notable friends that i saw throughout the day: molly, cragon, matt, chris
notable bands that i saw throughout the day: family force five, against me!, and jack's mannequin
notable picture of the day:
Showing posts with label warped tour. Show all posts
Showing posts with label warped tour. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
st. louis: warped tour
i've been going to warped tour for quite a few years. the past four years i've been lucky enough to snag a spot volunteering and getting in free. my friends sam, abby and i worked at the label tent for most of the day, but we still had plenty of time to roam around and see the bands we wanted to see, as well as attend the earn it yourself meet up.
notable friends that i saw throughout the day: molly, cragon, matt, chris
notable bands that i saw throughout the day: family force five, against me!, and jack's mannequin
notable picture of the day:
notable friends that i saw throughout the day: molly, cragon, matt, chris
notable bands that i saw throughout the day: family force five, against me!, and jack's mannequin
notable picture of the day:
Monday, January 17, 2011
kansas city/bonner springs: warped tour
the last leg of my insane warped journey. i was absoultey exhausted at this point - i'd been travelling for quite a few days, city hopping and show hopping, all while working in 100 degree heat day in and day out, with minimal food and water.
BUT bonner springs, kansas was probably my favorite of the warped dates i worked for sarah. i left columbia at the crack of dawn and made it there by around ten or so. not until i paid ten bucks for parking though. (ridiculous.)
IT. WAS. FLIPPING. HOT. i can't even explain to you how hot it was that day; it's a miracle we survived. and i was sitting under a tent all day! i really don't know how all the kids do it out there exposed on the blacktop. kudos to them. i will gladly sit under a tent and sell t-shirts and sew handmade CD sleeves any day of the week. if i remember correctly, sarah played pretty early and we were essentially done by around eleven. you can't forger the EIY meet-ups though. always so much fun, and so inpsiring to be surrounded by people with just as much passion oozing out of them as you have coming out of you. at some point we ended on sarah's bus with kevin and lyman, and there was a great conversation had. i believe this was when sarah brought up the idea of me going on her fall tour with her as right-hand woman... obviously didn't work out because of college. *sigh* patience isn't one of my stronger virtues, but i try. i really do. so we sat on the bus and talked and drank tea and pomegranate juice. then we were joined by stephen of haste the day. and before i knew it, we were sneaking out of the venue and taking my car to culver's. i legitamately thought sarah might have a heart attack from excitement. so hilarious.
pure joy, i tell you. we then made a target run, and headed back to the venue. good times, and even better conversations. <3
notable memories: chattin it up with kevin lyman on the bus, sarah telling him how cool i was (SQWEEE!), tour offer?!?!, meeting stephen (can't day i knew anything about haste the day, but apparently they're pretty popular, and he was an amazing guy), ...and the awful drive home. i had such a terrible headache from the heat that i stopped at a gas station and bought name brand ibuprofen for NINE DOLLARS. yeah, that's how bad my head hurt. drink your water, warped kiddos!
chicago: warped tour
chicago. my favorite city in all the world, home of many of my favorite people in the world. free warped tour working for the one and only sarah saturday isn't too shabby either.
it was a warm day, but not terrible since it doesn't stand out in my memory. i was helping at the EIY (earn it yourself) tent with sarah and martin atkins, alongside my friends nora and ryan silver. (nora worked for my BFFs we the living. ryan is a singer songwriter based out of nashville.) it was a fun day and we sold quite a bit of merch. i don't really recall anything too crazy happening in our little tent, and there weren't any bands that i had the dying urge to see either. the day ended all too quickly and i joined the friends i had come with: some working at other merch tents, and others just there to enjoy the many shows.
notable memories: warped catering was fucking delicious. or maybe it was just because all i'd had to eat until six pm was a cliff bar. parmesan chicken, spaghetti, salad, garlic bread, lemon sherbet, and peanut butter cookies. BAM. there was also some quaility conversations amongst all of us. i don't claim to be a huge fan of some of the bands on warped, but the heart and soul of the people... it's unmatchable.
www.earnityourself.com
www.sarahsaturday.tumblr.com
Saturday, July 17, 2010
st. louis: warped tour 2010
warped tour. to be honest, i'm not the biggest fan of the types of bands that are on this tour anymore. but strangely enough, of the many years that i have attended, this one was by far my favorite. getting in for free was great; working always has its perks. but i learned so much, from so many talented people, and received enough inspiration to last me a lifetime.
