it inside the venue and ask Chad how to get inside..
then we were off, drove straight back to Hoboken through shitty weather, I took the PATH train home with Matt, and all was well…
Oh how I can’t wait for this Action Action tour.
More pictures coming soon, I have about 1000 to sort through as well as about 20 videos!!!
