Monday, August 30, 2010

A Little Late

I've been informed, through multiple phone calls and emails, that I have been slacking in my blog updating. I can't deny that. I will do my best to try and fill you in on some of the things that have happened in the past 20 days.



San Diego, CA (8/10)

Although we no longer had an official spot on a stage, we were still playing acoustic sets on Warped Tour. While Steph and I were walking around in the morning our stage manager, Stu, informed us that we would be playing on the stage that day. We were part of the special "6 Hours of Ska" that was happening that day. It was pretty unique considering every other date of Warped Tour date had only 2 ska bands (TTV and Reel Big Fish). This show marked our first show on the west coast and it went surprisingly well. The after party BBQ was definitely one of the most memorable of tour for 3 reasons. 1: Free ice cream 2: Dance Party 3: A heated dance-off that peaked when a guy got naked and poured water over himself......hilarious.



Pomona, CA (8/11)

Look at that view! I am constantly amazed out how beautiful the entire country is. Howie was saying that the background settings for most of the Warped Tour dates look like fake Hollywood backdrops. For 6 kids from CT, these mountains are awe-inspiring. But on to the show. We had two very special visitors in Pomona. The first was Steph's cousin Erin and the second was Dan Dobi (www.dandobi.com), our music video director. It was good to see familiar faces from outside of the Warped Tour family.

We didn't have a spot on a stage in Pomona but we did play two acoustic sets, one at the Girlz Garage Tent and one under the Trojan inflatable dome. We also almost died (Attn TTV moms: we didn't want to tell you this until after Warped Tour was over). The Trojan inflatable dome was a really cool spot to play, literally and figuratively. The dome had A/C and a 270 degree projector, so almost the entire ceiling was a screen. Right as we were about to start our second set in the dome, we somehow tripped the power circuit and lost all electricity. That means that the blower fan that was keeping the dome up shut off and the dome started coming down on us and the 25 or so kids that were inside. There was a bit of a panic as people started rushing out before getting crushed and stuck underneath the surprisingly heavy, collapsing dome. In the end, everyone made it out and while our gear may have been left behind, nothing was broken. By the time the power issue was worked out, it was too late to start again and we were free to live on to another day.

Marysville, CA (8/12)

Simone and I went out to the line of people waiting before the gates opened and had them listen to our new song, "Refuse the Tide." We gave everyone download cards and told them to spread the love. A surprising amount of people actually knew who we were. We even convinced a giant, die-hard metal fan to listen to it after he very angrily refused (spoiler: he liked it!). The rest of the day was spent hustling our music and throwing Kazoozles at Cory, the merch guy for Reel Big Fish. There was also my amazing encounter with a Wonka girl that Cory and Briggs saw, but that one is for the memory bank only.

Nampa, ID (8/13)

We almost didn't head to Idaho because we didn't have a stage spot or an acoustic spot for the day and we were going to have to take a loss on gas. Turns out going to Idaho was a great decision because merch sales, just by having people listen to our song through headphones, were amazing. A greater part of the day was spent creating badass handshakes including the rocketship, the Challenger and one 40 second epic choreographed handshake that I co-created with Becca (http://www.myspace.com/beccachanofficial). I'll have to grab our practice video from her and post it here because it is one for the record books.



George, WA (8/14)

The Gorge Amphitheater has to be one of the most scenic and beautiful venues in the country. No picture can do justice to the view you get when you come over the top hill and look down upon the stage. The only downside to the venue was the slope that everything was on. To get down to catering and production you had to walk down a very steep slope, which is easy on the way there but a pain to walk back up. Oh, and there was also the issue of our van parked about a half mile downhill from where our merch tent was. Again, easy to load in but very tiring to load out. Briggs, Simone and I played with Sarah Saturday again (http://www.myspace.com/gardeningnotarchitecture), but this time in front of Lisa Brownlee (Tour Manager for Warped Tour) and Kevin Lyman (the founder of Warped Tour), so that was a big honor.

