July 15th, 2010 (day 21)
Toyota Pavilion At Montage Mountain
Scranton, Pennsylvania

The Toyota Pavilion was a long narrow venue. We were parked on one end and catering was on the other. I gradually woke up as I walked to catering, had to get some fuel for the day. Mai always got up extra early and not riding with Pierce The Veil made me forget just how early that was. On my way to catering I passed porta potties that she had already plastered with Pierce The Veil posters. This venue made me feel like we were atop a mountain in the middle of the forest. A simple google maps search could prove me wrong, but I like to think I was on a mountain. There were trees everywhere, and where there weren’t trees, giant rocks covered the ground.

For the whole day I just shot around, hung out with random people, did Pierce The Veil‘s intro, nothing too wild.

I pulled these images from Samantha‘s Flickr.

 

Word on the tour was that Kevin Lyman rented out a water park around the corner from 7:00-10:00pm, I was told that it was his way of giving the whole tour a bath. True or not, it’s still a good point. If you were to put all eight hundred people on this tour into a room, it would smell like my high school hallway on a summer day. I couldn’t find anyone to head to the water park with me, so I decided to go alone. I also couldn’t find my swimsuit. Actually I didn’t have a swimming suit. I climbed in Bring Me The Horizon‘s trailer and sifted through twentyish cardboard boxes full of merch until I found another pair of large basketball shorts.

The water park was on the other side of the venue, and then some. It probably took me fifteen minutes to walk there. I couldn’t find the entrance so I asked some locals, they said it was around the corner. I walked to the door and showed them my laminate, they gave me a bracelet and I walked in. It was almost dark out, but bright enough that I could see the whole park from where I stood. This place was a water park in the summer and a ski resort in the winter. that’s sorta rad, a transforming water park. I love water parks but I don’t enjoy ski/ snowboarding resorts. My only memory of a ski resort was this place about 45 minutes out of Madison that I used to go to when I was younger. I think I went a grand total of three times, but every time I went it would take me hours to get all my snow gear on and get to the park, then go up the hill and then get to ski down it for a few minutes. It just wasn’t worth it, not to mention my clumsiness greatly increased my chances of losing control, crashing into a tree and dying a very painful, self-inflicted and embarrassing death- I’ll stick to water parks. To go to a water park you actually wear less clothes, then go up some stairs and ride down a predetermined route. That’s all there is to it- no extra skills needed.

Like I was saying, I could see the whole park from where I was standing. There was one of those big half pipe rides you went down on with a huge tube, a lazy river, a wave pool, a few body rides and this mat ride that you raced others on. I was feeling a little bummed out, there were lots of people here from the tour but only a few I knew. Water parks are fun, but not alone. I went down the half pipe ride with some randoms and then headed to the race ride. I started getting that feeling deep in my chest where I just get bummed out- that depressed feeling. It was an all too familiar feeling and I wanted it out. I stayed optimistic, I was sure I was going to run into some people I knew. I grabbed a mat for the race ride and headed up to the top. There were a bunch of people up there- I was sure I could join their group. By the time I got to the top they had already gone down and now I was standing at the start of a ride meant for eight competitors- alone. Well, I decided to walk back down, I didn’t feel like racing myself. I was ready to call it a night. On the way back down I ran into some friends, a big group of them. I forget who all in the group, but I remember the Call The Cops guys and their tour manager Larry were among them.

Finally, some friends. Back up the ramp I went to race down. I went on a few different rides and eventually ended up in the wave pool about twenty minutes later. Warped Tour had taken over the water park and was throwing all of the giant inter tubes from the half pipe ride into the wave pool. It was like frogger real life. You could hop from one end of the pool to the other without getting wet. I decided to call it a night early and made my way over to the changing room. I was in the search for a shower- a warm shower. I found one, actually I found eight of them right outside the dressing room and next to the lazy river. I turned it on to warm up and grabbed two handfuls of hand soap from the bathroom. It was steamy hot, perfect. It had been weeks since I had taken a hot shower. My shower decreased from hot to warm at around the fifteen minute mark so I moved four down and tried a different shower out- it was hot- woohoo! It was a little chilly out so the hot shower felt perfect. Even thinking about it now I get excited, it was so refreshing. After another fifteen minutes of showering I stopped and dried off with my old shirt and threw it away. I should have brought a towel, but I didn’t even bring one on tour so that wasn’t an option. I am pretty sure I just smeared all my sweat my shirt had accumulated over the past few days right back into my flesh. Oh well, nothing new.

On my way back to the bus I ran into an old friend of mine. I didn’t evan recognize him at first because he cut all of his hair. But his name was Bret. I met Bret when I stayed with some friends in North Carolina a year or so back. He use to be a front man of a band, but now he was guitar teching for Whitechapel. We talked all the way back to the bus, and caught up on each others life happenings. Down the hill, through catering, across the venue, and on the other side of the bus lot- I found my bus. I switched back into my regular cut off pants shorts and threw my basketball shorts over the bus rear view mirror to dry. I think that was the last time I saw those shorts. Well everyone had the same shorts so I saw them a lot. But I never took that particular pair off the mirror.

I honestly can not remember what I did for the rest of that night. it’s not that I was drunk or stoney or something of the sort, I just honestly can not remember.

 

 

July 16th, 2010 (day 22)
Susquehanna Bank Center
Camden, New Jersey

Ahhh I woke up to hot as hell Camden New Jersey- also know as shit town central. I am sorry to any locals I may offend, but I doubt they even own computers- it’s a poor area. I went to catering and grabbed a two hand fuels of pineapple. They always had these fruit trays with grapes, cantaloupe, and pineapple. But all that was ever left was the cantaloupe. So when there was pineapple, I devoured it. I needed to eat quick as I had some errands to do! I put my laptop in my backpack and set off on an adventure to find the nearest Starbucks- I had to get some good internet so I could send out over 100 images for that Blunt Magazine article I had finished up. Sheep gave me some Starbucks orders I should get them on my way back. I had to write everything down as I don’t really drink coffee enough to know the drinks.

