Westland – 3rd ROAD BLOG from Warped Tour 2012

Westland is one of the many bands that will and have been playing on Warped Tour this summer. These guys will be rocking out on the Ourstage.com Stage for the next week and they will be writing a blog sharing their experiences! Check out the third entry after the break.

I know that it has been awhile for my tour blog, but there is much that I need to catch up on.  What I once thought was going to be week and a half full of having fun, playing music, and partying has been something totally different, yet still enlightening to me.  It has taught me that even though a band has garnered the attention to be asked to play Warped Tour, it doesn’t mean the rockstar life.  It means something completely different; it means 12 hour drives, it means sunburns, it means getting 1 hour of sleep a night, it means sleeping in vans and on floors.  To put it in short, it is one of the hardest things that I have ever done.

All complaining aside, it still has been one of the best summers of my life.  I have learned so much that I can not only apply to touring in the future, but also in my everyday life.  For a band playing Warped Tour it is difficult on so many levels, it is hot, you are cramped in a van with your band and crew for the whole day, and then when you get to the venue once again you are all stuck together.  When you are around the same people all day all night, tempers are bound to flare.  But I learned that no matter what arguments occur, no matter who does what to who, that a band is a family and that if they are strong enough, they are able to put everything behind them and grow from each experience as a group.

I also learned that when you get what you want it isn’t always what you expect it to be.  As I mentioned before, we are a very small operation of 7 here on this tour and are one of those groups that does everything for ourselves.  We sell our own mercy, we load our gear, we set up our own tent, etc.  Its not the lavish life that I expected.  I wholeheartedly thought that when I saw this tour that I would be able to see Taking Back Sunday every single day and not have to worry about a thing.  I was lucky to catch their set once, I didn’t realize that we would legit be doing everything for ourselves and not even see any bands most days.

One last thing that I have learned through this whole experience is that everyone in these bands that I have been looking up to my whole life are just normal people.  They are not all entitled jackasses, they are just normal people who happen to play music for their job.  After most dates on the Warped Tour there are BBQs for the bands and their crew to just relax and have fun.  This is where bands network and let loose and it is here where I ran into a few of my idols in the music world.  It was amazing seeing them in public just having fun and really let me know that even if we ever get big then we can still just be the same people that we always are.

I got a couple more of these tour blogs coming and I can assure you guys that it will not be another week before I post one.  Keep on reading you guys.

-Nick

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