Burning FIght Wrap Up

So, its been a week now, time to do a wrap up of the weekend. Im still recovering from the weekend, it was so amazing. We had such a great time in Chicago. We want to thank Jim Grimes, Caitlin Lipinski, Andy Hurley, and especially Brian Peterson for asking us to be involved with such an epic event. It was such an honor to share the stage with so many bands that i have loved over the years. 

So, we left Thursday night around 10 or so. Everyone had to work so we figured it would be the best idea to leave at night so we would have a full day of hanging out on Friday after getting some good sleep. Too bad i dont sleep late. I was up way too fucking early on Friday waiting for the boys to get up. They did eventually, after my coffee run, breakfast, and then deciding to go back to sleep because we were out by the airport and there was nothing else to do.

Lamb of God was playing at The Congress Theater that night so we decided to hang out with them. We met up with some old friends, Chad and Fang, before the show, and then were supposed to find them inside but once we realized the sea of people, we knew it would be impossible. 

We only saw LOG because we were down the street hanging out at the weirdest pizza place. They of course were rad. I talked to Doc from God Forbid for a while, it was nice catching up with him. Ive known that dude forever. We used to play the Melody Bar with them back in the 90's. After the show, we went back to said pizza place and met up with Zeus and Tracy. Randy eventually met up with us and told us some interesting stories from the night before. 

We closed the place down. Had the biggest pizza ever (pepperoni and bacon, YUM!) and headed back to the train where mayhem ensued. Charlie felt like dancing and doing push ups on the train which was pretty fucking hilarious. I think we were the only ones that thought so but whatev. 

So Saturday came really quick. I, of course, was the first one up. We had to be to the club by 11 to make sure we got a merch spot and, well, because Jim told us thats when we had to be there. 

Nobody else really wanted to wake up but they did and we headed out into the shitty Chicago traffic, thanks to the Cubs. Got there on time. Saw Jav right when we pulled up which brightened my day. He handed over my gift of an old stinky Unbroken hoodie. Thank you Jav. 

Got set up, and fuck, there was absolutely no room to sell merch. Good thing we got there when we did because it was cramped. The doors opened shortly after that and it was chaos. The merch room was so small and not eveyone was set up. We did amazing. We sold out of 250 shirts in a few hours. Thanks to everyone who bought a shirt, im so glad i didnt have to stand there all day.  

I saw a little bit of Guilt, it sounded good. It was just hard to sit thru a whole bands set. I was just way into hanging out with people i had not seen in forever. I did go backstage though and Rob Fish was standing there with some people who i knew so i joined in the convo. I introduced myself and told him what a fan i was of all of his bands and lyrics. It was really amazing watching 108. They have been one of my fav bands and they just sounded awesome. 

Then i watched Trial. I wasent really planning on it as i was never the biggest Trial fan but they fucking blew me away. I couldnt believe how amazing they were. 

Then it was time for us to play.  We were all really excited. It was weird not being able to soundcheck anything ahead of time though because go fucking figure, my shit wasent working. For some reason that always happens to us. We figured it out and moved forward. I was having some technical difficulties during the first two songs. Its really hard to play on stuff thats not your own stuff but i moved on and had an amazing time. We were truly blown away at the response. It is really weird to think that after all these years, people travelled from so many places to see us play. Words cannot express how thankful we are. It was hard not to smile on stage sometimes because poor Aaron was getting pulled in and of course didnt disappoint. He puked with about 3 songs left. I told Jim ahead of time that he better put a bucket on stage and sure enough we used it. I think he puked on the girl who was taking pictures. Amazing.

After the show, i was so exhausted i couldnt even smile. We went next door after the show and had a couple of drinks and some food. I just wanted sleep.

We got back to the hotel and i passed out. Good night Chicago.

Sunday, the day i was really looking forward to. Not that i wasent looking forward to playing but it theres something that ive been waiting forever to see and thats UNBROKEN.

They have been my favorite hardcore band since life.love.regret came out and i was never able to see them when they were together so i was so anxious and excited. I was the only one who got up early so i took the Shuttle Van that came and picked up at the hotel. Two vans for one person, i felt really important. 

Got to the club, got Starbucks, and was ready to start the day. Hung out with Eric Rumpshaker, my old friend. So good to see him. I was enjoying a little me time so i just wandered around, hung out with Caitlin. The first band that i watched that day was Threadbare. They are from my hometown so they hold a special place in my heart. Ive known those dudes for a long time and saw them last year when they played in Minneapolis. It was so good. Its hard to think they havent played those songs in a long time because they sounded so tight.

Then Split Lip was up next. I watched a few songs but i didnt love it. I was looking forward to their set but three or four songs and i was done. I was hungry. We headed across the street for some Mexican sans Aaron. He was nowhere to be found.

Watched Converge, they were amazing. That was probably the best time that ive ever seen them. The crowd was a little weird i thought but maybe it was because they played on Friday. 

then UNBROKEN was up next. I was fucking nervous. All of these years ive waited and talked about them, im sure to some annoyance to Jav, and then Steve has problems. It was kind of a buzzkill at first because everyone was waiting for them to start and then 10 minutes later....

but they didnt disappoint. fuck. i love that band. they were so amazing, i wanted to cry. That band has just really helped me through some fucked up shit in my life and to be able to see those songs live was rad. I went up to Rob after the show and told him how amazing it was, i feel so nerdy because im like super fan, i totally geek out, and had to walk away really because i was getting emotional. I was emotional for like an hour after the show. 

We ended the night at a bar, then a diner. Had an amazing night hanging with Zeus and Tracy. They came and crashed at our hotel so we could go to Zuma's Corner the next day on the way out of town.  

So Monday we went to Zumas, filled our bellies way beyond capacity and then were ready to head home. We were so bummed to leave our favorite couple EVER behind but back to reality. We headed back to Mpls. It took us two hours longer to get home vs. getting there. Go figure.

We got back to Mpls around 1am, dropped our shit off, and headed home for a couple hours of sleep before i had to get up for work. Ugh....

So the next day i get a text from Charlie that Aaron is in the hospital. My initial reaction was uh oh, too much raging in Chicago, but as it turns out, he had to get his Appendix taken out the next day. It was very nice of his appendix to wait until we were back in Minneapolis before causing him pain. 

So hes recovering, were still recovering, just counting down the days until the California shows.

Thank you so much to everyone for all of your kind words, your emails, your support.  Without all of you guys, the show would never have happened, we never would have gotten back together. YES, we are back together. We are going to write some new music when we get back from California. This band has never been tighter. After years of growing up and doing our own thing, we are having an amazing time. Hanging out, practicing, playing shows, it just feels right and its all the right people. We are doing this because we love playing music and we still have the passion for it. We are going to do it on our terms and were gonna have a good fucking time doing it. 

So, with that being said..... Heres the link to the video from the Burning Fight show.... 

http://vimeo.com/4518267

Watch, study, and get ready to get fucking thrashed in California.