For the first few blocks, I ran into one person, and this person was just sitting on their steps outside of their house. After about ten minutes of walking I hit a main road, and started seeing more and more people. There was some sort of farmers market going on, but I think there were more people there just to hang then there were to buy anything. It was hot, very hot, and the sun was relentlessly beating down on my face. I never really wore sunglasses so squinting was a more than familiar move on my part. I crossed the main road, and walked down what seemed to be a shopping area. It consisted of a Rite Aid, bus stop, thrift store, and then a bunch of broke down or closed buildings. I kept walking and kept to myself, I didn’t really fit in very well here. Soon enough I heard a man yell “hey”- I didn’t look in his direction, ignored him and kept walking. A few seconds later I hear another “hey man”. Ahh shit, he wants money. I know he wants money- but if I keep ignoring him, then he will have to keep following me. I reluctantly stopped and turned around and said “What’s up?” He said “yo man, can you spare some change?” In his mind he was hoping for some money, in my mind I just wanted to live. I am a really cheap person but four quarters is a small price to pay in trade for my life. I reached my hand deep in my pocket, and pulled out a handful of change, it was probably even more then a dollar- I was feeling generous. He was looking all kinds of beat up, basically your stereotypical young homeless man. Does that even exist? Well if you were to think “homeless young man” in your mind, this is exactly what you would think of. I emptied my fistful of nickels, dimes, and quarters into his hand and walked away briskly. I still can’t decide if I was scared, or just being over cautious. Given the circumstances and my lack of the ability to defend myself if it ever came to that, I think I was being reasonable. According to my GPS, the Starbucks was right around the corner. I walked a few more minutes and eventually came to another boarded up building- the once Starbucks. Go figure. I started walking back and stopped at a guy who was parking people for the show in his lot. I asked him if there was anywhere close with free WiFi, a library, a Panera? Something of the sort. He said there was a library on the other side of the block. Perfect. I headed in the direction and eventually came to the smallest library I have ever been in. It was actually actually very nice compared to the surrounding area. AC, comfy chains, a table and free WiFi. How the hell is this place not crawling with people? If I was homeless and had nothing to do I would hang at the library and read books. Then again I am not homeless so I don’t know how difficult it is to get by. Well actually, I was sorta homeless at the moment- I was living in the back of a bus on top of backpacks and underneath old gym shorts.

I sat down at a table and I got to work on uploading the images. I had four batches to upload and each one was going to take about 40 minute ot upload- I was going to be here for awhile. I got a bunch of internet stuff I was behind on finished up in the meantime. There were probably about four other people in there with me reading books, and then maybe five more people working at the library. A very small local public library. There was one other guy sitting by me reading a book. For some reason he kept farting. I couldn’t smell it, they were just very loud. The first time he did it, he apologized with an “excuse me”. It wasn’t really directed at anyone, he said it loud enough so that if anyone was paying attention, they would hear him. However if you weren’t really listening, you probably would have missed it. I was listening. Thirty minutes later, he did it again. Once again he followed it up with an embarrassed and ashamed sounding “excuse me”. He whispered it this time, and sounded very guilty. This guy must have felt really bad about farting. I really didn’t care, I just laughed in my head.

I eventually finished uploading everything and sent off all the download links to the publication. Here is the final article that was published in the magazine.

I packed up my backpack and went on my way to the post office. It was only about ten minutes out of the way and I had to mail out some lens bracelet orders. Done with that! Now off back to the venue. This time I walked around the other side of the venue and tried to enter through the main entrance, where all the kids entered through. I showed them my laminate. They said that I could go in but they had to search my bag. I told them that they didn’t have to search my bag, I was on the tour. They said yes they did. I told them they wouldn’t be searching my bag. They said they would be and called the police to come over. I told them okay, I will go around. I wish security would understand the rules every day. I turned around and walked the other way, around the corner about 200 feet and then into the catering entrance. Done deal.

Right outside of the venue there was a large battle ship on the water. I shot Every Time I Die in this location two years ago, during Warped Tour.

 

I returned to the bus to cool off. By the time I got back it had to be about noon, and the sun was hot, again. I was sweating and needed a few minutes to sit down. A photographer from the UK by the name of Ashley was there. I said hey to him. I remembered helping him out with a shoot at a venue on the first day of tour in Europe when I was with A Day To Remember. He didn’t remember me at all. Understandable, I have met people that I don’t remember the next time. But I think I remember everyone that has helped me out for longer than 10 minutes. Oh well it happens. I tried to talk with him, but he wouldn’t even give me the time of day. It became clear to me that this guy didn’t want anything to do with me. Either that, or I wasn’t reading him correctly. Maybe he was busy thinking about setting up his shoot with Bring Me The Horizon, or maybe he was worn out from a long flight in from Europe. I am not quite sure what happened. I’ll forget about it this time and see what happens next time around, as the first time I met him he was very nice. Everyone has off days. Bring Me The Horizon‘s manager, Matt Ash was also there that day- he would be riding with them for a few days.

I went to catering and hung out with Brian Buckley and The Downtown Fiction guys for a bit. Steve Van Dorn, the owner of Vans was in the catering area serving waffles he was cooking fresh, on a stick with ice cream.

This is awesome, I have never heard of this. There were three flavors of ice cream that were anything but normal. I forgot which one I had, but it was yummy. On my way back to the buses I ran into Mike Posner, he was walking by with a camera crew. I never really know how to approach an incoming camera crew. Chances are he was filming for some behind the scenes kind of deal and I didn’t want to interrupt. The next thing I know he is walking up to me. What the hell? He just wanted to say hey, and then walked off. I can’t get over how nice that guy is, I have never met someone as nice as him unless they were on MDMA or something. I am not saying he does drugs, he is just a very nice human.

Back in bus world Sheep was sitting on a chain in the bus’s shade getting a really nice hair cut from a sweet lady.

I figured should probably go scouting for my shoot with Bring Me The Horizon I was supposed to do around sunset- right after their set ended. I did a good walk around the venues surrounding area for half an hour, but there was nothing very close. It took me a bit but I eventually found Mike from Pierce The Veil and asked him if I could borrow his bike. It was a little big on me, but I used it earlier for that Parkway Drive shoot and it worked out alright. I usually have to sit on the top frame bar, then put my foot in the pedal and sorta hoist myself up. Camera bag over my shoulder, I walked my bike from bus world, past the main stage and out a side entrance of the venue. I did my little hoist up gig to get on the seat, but on my way up a small hole in my pants that was located right in-between my legs got caught on the seat and the seat slid in and tore the hole a little bit bigger. Man, what kind of bad luck was this? I don’t think I have ever gotten a hole in my pants and thought “damn, I hope that doesn’t get caught on my bike seat when I try to get on it”. But from now on I will. I got off the bike and hopped back on a little more carefully. Mike’s bike was really fast, really really fast. I felt like I was invincible and fast. I cruised around the local neighborhood with my camera in hand doing drive by shootings of various boarders up buildings and blank walls. Drive by shootings- now I fit in. The band had requested a blank wall to shoot against, and I was determined to find it. I rode around for about forty minutes. During this time I realized that this place was a lot more ghetto than I had previously thought. So many closed down buildings, broken down cars, and there were even kids playing in one of those busted up fire hydrants.

I felt like I was on a movie set this was all so stereotypical. I avoided a few roads that looked too shady, and tried to hide my camera at times as well. I wish I knew someone from the area so they could tell me if I was being too safe, and just acting like a sheltered white kid- or if I was handling this correctly. Either way, better safe than dead. I rode around in the streets on the other side of the venue and eventually ended up going in by the main entrance again.

Bring Me The Horizon was getting ready, and a few minutes before their set Sheep mentioned that we were probably going to have to cancel the shoot for today, and reschedule for tomorrow. Oh well, it happens. I got a cool tour of the city as well! I watched the guys play and shot around a bunch. Their UK photographer, Ashley, was there shooting live so I tried to stay out of his way as much as I could. I had weeks left on this tour, he had minutes left to get his shots- he definitely has priority.

