Sleeperstar » Adventures

The van blows a tire

Shaun — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 06:06:07 +0000

A few weeks ago we were on our way to play a show at Summerfest for the lovely people of Wisconsin when 30 minutes out from the fair grounds… BOOM.. the Washington blew a tire. We like tires, they take us where we need to go, so naturally we were pretty sad to see this one go. Oh, another tidbit of information you should know: we got out to get the spare tire from underneath the van and NO SPARE TIRE!! Crap. We called a few places and it looked like they we were going to have to leave the trailer on the side of the road while they came and towed the van which would mean that 1) our gear would be in serious danger on the side of the highway 2) we would for sure miss the Summerfest show. Our faithful tour manager, Jacob, said “NO WAY! I’m gonna kick this situation right in the groin!” And believe me… he did. Oh did he ever. Jacob got on the phone with a Sears in the area and sweet talked a super nice employee into coming out to the van on the side of the highway, taking the wheel with the blow tire and a few of us along with it back to the Sears auto store, having them put a new tire on the wheel, and then bringing it back out to us! Basically… Jacob is a ninja. Miraculously, this all went smoothly and according to plan. We got the new tire, made the show on time, rocked Wisconsin, and still don’t have a spare tire for the Washington. Situation normal.

It was pretty clear what happened.. Brandon got hungry:

As a slap in the face we were stranded on the side of the road right next to a Six Flags:

Brandon looks on at the cop who pulls over but does nothing to help:

A truck whizzes past us and we hear a butterfly smash on it’s windshield; Nick sheds one small tear:

The football became a popular road-side game:

Until Chris threw it over the fence and had to go get it; victoriously:

Our friends arrive back from Sears with the new tire mounted and ready to go:

Thank you, oh mysterious Sears employee.. we are forever indebted to you:

Victory:

The end.

U.S.S Constitution

Shaun — Mon, 17 May 2010 18:00:00 +0000

The U.S.S. Constitution is the oldest ship in the US Navy that is still commissioned. We had the great honor to be the FIRST band to EVER perform on the ship for the crew! The ship was first set to sea from the Boston harbor in 1797 and was in active duty until 1855. Also, this past October, President Obama named the shop the official Ship of State (that’s like the Bald Eagle… but a ship)!! This ship was seeerioously cool. Our buddy, Jacob, who is a sailor (not to be confused with Jacob our tour manager) is the one that made this whole thing happen; thank you thank you thank you, Jacob!! He took us all around the ship and gave us the VIP tour and Brandon got to fire a cannon. Seriously, he did. We are so honored to be asked aboard this historic ship and perform for the brave men and women that serve aboard to protect our freedom and fight for us. From the bottom of our hearts we thank you for everything you do. We can’t wait to come back to Boston and hang out with you guys again!! If you’re in Boston you should go check out this ship, it’s open to the public.

This is Jacob. He’s awesome.

NY State of Mind

Shaun — Sat, 15 May 2010 18:00:47 +0000

I LOVE NY.

Dewey Beach, Delaware

Shaun — Fri, 14 May 2010 05:07:32 +0000

We loooved playing in Delaware!! It’s a really cool state, way cooler than you probably think it is. We got to Dewey Beach and had a little free time to play on the beach. It was absolutely beautiful there. Thanks, Delaware, we’ll see you again soon!

Brosas

Shaun — Tue, 04 May 2010 15:00:50 +0000

Brandon Rosas in a back alley in Pittsburgh:

you don’t even know

Shaun — Mon, 03 May 2010 21:59:37 +0000

Hi. This is Shaun. I just wanted to pay tribute to my all time favorite sandwich shop: Jimmy John’s. Some people in the band, who will remain nameless, don’t like Jimmy John’s. “Well what is wrong with them?” you may be asking yourself. I don’t know. I don’t know what is wrong with Nick..eerr..them. Jimmy John’s… I love you.

