An Unwanted Visitor

I suppose that it was bound to happen. Spending virtually every moment of our lives for a month and a half with six other guys in a cramped van and then barely getting any sleep every night finally caught up to us. Lots of people probably figured that after so much time together, we'd end up killing each other. Our health has actually come into jeopardy recently, but - surprisingly - it has nothing to do with each other and everything to do with an unwanted addition to our group:


THE BUBONIC PLAGUE!!

Okay, so we don't have THE plague. But, whatever it is, it sure has been miserable and shows no signs of going away. I thought that I was rid of it once already only to have it come back even stronger than before. Symptoms include green snot (and lots of it), sinus congestion, dry mouth, sore throat (feels like you're swallowing glass), sinus pressure, deep chest cough, chills, low-grade fever, headache, and fatigue. It's an all-around nasty bug, whatever it is, and we seem to give it a lot of bodies to use to sustain its existence - so far we've all gotten a touch of it. Spencer has had it the worst as you can see here:



And here:


And you don't want to see how many of these we've gone through:


It's been quite the week and all I can say as I write this is that I hope that we survive it. It started out with an amazing homecoming show for Spencer in Lansing, MI. Both Danny's and TJ's parents made it out for that show, as well. (More photos and awesome video of that to come - as soon as we get healthy enough to put it together for you to see.) But since then it's been all horrible plague and pestilence.

Hopefully a steady diet of Fuze Green Tea, multivitamins, DayQuil/NyQuil, and soup will cure us quickly and prevent it from ever returning. If not... well, it's been a fun ride while it lasted.

If any of you out there have any good get-well-quick tips, please drop us a line. And please hurry. Time is running out...

The Lansing Visit

Sorry we've been out of touch the past couple days. We've been in Lansing, MI for a crazy awesome show at Mac's Bar. A ton of family and significant others were there. It was a great time and we're sad to leave but excited for the East Coast leg of the tour starting tomorrow in Buffalo, NY.

Check back tomorrow for some videos and pictures - and we'll also be posting the footage from the AMP Acoustic Set in St. Paul, MN in case you missed the live broadcast.

And one more thing - here's a little teaser from the Lansing show. It was insane.

Live Acoustic Thanks!

Just wanted to say a big THANKS to everyone who tuned in to our live acoustic performance tonight on Stickam.com. We had a blast and we hope you did, too. Sorry for the lack of updated photos - unfortunately our media guy sat on the camera and broke it. Luckily there is a Super Target here in St. Paul and we got a new one today so we should be back up and running with numerous photos of our everyday life on the road.

Until then - here's a confessional from Christian and Spencer talking about life on the road and the transition from Warped Tour back to the Robot Roadkill Tour:

Robot Roadkill So Far

We've been having a blast keeping you abreast of all our goings on and whathaveyous - but we're most excited about SHOWING you the excitement that we've been having out here on the road for the past 3+ weeks. Here's a taste of the tour:

WE HAVE A WINNER!!

Our first contest came right down to the wire. Almost losing it down the stretch, winning by a nose in a photo-finish, for the first ever fan-decided acoustic AMP cover song, you have chosen...

SUCH GREAT HEIGHTS!!

Thanks to everyone for voting.

Tune into our Stickam page to see the LIVE performance of The Postal Service's "Such Great Heights" on FRIDAY, JULY 25TH AT 8PM PST. That's 10PM Central, 11PM Eastern time.

Drop us a line and let us know that you'll be tuning in. Can't wait to see you all on Friday.

Famous in Kansas City?

A Couple Days of Rest

We've been lucky enough to have Dillon from Josephine Collective let us stay at his parent's house and completely take over their basement for the past couple days while we're in Kansas City. It's been amazing just being able to stay in one place for more than a few hours sleep. We haven't had to repack all of our belongings in over 48 hours. It almost feels normal again. But, it won't last too much longer.

We played The House Cafe in DeKalb, IL on Saturday night. It was the first club show after our stint on the Warped Tour - talk about a different experience. Really loved getting back on stage with Josephine Collective though. We've spent the past couple days driving leisurely down to KC and hanging out and resting up. Tonight we're playing a huge show at the Beaumont. More to follow on that. Until then...

New Videos!!