 

 

After their set I headed back to the bus but on my way back to the bus I heard a girl voice yelling at me- I turned around and on the other side of the fence (inside the venue) there was a girl who wanted to get a picture with me. She wanted to do it through the fence but I thought that was to weird. I walked around the fence and we
nt into the venue to speak with her. She introduced herself as Maria and we spoke for a quick minute, took a picture with her, and then I had to head off.

I made a quick pit stop at Bring Me The Horizon‘s bus to talk to Oli about some shoot stuff. When I was getting on the bus a crazy lady stopped me and asked if she could come in to see Oli, or if I could have him come out. I told her I didn’t know where he was and got on the bus. What the hell? I am gonna quote Mr. Chapelle here and say that she looked like a crackhead who got ahold of the wrong shit. She had her kid with her as well but she didn’t seem nearly as desperate as her mom was to meet Oli. I don’t really understand parents like this. Isn’t there a point in life where you go from crazy fan to respectable guardian? I guess the crackhead aspect might play into this a little bit. I shut the sliding door on my way out of the bus that blocked the window from the front lounge, then walked off the bus. She approached me again and told me about how she knew Oli and something else I couldn’t really understand her- I just kept walking.

I met up with the Pierce The Veil dudes and loaded my gear into their trailer- it was time to go back to the Pierce The Veil bus! Home sweet home. They were discussing on going into the city that night, and invited me along. I was hesitant as I wanted to get a haircut. But what was I thinking? Of course I’ll go to Philadelphia! I can get a haircut anywhere and anyway. I hung around with them, had a beer, and we all walked over the trolley station that was in the middle of the venue.

 

 

Bring Me The Horizon was last or second to last to play that day, so a good amount of the kids were already heading home. The trolley station had a bunch of kids there. Pierce The Veil got mobbed with photo requests and items to sign. We purchased our tickets from a machine and boarded the trolley. Halfway through the ride there was a fight in the trolley car behind us. Classic! Trolley car brawl.

We hopped off the trolley and then learned that we also had a to take a train. Bummer, more traveling. Off the trolley, buy a train ticket, down the steps to board the train. We had some time to kill so we took some quick press shots of a band that will never exist, and played some Cee-lo.


The train ride was very short, and we got off about a twenty minute walk or so from our destination- Jim’s, a famous Philly cheese steak restaurant.

It was beautiful out, the air had cooled now that the sun had set. A great conclusion to a hot sweaty day. Our crew was pretty big, maybe twelve of us? However many of us there were, we stuck out a little bit in Philly, or at least the area we were in. When I say we, I mean Mike mostly, because he was tatted up like never before. I am used to tattoos, I don’t really even notice them anymore. When I was younger my dad brought me up with the mindset that tattoos were not a good thing- and I associated tattoos with trouble. Now that I am older, and tattoos are a very common occurrence with my job, I have become use to it all. The same couldn’t be said for area of Philly we were in. As we walked down the sidewalk, there had to be at least five people that said something along the lines of “Damn this guy all tatted the fuck out”. I laughed each time, love it! People rule. The street was crowded with people, drinking, smoking, having fun. Philly smells like something stuffed it in their armpit and then burned thousands of gallons of fuel across into their air, so gross. But the atmosphere ruled. When we arrived at Jim’s, it was packed. There was a long line for Philly cheese steaks. I however, do not like them- so I got a tuna sandwich. The guys gave me a hard time for it, but it tasted good. I only ate half of it and stuck the other half in Mai’s purse.

We walked across the street to a bar and hung out. I was 21 now, no more having to use Vic Fuentes’ ID. I could legitimately get into bars! Amazing. We went in and I purchased a Sierra Nevada, my favorite. It was pretty packed, but nothing too wild. I went upstairs with Casey and Nick and found a spot on the corner to hang. A few of the guys played pool for a bit and then we headed back downstairs to patio area. A few of the guys are smokers, so hanging out outside makes more sense. It was nice out as well, and not as loud. We hung out for a few hours and talked about whatever it is we talked about.

I was ready to leave and Mai was on the fence about it. Her and I went towards the door, and while we were deciding what to do, found an iTunes machine and purchased a Pierce The Veil song, but it didn’t come on. So we purchased it, three more times. But it never came on, I was confused, not quite sure how the machine works. Anyway, I grabbed my sandwich out of Mai’s bag and it had spilled all over her stuff. Oops, probably the worst thing to have spill all over your purse, Tuna Fish. I felt so terrible. I grabbed some napkins and helped her minimize the damages. the bouncer by he door saw I had a tuna sandwich in my hands and said I had to take it outside. I went outside and set it on top of a trashcan and then walked back inside. Mai decided she didn’t want to head out, but I was exhausted, I couldn’t stay any longer- that one beer wore me out. I snagged my sandwich on the way out and flagged down a taxi on the corner. My driver didn’t speak English very well but I eventually got my destination across to him. It was a nice ride, I rolled my window down and took in the polluted, but fresh air. We crossed a bridge on the way to the city, but the windows on the train/trolley made it hard to see. On the way back I could see it was beautiful. I like the nighttime in big cities, especially when there isn’t too much traffic.

My taxi fee was something like fifteen bucks, not too bad. By the time I got back to bus world I felt like I had gotten a second burst of energy. I went on the bus and gathered my camera gear. All of Warped Tour was parting tonight in bus world. The Tiki bar was set up, there were beer pong tables going, cornhole, pin pong, some frisbee game, a poker match, and a handful of dance parties. It was so dark I could barely grab any images.

I walked around and talked with a few different people for a few minutes. For some reason I was really anxious, more than usual, and I couldn’t really get any words out right- which led to some awkward conversations. I tried my best to stay light on my feet and snag as many images as I could before getting stopped. It was like a video game in real life, or like real life was a video game. Either way, I was dodging folk left and right. Hopefully I can grab a more professional body soon so that the lack of light isn’t so much of a factor into the quality of my images.

I went back to the bus about twenty minutes later and hung out in the back lounge, downloading images and relaxing. There was this AC vent in the back lounge of our bus that was brutal. It blew out cold air from above, right into the middle of the very back bench. When I say blow, I mean leaf blower blow- once your body got done cooling off from the heat outside, this thing made you feel like you were in a frigid wind tunnel. When I would work on images, it would get my right shoulder if I didn’t stay pressed up against the left wall. I became very good friends with that left wall as I had a good amount of computer work to do every few days.

Partied with the guys for a little bit, I was stoked to be back home. Bed time for me.

July 17th, 2010 (day 23)
Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum
Uniondale, New York

I woke up and immediately thought “gotta find wall for Bring Me The Horizon“. I stepped off the bus to another hot morning, of course.. I remember this venue from two years ago- it was an arena parking lot. No walls whatsoever. The only possibility I could find was a loading dock rig the busses that went underground, but it was slanted and they wanted to stand up against a wall- not going to happen. I texted sheep the news and he said no worries, we will figure it out.

I went back to the bus and watched a movie for a little bit as I woke up. Jaime, Casey and one other person- maybe Tony? I don’t remember, were all headed to Chipotle. I wanted to go! So I did, it was just outside of the parking lot. It seemed very close, but it actually took us a good ten minutes to get there. I am not saying that is a long walk, but I thought it would take three minutes. I got a burrito for myself and then two to-go. One for You Me At Six‘s tour manager, and another for someone else on Pierce The Veil‘s crew, I forget.

