It has taken me so long to get my act together and to type up this blog. There really is no excuse for this. There basically came a time everyday where I would debate about doing it and then fob it off and watch Entourage or some shit. Because it has been a while I’ll probably forget some important details but fuck it.
We left Dublin pretty early on the 23rd of July. I remember my door being bashed by my Da who was bringing me to the airport (my door only has a handle on the inside because it is broken and shit). Everyone got there pretty soon afterwards except for Laura and I ran into a few of the lads from Only Fumes & Corpses who were heading to Finland to play a few shows and a festival. Laura arrived after we checked in, so we went through security and got some breaky which was ludicrously priced and some Oasis juice which was amazingly priced. It was a euro and in my fragile state I was excitable along mith Mackell and Cindy.
I don’t like flying and the thought of a non stop 10 or 11 hour flight was bugging the shit out of me. When we arrived in LAX they left us sitting on the runway for around forty minutes after telling us four or five times it would only take a couple of minutes before we get off. I was freaking the fuck out. I wouldn’t mind if they just said it could take a while because I would just sit back and relax, but when you’re looking for any slight movements from the flight attendants it can send anyone into a fucking mentaller.
We arrived in LA anyway and got a taxi to our hotel which was just behind the Chinese Theatre in Hollywood. I was bursting to go the toilet the whole journey so I didn’t really pay that much attention the whole way. I do remember Laura pointing out some famous tatoo artists shop. Probably the bird off that LA ink show. We didn’t spend too much time in the hotel because Nelly hadn’t arrived and we had no way of contacting him. This was our first burrito encounter of the holiday and we weren’t disappointed. We went there on Andy’s recommendation and the chap changed my life. I mean I’ve had burrito’s in Dublin and always enjoyed them but the only way of describing it is when you drink Dunnes Stores diet Cola and then you get a can of proper diet Coke then you know what the real shit is. After the burrito’s we decided to trek down to an IMAX theatre to see the new Batman film. It was fucking delish. When we got there all these people were camped out along the path and we we thought it was the queue for the film but it turned out they were going to see the premiere for some new tv programme over there. They had the batpod and Batmans suit and some other stuff which was sweet at the theatre.
We all enjoyed Batman and had a bit of a spree in Amoeba Hollywood which was sweet. I’ve been to the states a good few times now and I still can’t get over the selection those people have in their music shops it makes me sick. It was pretty late after the film and I for one was absolutely wrecked but when we got back to the hotel this lad had arrived.
Although going to Sound and Fury and seeing places like Santa Barbara, LA and San Fran are life experiences, I probably wouldn’t have gone if I wasn’t seeing this lad. We had the laugh and I wish he could have stayed on for longer. His two mates Alex and Hunter (GerberxBaby) came down with from Vancouver and they were the nicest lads. We had planned on staying in LA for two nights so we decided to got to this show in Newhall which was about an hour on the train from Los Angeles Union Station. That day we just hung out and acted like goons.
That night we headed out to Newhall for the show. I can’t find the flier but it was Internal Affairs record launch and I Rise, Soul Control, Furious Styles, Kids Like Us, The Mongoloids and Swamp Thing played. On the way out we passed by Oxnard which is where the Dallas Cowboys were having training camp. That was sweet. The show itself was class and it was cool to see a normal American show that wasn’t part of the festival although Sound and Fury brought probably alot more people like us to it. The town itself was a bit weird. The last train out of there was at like 7.30 so we were planning on just hanging around until the first train. It was lucky we got a taxi because Kids Like Us van was held up at gunpoint by some sketch bags and they got some of their shit stolen. Bobby arrived up at that gig and we hung out getting Mexican which was sweet. That burrito was ridiculously cheap and ridiculously good.
The next day we got up super early and headed for Santa Barbara. The greyhound journey from Hollywood was just under two hours. The place itself is so nice and is way bigger than I expected it to be. We got there without any place to stay and not knowing where the others were, we went in search of a motel or hotel or anything. (Me, Mackell, Nelly, Alex and Gerber). We walked for what seemed hours in the blistering heat and finally got to this place. The fucking dude was a douchebag and tried charging us a ridiculous price. We walked a little bit up the road and got a way better deal.
