Manchvegas baby

Im hangin out in Manchvegas, but this one's a little more foreign to me. I'm having a great time, the show was awesome, kids rule over here and they thoroughly enjoy freaking their shit. Yesterday was quite wild. We played two shows within 2 hours of one another one block away. Cant say we've ever played a show (which was sold out)as a support band then packed up and walked down a block to play a headlining show. The second show was awesome, we had about 30 kids get wild and know pretty much every word. I think Tim put it best when it said, "It was truly a humbling experience when kids this far away know words to your songs." It was also Tim's 22nd birthday so if you havn't given him birthday wishes its never too late.
On another note, we went to a castle called Dunnottar Castle on our day off and I believe it is one of the more famous castles in Scotland with its resume including visits from William Wallace (Braveheart), Mary Queen of Scots, the Marquis of Montrose and the future King Charles II. "Most famously though, it was at Dunnottar Castle that a small garrison held out against the might of Cromwell’s army for eight months and saved the Scottish Crown Jewels, the ‘Honours of Scotland’, from destruction." (dunnottarcastle.co.uk) It was wild check out my facebook pics.

The trips been great Im excited to get to mainland Europe but still enjoying our time in the UK.

Yours truly,
Woody

"She Punched Him In The Face!"

So I'm sitting with Trev at a McDonald's in Amberdeen, Scotland, realizing we are not in New Hampshire anymore. The accents here remind me of a bit of a chatty leprechaun meeting one of the Boondock Saints. Apparently McDonald's is the hangout spot here. I've never seen bouncers at a mickey D's before but here they have three regulating the doors and keeping the underage loitering to a minimum. There is a mass of kids forming outside and all i can think of is Green Street Hooligans Scotland edition. Some girl just walked in screaming that her friend "Hit him in the face!" and paced around until she was asked to leave. She got to the doorway and got a swift kick from one of the bouncers. It is eye opening to see how big a deal McDonald's is here and in England...Americanization all over the place.

The shows in the UK have been phenomenal, the sound at all the venues is awesome, the kids dig it and if they don't know you they are still respectfully attentive. We had a circle pit between songs in Leeds when we weren't playing, so we tastefully came in with Across The Ocean and surprisingly they continued well past the lullaby-esque intro. I'm digging the foreign environment with the comfort of doing what we do best every night.

The shows have been great, and the sleeping arrangements have been rough. Everthing is much smaller and much less comfortable. We are getting a nice lesson of appreciation when it comes to having a comfortable van to sleep in. That will be a perk for the next tour at home with Alesana. Regardless, we are enjoying this new world and look forward to the remaining shows in the UK including Manchester and London as well as the second half of the tour in mainland Europe. I'll do my best to keep you updated on any good stories or places we go.
Yours truly,
Woody

PS: Fish and chips is pretty good, chips are fries here, English breakfasts rule and driving on the other side of the road screws with your head.

Got our warped tour cherry popped today, felt great. Im excited for the rest of the dates. Got to see some old friends and have much needed bro time. Kinda bumming though on account of being told we had the last week of warped and then being told that we are casually not playing San Diego. We're just stoked in general to be on the tour at all its tough to stay super positive when your mislead like that. I guess we've been mislead a lot lately so its just sticking with the trend. But hey, success often emerges from adversity.