There was a liquor store right next to Chipotle, so we went there next. The guys gotta have their drinks! If I drank as much as they did I would die. They don’t really drink a lot, they just drink very often. This isn’t a very uncommon thing to happen on tour, a lot of people drink. I used to see signs for AA meetings around Warped Tour– which was awesome, although I am not sure if they have that anymore.

The guys had press pretty early, I went along with them. By this time I had gotten in the habit of making some bracelet / business card combos and setting them at the press table when possible. I laid a few down and went back to stalking Pierce The Veil. They had a few interviews first, and then moved onto a quick photo shoot. I liked watching their photo shoots, it was interesting to see what other photographers did with them.

I ran into Jess Deflorio very briefly while at the press area. Unfortunately that was the last I saw of him- he was a busy guy! You know that image I showed you of Pierce The Veil sitting on the grass, at the start of this blog? That was shot at this venue. That was my first time really getting to hang with them, and they were really nice to me. I think our shoot took fifteen minutes, but it was rad and I was stoked they agreed to shoot with me- otherwise I might have never met them!

I walked with Pierce The Veil to their set that day. Roger was back for a second day because he had a reschedule his shoot with Parkway Drive. So I kicked it with him backstage for a little bit while he had some free time before his shoot. He mentioned he was having trouble finding a location and I felt bad for him, this was a very boring area, not many places to shoot. I did Pierce The Veils intro, and shot their set.

 

 

For a snack I ate a bunch of these free Pirates Booty samples they were handing out. Man those things are delicious. I went back to the bus and Mike said he wanted some. I showed him the stash and this time they made us take pictures holding the booty. We held them and pointed at our asses, a little play on words there- cute right? Nothing is ever as free as I want it to be! By dinner time I was starving, I had to get some food. I purchased catering and grabbed a seat inside to eat. I randomly ran into Ian from Hopeless Records there. I always see him around. I like to think of it as a big coincidence, but it’s really not- we practically work at the same office, venues.

I had a quick photo shoot with You Me At Six at around 6:00 for Glamour Kills clothing. They just needed a bunch of candid shots of the guys, I met them at their bus around 5:50 and made sure they were all good to go. Kyle, Michael, and John from Glamour Kills were there as well to make sure we got all the shots we needed. I gave the You Me At Six dudes a little rundown of what we would shooting, and directed them to walk slowly and follow me for a bit. We started off by walking in-between two busses and eventually past all the other buses. At one point of another some of the guys grabbed their bikes and skate boards. We kept walking and eventually came to an opening in the lot. For some reason they let a bunch of kids backstage so I had to be the asshole to tell them to buzz off for a bit while the band apologized. Gotta get my job done! I shot a few images of the guys riding back and forth on their skateboards/ bikes and then moved over to a wall/ bench setting and grabbed a few more images of them hanging out. We had to finish quickly because Josh, the vocalist of You Me At Six, had to make it over to Bring Me The Horizon‘s set to sing guest vocals for them during one song on stage.

I packed up my gear and headed over to shoot Bring Me The Horizon‘s set- always fun to watch. I think I could watch their set and Pierce The Veil‘s set everyday…oh yea, I did.

July 18th, 2010 (day 24)
Monmouth Park Racetrack
Oceanport, New Jersey

I woke up to a medical team of some sorts setting up mobile medical facility that looked like something out of the end of the movie ET. I walked past them and into the venue to go grab breakfast. I went over to press and laid out some bracelets, Manny from Closure In Moscow was helping out with press so I talked with him for a bit. He’s a really cool dude, he’s the one who introduced me to five fingers shoes, which I now wear religiously. I don’t even like religion.

I hung out on the bus for awhile as it was very hot, and scouted some of the surrounding areas quickly. Nothing really in the area, we were basically in a big parking lot/ field area with a horse track right next to us.

By the time I was ready to go out and start shooting the first band had started to play- The Rocket Summer was on first, with Ace Enders to follow. What a great way to start a day.

I went over to the Altec stage and Emmure had just started playing. But they were one member short- what the hell? Their guitarist Jesse was on drums, and their drummer was nowhere to be seen. I guess he went home before the show and got caught in traffic- classic! late to work.

I did Pierce The Veils intro for them that day and gave a few girls some bracelets that were in the front row. I think I gave them some, or maybe I had run out- I can’t remember. Either way I talked to them after the set as well! I am still getting used to this whole people recognizing me thing. It’s a funny concept in my opinion. See someone online, then find them in real life, and scream at them- but I guess the camera is sort of a give away.

To main stage for Bring Me The Horizons set!

I went to hang at the merch booth with Trex for a bit and hung out with him there. We passed the ET medical zone on the way there, they had literally built up a station, it had to five rooms big with AC running comfortably through the whole facility. I grabbed a seat on the street curb by the Pierce The Veil‘s mech. Trex had a squirt gun that he was filling with ice cold water and shooting at people as they walked by. For the most part everyone took it well- after all we were at Warped Tour. It was a sweat fest of people running around for eight hours in the sun.

A little ice water couldn’t hurt? Well for one manly dude it could. He got pissed and came over and said some colorful words, Trex responded a little more maturely, but basically told him he was going to squirt anyone he wanted. I laughed, this wasn’t my fight. The guy glared at us like a bull for the next ten minutes. I was afraid he was going to charge, dude was angry. Trex and I walked to Pierce The Veil‘s bus for a bit and relaxed, hot day, very hot day. We took a quick group shot right outside the bus as everyone had a free moment. Except for Mai, where the hell was Mai at? Not sure! I set my camera up on my light stand and triggered it wirelessly.

I prepared my gear for a shoot with Bring Me The Horizon I had around sunset. It took me two trips to drag it all over to their bus, which was through the crowd and on the other side of the venue. They guys were finishing up their meal, and as soon as they were done we were to meet up with the Warped Tour employed runner. He and his van were waiting around the corner for us. Well, we didn’t know he was around the corner. According to his directions he was on the other side of the venue… we searched around the venue for a good 10 minutes, and eventually found him right next to the bus. We were rushed as the sun was setting relatively soon and we had to drive a little ways.

I had google mapped a general area that I wanted to do the shoot in, but I didn’t have my exact locations locked in. We unloaded the van a few feet from the beach and everyone but me hung out on the sand for a bit.

I had some searching to do! I went for a quick five minute jog around the area to try and find a solid wall to shoot against. Everything was private property or fenced off, rough. Across the street there was a strip mall, and behind the ice cream shop there was a giant blank wall. Works for me! I ran back to the beach and told the guys to follow me. A quick three minute walk to the wall and we set up camp. Everyone had to change clothes, and I had to set up. At one point an employee came out back, and what a sight to see on their part. Five foreign dudes, tatted up, half naked, changing their clothes, in their back alley, while I was setting up a camera and the Sheep was sleeping on their wall.

They asked what we were doing, someone told them a gay porn video. I quickly corrected and said we were just setting up to take some quick photos and we would be out in a few minutes. I didn’t want to get kicked out before we even started!