sarah saturday is one of the most talented women in the music industry and to this day it baffles me how she is dirt poor and without a home. she founded and runs earnityourself.com, which is a great DIY website for unsigned bands looking to network, fronts a rad indie electronic band called gardening, not architecture, and does artist and website development. not to mention that she has mad connections in the industry that would make any music nerd (read: me) jealous. we met about a year ago, when i attended one of her g,na shows and offered her a floor to sleep on, and we've have kept in touch ever since. sarah is currently putting together an EIY handbook with Q&As involving the industry's best people. honest questions with honest answers - isn't that what everyone is searching for? the handbook isn't quite done yet, but sarah had the bright idea to put together an EIY workshop each day on warped tour, on top of playing a daily set as gardening, not architecture. concert attendees can sign up at the beginning of the day at the kevin says tent in order to receive a wristband to get backstage and have a conversation with some of warped's best people. (sarah herself, kevin lyman, lisa brownlee, and martin atkins to name the few that were at the st. louis date.) so when sarah mentioned she needed volunteers to help her out on the tour, i jumped on the chance to get in on all the the musical goodness. st. louis, chicago, and bonner springs, oh my!
i had a couple friends in town who were also working the tour, so we all carpooled it over to verizon wireless pretty early. we got our "vendor" wristbands and were immediately put to work. sarah found me maybe an hour later, and we (after a coffee run) set up her tent, merch, and the like. i pretty much sat under said tent, promoted the gardening, not architecture set time and EIY meet-up, and sewed handmade cloth CD cases all day. not a bad job at all. another plus: my friend tiffany who works with building rome, was selling merch for martin atkins, who shared our tent. (full circle!) so we chatted it up and the day flew by. five o clock came all too quickly, and before i knew it, sarah had a bunch of kids wrangled up and we marched backstage together for the EIY meet up. we sat outside for a while, but we were right behind one of the stages and it was really loud, so we eventually moved inside. and let me tell you. we sat there and talked for about an hour and a half, and i could have sat there for about a week longer. being amongst people like myself, talking to people who used to be like myself and finally "made it" was incredible. i was telling sarah later on that at one point, i had tears in my eyes because it was great to look around and see all the passion in the room. these are the people i aspire to be like. these are the people who put in SO MUCH hard work, and it has finally (at least somewhat, but not nearly enough) paid off. kevin founded warped tour and has worked on countless other festivals (stagecoach, coachella, lollapalooza, mayhem). lisa brownlee manages warped and has had tour managing experience with tons and tons of other HUGE names that would put your jaw on the floor. martin atkins wrote the best damn book about the music business period (tour smart, check it out). and sarah, well, that whole paragraph up there was about her. these people are amazing. that's all i can really say. i don't have the words to describe the feeling that being able to ask questions of these people gave me.
the fire in me has once again been stirred after being burnt out for a good while. my circle of "local band friends" has seen better days. i know change is bound to happen, but change scares me. i can't say i'm happy about any of these changes, but being among like-minded people and seeing the passion literally ooze out of all the people in that room, gave me so much hope, and reinstilled a clarity and a happiness in me that i only rarely feel.
so after the group meeting, we headed back and i got to watch sarah's set, as well as motion city soundtrack (which was so great, hadn't seen them in a good two years) and helped sarah tear down and pack up her things. we ended up on her bus just talking, and once again - so inspiring. i feel like a goober gushing like a fangirl about someone who i actually know, but she's so so great. i don't know sarah all that well, but i see a lot of myself in her, and whatever topic i seem to bring up, she knows exactly how i feel and has answers for it all, which gives me hope for my future. she's not nearly as successful as she should be, but she does what she loves and she's making a difference for things that matter. and above all, she has so much passion. that's what i love about the real people in the music world. so much passion, you can see it in their eyes. and sarah's eyes just glitter with it. we sat there and talked for a good forty five minutes and once again, i could have sat there and just listened for hours on end. who knows yet, as it's only july, but hopefully something works out involving a g,na tour and me. i don't want to jinx anything, and i don't want to make too drastic of assumptions or decisions yet, but let's just say i'm excited about opportunities that may present themselves in my future. wee!
so if you're going to take anything from this lengthy post (thanks for reading all of it, by the way), try and take the passion and apply it to your own life. it doesn't have to be music like it is for me, but find what truly drives you and lights that spark into a fire in your heart, and go after it with all you've got. eventually, it'll pay off. trust me.
