There are only a few things in life I love more than my job. Starcraft, fresh produce, and dressing up in costumes on stage. The first two I get done when I am home in San Diego, the last one I make happen with a little help from my friends. I didn’t really realize it until a few days ago when I was talking about what I would be dressing up as on the next A Day To Remember tour… but I have dressed up as a good amount of things.
It started in 2009, with my friend Matt Lingo. We shot a rough video for a thing we called the Nearly Naked Neighbor. I honestly don’t know what we were thinking, but that’s okay- we were having fun. We just drove around San Diego and shot some clips of me in a full-body black spandex suit.
Soon after that, we shot some more footage that I have, but we never used it. It mostly involved me rollerblading on the boarding at the beach in San Diego and creeping people out. I also got invited to a party at one off the houses where I proceeded to drink beer through the suit and such, it was a good time, maybe someday we will use the footage.
Next, I was able to bring my spandex suit on tour with Pierce The Veil. The first day I wore it was at some festival in Texas and I basically just walked around in it at the venue, kinda creeping people out and messing with my friends playing the show. I accidentally scared some big dude and he felt threatened, choked me out and threw me to the floor… so that was the end of that haha. I wasn’t trying to get hurt, no more doing the black suit in dim light. That tour Pierce The Veil let me dance on stage to their Michael Jackson cover a few times and I had the time of my life. You can only see me for a split second in this. Honestly only stayed on for a little bit, cause that shit was nerve-racking for me in 2010.
Next stop, Warped Tour. Pierce The Veil needed help doing promotions in the morning and I needed a good work out. Warped Tour is hot as shit but the spandex suit is very well ventilated. As long as there is a slight breeze the whole thing feels very cool and brisk. By this time I had purchased a cup for the spandex suit to make it more “all ages” and also had a fanny pack with a speaker system attached. I walked the line before the show and then inside the venue during the day. I had a huge sign that said their set time, and my speakers were blaring “Baby” by Justin Beiber on repeat. It proved to be a great promotion, a fun time, and I got to dance with a bunch of total strangers.
Well, the above image is actually from 2012, and I don’t understand, I look like I have a pair of breasts, maybe I was wearing something underneath. But here is a 2010 tweet from one of the members of Pierce The Veil, just prove to you that we did do this back then!
![](https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-4WPCHpK/0/L/i-4WPCHpK-L.png)
After that, I just started bringing my suit on tours with me, cause you never know when you could use a spandex suit. I went to Europe with A Day To Remember and I don’t recall how it came about, but we came to the conclusion that I could do the guest vocal part on their song “Wax Larry” as long as I was dressed in the suit. I had always wanted to be in a band but a combination of terrible anxiety and lack of any musical talent whatsoever didn’t really make that an option. So, in a way, this was a dream come true.
![Backstage at Razzmatazz in Barcelona, Spain](https://adamelmakias.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/2011-BC-1020x680.jpg)
Pierce The Veil had an intro for Warped Tour that consisted of a drunk Mariachi skeleton coming out on stage and introducing them. I did this… probably 10 times total. Truth is, I wasn’t very good at it, I was too stiff and the guys told me to get better but I couldn’t really wrap my head around how to be drunk and Casey Ervin, their drum tech- eventually took over.
![Adam Elmakias drunk dead pierce the veil](https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-SLG2Gcc/0/M/i-SLG2Gcc-M.jpg)
![Adam Elmakias drunk dead pierce the veil](https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-HbjsZD3/0/L/i-HbjsZD3-L.jpg)
Shortly after I got a few different suits and for the next A Day To Remember tour I fired a t-shirt gun during their set while dressed up. My favorite was the zebra suit.
![Adam Elmakias skin tight zebra suit i hope someone reads this](https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-fPWhhnd/0/XL/i-fPWhhnd-XL.jpg)
![Adam Elmakias still in skin tight zebra outfit](https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-5t8mbd6/0/XL/i-5t8mbd6-XL.jpg)
![Love zebras, I am one](https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-3cfLKjw/0/XL/i-3cfLKjw-XL.jpg)
On Warped Tour in 2012 Breathe Carolina let me go on stage with them dressed in the black suit as well.
I ended up leaving my suits with Of mice & Men two years ago and I still haven’t gotten them back… should probably do that at some point. But not to worry! A Day To Remember started getting their own suits. I hadn’t done any dressing up until more recently. I did a big European run with A Day To Remember that involved a lot of festivals and a few club shows. For all of these shows, I dressed up as an angry bird, shot the t-shirt cannon for half a song, and then hopped in an inflatable raft and crowd surfed of the crowd. It was the best thing ever.
![Adam Elmakias Angry Bird](https://adamelmakias.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/tumblr_mnxycaeQCP1qzs20ao1_500.jpg)
![Adam Elmakias Angry Bird at Hellfest in Clisson, France](https://adamelmakias.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/ADaytoRemember-adamelmakias-Hellfest-2013-6.jpg)
![Adam Elmakias Angry Bird at Hellfest in Clisson, France](https://adamelmakias.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/1073751_568840939824067_163768641_o-1020x679.jpg)
![St. Petersburg Russia Angry Bird Crowd Surf](https://adamelmakias.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/2013626.jpg)
![High Five! - Vainstream Rockfest - by Arek Photography](https://adamelmakias.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Vainstream-Rockfest-arek-photography.jpg)
![Fan art by Fikrirusdy](https://adamelmakias.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/2013630-@fikrirusdy.jpg)
![Adam Elmakias Angry Bird kerrang! magazine](https://adamelmakias.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/tumblr_mocan3e2mT1qzs20ao1_500.jpg)
GoPro footage from the Angry Bird Crowd surfing
More recently I just did the same thing for their Canadian tour, we mixed it up and switched between a banana and penguin suit.Or there was that one day in Montreal where we couldn’t find the suit, so I just did it normal… and a security guard knifed my boat cause he thought I was a fan. Seems reasonable.
![Adam Elmakias crowd surf](https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-sqw94wq/0/X3/i-sqw94wq-X3.jpg)
![Banana!](https://adamelmakias.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/20139-.jpg)
![Penguin!](https://adamelmakias.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/2013814.jpg)
![Adam Elmakias Banana outfit in San Fransisco](https://adamelmakias.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Screenshot-2014-01-18-17.45.03-1020x551.png)
Lastly, for the House Party Tour, I dressed up as Santa Claus and fire T-shirts during a certain part of the set. This was so much fun, especially being raised Jewish, I never did any Santa things when I was younger.
![Adam Elmakias Santa Claus A Day To Remember House Party Tour](https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-Nx5cSv2/0/L/i-Nx5cSv2-L.jpg)
![Adam Elmakias as Santa Claus](https://adamelmakias.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/20131027.jpg)
![Adam Elmakias santa claus a day to remember house party tour](https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-gMV5bPW/0/L/i-gMV5bPW-L.jpg)
I like to have a good time, no matter what I am doing. I like making people happy, maybe that’s why this is so enjoyable. I can’t sing or play any instruments and I wouldn’t make a good stripper- so this is a good compromise for getting on stage.