August 14th was also Simone's 22nd birthday and the last BBQ of Warped Tour, so what better way to celebrate than with a bunch of rockstars and free beer. The Vans Warped Tour gave everyone shirts commemorating the end of tour with random tour facts on the back (none of which I can remember off the top of my head). Some of the highlights of the night includeReverend Peyton telling hilarious stories about listening to "Chinese Democracy" with Axl Rose, people dressed as vampires lurking around the BBQ and long walks around the Gorge at night. We also found out that we had won a Warped Tour superlative, "Best Band at Promoting Themselves." That was the cherry on top of the entire tour experience for us.

Hillsboro, OR (8/15)

The last day of Warped Tour was bittersweet. It was the last day of busting our asses in the sun and sweating profusely, but it was also the last day we got to hang out with all the new friends we had made. People on the tour stopped by our tent all day to grab merch and say their goodbyes. We made our rounds as well, picking up a bunch of free stuff in the process like t-shirts, Skullcandy headphones and a ridiculous amount of Wonka Kazoozles. We did our usual acoustic sets playing the Altec Lansing tent and a new tent for the Expendables movie.

When all our gear had been loaded into our trailer we went over to production and said our thank yous. 10 years ago I was waiting in line with 12,000 other punk rock kids waiting to get into Warped Tour to see all of my favorite bands. If I would have told 14 year old me I would be on Warped Tour 10 years later I wouldn't have believed myself. I probably would have laughed at that idea, but here we are.

It was an incredible honor being invited to play and incredible opportunity to get our music out to such a large and diverse group of people. Thank you Kevin Lyman, Lisa Brownlee, Damon Atkinson and the entire Warped Tour crew. You all busted your asses so we could have the chance to do something we love. For that we are eternally grateful.

And here is the last picture from Warped Tour with our new friends, Mayday Parade.



-Dunnigan TTV

Monday, August 9, 2010

Salt Lake Fun!



While Nicole and Simone traveled to the Denver Warped Tour date with, "iwrestledabearonce" (to save us money), myself, Steph, Howie and Briggs stayed in Salt Lake City to hang out with our friend, Kevin, for the day. We spent a good portion of the day on Antelope Island seeing sights and hiking where we shouldn't have been hiking. This picture was taken from the top of a peak that we conquered. In the background is the Great Salt Lake. Needless to say, it was pretty great.

-Dunnigan TTV

Day 14: Salt Lake City, UT

The drive to Salt Lake City took us through some beautiful scenery, but we couldn't see it because it was three in the morning. We did, however, get to see an evil geniuses lair in the mountains (or maybe just a power plant with a lot of lights).

Salt Lake marked the first date where we didn't have an actual spot on the Kevin Says stage. It also marked the fist day we didn't have catering. While not having a free pass for food is rough, our friends in other bands helped us out and brought us extra food when they could.

The setting for the show was at the Utah State Fairgrounds. The grounds were in a valley that was surrounded by mountains, which made for a beautiful view all day. We played an acoustic set under the Girlz Garage (Keep a Breast Awareness) tent to a pretty large crowd. The weather had been crazy all day, going from sun to dust storms to rain, all of which helped bring people to where we were performing.

The night ended with us watching a very drunk woman getting accidentally suplexed onto her face by her husband as he tried to carry her to the car and with some fun downtime with other bands.

Oh, and there was a piercing party on Reel Big Fish's bus. Who got pierced?!? Stay tuned to find out!

*Cue dramatic exit music*

-Dunnigan TTV

Sunday, August 8, 2010

Denver, CO


We have a couple of days off and we're in Denver. Time to do laundry!

-Dunnigan TTV

Posted by ShoZu

Day 13: Bonner Springs, KS

Highs and Lows

Highs: Word came down from production that we could stay on for the rest of the tour. We weren't guaranteed any dates on our stage but we could continue to play acoustic sets and sell merchandise. The amount of people on the warped tour crew that lobbied for us to stay was overwhelming and we cannot thank them enough. It's not everyday that the founder of Warped Tour, Kevin Lyman, gives his blessing for a band to stay on. Kevin, if you are reading this, THANK YOU!

Another high was all of Mayday Parade checking out our set. They are one of my favorite bands so it was an honor.

Lows: This particular date marked the last date for a lot of bands that we made friends with. You should definitely check out Flatfoot 56, Ice Nine Kills, Vanna and Hot Chelle Rae.

