Sioux Falls

This is my first time in South Dakota. Amazingly enough, one of my best friends lives here. He used to play bass in a band called The Spill Canvas. The last time I got to see him was in September 2007, so hanging out with him tonight (and continued hangs tomorrow at our show) has been wonderful. One of the major downsides of the touring life is that you become friends with people who live all over the country, all over the world even. And sometimes a year or more can pass by before you see them again. Speaking of friends, we had to say goodbye to Panic and Dashboard a few days ago when the Rock Band Live Tour ended in Austin, TX. I also had to say bye to my friends working for Rock Band, Pepsi, catering, and in tour production. Everyone on the tour was so great. I'm especially going to miss Dashboard Confessional and their crew - such amazingly nice people, and everyone so talented on top of that. I've always appreciated their music but I truly became a fan on this tour and ended up watching their set almost every night. "Stolen" is my jam. On the second to last night of tour, I was watching in an area that was unusually close to the stage and later in the night Chris Carrabba told me that he tried to catch my eye from stage but didn't manage it. He's known for embarrassing people he knows from stage apparently. Well on the last night of tour, he made good on it -- I got not one, not two, but THREE shout-outs from stage. Quite embarrassing to say the least, but flattering as well. Chris is incredibly down to earth and friendly and I really hope that he'll one day take the Plain White T's out on tour again.

So we're out now on this short headlining run with The Cab and Meg & Dia. I'm happy we haven't had to say goodbye to The Cab yet. I've grown quite fond of those boys and their crew. And with Meg & Dia on tour, we now have more asians on one tour than I think have ever existed before! Ha! I'm just kidding, but no joke - there 5 asians on this tour right now. That includes me, even though I'm only half.

Okay, my laundry wash load has probably been done for at least 10 minutes now unless Tim added clothes to my washer and messed up the timer on it.... I should probably go check it out.

I also want to make a music recommendation to anyone looking for some new tunes to listen to. My friend Jake, who plays guitar in the band Say Anything, recently began managing a band called PICTURE ATLANTIC from the Bay Area of California. They sound like a mix of Mute Math, As Tall As Lions, and Muse. You can buy their record on iTunes, I highly recommend it. Sample it here: http://myspace.com/pictureatlantic :)

Peace out!