Currently in Brooklyn NY!

I feel as if I'm in some sort of alternate plane of existence where time no longer has a meaning. Days don't have names and the only thing that has any importance is where the next show is and who we're going to be with. Its 5:23am and I'm sitting in a kitchen in Brooklyn sifting through photos from the past 5 days while 6 of the closest friends I've ever had are sleeping around me. We made the drive in at around 2:30am from Philly immediately after the show. The streets in Park Slope were eerily empty and dimly lit. The warm calm air and smiling people we've known until now were replaced with cold strong winds and the first person we see is a drunk guy stumbling down the sidewalk with fresh piss down his leg. I don't really hold onto first impressions very well nor do I take my judgments made at 4am after a night of drinking and shitty food very seriously. If our time here in NYC is anything like our trip so far, I will be completely content.

The past 3 days in PA have been fucking amazing. And that would be an understatement. Everywhere we'd go we were treated as family. We got into Pittsburgh on Wednesday after around a 2hr drive and Garret was already making us awesome rice and fried pepper food. Garret and Ben have this crazy 3 story brick house on the North side of Pittsburgh w/ like 5 bedrooms and roof access.

Leaving Think Tank(Erica seeing us off, thanks dudes!):


View from the roof:


Pittsburgh is an amazing city. There are a two rivers feeding into one and a ton of bridges. A lot of the architecture is very old and has a certain character to it that isn't commonly found on our side of the country. We were all pretty stoked on the city and the housing is CRAZY cheap. Hmmmmm...
Apparently since the G-20 is a week away it has all of Pittsburgh Police on edge and house shows non-existent. Lucky for us one of the Outclassed dudes were able to score a show at a bar called Kopec's. This was an extremely fun night getting to see both bands following the break up of Outclassed and being around so many friendly people. There was free beer to the bands and free food for everyone!

Who Goes There?...


Spires...


Ed Hoculi...


After the show we all went back to John's place and partied down for a bit. Garret took us around a cemetery which was really cool and creepy. Definitely a good break after our party extravaganza in Chicago. Brendan and Zach were some of the nicest/party hard dudes in Pittsburgh. Such good times.

The next morning we all reluctantly got up and packed our shit for another 5hr drive to Lancaster. We were finally due to see Chris and Mike.

Jacob and Vicky(not getting up):


After loosing Brum and me shitting my pants trying to push a fart out, we got on the road. We also decided to make a stop once into Lancaster for some party things to make our arrival really crazy. We filled the van w/ balloons and armed ourselves w/ poppers and roaming candles. We drove around Lancaster for the next half an hour getting lost and stuck in traffic but we finally made it.

Surprise!...


Vicky and Jacob plotting an attack...


Mike showed a few of us around the town a little and I have to be honest, Lancaster seems like a pretty sweet place to live. It was very cozy and homey.

The show was set up at Chris' job, Senorita Burrita. A lot of people came out and all the bands that played were a lot of fun. Even the order the bands were in worked very well. I remember as Slingshot Dakota played, I looked around the room seeing all my close friends and new friends smiling, dancing, hugging and couldn't fucking believe how perfect and comfortable the feeling was for being 3000 miles from home.

We Were Skeletons...


Boys And Sex...


Boyfriends...


Spires...


Slingshot Dakota...



After the show we just kinds hung around for a bit before we headed back to Chris' place for party time. The night was very chill and drunk and I slept in Chris' Pooh suit to keep warm.

The next morning we all went on over to Mike and Stevie's place for breakfast. They have a 4 story loft apartment that is less than $100 more than I was paying for my room in Oakland a month ago. What the fuck. We spent the day eating rad food in even radder company before heading off to Philly for the show.

We finally got to the warehouse that was hosting last nights show almost 2 hours late. But it wasn't that big of a deal I guess. This place was fucking massive! The show space was on the 3rd floor and the roof was just over the 4th. There are about 9 people living there and are too some of the nicest, generous people we've met.

Views from the roof...


Downtown Philly...


Ed Hochuli...


Spires...


Boyfriends...


There were two other bands I didn't shoot mostly cause I just wanted to hang out and not have a camera in my hand for once. We didn't stick around to check out Philly which is kinda lame but I guess the decision was made to sleep not on a warehouse floor. So we're here now in Brooklyn.
At this point the sun is up and it's right around 7:30am. Everyone but me is still sleeping away and I should be doing the same. We've got a full day tomorrow w/ shows at both the Glassdoor and ABC No Rio. There are a slew of people to meet w/ and Sanchez is flying in too! Fuck yeah! Our buddies Omar and Paolo flew in from Southern California yesterday and we got to see them in Philly. They'll be here in today as well.

I outta get some rest now.


Totally lovin life right now...

-AL