The lowest point, though, was a kid dying at Warped Tour. With a 112 degree heat index and $10 bottles of water, something bad was bound to happen. Our condolences go out to that family.

-Dunnigan TTV

Posted by ShoZu

Day 12: Shakopee, MN

Shakopee was the first of two dates we were added to. Chicago was originally supposed to be our last date but our hard work landed us a couple more shows on the tour.

The night before this date we had to bring out tour manager and driver to the airport because they had only taken time off for the original warped dates. The 8 hour drive that followed was split up by myself and Briggs (the new default drivers). I give Anthony a ton of credit for driving us. After working a full day in the sun it is exhausting to sit and drive through the night.

The show in Shakopee was a blast. Derek, the lead singer of Mayday Parade, and Kyle, the lead singer of Breathe Carolina, watched our set from on the stage. Fans were happy and excited to see us on the date because we were originally never supposed to play there.

One of the highlights of the day was the forklift driver that picked myself and the gear cart up and brought it up a massive hill to our trailer. Scary and amazing.

-Dunnigan TTV

Posted by ShoZu

Help us book shows in September?! + Warped Tour Update!

As you may or may not have heard (start following us on Facebook already!), Tip The Van was invited to stay along with the Warped Tour! We won't be regularly scheduled to play the Kevin Says Stage, but we will be performing acoustic sets and doing CD/tee shirt giveaways for the rest of Warped!

These are the following dates we will be at:

Sat 08/07/10 Utah State Fairgrounds - Salt Lake City, UT
Sun 08/08/10 Invesco Field - Denver, CO
Tue 08/10/10 Cricket Amphitheatre - San Diego, CA
Wed 08/11/10 Pomona Fairplex - Pomona, CA
Thu 08/12/10 Sleep Train Amphitheatre - Marysville, CA
Fri 08/13/10 Idaho Center Amphitheatre - Nampa, ID
Sat 08/14/10 Gorge Amphitheater - George, WA
Sun 08/15/10 Washington County Fairgrounds - Hillsboro, OR

After we're done in Oregon, we're heading to Los Angeles to shoot a music video with Dan Dobi for our new single "Refuse The Tide". After that, we are going to be heading back to the east coast and could really use some help finding shows!

Can you help us with the following?

8/26 - 8/29 - Southern California
9/02 - 9/05 - Arizona/New Mexico
9/07 - We have a show in Austin, TX @ Headhunters Tiki Lounge
9/09 - 9/12 - Louisiana/Tennessee
9/16 - North Carolina
9/17 - We have a show in Virginia Beach @ Geared Up Rock Bar & Grill
9/18 - 9/19 - D.C./Jersey/PA

Please send an email to contact@tipthevan.com to help us out if you can.

See you on the road!

xoxo
Tip The Van

Errors Galore

I just checked and it seems that none of the past few blog entries posted from my phone. While I try to sort out the issues, check out www.facebook.com/tipthevan for updates.

Dunnigan TTV

Sunday, August 1, 2010

Day 11: Chicago, IL


Dear Chicago,
We love you. Hands down the best date of the tour so far. There were a ton of people who knew who we were when we were handing out stickers in the morning. We had a pretty large crowd when we played our acoustic set at the Altec Live tent and a massive crowd when we played our regular set. I couldn't believe how many people showed up. Definitely a highlight of tour so far.

Another highlight of tour has to do with picture attached. We were invited by the John Lennon tour bus, a mobile video and audio recording studio, to do a cover a John Lennon song. We learned, "Just Like Starting Over" in about an hour in our van and then headed over to the Lennon bus. The bus is seriously magical. It's a fully equipped studio with all sorts of fun additions like glass that turns opaque with the touch of a button and a magical green screen for shooting video. You can check out the video and song in the upcoming weeks. Thanks to Johnny from RBF for laying down trumpet.

-Dunnigan TTV

Posted by ShoZu

Day 10 (the real one): Detroit, Mi


We never really know what kind of venue we will arrive at in the morning. Sometimes it's a field, an amphitheater or a park. Warped Tour Detroit was set up at Comerica Park, home of the Detroit Tigers. This was the first day merch tents were indoors and being out of the direct sunlight was glorious. Do you know what else is glorious? Free Starbucks backstage!

