We Are The Union – 8th ROAD BLOG from their Summer Tour With I Call Fives

The punk/ska band, We Are The Union, from the Detriot, MI area is currently on their summer tour with I Call Fives, Handguns and The Story So Far. On this tour, the band will be writing periodic updates for your reading pleasure. The eighth of those updates is available after the break.

Friday, July 9th
Canoga Park, CA
Day 30

We were having some trouble with our brake lights in the van, so we pretty much just drove straight to the show today.
After we loaded in, Jim, Brandon and I went to get free haircuts from our new friend, Kat. She rules, and we all looked sharp when she was done!
There were something like seven bands altogether, and by the time I Call Fives went on, the room was pretty packed.
Our set went over really well, seemed like a lot more people had heard of us since last time we played at the Cobalt Cafe. We had a blast and made way for The Story So Far to kill it, once again.
After the show, Matt from Animal Style Records bought us In-N-Out! What a guy. The veggie burger is way better than it sounds!
The entire tour, as well as some show attendees and our friends Jess, Kevin, Felicia, Carly and Eugene all ended up there. The point is, there were a ton of us at In-N-Out. I felt a little bad for the people working, but they didn’t seem to mind.
When we were finished eating, we said goodbye to everyone but Matt and Jess and headed to West Hollywood for Millions Of Milkshakes before we drove back to Matt and Jess’ place in Anaheim to crash.

Saturday, July 10th
Escondido, CA
Day 31

I write about food a lot.
We started the day with a trip to Veggie Grill with Matt, Jess and Kevin. Easily one of the best vegan restaurants in the country. We ran into Chris from No Sleep after we ate, too. He told us the Hot Topic nearby had Great Leaps Forward vinyl on clearance. Great.
After that we headed to The Metaphor Cafe. The area that the venue was in was really strange. Everything was closed, despite it being 7pm on a Saturday.
The show was really great, and our set got pretty crazy with circle pits and pileons. Definitely one of the best reactions we’ve had in California. We’ll DEFINITELY be back!
After the show, Brandon and Ricky went to San Diego to stay with Ricky’s friends, and the rest of us went back to Matt and Jess’ place.

Sunday, July 11th
Off day in Las Vegas, NV
Day 32

We left Anaheim in the early afternoon. En route to Vegas, we stopped in Baker, CA, home of the world’s largest thermometer. Cool.
We rolled into Vegas at around 6 or 7 and checked into our room at the Tropicana. We got upgraded to a suite, which ruled. We settled in and waited for the I Call Fives dudes to be ready to hit the strip.
We spent a vast majority of the night walking the strip with I Call Fives, and finished it off with some blackjack at The Luxor (I won $100!) and 4am hangs in I Call Fives suite. We headed back to our room at around 5am, just in time for the sun to rise.

Reed
We Are The Union