ABSOLUTExclusive: Winter of 2011 Tour Blog #6

**Alex DiVincenzo** · 10:07 AM on 12/13/11 #2

Winter of 2011 Tour Blog #612/9/11
Des Moines, IA

Oh my god, hey. Oh god. OK. Here we are, we finally made it. After two and a half weeks, our band of brothers (and a girl we brought along) makes its first stop ever in Iowa - and we’re freezing our asses off. Forget the oxen, they’re all dead. As for Jed, he’s STILL dead. That’s right, more Oregon Trail references! You’re so lucky to be reading this, reader. I love you, reader. Dysentery.

Let’s time travel again as we take a look back at the past 10 days.

We had the pleasure of reuniting with vocalists Breezy Melton and Annie Cheek when passing through Knoxville, TN and Cincinnati, OH. You may remember these lovely ladies from our tour last summer with Streetlight Manifesto and Reel Big Fish. Breezy sang with us for the first half, and then Annie took over as we wrapped up the last 3 weeks of the summer tour. We miss you both dearly and hope you can come out with us again in the near future! Speaking of old friends, we were also very pleased to see Steve Marino in Tallahassee, FL. He sold merch for us last summer and is a brilliant singer/songwriter. Do yourself a favor and check out his music at moorhound.com.

By the way, everyone got so pumped up after seeing us play in Tallahassee that they just started making out with each other.

You can see Mel Randolph of Lionize getting in the spirit there at the end. But would you just look at those lovebirds? I don’t know this for sure, but I’m assuming they had never met before, saw us play, and immediately decided to spend the rest of their lives together - that’s what our music does to people, so beware.

I know for certain that we made a stop at the House of Blues in New Orleans, but we’re having a bit of difficulty remembering our time spent there. This is the only picture I have to refresh my memory, and I’m thinking maybe I’m better off forgetting. Pictured is Streetlight Manifesto’s tour manager, Sean Porter. Most people know him as “Big Daddy”.

“Say, y’ever seen the back of a real-life tour bus before?”

By the way – Please do your part to help Sean get on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. It has always been a dream of his for obvious reasons. You can read all about it at bigdaddyonellen.com.

Life on the road can be rough, especially when you’re on a bus tour as an opening band. It’s not unusual to make 9-10 hour trips overnight just to get to tomorrow’s show. As we do not have a driver, it’s up to each of us in the band to take turns driving in shifts. This ensures that we arrive at each venue awake, and most importantly, alive. Just take a look at these action shots of Zack and Kurt as they do their part to get us from point A to point B, and then B to C and so on…

“Better keep those hands at 10 and 2, boys!”

The holiday season is always something to get excited about. It’s a time to reconnect with family and friends, count your blessings, and show the ones you love just how much you really care. For one family in Joliet, IL, it’s about turning your house into some sort of freaky amusement park. Once again, I’ve really captured a special moment for Dillon Enright.

“The rides are in the back!”

Well, that’s all for now. We’re heading northwest and we’ve got some long nights on the road ahead. Seasons Greetings!

All the best,
Rodeo Ruby Love


	All \| Profiles \| Images \| News \| Members \| Forums \| More