I believe a lot of great music on tour comes out of collaboration. On the Detroit date Simone, Briggs and myself (Dunnigan) played a song with a solo act called Gardening, Not Architecture. It was a lot of fun and we'd like to thank Sarah for letting us take part.

Now to address the picture. Warped Tour rented out a bar for us after the show and threw a moustachio bashio djed by Sum 4¹and Andrew WK. I didn't have enough time to grow/perfect my moustache so I fashioned one out of out stickers. Did I mention open bar? Yea, that was a fun night.

Posted by ShoZu

Saturday, July 31, 2010

Day 10: Milwaukee, WI


We arrived in Milwaukee after a pretty long drive. Our driver, Anthony, knocked out a large chunk of it and then I finished it off.

We were scheduled to play second, but after the first band failed to show (who does that on warped tour?) we became the openers. In the normal show mindset, being the first band on stage is never good because fans aren't usually there. On warped tour it's the opposite. The stage was set up right by the gate and drew a large crowd right from the start.

I discovered what it was like to mess up a solo in front of hundreds of people. Definitely not a highlight but in the grand scheme of things it wasn't that bad. A lot of people remembered us from coming through on tour with Reel Big Fish and Streetlight Manifesto.

The attached photo is the sunset under the bridge where all the buses and vans parked.

-Dunnigan TTV

Posted by ShoZu

Friday, July 30, 2010

Day 8: Cincinnati, OH

After a much needed day off and time spent with old/new friends, we made it to Ohio. The venue was a familiar one because we played it in 2005 when Paramore shared our stage.

When promoting ourselves in the morning line, with our neon green stickers, we came across a bunch of people who had seen us before when we came around with Reel Big Fish. Because of that, our set was packed with people. Before we had even started setting up our gear we had a crowd waiting for us.

Our merch tent was in a high traffic area so we were able to do a lot of promotion for our new single/album. We rounded out our day with a live acoustic set under the Altec Live tent.

Off to Milwaukee.

-Dunnigan TTV

Posted by ShoZu

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Day 7: Atlanta, GA

The day started off like any other. We set up merch, brought our gear to the stage and sweat profusely. Our day differed when we played an acoustic set in the Kia Motors tent. We were joined by a bunch of kids under the red/orange tent for a more subdued version of our set.

After Kia we headed over to our stage to start setting up. Much to our dismay, the skies had started turning darker and there seemed to be a subtle panic happening within merch tents and behind backstage. Everyone was prepping for a storm. By the time we took the stage, there was no doubt that there was something mean coming. Right in the middle of our set the storm hit with all it fury. raging winds and rain were accompanied by thunder and lighting (which was striking far too close). halfway through our last song the power was cut because it became too dangerous. Fans were ushered away an merch sales plummeted.

The one redeeming quality of the day: backstage BBQ. That and a much needed day off.

Posted by ShoZu

Monday, July 26, 2010

EIY Meetup


Everyday Sarah Saturday, founder of earnityourself.com, holds a meeting with the founder/creator of warped tour, Kevin Lyman and the tour manager Lisa. The meeting offers kids the chance to ask prominent forces in the music industry any questions. We try and go to as many meetings as we can because the questions people ask are always different and the panel has a wealth of knowledge to share.

Posted by ShoZu

Day 6: Orlando

Before I begin I would like to say, much to my disappointment, we did not go to Disney World. Instead we were at punk rock summer camp.

Orlando was very busy for TTV. We played our set, then the girls ran from our stage to the main stage to sing with Reel Big Fish, then we hustled to the Altec Live tent to perform an acoustic set, then we went to press to do interviews and from the interviews we ran to our tent to do a signing. All this happened in a span of 3 hours. Today in Atlanta should be just as hectic and I can't wait.

-Dunnigan TTV

Posted by ShoZu

Sunday, July 25, 2010

Day 5: West Palm Beach

The crowd in West Palm was nuts. Skank pits and circle pits all over the place. We had some fun with water guns, razor scooters and ladder ball. There were a few really awesome fans that helped bring people to out merch table to listen to the new single, so props to them.

