Putting the gun down.

So as things always work with this fucking curse The Banner, we had to come home early. Personal reasons arose that made it impossible to go any further,so like the pussy i am i lurched home 4 days early.

lovely.

What made it all the more tough to deal with was the fact that this was far and away the best tour we had ever done, on all accounts. The shows were amazing, kids were seemingly very into what we were doing and really enjoying themselves and praising the new material and being very gracious (im still stunned by Frailty's response) . Secondly, but no less an issue, was the bond that we had formed with our label mates/ tour mates in such a short time. Going into this tour and seeing/hearing the other bands and knowing nothing of them i have to admit i had some pre-conceived notions and fears about what i could expect from the other dudes sharing the trail with us.

holy shit was i an asshole.

Not only were they some of the most dedicated and genuine musicians i have encountered in my years in a band but some of the most down to earth, approachable and likable people ive ever met.Synt,Elysia,Knights and AGAGAG all blew me away with their performances each night as well as their clear love for the music they made. I had heard all the bands prior, at least a few songs but the live show for each, specifically synt, melted my brain.

If you have not seen SYNT live and are into aggressive music at all it is imperative that you go see this band at once. I had heard the cd a few times before and enjoyed it but seeing them live each night, taking nothing from the merits of the recording itself, made the cd absolutely useless to me. What Drew, Andy and Fox put together each night was unreal and a distinct pleasure to get watch. Thats not to mention watching them (including Dallas) run around and jump like a bunch of spastic retard monkeys having a blast.
And Fox's negativity on the mic? Beautiful, gorgeous,perfect.

A girl a gun a ghost, these idiots , or hardcore-cockroaches as i call them have more heart than i have seen in a group in a long time. I think they broke down three times and had their van broken into once and still,somehow trucked it out to each show. These guys are unreal and their record is solid through and through.
Alaskan king...fuck.
i wish i had learned the lyrics :( (next time guys)

KNIGHTS OF THE ABYSS metal,fuck, metal. perfect every night, brutal every night, stoned every night..and they have a viking (THEE VIKING) on Keyboards. Why this band is only part time escapes me but they shred harder than most full time bands so fuck it.

Elysia, Zak,Chris,John,Steve and Garrett. Now this band combined may weigh as much as any one member of The Banner but they more than make up for it in energy. Its rare you encounter a band, especially in the "hardcore/post-hardcore/metal-core" genre that gets on stage and plays as hard as these guys do and clearly loves every second of it. There was not a show they played on the tour where you looked at any of the guys and thought there was any place they would rather be.
The song from Lion of Judas (which i absolutely recommend to anyone) i really dug, and hearing the new songs they played every night i was really into what i heard. It wasn't until i got home and really got to sit down with the lyrics and give them the attention they deserved that i realized just what kind of record it was. I feel with the current excitement about this band and what they did on Masochist (which is not a bad record by any stretch) they could've taken the easy way and put out a "sure thing" that wouldve been eaten up by the retards at large. Instead what they did is record a record that was clearly crafted with love for the music they had written and a desire to push themselves artistically in an atmosphere that is largely unkind to such a practice, or maybe they just didn't want to humiliate themselves in front of Kurt at God City i suppose it doesn't matter as the record is gold.

Ok enough cock sucking for one blog post, music aside im going to miss everybody in all of these bands. Im going to miss struggling to get to my feet and crawling out of the van in pain and being instantly put in a better mood because Fox will be laughing at something with that laugh of his or i get to being a complete dick to Chris for no reason other than hes small and reminds me of my little brother or the knights dudes whipping around on those weird skateboard stick things they had or AGAGAG stepping out of the van looking like they just escaped a disaster.

or seeing if Zak had survived the night because each day he looked like he might keel over at any minute.

im going to miss them all.

And its very weird for me to come to the realization that i, of all people me, suddenly has 26 more people i consider friends.

but im sure ill get used to it.

best summer ever.


p.s. I did not forget you Kooter <3