The Nearly Deads – 2nd ROAD BLOG from “The Survival Tour”

The rock band, The Nearly Deads, just finished up “The Survival Tour” with special guests, It Lives, It Breathes. While they were on this tour, their lead singer, TJ, wrote a blog for us. You can check out her second and final entry, after the break.

Rock and Roll and Positive Vibes!

People are always commenting on my band’s positive energy. We have such great attitudes because we truly love what we do, we are all following our passions, and we genuinely love one another. These dudes are like my best friends. I couldn’t wish for a better life!

So the last half of the tour was pretty intense. Last time we left off we were New Jersey bound. I cannot tell you how excited I was to stay with Kevin’s Aunt and Uncle. They have a rad house, a cute dog, and a man cave with a fridge full of beer, a pool table, and a dart board. I got to sit back and relax and watch my guys get some much needed ‘man time’. Then, they send us off the next morning (which was beautiful weather by the way!) with a bag full of bagels and pastries. We headed to the show in Sicklerville, NJ at JumpZone – which is actually exactly what it sounds like it would be. We showed up early, and there were little kids running around everywhere, bouncing in inflatable houses and on slides, running around with runny noses…a few hours later, the whole scene was different. After dinner with our new buddies in Rivers Monroe, we returned to an empty warehouse full of gigantic deflated pirate ships and animals. The sound system was set up and there were scene kids everywhere! It was surreal. It was like a metal show taking place in a Chuck E. Cheese. The kids were great. And after the show – we were lucky enough to have them BLOW UP one of the slides for us! It Lives, It Breathes and the rest of us had a blast playing around on that thing! It was literally the coolest thing ever.

After that it was off to White Marsh, MD. We played at the House of Rock and let me tell you, they have the BEST hamburger ever. The real standout event from this show was getting to witness greatness in the making! The group of us stood there wide-eyed and open-mouthed as these little kids in a band called Faceplant TORE UP the stage. They are all between 12-15 years old, and they played original punk songs, along with covers from bands like MCR and Sum 41 – flawlessly. And they had amazing stage presence – the whole crowd was fist-pumping. Pretty sure they’re gonna be the next Rancid or Green Day. I only hope one day we’ll be lucky enough to play with them again! And they have the most amazing supportive families. Lots of positive vibes at that show. After the show the promoter, Melissa Selden, had both bands over to her house and actually cooked us REAL food – grilled chicken and rice. We had been eating pizza almost every night of the week, so it was a welcome change. After a cold night in the van, we headed out in search of a diner for breakfast.

It had been snowing like crazy all night, and we had woken up to like 4-6 inches of snow. Things had been pretty brutal, a bunch of schools got closed, so our show in Springfield, VA had to be cancelled! We were super bummed, but we took advantage of the time to take care of some much needed band business. So we all pulled some cash together and got a Nearly Deads hotel room down the street. We hogged the free WiFi and spread out for a day. It just happened to be St. Patrick’s Day, so naturally the guys all wanted to party. My allergies had been pretty bad due to the rapidly changing weather, so I just planned to keep to myself and chill instead. However – we invited It Lives, It Breathes to join in. The plan was to meet up at the hotel and eventually find a pub to hang out so I could have the room to myself. Well, long story short – that DID NOT happen! They showed up with a group of 4-5 kids who were all pumped and ready to go. I had no choice but to join in! We stayed up, accidentally, until 5 am talking Quantum Physics, music, the struggle, and my ability to hold things with my feet…the best part is, the next morning I woke up feeling great! No allergies! No hangover! We slept in until 10:45 – check out was at 11, so no one got showers or hot breakfast…which was the whole reason we got a hotel in the first place! Sometimes the best things happen completely by accident like that. It was the best night of the whole tour. People sometimes forget that we don’t actually really get to know each other because we are all always busy. Tour is a job, we are working. So to be able to relax and open up a little bit with some new friends was really really cool. So since we missed the hotel breakfast, naturally, we hit up Shirley’s diner again.

Our next stop was one of my favorite clubs of the tour, Mojo Main in Newark, DE. It’s NEW – ARK like Noah’s ark. Don’t mess it up, or prepare for consequences. These people have beef with Newark, NJ. We got there early, had a few drinks with the awesome bartender Lyndsey (she bought us a round or two) and all the guys were trying to pick her up! It was hilarious. Ah the perks of being a girl in a band full of single dudes. The town is actually really awesome. The bar had a New Orleans voodoo vibe, there were old school zombie posters on the wall, and it smelled like beer. I was so pumped! I love places like that. I needed girl time, and I had spotted a GoodWill nearby, so I was off to shop. I found an AMAZING dress for 5 dollars. We found out our TN date had been cancelled, and because of that It Lives, It Breathes were only going to play ONE MORE SHOW with us! We went from thinking we had a week left with them, 4 shows, to ONE more! We had just all started to get to know each other, so it was sad to think that the next show was our last night. We decided to have a Pilot Party that night since we wouldn’t be hanging after the next show. We all had group dinner at Denny’s – and we rolled in there looking like the group of hoodlums you’d think. The It Lives dudes still had some warpaint on – so imagine a bunch of punk rock goth looking kids covered in black paint sitting down to omelets. It was really fun, and, again, we stayed up til 5 in the morning talking and getting to know each other better. It was cool to bond with our new drummer, Josh. He’s a pretty quiet kid, and we literally threw him to the wolves by bringing him on this tour like a week after he joined the band! Luh you Josh!

At our next show we got to try Ethiopian food for the first time at the Blue Nile in Harrisonburg, VA. We painted up with warpaint in honor of It Lives, It Breathes, and gave them the show of their lives! We can tell they gave it their all that night, too. We love those guys, we were all starting to get to know each other and then it was all over! We were all pretty sad and butthurt about it. They seriously have one of the best live shows I’ve ever seen, everyone needs to check them out and see them live! So….we kind of knew some sort of tour prank was going to go down…but we didn’t have time to plan anything. And we’re too nice of a band. However, the guys from It Lives, It Breathes played the best prank ever on us and filled our van with BALLOONS! We got outside and the whole thing was full of them. I think their plan backfired, because it was actually like the happiest, most joyous prank anyone could plan. I dove right in and started rolling around in the balloons and we all started tossing them around like one big ball pit. And now wherever we go a balloon or two pop out, so we are literally leaving a trail of happy balloons all over the country! So many positive vibes!

Our last show was in Aiken, SC at HIC Skatepark. It’s actually really punk and sweet. I was beyond stoked when we rolled up to it. There were a ton of kids there and all the local bands who played with us were amazing. It was a great way to end the tour. We all dressed up a little bit for it too! The only complaint I have about this tour is that it was far too short! We all have so much fun playing music every night, we never want to go home. It’s good to be surrounded by so many positive people who believe in what we do and support our dreams. Can’t wait to get back on the road in a few weeks!

TJ

If they’re coming through your area, make sure you check out one of the remaining dates of The Survival Tour! Keep up with The Nearly Deads on Facebook and Twitter.