After I was all set up, I took some directions from Oli and tried to create what he was envisioning on my camera. It wasn’t happening. He borrowed my camera and had me stand in for him. He then proceeded to shoot a few shots of me with the rest of the band. His images showed me exactly what he wanted, and exactly why I could never be the front man of a band, or in a band at all. Not that I want to be, but now I know that it’s not a possibility at all.

We shot around for a bit and finished up within fifteen minutes- had to hurry as we had one more location to shoot. The image from the wall ended up being used for almost all of their new album press.

Here is the image on the cover of a magazine.

I broke down my gear, and lugged it back to the beach, set it up again and we shot away. The sun fell below the horizon as we began shooting and we only got four shots in, one that was a keeper. I love the image, but it never got released, and I don’t know if it ever will. Hopefully.

The guys said they wanted ice cream, and I told them I would get it for them- so off to the ice cream shop for us as we waited for the taxis. On our way to the ice cream place to random girls from the area saw us while driving by, parked, and got out to talk to the guys. They weren’t even really stoked to see their band, but they had one friend who was obsessed with them, so they put him on the phone and had Oli speak with him. They followed us to the ice cream shop and told us a little bit about the area we were in. The ice cream shop was packed with about fifteen locals, and then the seven of us, plus the two girls. I should have snapped a picture of the ice cream shop scene but it totally slipped my mind.

I found that shooting on Warped Tour became harder and harder as the tour went on. My mind became cluttered and cloudy after about two weeks of being on the tour, and by the third week thinking was more than just an ordinary task. I was drained in every which way and I just wanted a few days to myself, which isn’t really possible on Warped.

After we were done we taxied back to the venue and somewhere throughout the night it came up that Bring Me The Horizon needed some images of the guys laying down in a hotel room for a merch item. This meant I was going to be riding with Bring Me The Horizon again, and spending my day off with them- at Six Flags, and then doing the shoot that night.

Warped Tour BBQ, dance party, people hanging, my head was on overload, I passed out early in the back lounge while people were still up hanging out. I tried my best to stay up, but I really just couldn’t do it.

July 19th, 2010 (day 25)
Six Flags
Bowie, Maryland

Six Flags was still a rather new excitement for me- something I had never experienced before. I woke up in the morning ready to go on rides and for a little bit of an adrenaline rush. I had to send out all of the You Me At Six images that day so I let them upload on the bus while we went to the park. I forget who I was traveling with but the first ride we went on was called The Joker, it looked like a yarn ball made of steal. It started out by launching you straight forward on a track and then shooting you up a ramp and around a serious of twists, turns, and loops. I don’t really know what happened, but it was amazing. I did a ride where we had to lay on our back and it eventually flipped you over and made you feel like you were diving into the cement, blowing my mind. Four Year Strong played an acoustic show that day in one section of the park, so we went down and supported them.

It was another hot day so logically we went to the water rides second to cool down. First stop was the wave pool. There we so many life guards frequently blowing their whistles I couldn’t handle it, neither could anyone I was with. We ditched the wave pool and went down a few water slides. They hurt, but they were fun. Water slide are my favorite.

After we were done at the park we all went for dinner at a nearby Applebee’s. We were parked right next to Whitechapel and Set Your Goals, but they went out to eat at different restaurants.

I spoke with Sheep at the meal about when we should do the shoot, he said that night after they went to see a movie would be a good time. The movie was ending at 1:00am-ish, and It was 9:00pm at that time. I had a few hours to set up still, but Sheep mentioned that the guys still need classic pajamas for the photo shoot. Shit, time to get to work. I map searched a few local Wal-Marts, but the closer one was closing at 10:00pm so I would have to hurry. I left dinner in the middle and called a cab company. They said they would be at the Applebee’s in twenty minutes, perfect. Well, it would have been perfect but they took an hour- so we had to drive fifteen minutes to a Wal-Mart down the highway. My driver was actually not very nice this time around- usually they are, but this guy sucked. He took me to the Wal-Mart and I asked him to wait for me, and that I would pay for his time. After all, he is going to have to drive back into the city again to find someone, he might as well drive me and make some money. We got in some kind of argument, I don’t remember the specifics but it revolved around the fact that I didn’t want to spend money and he wanted my weeks pay to wait for five minutes. I went inside to grab some clothes. It was a Wal-Mart all right, huge, well lit, and full of a bunch of junk I would never usually purchase. Only this one was extra ghetto, very messy and dirty. I was stressing, I had to find these clothes, get back in the cab, back to the hotel and set everything up. They didn’t really have them, they had a few but all the sizes were too big or short sleeved. I needed pants and long sleeves.

I ended up getting a bunch of different clothes. It cost me about $120 in total, not too bad, but definitely not how I envisioned spending $120 bucks. I got back in the cab and he took my back to the buses. I tried to pay with credit card but he told me there was a ridiculous fee for it, so I had to run in and find $10 more bucks to pay off my $60 cab fee. Bring Me wasn’t at their bus, Set Your Goals wasn’t in their- so I walked on Whitechapel‘s. I was anxious, sweaty, stressing and just wanted to find this money so this cab driver would leave already. Bret was nice enough to lend me $10 bucks so I could pay him. He gave me a receipt and drove off.

Now time to shoot! I got all my gear and walked about ten minutes to the hotel with it, loaded it into the elevator and started setting up in the hotel room. I had to prepare a set where the guys could appear like they were laying in a bed. I broke apart both of the beds and moved the frames and box springs against the wall. I tossed the blankets, sheets, and pillows in the shower and put the other mattress in the middle of the floor

For light I boomed one Alien Bee, shot it through an octabox directly over the mattress for main. I had another Alien Bee bouncing off a wall for an overall fill. After I had all my lights set up I set their clothes out and de-tagged everything, so it was ready to go. I was feeling pretty tired so I made some hot chocolate mixed with coffee and started chugging it. I lit up like magic- caffeine rules when used strategically. My plan was to shoot them in about twelve different shots, and then stitch them all together.I had my camera on the end of my mono pod so that I could move and fire it wirelessly while holding it directly over them. All in all I probably set up for about three hours, it seems like it wouldn’t be a lot of work, but it was. By 2:00am I texted Sheep- “Where are you guys?” He texted me back ” can’t do it, going to have to reschedule”. I was skeptical that if we shot at night that this might happen, but I didn’t think it would really happen. I was bummed, I was exhausted. I slowly started packing up all my gear and didn’t even think about putting the room back together. Man I wish I could have seen the look on the maid’s face the second she walked in that room. There is no logical explanation for the room looking how it did. I rolled all my stuff out to the bus, opened the trailer and put it inside. It was about 3:20am by now but I couldn’t sleep yet because of the caffeine. I went and sat down on a curb and called my girlfriend- I was having a rough time and pretty bummed our that I invested so much time and money into a learning experience. Sorry to get emo on your here, but I felt really alone- everyone was asleep, the parking lot was empty, it was pitch black out and I didn’t really have anywhere to go. Everyone needs a good talking to sometimes, and this was one of those times.

I got to bed around 4:30am and slept really well, long day, but man I was ready to go home.