if you're reading this and warped tour has yet to come through your city, by all means attend the EIY local scene meet up and watch gardening, not architecture. discuss warped tour, earn it yourself and the philosophy behind it, talk about the industry of music in general, and most of all: ask questions and learn as much as you can.
it. will. be. worth. it.
learn about/follow g,na here: http://www.gardeningnotarchitecture.com/ and www.twitter.com/GNAtweets
learn about/follow earn it yourself here: http://www.earnityourself.com/ and www.twitter.com/earnityourself
learn about/follow sarah saturday here: http://www.sarahsaturday.com/ and www.twitter.com/sarahsaturday
sarah saturday is one of the most talented women in the music industry and to this day it baffles me how she is dirt poor and without a home. she founded and runs earnityourself.com, which is a great DIY website for unsigned bands looking to network, fronts a rad indie electronic band called gardening, not architecture, and does artist and website development. not to mention that she has mad connections in the industry that would make any music nerd (read: me) jealous. we met about a year ago, when i attended one of her g,na shows and offered her a floor to sleep on, and we've have kept in touch ever since. sarah is currently putting together an EIY handbook with Q&As involving the industry's best people. honest questions with honest answers - isn't that what everyone is searching for? the handbook isn't quite done yet, but sarah had the bright idea to put together an EIY workshop each day on warped tour, on top of playing a daily set as gardening, not architecture. concert attendees can sign up at the beginning of the day at the kevin says tent in order to receive a wristband to get backstage and have a conversation with some of warped's best people. (sarah herself, kevin lyman, lisa brownlee, and martin atkins to name the few that were at the st. louis date.) so when sarah mentioned she needed volunteers to help her out on the tour, i jumped on the chance to get in on all the the musical goodness. st. louis, chicago, and bonner springs, oh my!
i had a couple friends in town who were also working the tour, so we all carpooled it over to verizon wireless pretty early. we got our "vendor" wristbands and were immediately put to work. sarah found me maybe an hour later, and we (after a coffee run) set up her tent, merch, and the like. i pretty much sat under said tent, promoted the gardening, not architecture set time and EIY meet-up, and sewed handmade cloth CD cases all day. not a bad job at all. another plus: my friend tiffany who works with building rome, was selling merch for martin atkins, who shared our tent. (full circle!) so we chatted it up and the day flew by. five o clock came all too quickly, and before i knew it, sarah had a bunch of kids wrangled up and we marched backstage together for the EIY meet up. we sat outside for a while, but we were right behind one of the stages and it was really loud, so we eventually moved inside. and let me tell you. we sat there and talked for about an hour and a half, and i could have sat there for about a week longer. being amongst people like myself, talking to people who used to be like myself and finally "made it" was incredible. i was telling sarah later on that at one point, i had tears in my eyes because it was great to look around and see all the passion in the room. these are the people i aspire to be like. these are the people who put in SO MUCH hard work, and it has finally (at least somewhat, but not nearly enough) paid off. kevin founded warped tour and has worked on countless other festivals (stagecoach, coachella, lollapalooza, mayhem). lisa brownlee manages warped and has had tour managing experience with tons and tons of other HUGE names that would put your jaw on the floor. martin atkins wrote the best damn book about the music business period (tour smart, check it out). and sarah, well, that whole paragraph up there was about her. these people are amazing. that's all i can really say. i don't have the words to describe the feeling that being able to ask questions of these people gave me.
the fire in me has once again been stirred after being burnt out for a good while. my circle of "local band friends" has seen better days. i know change is bound to happen, but change scares me. i can't say i'm happy about any of these changes, but being among like-minded people and seeing the passion literally ooze out of all the people in that room, gave me so much hope, and reinstilled a clarity and a happiness in me that i only rarely feel.
so after the group meeting, we headed back and i got to watch sarah's set, as well as motion city soundtrack (which was so great, hadn't seen them in a good two years) and helped sarah tear down and pack up her things. we ended up on her bus just talking, and once again - so inspiring. i feel like a goober gushing like a fangirl about someone who i actually know, but she's so so great. i don't know sarah all that well, but i see a lot of myself in her, and whatever topic i seem to bring up, she knows exactly how i feel and has answers for it all, which gives me hope for my future. she's not nearly as successful as she should be, but she does what she loves and she's making a difference for things that matter. and above all, she has so much passion. that's what i love about the real people in the music world. so much passion, you can see it in their eyes. and sarah's eyes just glitter with it. we sat there and talked for a good forty five minutes and once again, i could have sat there and just listened for hours on end. who knows yet, as it's only july, but hopefully something works out involving a g,na tour and me. i don't want to jinx anything, and i don't want to make too drastic of assumptions or decisions yet, but let's just say i'm excited about opportunities that may present themselves in my future. wee!