We've got some new footage from the Warped Tour.

It's up on our Stickam site so check it out above on our player or go to http://www.stickam.com/aftermidnightproject. Come back here and leave us some comments on what you think!

You Choose the Song!!

Here's your chance to hear a never-before-performed cover song by After Midnight Project AND you get to choose which song it is!!

Check out the poll to the right of the screen and you'll see three options. Make your choice (sorry, you can only pick one) and whichever song has the most votes by Wednesday night will be performed acoustically and a video of it will be posted on the blog by the end of the week.

What are you waiting for? Vote for your song and then check back to see which one wins!

The End of Warped Tour

All good things come to an end. Although I don't think any of us expected Warped Tour to be nearly as awesome as it was after our first day in Orlando, which was just brutal. It also feels like it was a month ago even though it has only been nine days. Time on the tour takes on a whole new definition. It doesn't really matter the day of the week so much as what city of the week and when we need to be there. Location of the venue and load-in time pretty much determine our schedule and all other calculations of space and time are rendered meaningless.

Now we're off to De Kalb, IL to catch up with Josephine Collective and jump back on board the Robot Roadkill Tour and we can't wait to get there. As fun as Warped was, getting back to having our days free to drive/work/write/meet fans and perform in an air conditioned club will be a breath of fresh air.

Last night we stayed at Danny's parent's house in Troy, MI. They were nice enough to let a bunch of sweaty sunburned guys invade their immaculate home. It was so much better than staying at a red-ant infested Budget Inn. Thanks Mr. and Mrs. Morris. Darryl gives his love from the trailer.

Detroit Warped Tour

AMP CONCERT FOOTAGE!

From their show at Lynn University for the Power Chord Academy students, check out the footage of the kids going NUTS in a mosh pit!! There's PLENTY more footage to come from all their shows over the past couple weeks, so keep checking back. Until then, enjoy AMP ON TOUR!!

Jason Video Blog #1

Atypical Midnight Drive

We've had so many back-to-back long distance drives in the past week that it's hard to keep the days straight. Most of our traveling takes place at night, too, since we are at the Warped Tour all day long. Some people stay awake (usually the driver) and half the group falls asleep in really uncomfortable positions on the benches in the back. It can get quiet and lonely but every now and then when we stop at some random spot in the middle of nowhere to fill up the gas tank and pick up some more caffeinated beverages, we find a little more than we bargained for. So far, Virginia has had the most fun midnight drive yet.

Miami Slip and Slide

How we kept cool in the muggy heat of Miami:

Power Chord Academy!

Sleep When You're Dead

The past two days have been epic. We had a blast playing for a bunch of music students in the Powerchord Academy at Lynn University in Boca Raton, FL. They were all between 12 - 18 years old and total prodigies. They performed after our set and were just incredible. We were as pumped to talk with them and see them perform as they were with us.



Then we packed up and drove 40 minutes south to Miami to jump back on the Warped Tour. We got a good night's sleep and showed up ready to rock. As soon as we pulled into the parking area downtown just near the water, we got the phone call saying that we wouldn't be playing today. Turns out that our East Coast Independent Stage got wet the day before and wasn't going to be used so we had nowhere to perform. It was a total bummer at first - but we made the best of it. We ended up meeting a TON of new fans and some old fans - including some kids from Powerchord the night before. We had a blast.




After Miami we ended up having to drive through the night in order to make it up to Elkton in time for Warped Tour today. We slept in a motel for about 4 hours tops with an air conditioner that had to be gerry-rigged with a binder jammed against the plug to keep it pumping the cold air through the night. All four hours of it.

But we made a ton more fans. Look for the footage to be uploaded in the next week. It's been tough to get everything out there for you to see since we've been spending our time either at a fairgrounds with no power nearby or in the van with no ability to actually capture the footage, etc.

Our Time Is Now

We survived our first day of Warped Tour. It was over 90 degrees out with the humidity level nearly breaking the barometer. It was both exhausting and exhilarating at the same time. We pushed ourselves physically and mentally further than any of us had gone before.

With only an hour of sleep or so, we played a rocking set and talked to tons of fans, which was one of the best parts of the day. So many great fans out there. We saw familiar faces and met tons of new ones. Here's Spencer and Christian to talk about how it went:

WARPED TOUR!!