Jacob’s got a new tattoo

Shaun — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 19:00:59 +0000

That’s right… Akron was so good to us that Jacob, our tour manager, decided to immortalize our visit with a tattoo. It’s a bad to the bone tattoo! And thus it is proven once again that Jacob is way more rock & roll than any member of the band. You win, Jacob, you always do. {You can see the full tattoo story on Shaun’s photo blog if you’re interested}

Ohio // we like you

Shaun — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 03:22:50 +0000

It’s been proven that Jake is without a doubt the dominant photographer in Sleeperstar, but nonetheless I thought I’d still try to contribute to the cause. I only wish any of my shots were an ounce as good as the dancefloor shot in his last post. I’ll get there… someday.

We’ve been in Ohio for a while and we all agree: Ohio is awesome! Here are a few shots from Akron the other day. It’s good to be back.

Musika/Akron, OH

Jake — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 22:16:00 +0000

Hey it’s Jake, and we are in Akron (NOT pronounced “ay-kron”). Also, we are great. Some of you may think that Shaun Menary is the photographer of the band, but you almost couldn’t be more mistaken even if you were deliberately trying to deceive yourself. Check out my portfolio:

Name: Jake Lester

Profession: professional iPhone photographer/keyboardist

Experience: top secret

Specialties: weddings, special events (only those involving celebrities), concerts (require photopass + free stuff ), birthdays (only for ages 1, 5, 13, 16, and 105), tea parties, pre-parties, after-parties, actual parties, business meetings, business casual meetings, passing periods, lunch, dinner (NOT breakfast – too early)

EXAMPLES:

WARNING: These are only IMAGES of a forest path and a ballroom. Any attempt to walk through and/or dance on these images may result in injuries and severe damage to your monitor. Proceed with caution.

RATES: $5-5,000/hour. Cheeseburger/day.

Mistakes Were Made…

Nick — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 01:55:22 +0000

Wednesday of St. Patrick’s Day started out like any other show day. Everyone arrived at Pearson’s house 15 minutes late, and we began loading the trailer (who shall henceforth be referred to as “The Kenobi”). Jacob Combs, tour manager extraordinaire, arrived with 3 shiny, brand new trailer locks. They were even reinforced against bolt-cutters! You see, the previous week, when we were picking up Brandon for a show in Houston, one of our trailer keys was broken off in the trailer lock, rendering the lock completely useless. It’s a boring story, so I’ll spare you. But now you understand the situation.

After loading the Kenobi, we jumped in the van (who shall henceforth be referred to as “The Washington”) and hit the road to Austin. On the way, for some reason, we attached all copies of the trailer lock keys to one key-ring… the van key-ring (which shall henceforth be referred to as “The Lord of the Key-Rings”). So began the comedy of errors.

Someone made the comment, “Hey, maybe all the keys shouldn’t be on the same key-ring.” Valid point, however there was no follow up. Those that heard nodded their heads in agreement, trusting that someone would surely correct this grievous error. Alas, nothing was done. The trap was set.

We arrived in Austin on St. Patrick’s Day for SXSW around 5pm. It was packed. We considered parking in an official event spot, making a fake parking sign (for a fake emo-band called “Drama Armada”), and playing the show. However, a mix of fear and integrity prompted us to pay $20 at some lot, which was plainly run by the parking gangster conglomerate of Austin.

To make a long story short, we drove to the venue at 9:45pm, passed through a barricade, angered a cop, played a show on a stage the size of a postage stamp, ROCKED IT, got in the Washington, and headed to Waco to drop Brandon off at his house. The time is 2:00am, and we’re outside of Brandon’s place.

We unlocked and removed both locks on the back door of the Kenobi, removed Brandon’s bass gear, and loaded it onto his front porch. Tarvin shut the trailer door, clicked the first lock shut, and asked Chris where he put the second lock. His answer? In the trailer with The Lord of the Keys-Rings…

…which is now unaccessible because of lock 1.

After sending a second car to Walmart for bolt cutters (they had none), calling a locksmith (they didn’t do 2:30am) and also considering freezing and breaking the lock, Chris called 911. He was polite. So they sent the big guns. That’s right, three semi-conscious fire fighters in a full-on red fire truck came to our aid. Chris figured they’d been hanging out and watching TV. In reality, they had been sleeping. Without saying a word, the angriest-looking among them snapped the lock off and returned to the truck. They did not accept our offer of a free CD. Can’t imagine why.

In bed at 6am again. And what did we learn? Nothing. Oh well.