The after party BBQ, or should I say dance party, was an awesome time. We got to meet/socialize with some of our favorite bands on tour as well as meet some truly great people.

Posted by ShoZu

Saturday, July 24, 2010

Day 4: St. Petersburg


Vinoy Park was set on a large stretch of water and was the setting for our 4th date. Some stages, like the one in the picture, overlooked the ocean.

The curveball of the day: Tropical Storm Betty. The day started out just like any other day. It was hot, sunny and free of clouds. Within a few hours the full force of Betty was upon us and the tour was in the middle of it. Despite the wind and ferocious rain, the stages kept playing music.

Our gear was, luckily, under a tent but everything ended up soaked anyway. There's something about a storm and a festival that mix well. The crowds seemed to be going extra wild because of the situation.

At the end of the day, no one got electrocuted and St. Petersburg seemed to be a success.

We just loaded into the Cruzan Amphitheater in West Palm Beach.

-Dunnigan TTV

Posted by ShoZu

Friday, July 23, 2010

Day 3: Charlotte

I'm not too sure what is going on with my phone but every time I write a good blog entry it fails to send and doesn't save.

Either way, we rocked in Charlotte yesterday. The temperature on stage was 101.3 degrees at 4:30. Kevin, the founder of warped, was saying this is shaping up to be one of the hottest Warped Tours to date.

I got a chance to check out the John Lennon Educational Tour Bus yesterday. The bus is actually a mobile video and audio recording studio. It was nothing short of mind-blowing. I recommend looking it up on google.

-Dunnigan TTV

Posted by ShoZu

Thursday, July 22, 2010

Day 2: Virginia Beach

At the end of the first day of tour I thought I had an great sun tan. After my first shower, however, I discovered the world's cheapest self tanner: dirt.

Virginia Beach was packed.The grounds were much flatter than the first date, so moving all the merch and gear was much easier. We've been getting really good sized crowds so far and a fan came up after the show and asked for my guitar pic....awesome!

On a side note, finding somewhere to charge your phone is pretty tricky. This update would have come sooner but my phone was dead and there's not enough time to charge 8 people's phones on rides between venues.

We're in Charlotte today. That update will come at the end of the day.....as long as my phone has battery.

-Dunnigan TTV

Posted by ShoZu

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Meriweather Post Pavilion


We've arrived. We woke up at 6:30am, picked up our all access passes and started unloading. It's only 10am and it's already pushing 90 degrees but we love it!

-Dunnigan TTV

Posted by ShoZu

Monday, July 19, 2010

July 19 (Day 1)

We're officially on the road. The van is amazing, I helped two cougars fixed their car and they repaid me in hard iced teas. Oh, we also saw a Delorean. So many things happening in one day! We're about 45 minutes away from Merriweather Post Pavilion and we are pumped for tomorrow morning.

I think I finally fixed the issue with my phone not posting to blogger so prepare for updates galore.

-Dunnigan TTV

Posted by ShoZu

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Posted by ShoZu

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Going to Warped Tour? Get involved!

Have you been over to the Vans Warped Tour website yet? They have an entire social network hooked up through LoudBase and it's awesome! Sign up and meet other people who are going to your city's Warped Tour and stay in the loop with everything Warped!

Please show your support for Tip The Van by becoming a fan here: http://www.vanswarpedtour.com/warpedtour/band.asp?xid=24306#

See you this summer!

xoxo
TTV

Friday, January 15, 2010

Happy New Year! Lots of upcoming shows!

Happy 2010!

Steph from Tip The Van here, with a quick update for the new year.

We have a bunch of shows coming up all over the Northeast! This Saturday, we'll be playing a 21+ show in New York City at the National Underground with a bunch of bands from all over the country. All the details can be found here.

Many more show dates in the Northeast will be added for May & June, and possibly some West Coast and Southwest dates after the Warped Tour in August and September. Stay tuned!

If you are on Facebook, you can keep up with everything we're up to by becoming a fan: http://www.facebook.com/tipthevan

We have a feeling 2010 is going to be a great year for us and we hope it's the same for you!
All the best,

Steph
Tip The Van

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