We eventually made our way up to the Earl Warren Showgrounds where the fest was being held via a ridiculous route. It turns out we were like a 15 block walk from the place. Too much went down for me to go into detail. Almost every band killed it. I spent alot of money on cds and tshirts and I was so tired my ass nearly fell off. The highlights were definitely Have Heart, The Mongoloids, New Lows, Violation, Sinking Ships and Swamp Thing. I was so excited for Guns Up! and it was so good to see them it just seemed to me that they weren’t tight and it lost a bit of guster for me.
I took this picture randomly of Macker on the grass outside the gig and it turns out Blacklisted were standing in the background. It was weird when we found this.
All in all Sound and Fury was so good and I was so sad to leave the weather and Nelly in Southern Cali. He was in work on the Tuesday or Wednesday so he had to head back to Vancouver. Laura, Cindy, Mags and Chris had a rental car and drove up to San Francisco so me, Macker, Andy and Kayleigh got the Greyhound bus up to San Fran. I was excited about getting the Greyhound until I found out it would take 9 and a half hours. The bus journey itself wasn’t too bad but we had to amuse ourselves and taking pictures out the windows was a good activity. We drove through some pretty beautiful parts of California and it was the buzz.
As the bus dragged on we started to lose our minds a little bit.
We arrived in San Francisco really really late on the Tuesday morning. Olivia had arrived over that day from Dublin to meet Laura because they were heading up to Vancouver and Seattle for three weeks after we went home. We got to the hotel way early in the morning and passed out. The next morning I woke up ridiculously early and went for a wander, the hotel had a pool and I was excited about that, even though I never used it.
We went across the road to this place called Mels for breakfast. Only after I came home I realised its actually in the opening credits for Entourage. The place was a total ripoff and Macker wouldn’t tip the waitress because she circled the tipping suggestions and was being well cheeky. The fucking service was shite aswell. San Francisco is so cool and I’d recommend it to anyone. We missed out on the Alcatraz tour but I got a boat with Olivia and got up pretty close to the island and the Golden Gate Bridge. The one thing you notice after you go to LA and San Fran is the complete difference in the two cities. If I’m being honest I didn’t like LA at all. The whole time I was there I felt upset for the people who were working in shitty souvenir shops and shit. It’s a town built on fame and it consists of wealthy famous people and the people who provide a service or work for the wealthy famous people, well Hollywood is like that anyway.
Me and Macker have an interest in seeing Stadiums for some reason so one of the days we decided to go look at the Giants baseball ground and the 49ers stadium which has some ridiculous sponsored name but is actually referred to as Candlestick Park. The baseball stadium is so sweet and is really nice to walk around. We got to see the batters warming up and it was a pity we missed the tour by a half hour or so.
After the ballpark we got a tram up to the niners ground. The stadium is in a pretty sketchy neighbourhood. When we got off the tram we saw this bus and asked if it went down to the stadium. The driver told us she was so we jumped on. The bus drive was pretty hilarious because everyone on the bus knew each other and they were all having the laugh. The bus driver pretended to drive by a bus stop on some auld lad and he wasn’t happy but she was just playing. We couldn’t get near the stadium because of training camp and it was all cordoned off. It was good to see though, not half as impressive as the Giants ballpark though. That night we went to see Sundowner and Mike Park in a little venue called Bottom of the Hill. It was such a sweet show and Fat Mike from NOFX was there. I have no photographic evidence of this but it’s true.
We saw that there was a show on in Gilman Street while we were in the area so me and Macker decided to head up to Berkeley to check it out. We survived on this trip without knowing much about how long it should take to get anywhere and completely free of the shackles of maps. To get to Gilman we were told to get a BART to North Berkeley and walk. It took fucking ages but we eventually got there. The queue for the show was fucking huge and we were in it for about two hours without knowing who we were actually queuing for. It was a Portraits of Past reunion show and the buzz was amazing.
During the show we decided to go out looking for something to eat and what we found changed both mine and Mackells life. This Mexican restaurant that had a full vegetarian take away menu and we saw this burrito on the menu called the Super for $2. We said ‘ah they must be pretty small so we’ll get three’. The super was the add on to the normal burrito so we got a normal burrito with the super add on for $5.95. FUCK ME IT WAS RIDICULOUS.
This holiday was worth every penny I spent and thats alot. It’s so cool to be able to enjoy yourself without worrying about work and all that bollocks. It’s an experience I’ll never forget and I hope I will get the opportunity to travel to a big festival like Sound and Fury in the states again.
Thanks for reading, this took me hours.
I was listening to Shook Ones, Sundowner, Have Heart and I was drinking copious amounts of tea.
Sweets are class.
