On Tour: Say Anything & Saves The Day

Several weekends back we took a mini road trip to see some of our favorite bands. It was a total blast and kind of a dream come true for the teenager in me. I still love the music I listened to as a teenager, even if I’m not full of angst (most days) and I no longer believe that ‘no one will ever understand me’. ;] Pop Punk bands will always have a special place in my heart.

We got to follow Saves The Day and Say Anything around on tour for two of their dates – Pittsburgh and Cleveland. Our good friend Matt tour manages/runs sound for several different bands. He happened to be on tour with them and invited us out, so we made a little weekend trip out of it! I had no idea what to expect. I assumed we would just attend the shows both nights and be out in the crowd as per usual. We found our place in the back (pregnant girls don’t get to crowd surf or be in the front – lame) on Friday night and got comfortable. Saves The Day started their set and there was no sign of Matt- but he was working so I didn’t expect we’d see much of him. After a couple of songs Matt swooped in and said ‘follow me’. Next thing I know Nate, Jackson, Kristie, and I are all running behind Matt between the banner and the curtain that is directly behind the band on stage. We popped out on the side of the stage right next to the band, wide-eyed and ecstatic that we were going to actually get to watch from there. Both Saves The Day and Say Anything killed it! After the show we hung around and waited for Matt to finish up what he needed to do. Once he was done he invited us to hang out on Say Anything’s tour bus. Hilariously enough I was more excited to sit on a couch and be comfortable after standing and dancing that long than I was to be on one of my favorite band’s tour bus! Some of the members of Saves The Day came over and then not too long after that Reliant K showed up! It was definitely a full bus! The only person missing was Max’s wife, Sherri, from Eisley. I follow her Instagram and love all of their family photos – they are the cutest people ever. I would have loved to have met her (and Lucy!) and it would’ve been nice to have had another pregnant lady around! ;]

We made it back to the hotel super late that night and fell into bed. The next morning I woke up ridiculously early with one thing on my mind – free hotel breakfast. I managed to shower, do my makeup, and get dressed by the light of one tiny lamp. I went downstairs and ate two plates full of food before the rest of them even made it down. Nate was totally shocked since everyone is usually waiting on me- but I don’t mess around when there is free food involved! After breakfast we went over to a local coffee shop that someone had recommended to Jackson. It was the best coffee I have ever had, though admittedly, I have not traveled much. Haha. But it was GOOD. If you’re ever in Pittsburgh – go to 21st Street Coffee and Tea! I got a half calf mocha and I’ve been dreaming about it ever since. Delicious. Our next stop on our way out of town was to the Andy Warhol museum. It was really interesting and I’m glad we went! I wanted to take pictures so badly but they had strict rules against it, of course.

We made our way to Cleavland, found our hotel, and got settled in. Jackson booked a room with two beds but the hotel overbooked. We all stood around the giant king bed in the hotel room awkwardly. I laughed and said if we had a late night like the night before, I doubted that anyone would be opposed to all of us sleeping in it together. ;] We headed back out and grabbed some drinks at an authentic tiki lounge in downtown Cleavland. I had a virgin drink, of course, and it was probably the most delicious little juice drink I’ve ever had! After killing some time there we made one more stop so I could get a bowl of tomato soup and then we made our way to the show. We walked to the venue and encountered the most frigid strong wind any of us had ever felt. By the time we got there I was kind of like…. well… I hope we can sleep here because I’m not walking back! The line was ridiculous and we went in search of Matt to get us past it because I was not standing outside one more second. House of Blues was completely sold out and the place was PACKED. The stage was a lot smaller than the one from the night before so we were a lot closer and the sound was SO much better. We had the perfect spot in the corner of the stage to watch from and I danced like a maniac up there! I didn’t even care that the whole crowd could see us (I’m sure they didn’t care about us anyway). It was such an amazing opportunity to take photos that close. I love being in the crowd, being up front on the barrier – but I’m always so jealous of the person running around with a press pass taking photos! I felt so lucky! After the show we found out that there was going to be a secret show at a little venue called the Grog Shop. Kristie and I debated as to whether or not we should go because we were pretty tired, but I convinced myself that a secret show was way too cool to pass up. Plus, how many late nights out do I really have left at this point? Haha. So I went. We ended up picking up some of the members of Say Anything (Max and Parker) and Matt to take them to the private show. We squeezed into my backseat like we were in a clown car! We only got to see Saves The Day because we were a little late getting there but that was all I really cared about! We had a total blast and I was so glad I went!

The next day we were all completely exhausted. Nate slept on a cot, Jackson slept on the floor, and Kristie and I took the bed. We finally made it out of the hotel room a few minutes past checkout and piled all of our stuff into the car. As we started to leave the parking garage Nate realized that we had a flat tire. Hooray! Once the guys got the donut on the car we made our way to Wal-Mart to get it fixed. Low and behold – I have a car that requires all 4 tires to be changed when one tire is replaced. We were behind several people and knew it would take quite a while. Thankfully we were in a shopping center with plenty of shops and places to eat. It was pretty late by the time we finally got on the road. We made it back Nate’s car just a town over from Lexington around 8:30PM and when we arrived he realized that he had locked his key in it on the day we left. The set backs of the day were pretty comical at that point. We waited a while for a pop-a-lock service and finally around 9PM we were on our way back to Lexington. I think we finally got home around 10PM or so. It was such a long trip back but all of the fun we had over the entire weekend made it worth it. I know a lot of things will change once Nate and I become parents, so I’m soaking up these mini trips with friends while it’s still all about us! This is one that we’ll definitely never forget!