440 miles from Atlanta to Orlando.
Departure time: 2:00am
Arrival Time: 8:45am
Sleep time: 1 hour (maybe)

AMP is ready to rock. Come check us out on the East Coast Independent Stage.

No More Darryl

After 10 trial days of being our main blogger, we've decided to relinquish the media duties from Darryl. We think he did a great job (well, most of us, at least) but he just didn't take the job seriously enough. Also, those blogging and picture duties cut into his roadie time, which left more work for the rest of us.

Darryl wanted to say a few things before he left so here he goes:

"Thank you so much for the opportunity to handle your Internets for the past week and a half. It's been amazing. I feel like I've been able to connect with so many new fans and hopefully I've left an impression and some of my wisdom has stuck with you all. Hopefully you've learned to appreciation Nelson for the great band and human beings that they are. And hopefully I'll be back again sometime soon. Always remember to party like it's 1991."

Darryl will remain on tour as our roadie, so please don't worry. You haven't seen the last of him yet.

In the meantime, today we were extremely productive. Life on the road takes its toll on everyone's bodies, brains, and brawn. So we had to take care of a bunch of life business: laundry, buying new bins for our merch, getting this new awesome video camera, and of course eating. We had to move quickly to get everything sorted out in this Target parking lot before the security guard came back and gave us a ticket.




Tonight we're playing at The Masquerade Theater in Atlanta, GA. It's this really old wooden building that was once an old mill built in 1890. Jason found out some disturbing information about the place:




We'll be joining Warped Tour for four more dates on top of the original three that we had scheduled. Keep checking back here for more information on those changes.

A Moment of Levity

In order to boost morale after the demoralizing fender bender, the AMP guys follow my advice and pump some iron for a rockin endorphin rush. Whether in a gym, in your house, on a freeway onramp in Louisiana, or in a parking lot in front of a cop, it's ALWAYS time for pushups.

Fender Bender in Tallahassee

It was bound to happen. Luckily for the guys, I was there to take care of business. Moving at a steady clip of about 1.3 miles per hour, TJ accidentally backed the trailer into a car. The damage is pretty minimal - I could pound it out with a rubber mallet and some elbow grease in about 14 seconds.

The owner of the car didn't take me up on the offer. Instead, Tallahassee's finest showed up to write up a report and dish out a ticket. The U-Haul suffered very little if at all. No visible damage on that beast. And, no one was hurt so it's all good. Welcome to life on the road. We're only a week and a day into the tour so there's going to be a lot more adventure to come. I'm ready for whatever comes at me.

Technology Bites It

Well, after a day of little to no connection with the Internet and the outside world, we're back online and in action. So, check out the band's adventure in and around New Orleans, LA.

Day 7 - Metairie/New Orleans, LA

Dealing with technological snafus is just one of the many headaches you have to deal with on tour. From issues with soundboards at the venues to trying to get a good internet connection. I'm stellar at handling sound problems at the show but this whole wireless internet thing has me totally confounded. Please bear with me while I figure it out. At the moment I can't show you all the photos from the Louisiana show at High Ground, so you'll just have to wait a little longer.

In the meantime you can check out this video of Spencer being an idiot:

PRE-SHOW WORKOUT

When you're on the road sitting in a van for as many hours as we are each day while on tour, I installed an exercise routine on the guys to keep them in shape. It's easy to eat garbage and just sit around when you're not playing a show. But I'm not making it easy for AMP. Which is why you see them getting in a good pre-show workout on the sidewalk outside The Door. They're not quite there yet, but just you wait. With 6 more weeks on tour, these guys will be like chiseled granite before you know it.

Dallas Fun

Day 6 - Midlothian, TX

Ahhh. Good ole Midlothian, TX. A wide expanse of farmland nestled in between Ft. Worth and Dallas. Aside from a creek, a highway, and a gas station/Subway combo, there really is not much else going on.

Other than Uncle Jim's place. He was nice enough to let us crash at his house last night after the Ridglea Theater show but we didn't get along all that great. He wasn't a huge fan of the Darryl. I ended up overstaying my welcome, apparently. The AMP guys didn't really get my back either and I got stuck sleeping in the van. I woke up around 9am as the sun boiled me alive in that sweatbox. It was probably the least festive 4th of July that I've ever had. No fireworks. No sparklers. No BBQ. But at least AMP put on a stellar set.

