The next tour I was a part of was our co headliner with I Wrestled a Bear Once. It was an east coast tour in early winter, starting and ending in December.
The tour was a huge success for us. We drew extremely well, some night drawing even with the headliner and our merch sales were consistent and sold each night. We played a lot of new smaller markets that we had not played yet in our touring career and had an awesome response each night. My voice was much more healthy and solid on that tour and I was very happy with how it went over all.
After that tour ended we took a pretty big step for us personally, headlining the new years ever show at our local venue The Attic. As far back as I can remember every single year this show was headlined by TDWP and sold out every single time. MMI had actually played the show a the opener the year before, while I was touring with another band. It was awesome to think that in 1 year of touring we had grown to the point to headline a show of that size. We were extremely nervous that we would not live up to the hype and that the show would flop and we would be the first band to not draw a sell out crowd. We were very happy to see that we thought wrong. We sold the show out at over 700 people and gave the best performance we had ever given to that point. To make things even better the show was full of old friends bands, and family members there to see us play.
After that show we played 2 more New Years weekend shows, one as direct support for our friends Attack Attack in Toledo, Ohio at a venue called Headliners. That show turned out to be pretty important and special to me.
After that tour ended we took a pretty big step for us personally, headlining the new years ever show at our local venue The Attic. As far back as I can remember every single year this show was headlined by TDWP and sold out every single time. MMI had actually played the show a the opener the year before, while I was touring with another band. It was awesome to think that in 1 year of touring we had grown to the point to headline a show of that size. We were extremely nervous that we would not live up to the hype and that the show would flop and we would be the first band to not draw a sell out crowd. We were very happy to see that we thought wrong. We sold the show out at over 700 people and gave the best performance we had ever given to that point. To make things even better the show was full of old friends bands, and family members there to see us play.
After that show we played 2 more New Years weekend shows, one as direct support for our friends Attack Attack in Toledo, Ohio at a venue called Headliners. That show turned out to be pretty important and special to me.
Back in 2007 while I was in a local band, striving to tour and be on a record label, I paid to see a very influential tour to me at Headliners. I paid full price like any other fan and left work early to make the 3 hour drive to Toledo to see The Devil Wears Prada, Drop Dead Gorgeous, Dance Gavin Dance, At The Throne of Judgement, and Before Their Eyes. I thought it was the biggest show I had ever seen, and being as big of a TDWP and ATTOJ super fan as I was I was so stoked the entire time.
2 1/2 years later I found myself playing a show there, on the same label as all of those bands I had seen, the room completely sold out, and the crowd floored to see us. It was a pretty surreal experience.
The next day we made our way to Westland, Michigan to play a headlining show for our friend Cody at Skateland Skatepark. We had never headlined in Michigan and were pretty nervous to flop and have an awful show, and yet again for the 3rd day in a row we somehow managed to draw a huge crowd. 600+ kids ended up coming out and there was no better note to end 2009 on.
2010 started off with a month long break for us at home, where I got to spent a lot of time with family and my awesome girlfriend Crystal. We began practice in mid January to prepare for our next full US tour run. This tour was pretty stressful on us. It was the lowest we had ever been on a bill, and we were by far the lightest band on the tour, that tour was The Mosh Lives II Tour. We couldn't believe that we were on the tour, because 2 of the bands were huge favorites of our band. The tour featured Emmure, Terror, After The Burial, Miss May I, and Thick As Blood.
The tour was our first full US winter tour and it honestly kicked our ass. We were exhausted most of the tour wit the long drives and hectic schedule. We learned more on that tour about ourselves than on any other tour. We honed in on our live performance and really came into our own. We struggled a bit at times on that tour with slower merch sales, but on most dates we did great. Our crowd reactions were the largest they had ever been and all in all the tour was a pretty big success for us.