so if you're going to take anything from this lengthy post (thanks for reading all of it, by the way), try and take the passion and apply it to your own life. it doesn't have to be music like it is for me, but find what truly drives you and lights that spark into a fire in your heart, and go after it with all you've got. eventually, it'll pay off. trust me.
if you're reading this and warped tour has yet to come through your city, by all means attend the EIY local scene meet up and watch gardening, not architecture. discuss warped tour, earn it yourself and the philosophy behind it, talk about the industry of music in general, and most of all: ask questions and learn as much as you can.
it. will. be. worth. it.
learn about/follow g,na here: http://www.gardeningnotarchitecture.com/ and www.twitter.com/GNAtweets
learn about/follow earn it yourself here: http://www.earnityourself.com/ and www.twitter.com/earnityourself
learn about/follow sarah saturday here: http://www.sarahsaturday.com/ and www.twitter.com/sarahsaturday
Monday, August 3, 2009
st. louis: warped tour
just when i'd convinced myself that it was acceptable to skip a warped tour... "all the bands are shitty, you're not missing anything" i thought. just when i'd convinced myself that it was all gonna be okay... emma texts at me at three in the morning. "wanna go to warped for free?" well DUH. i can't pass up a free show! so that's precisely what i did. i made a couple hundred copies of state and madison fliers, made plans to meet up with jon from building rome, and agreed to earn my free ticket by helping emma promote and hang posters for fueled by ramen.
well apparently things were a little out of sorts this morning. we arrived a little after nine, like we were told. and what time did we actually get in? fucking eleven. two fucking hours later. the same time as everyone else. by the time we got in and found our tent, it was too late to hang posters. so we handed out cobra starship fans, the swellers pamphlets and a random assortment of stickers. mission accomplished. and i handed out probably two hundred or so of my fatty stack of state and madison fliers so i'm considering that a success as well. we caught a little bit of saosin, sat in for big d and the kids table and enjoyed less than jake from the shade of the monster tent. well by that time i was getting pretty tired and frying faster than an egg on the sidewalk; so i said my goodbyes and headed out to the parking lot to leave some fliers on cars. i called jon. no answer. i called again. straight to voicemail. but alas, i have great timing because as i was snaking through row after row of cars leaving behind my trail of little paper squares, i started noticing the windshield wipers had building rome fliers under them. well i finally caught up to jon; we chatted briefly and he agreed to come to the show on sunday, and then we swapped a handful or two of each others fliers - he took some state and madison and i took some building rome. it was an excellent team effort, i tell ya. four hundred fliers and about and hour and a half later, i was empty handed. i crawled my way back to the car, blasted ac, and headed home. good days work.
well apparently things were a little out of sorts this morning. we arrived a little after nine, like we were told. and what time did we actually get in? fucking eleven. two fucking hours later. the same time as everyone else. by the time we got in and found our tent, it was too late to hang posters. so we handed out cobra starship fans, the swellers pamphlets and a random assortment of stickers. mission accomplished. and i handed out probably two hundred or so of my fatty stack of state and madison fliers so i'm considering that a success as well. we caught a little bit of saosin, sat in for big d and the kids table and enjoyed less than jake from the shade of the monster tent. well by that time i was getting pretty tired and frying faster than an egg on the sidewalk; so i said my goodbyes and headed out to the parking lot to leave some fliers on cars. i called jon. no answer. i called again. straight to voicemail. but alas, i have great timing because as i was snaking through row after row of cars leaving behind my trail of little paper squares, i started noticing the windshield wipers had building rome fliers under them. well i finally caught up to jon; we chatted briefly and he agreed to come to the show on sunday, and then we swapped a handful or two of each others fliers - he took some state and madison and i took some building rome. it was an excellent team effort, i tell ya. four hundred fliers and about and hour and a half later, i was empty handed. i crawled my way back to the car, blasted ac, and headed home. good days work.
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