July 20th, 2010 (day 26)
Merriweather Post Pavillion
Columbia, Maryland

 

I woke up and immediately started walking around looking for Whitechapel‘s bus. I had to switch over that day and then I would be riding/ shooting them for the next four days. I didn’t know their bus number, so I went bus to bus looking at the band names on the merch boxes until I found theirs. At one point I walked onto the wrong bus, I forget exactly whose it was, but they knew I didn’t belong. I walked off. It took me about forty minutes to find it, as they were back in a corner almost in a separate area. I climbed on and connected with the tour manager to figure out where I would be sleeping and where I should keep my stuff. Evan Pierri is their tour manager, and man is he a rad guy. I always used to get him confused with the guys from Four Year Strong because they are all 25ish year old dudes with a lot of facial hair. He actually used to work for them so my mix up makes a little more sense now. For Whitechapel‘s bus I would be sleeping in the back lounge, and keeping my backpack and laptop up in the front lounge on a chair. In reality I ended up sleeping in the front lounge because one of the guys slept in the back lounge every night. No worries! As long as it’s comfy like a couch I am set.

I didn’t really know the Whitechapel guys all that well. I had done two shoots with them, and hung out with Zach for a few days because I stayed with him when I shot them. But other then that this was my first time really getting to know them. It’s weird how it works out, but the heaviest bands on stage are usually the chillest ones off stage. I think we watched The Dave Chapel show for two hours on the bus before heading to their signing. I have never really watched the Chapel Show because I have never had cable, but it’s pretty funny, and the guys loved it.

Josh was driving for Whitechapel, he used to tour manager Mayday Parade back in the day. I met him on the “Man Whores and Open Sores” tour about three years ago, and have seen him around doing various jobs ever since. During the drive the night before they had hit something going under a bridge and it clear broke off his roof AC unit on top of the bus. He was having a rough day, but it was nice being able to hang with him again

My friend Etay was coming to the show that day, he was pals with some of the dudes on the tour. I hadn’t seen him for a few months so we tried to meet up, but both of our day’s schedules were different and we never crossed paths. I did the usual, walked around, shot, snagged some food when I could, and talked with random folk. The hike from the buses was unusually long that day. There were two ways you could go, one seemed like a nature walk from the fourth grade, and the other was one of the entrances the kids went in through. Going in where the kids enter through is always rough, cause, like before, the security guards never really know what to do. So I just stuck to the wilderness adventure for the day.

I actually remember this venue from a few years ago because it was the first time I realized what weed could really do to you. For almost all of my high school career, I never really smoked it, I don’t like smoking stuff. And I guess I had the assumption that it gets you to a certain point, and then you are there- stuck at that level of “being high” – but that’s not the case. Two years ago I had two cameras, the 20D and the 5D, and on Warped Tour I often carried them both around with me. So I was sitting in the back lounge of a band’s bus, and they were smoking out of a bong. I decided to give it a go, I hit it a total three times and by the time I tried getting off their bus my whole world was spinning. I was so confused, I felt like an old blind man trying to get off the bus. My cameras kept clanking together and I couldn’t think straight. All I could think was, what the hell did I just do? I went looking for my van I was riding in at the time, and it was locked so I started knocking on the window so that the people inside would let me in. They must have been so confused, it was the wrong van. I scurried away in embarrassment and grabbed a seat under a nearby trees shade. I laid on my back and called one of my friends cause I was so confused. But yea, that’s why I remember this venue.

During the day I had a meeting with Oli to discuss the images we shot, and which ones he liked the most. We figured out how they were to be edited and what else we would still need to shoot. The band was figuring out what masters they like the best from their album and it was much too loud for me so I had to relocate after the meeting.

Towards the end of the day I followed Whitechapel to their stage. They were a larger band, six members in total- so getting them all in one shot while on stage was quite a task. Whitechapel is a very heavy band, one of the heaviest I have ever toured with.

That being said, their fans go crazy, and beat the shit out of each other. Not so much at Warped Tour because the crowds are quite young…..

….but their club tours must be insane. They lucked out and had to play during Bring Me The Horizon‘s set time. That was sarcasm. This meant there were not going to be a lot of people at their set- on the plus side, the people that were there, were going to be their true fans. They finished a few minutes before Bring Me The Horizon, so I headed over to their stage and grabbed an image of Oli and his father.

By the time Bring Me The Horizon‘s set had finished it was getting dark out so I headed back to the bus and hung out for a bit. I was in a pretty chill mood as it had been a rough few days. The whole tour was rough, but the past few days were a little more than usual.

Man, it was a whole different atmosphere on this bus, perfect timing too.

July 21st, 2010 (day 27)
Virginia Beach Amphitheater
Virginia Beach, Virginia

 

I woke up about 20 minutes before we found a parking spot. I was sleeping front lounge so got up and went and sat next to Josh and spoke with him. I always feel like I need to be up early when I sleep front lounge, because that’s where everyone hangs out, and I don’t want to be in the way. I got out of the bus and man was it sunny, I was squinting for the next 10 minutes at least. Sierra of VersaEmerge was sitting in a box right outside of our bus, texting up a storm.

I got some fruit for breakfast and then back to the bus. I shot The Rocket Summer as he got bumped up to the main stage that day- they were short main stage bands.

While I was on stage I thought I was going crazy, I kept hearing my name, like someone was yelling it. But each time I would look around there would be no one there. When I got off stage and entered into the crowd, two young girls came running up to me yelling. I jolted a little bit cause I was startled and then they calmed down and asked to take a picture with me. They also mentioned they were yelling my name while I was on stage. That explains it. Girls you are making me think I am going insane!

I met up with Josh Lopez and hung out with him that day. He is a photographer from the area who I had met at Bamboozle when I needed gear last minute. Basically he saved my ass before, and now we hang out whenever I am in the area.

I followed Whitehcapel around that day, much like I did for Pierce The Veil when I was with them.

Whitechapel‘s crew had a great idea of shooting images of them to look like the Whitechapel press images I shot for them. I set up might lights in front of the bus and shot a few images for them. Her are the two images next to each other, just so you can see how similar they are.

After I shot them a few of the guys from Pierce The Veil wanted some pictures taken of them, so I shot away. I couldn’t afford to do this all night because for every image taken, that’s another image I have to edit. After I shot the Pierce The Veil crew I tore down my lighting and packed it up.
The Whitechapel guys requested new sheets and mattress covers for their bunks. Josh told another driver to get them for him when he went to the store and he brought back cartoon character themed sheets and covers. It was awesome, heavy metal guys that wear black all day sleeping in bright pink princess sheets. Amazing.