Tonight = DALLAS. I hate how everyone refers to it as "The Big D." What about Detroit!? Why does Dallas get the D recognition? Either way, Dallas is going to rock.

LIVE FT. WORTH SHOW!!!

Check it out! We're going live at the Ridglea Theatre in Ft. Worth, TX at 8:05pm CENTRAL TIME. That means 6:05pm PST and 9:05pm EST. It's gonna be sick. You gotta see this venue. By far the biggest and coolest one we've hit up so far this tour.

Just go to www.stickam.com/aftermidnightproject at 8pm to get in the room and watch the glory that is After Midnight Project LIVE!!!

Don't do it for me. Do it for yourself.

Austin Part 2

Day 4 - Austin

Day 4 - Austin, TX

What happened to Thursday?!?

Day 4 was a blur of awesome. After having to say goodbye to the amazing hospitality of Aunt Kelly and The Family, we hit up a Subway for some more incredible $5 sandwiches, and then motored our way over to Austin.

Austin rules. It's easily one of my favorite cities. Great club scene, good people, nice weather. I've been through these parts more times than I have hair on my head and every time I can't wait to get back. This time was no different.

Red 7 was a great venue, probably the best one thus far. I'm getting used to these smaller venues - Nelson and Skid Row definitely were more on the arena tip than this club scene, but AMP rocked it. Dylan from Josephine Collective hopped up on stage and jumped in with his vocals. Christian lept off the stage into the crowd without missing a note. Danny sang his heart out while banging away on the drums. Spencer and TJ held it down like they always do. It was only the third show of the tour and these guys are really getting on point.

Unfortunately we didn't get to spend much time in Austin as we had to get up early and head out to Ft. Worth to hit up the Ridglea Theatre. This is the kind of place I'm more accustomed to rocking: a big outdoor stage.

Check out the footage from the past day and night and drop us a line. Let us know if you liked the show and what else you want to see, especially if you were there.

Aunt Kelly's and the Rock Bottom, Austin TX

Spencer's Fam in San Antone

Today was rough. We drove straight through the night, traversing all 983 miles from Phoenix AZ to San Antonio TX to make the show tonight at Rock Bottom. Our reward for not stopping and having to sleep in the uncomfortable van was hanging out with Spencer's Aunt and her family poolside. A welcomed change to the unbelievable oven-like heat of Arizona.

AMP put on a rockin show in front of a totally punk rock audience tonight in a tiny spot in the industrial part of San Antonio. They rocked the house, too. Kids with yellow mohawks moshed and jumped through the smoke-filled room toward the low ceiling. I gotta say, these boys know how to get a crowd riled up. It wasn't exactly their scene off the bat, but they got the crowd moving. Reminds me a lot of another band I know...

Everyone is pretty beat from the past 24 hours, most of which were spent in the van. I do not recommend sleeping in a van. Hopefully they have a good chiropractor in Austin when we get there tomorrow.

Day 2 - Traveling through the Southwest

Day 2 - Life on the Road

We spent all day driving. We're not even to San Antonio yet. Actually, I don't even think that we're even in New Mexico yet, much less Texas. We have another several hours to go and it's now 12:20am Mountain Standard Time. We lost an hour a couple hours ago going through Arizona.

The AMP dudes got a lot done on the road today even though they didn't play a show. Hit up some friends on Stickam.com that were at the Phoenix show last night, ate several tuna sandwiches courtesy of Subway $5 footlongs, and talked to some locals in Tuscon, AZ.

We discovered that the trailer's lights aren't fully functional. I tried to gerry-rig some of my quick electricianship but couldn't make it work. We have one left brake light and one left blinker. This is just the kind of stuff that happens on the road. Didn't phase me much. I'm well versed in hand signals. They're a must out here on tour. I'm giving Jason lessons but he's reluctant to learn. Thinks that civilization is well beyond hand signals. He'll learn the hard way.

We're about to go into the dead zone for service so I'll be you all adieu. We'll see you in San Antone.

Robot Roadkill Day 1