After my amazing day home with family and friends back in Colorful Colorado, Danny dropped me off back at the Dragon Wagon bright and early Monday morning, and the band and I began our drive down I-70 westbound for the second time in four days. Enjoying the beautiful ride through the Rockies, I was finally feeling a little bit more at peace with leaving town. Seeing how quickly and easily I can always find my way home, and with the promise of California waiting just around the corner, I was finally feeling ready to begin my first real week out on the road. Our first stop? Vegas!
We finally rolled into Las Vegas about 1am Tuesday morning. Some of the guys had never seen the city before, and were anxious and ready to take in all they could in their day off tomorrow. After checking into our rooms at the Rio Hotel (a huge, “Vegas” style hotel just off the strip, across the highway) we headed into the city to find some late night food. After roaming around for awhile, we settled on a food court just passed Margarita-ville, and ate, laughed, and told stories until about 3am. Unfortunately, I have a job to keep while I’m out and about having fun this summer, and had a shift scheduled the next day at the local branch of my retail store at noon.
Even though I wasn’t really able to take full advantage of our day off, I’m too young to be able to enjoy all of Vegas anyways and didn’t mind much! It sounds like the band had a blast while I was at work though they all were out going to pools, watching basketball games, and even hitting up the club at the top of the hotel. My day back at work was relaxing, and full of air conditioning, something I certainly didn’t mind at all! It was nice to be back in one stable place of work, wearing my uniform, doing what I love. It might sound silly, but my job at home and all my co-workers are going to be the things I miss the most while I’m out and about this summer! It was nice to find myself surrounded by another great team of great people, full of new stories and experiences. There are a few funny stories surrounding my shift out at my temp store, but those will have to wait for another day. Let’s just say one allergic reaction, and one random introduction made my shift very hilarious, and very worth while.
the view from my tent in Vegas... a little crazy, eh?
The next day was finally it, Warped Vegas! We all had been dreading this stop knowing the weather that awaited us. Temperatures were rumored to be reaching as high as 115 - something that’s definitely NOT fun to experience sitting in a giant asphalt parking lot all day without a fan (or a hope or a prayer). Yet there we were, 10am, unpacking the sprinter in the parking lot across from The Luxor Hotel. The tour had pushed doors back until 2pm that day to try and help with heat, and so bands were loading in later than usual as well. I welcomed the extra sleep no questions asked, but the idea that bands were playing late that night was a scary thought. That night, we’d be driving five hours to Irvine, CA for our next stop, and so the later a set time we got, the later we’d be able to leave, meaning less time we got to actually sleep in a hotel room. Just our luck, the band was slotted at 9:30 pm, meaning we’d be sitting around in the heat and the tent ALL DAY just waiting to play and be able to leave, barely making it to Irvine by 3am!
Although the day was fairly brutal, we ended up setting up our tent in the same area as a lot of the non-profit vendors because of lack of room around the stage. We got the chance to meet the awesome team at the Music Cares booth, who were super nice and really helpful. It was great getting to meet more people on the tour, not to mention a more diverse group than just the other bands! I really enjoyed having good, fun, new company all day long. Despite the ridiculous temperatures (which luckily only reached 106), the kids still came in packs, ready and waiting to see their favorite bands. It was really hot, and there were a lot of fainters, and a lot of kids needing medical attention, but at the end of the day I think the Warped staff did a great job helping make sure everyone got what they needed to stay safe and healthy throughout the show.
A Loss For Words with the crowd in Vegas
After our crazy late set time, we packed out as quick as possible, and piled into the Sprinter to head towards Cali. OH! Did I mention our dolley broke that morning? Cause it did. Our wheel broke right off in the middle of the parking lot as we were loading into the venue, which was terrible! That meant that whole morning we were carrying boxes around in 100-degree weather, it was bonkers! But the good thing is that the guys ran out during the day and picked up a brand new hand-truck that is INCREDIBLE! What used to take the dolley 3 people and two trips takes the hand truck one! We have the same one at my work back home which my team has hilariously named Jackson, and so as an homage to my gang back in Denver, I have named the band’s new hand truck Jackson as well. He’s super awesome, and kicks butt and makes my job a lot easier! I’m excited to keep using this for the rest of tour. Call me spoiled, but this hand truck is like the greatest thing that’s ever happened to me. :) Funny how weird buys at Home Depot can make your day, eh?
That’s it for now! I am SO happy Vegas is done and over with. I’m excited and ready to finally get started on our dates in California, my home away from home! Tomorrow we play Irvine, followed by Pomona, San Fran, Ventura and San Diego. It’s sure to be a great week, so be sure to follow along :)
Xoxo
-M