July 22nd, 2010 (day 28)
Verizon Wireless Amphitheater Charlotte
Charlotte, North Carolina

I woke up to another concrete wilderness of hot and humid, Charlotte, North Carolina. I had been to this venue two years ago, it was my first date I ever did on People Of Warped Tour– and now I was back. I didn’t even realize it at first- but after a walk around I thought “oh I recognize this place”. Then I remembered that they had a Bojangles’ trailer that was selling it in the venue. Amazing, Bojangles’ had some delicious southern fast food. Only, it was nowhere to be found this year. I like to think I didn’t just miss it, and it wasn’t there, but I might have missed it.
My assignment for the day was to come up with concepts for the next Bring Me The Horizon shoot. I had my sketch book but I couldn’t think of anything. I always liked Kolby Schnelli‘s concepts, and he usually inspired me a good amount via Flickr. I traveled over to Confide‘s merch table where he was working and sat down with him. He helped me brainstorm ideas and got my creative juices flowing. We didn’t really end up coming with much. We hung out for awhile and tried to snap pictures for People Of Warped Tour– which was basically us just following around ridiculously dressed people with our cell phones. After a bit we went and got lunch together. I didn’t have anyway of getting catering but I helped him get food for the band and such.

I hung around Warped with Pierce The Veil, and snapped some pictures of Whitechapel‘s signing. I eventually made my way to their stage to shoot their set. My goal was to try and vary my shots as much as I could in the four days I had to shoot them. I shot them before the set, getting their guitars on, line checking, wetting their hair, drinking water, and stuff of that sort.

After shooting from the stage for a few songs I made my way back to the sound booth, stood up on the barrier and sniped images of them with my 70-200mm, crowd shots with the 17-40mm.

 

 

After their set was over I walked back to the bus with Alex and Phil, took photos, nothing too wild. I went over to catering to eat some leftovers for half price as I was starving by this point in the day. Food was one of the hardest things for me on Warped Tour. I could never quite get enough of it. I can’t even imagine what it’s going to be like next year now that my eating habit’s have changed. I am not really vegan, as I will have cheese once or twice a month a salad- but, other than that I am. I don’t eat fake meat or soy anything, so next year is going to be very rough.

On my way back from catering I stopped by Sum 41‘s set and introduced myself to their tour manager. His name was Chris Holland and he was a beast of a human, perfect for being a tour manger. I had connected with him via text/ e-mail prior, but I wanted to say hey and make sure we were still good for the next day. I had to shoot them for Alternative Press and he was who I arranged everything through. He was real nice and said yes we were still a go for the tomorrow

On my way back to the buses from catering I somehow ended up talking to a guy that introduced himself as Randy. I didn’t know who he was at first but turns out that he was the bassist Pennywise– awesome, they have been around forever. They had just hopped on the tour a few days earlier- so we talked about how it was going so far and such. Warped Tour is different than other tours because bands hop on and off throughout the whole thing. The majority of the bands that are either going to leave or hop on do so at the halfway mark of the tour.

Towards the end of our walk we passed Oli of Bring Me The Horizon and he looked at me with wide eyes and whisper yelled “Oh my god is that Oli of Bring Me The Horizon” – I kid you not. Now to put this in perspective- Randy is probably in his mid 30’s, and doesn’t look like the kind of man I would ever hear say “OMG”- but he just did. I laughed, I thought he was mocking Oli, but he was still looking at me, waiting for an answer. I responded “Yes, why do you ask?” He said that a few days ago he was watching them play on main stage and kids were going ape shit for them, and he didn’t know anything about them- but he thought it was awesome. He explained that he had researched the band and figured out who they were and how they came to be who they are. He also explained to me that every band has their time to be big, and most keep going even after their buzz dies down, they just have smaller crowds. He told me that that used to be how his band was, huge crowds, kids going crazy, and now he was stoked to see what younger kids were into these days. He said ” I didn’t know cookie monster vocals were in”. Most older bands that have gotten progressively smaller over the years tend to give all of the young and much larger bands a really hard time. It’s depressing to see. Everyone is out on the tour just trying to have a good time and make a living. Then you have these people- that are supposed to be role models, yelling at all of the musicians that look up to them. But Randy got it, he acknowledged that Bring Me The Horizon was the big band this year, and that was awesome, he was stoked for them. I respected Randy, he gave me hope in the older guys on Warped Tour that I am usually afraid to even approach as I feel like they would not want anything to do with me.

 

 

Sometimes when we plan to make these stops after Warped Tour we would drive for an hour first before stopping. If we were to stop at the first Wal-Mart we could find, everyone would be there. The tour would clog up Wal-Marts as they only have one or two employes work around midnight. It’s like a party though, you walk around, buy some waffles, see a friend, purchase some deodorant, see your tour manager, and then get a t-shirt. It’s like living in a really small town with one bar, every time you’re there you are going to see someone you know. I got some toothpaste, a toothbrush, new shirts, and a few bananas. The gas station was even worse, there was a subway there with a line of about 15 people that were all from warped. I decided to get a sandwich there, which I seldom do- but I was hungry. I waited in line, and got cheese and tuna on my sandwich, and then I wanted cucumbers. That’s all, three toppings, but they didn’t have one of the three so I walked back out to the bus. The dude working there was pretty pissed but I can’t pay for a sandwich that is only 2/3’s complete. At least that is the way if clicks in my head.

I waited up in the front lounge for everyone to go to bed and then I eventually fell asleep.

July 23th, 2010 (day 29)
Vinoy Park
St. Petersburg, Florida

I woke up to an ocean, we were right on the coast. You think it would be a blast waking up in a different place every day, and don’t get me wrong- it us. But on Warped Tour, it’s waking up in a different parking lot every day. This change of scenery was long overdue. The pouring rain that day however, that we could have done without. Good ol’ Florida, living up to your ridiculous amount of rain. The air smelled of sulfur, I could almost taste it in my mouth we were so close. I walked over to catering and started scouting spots for my Sum 41 shoot. Shoot them by the water, simple enough, this would be fun. Chris hit me up and said we were going to cancel and reschedule for the next day. I forget why, but we were. Works for me, the rain was really starting to come down by 10:00amish and I was alright with not having to shoot in it. As soon as there was a steady downpour of rain I went back to the bus and took off everything but my shorts, and threw my rain cover on my camera case. Waterproof motha fucka! Aside from the rocky/ sand roads that were now more like rocky spiky roads as the sand washed away, I was invincible. You can’t get something wet, that can’t really get wet. The only downside was that it was a little chilly out. The rain hit my back and I would cringe, it gave me the chills! I was just hoping I wouldn’t get sick.
Alex Shell-nuts, and James all arrived a little after noon. I met up with them and hung out. I hadn’t seen everyone in forever, this was awesome! that’s one thing I love about Warped Tour, everyone comes out to hang, and there is time to hang- we had all day to kill. wanted to park inside the venue so I walked with him back to his car and we drove his car in with my laminate. Back to Pierce The Veil‘s bus to hang by the trailer. They had set up a tent that they were all sitting in chairs under to stay dry, kickin’ it. If you couldn’t fit under the tent, there was always room in the trailer. Mike actually had a nice comfy chair in the trailer, because they had to take it out of the front lounge of the bus.

Somewhere along the way Pierce The Veil‘s AC broke, so they purchased a floor AC unit that connected to a window, and it took up a good chunk of space in the front lounge. I had never quite seen anything like it, but if it works for them it works for me. I went inside the bus to hang out for a bit. The cold air did not feel good on my wet exposed skin. Brrr. I eventually headed over to Whitechapel‘s stage to shoot their set.