After that tour we had a short 2 week break where we practiced a bit but mostly just hung out. In that time I took singing lessons which helped me tremendously with my live performance. We also played a small home area show in a small hall in Piqua, Ohio for about 400 kids which was pretty cool.
The next tour was a direct support tour for Blessthefall. I wasn't very sure how this tour would go. We were not a very similar style to any of the bands on the tour, but we went in with high hopes and a positive attitude. The lineup for "The Bangover Tour" was Blessthefall, Miss May I, Greeley Estates, and Before Their Eyes.
2 1/2 years later I found myself playing a show there, on the same label as all of those bands I had seen, the room completely sold out, and the crowd floored to see us. It was a pretty surreal experience.
The next day we made our way to Westland, Michigan to play a headlining show for our friend Cody at Skateland Skatepark. We had never headlined in Michigan and were pretty nervous to flop and have an awful show, and yet again for the 3rd day in a row we somehow managed to draw a huge crowd. 600+ kids ended up coming out and there was no better note to end 2009 on.
2010 started off with a month long break for us at home, where I got to spent a lot of time with family and my awesome girlfriend Crystal. We began practice in mid January to prepare for our next full US tour run. This tour was pretty stressful on us. It was the lowest we had ever been on a bill, and we were by far the lightest band on the tour, that tour was The Mosh Lives II Tour. We couldn't believe that we were on the tour, because 2 of the bands were huge favorites of our band. The tour featured Emmure, Terror, After The Burial, Miss May I, and Thick As Blood.
The tour was our first full US winter tour and it honestly kicked our ass. We were exhausted most of the tour wit the long drives and hectic schedule. We learned more on that tour about ourselves than on any other tour. We honed in on our live performance and really came into our own. We struggled a bit at times on that tour with slower merch sales, but on most dates we did great. Our crowd reactions were the largest they had ever been and all in all the tour was a pretty big success for us.
After that tour we had a short 2 week break where we practiced a bit but mostly just hung out. In that time I took singing lessons which helped me tremendously with my live performance. We also played a small home area show in a small hall in Piqua, Ohio for about 400 kids which was pretty cool.
The next tour was a direct support tour for Blessthefall. I wasn't very sure how this tour would go. We were not a very similar style to any of the bands on the tour, but we went in with high hopes and a positive attitude. The lineup for "The Bangover Tour" was Blessthefall, Miss May I, Greeley Estates, and Before Their Eyes.
In my mind, this tour was by far the best tour we have done. What we thought was going to be a mediocre B market tour for us with smaller crowds turned out to be exactly the opposite. The tour began with some problems for us, as the hitch on our van was almost ripped off in North Dakota by the extreme amount of weight from our trailer. We missed the first date in Edmonton, Alberta - but we rejoined the tour 1 day later and did a successive 9 days in Canada. Most of the shows were places we had never been, and the crowds were solid and merch sales were decent. Things changed dramatically when we returned to America. Almost every show in America blew my mind. We played another sold out show at The Attic in Dayton, and played AMAZING shows in New Orleans, and Texas for 500+ kids in rooms that shouldn't have been able to fit 300. The tour ended for us with 2 sold out shows in a row in Texas at The White Rabbit in San Antonio, and then at The Life Church in El Paso - where at both I spent a large chunk of time diving off of stage and crowd surfing while playing haha. I also did my first ever live guest vocal spot singing Blessthefalls last song with them each night, which was a pretty big deal to me.
We ended that run with a 30+ hour drive back home to Ohio to play The Jamboree Festival at the main room at Headliners in Toldeo, Ohio for over 2k people with TDWP, and Whitechapel. Another surreal show for me, being support for bands I still listen to on a daily basis.
We ended that run with a 30+ hour drive back home to Ohio to play The Jamboree Festival at the main room at Headliners in Toldeo, Ohio for over 2k people with TDWP, and Whitechapel. Another surreal show for me, being support for bands I still listen to on a daily basis.
to be continued ....... my fingers hurt haha