I eventually ended up on the bus and to my surprise, Jeremy, Kevin and Tom were all there hanging. Awesome, I hadn’t seen the A Day To Remember guys in forever. Tom had gotten INVINCIBLE tattooed on his head and he was still as crazy as he was before.

Went back outside, hung out, came back inside, hung around. Soon after came on the bus and said “Dude you left your camera in the chair, and it had a puddle of rain surrounding it” Me “Shit”. I checked to see if it worked but there was water all up in it. I had set it in a lawn chair, and the weight of the camera made the water pool towards the camera, and ruined it. I was bummed, this basically ruined everything for Warped for me. The only person I could be mad at was myself. It was my fault.

I asked if I could borrow his camera for the next few days and give it back to him at the next date he would be attending. He said sure. I can always count on to help me out, he is just a great person like that. I started making plans for the worst, if my camera was broke I would probably have to fly home early- bummer. I went on with my day as usual, only no more shooting for the day. I didn’t want to risk hurting’s camera, so I left it in my bag for the rest of the day.

I made my way to Pierce The Veil‘s stage to perform their intro for them. Evan Dell snapped this image of me! Thanks man

I forget how it exactly came about, but sometime during that day I had discussed with Bring Me’s management team about getting them into the studio when the tour came through Milwaukee. Here was my plan. Leave Warped Tour the night of the 25th, and stay at Gage’s for the night. The next morning catch a flight from Orlando to Madison Wisconsin, and prepare for the shoot for a few days. By the time the tour came to Milwaukee on the 29th I would set up at a studio a few miles from the venue, ready to shoot Bring Me The Horizon. I ran this by and he was down. I booked my plane ticket that afternoon, and e-mailed my old assistants from Madison to see if I could borrow their gear. I also set up the studio location that day and figured out all the times for the shoot so that the band would know what to prepare for. Now to figure out where to get a camera from? I figured my camera might start working by then, but if it didn’t I could rent one during my time off, or find someone to borrow from so that I could at least finish the tour.

I took it easy for the rest of the night, I think there was a party pretty close to the venue but I wasn’t really in the mood to go out. I moved my stuff back to Pierce The Veil‘s bus that night and rode with them.

I think this was the night Jaime and Tony harassed the hell out of me, although I am not exactly sure. If it wasn’t this night, it was a different one. I was in my bunk ready to go to bed. I hadn’t fallen asleep yet and all I could hear drunk Tony and Jaime on the other side of my curtain messing around in the bunk walkway. I have no idea what they were doing. Tony had the bunk below and the next thing I know my bunk gets lifted a few inches off it’s place, and then falls back down. Tony is a little wild, no big deal. A few seconds later, it happens again, and again, and a again. Until I am now getting some air time on the way down Tony if pushing me up so high. I looked down to see a big smile on his face, and then he jumped out of his bunk into Jaime’s bunk, which was right across from him. I have no idea how he did that, but he did. Jaime and Tony spent a few minutes jumping back and forth, wrestling and goofing around. Next thing I know Tony is launching himself into my bunk, and laying not top of me. As soon as he started coming up there I put my laptop away and turned on my stomach to hide. But he made it in anyway. This is a first. Then Jaime joined in- I am now laying down in my bunk with two dudes that are significantly heavier than me, laying on top of me. I was half laughing half yelling for them to get off. They got off after a minute or two and then jumped in Mai’s bunk. She had the bottom bunk, underneath Tony’s. I was up now so I climbed in as well. We must have crushed her, she was even smaller than me.

I can’t remember what night this other incident happened- but I was passing out after a long days worth of work in my bunk. It was late, and I was having trouble falling asleep. I kept passing out, waking up, passing out. I finally passed out for good but then I was woke up to someone pulling on my blanket. It was Tony, he had my blanket by the bottom and was walking into the front lounge with it. I tried my best to hold onto it but he ripped it out of my hands and threw it on the front bench, then he walked back past my bunk and went into the back lounge. I remember being so bummed, I just wanted to sleep. Jaime was nice enough to get up and get it for me- thanks Jaime.

 

 

 

July 24th, 2010 (day 30)
Cruzan Amphitheater
West Palm Beach, Florida

I woke up while we were driving into the venue. It was an unusual set up, all the buses had to drive straight through the middle of the venue to get to the parking lot. So while we were pulling in, everyone who has already arrived was around us setting up. We were going so slow I hopped off the bus while it was moving and headed to the bathroom. I went scouting early in the AM as my shoot with Sum 41 was scheduled for roughly 1:00pm. I found a spot by a gateway right behind the merch tables.

I ran into Chris Martin and asked him if he could come help assist- he was down. Perfect! This made the shoot so much easier. I unloaded all of my gear and set up for the shoot, took some test shots and I was good to go.

I texted their Chris (tour manager) my location and said I was good to go. Chris was holding the lights for me as it was windy and the guys came over in a matter of minutes. I love when bands are on time. I gave the guys a quick rundown of what we would be shooting, and explained that after we did some serious shots we could take a stab at something a little more goofy if they were down. One of the guys said “we don’t do goofy” – serious it is! I took fourteen shots in total and the one I ended up using was the second shot. Halfway through our three minute long shoot a security guard came up and told us we had to get off of the gateway. He was on the other side of the gate and according to him we were off the venue’s property. Chris, the tour manager for Sum 41 told him we would be done very soon. He wasn’t having it, he phoned the police or some other security guards, I am not sure exactly what he did, but he claimed he called the police. Either way Chris Martin and I wrapped the shoot quicker than ever and left before anyone got there.

My lighting for these shots was an octabox boomed over my head, and then a softbox as low as it could

Here is the final printed article from the shoot.

Chris and I went back to the bus and hung out in the back lounge a bit. I showed him some of my recent images from the Bring Me The Horizon shoot and we just kicked it for a bit. Remember that sulfur smell from the day before? well it got stuck in Pierce The Veil‘s floor AC unit, so our whole bus was smelling like crap. I couldn’t really handle being on the bus and neither could Chris, we hopped off. My camera started working later that day, man I got lucky. The only thing that was broken was the in camera metering, but I can’t remember the last time I even noticed it.

Our bus was next to the stage the guys played. My commute was less than a one minute walk, it was going to be a rather relaxed. I shot Whitechapel‘s set and Pierce The Veil‘s as well. Pierce played last and it was always a good day when I could do their intro.

I hit up the catering line for leftovers around 7:00pm. I don’t think I have explained this yet, but by 7:00pm overnight catering switches to leftovers mode , and it only cost $5 or $7 bucks for a plate. The downside was they were out of stuff sometimes, but it was better than nothing. I devoured my dinner.

That night there was a BBQ by catering. I went over to it but the line was much too long for me to wait in, so I hung out by the buses instead. The Every Time I Die and Bring Me The Horizon guys had a few games of cornhole going, so I watched them play for awhile. It was a rather uneventful night. The exception was that at one point I got off the bus and there was a big fight going on, and a bunch of people were surrounding them yelling. It took me a second to realize it was fake? I didn’t really understand, but some guys thought it would be funny to start fake fights and confuse people. It was dark and the only people backstage were on the tour, so I was very confused. Oh well, back on the bus to hang for me.