Manchester

Today was our first day off of the tour and was much needed. I woke up a bit congested and with the start of a sore throat. I took some vitamins and drank a ton of water and am hoping not to get sick for real. I had to ride up front in the van today which meant missing out on One Tree Hill. Some of the guys skipped ahead and watched a few episodes last night so I was already behind in the story line so I gave up trying to follow just by listening and decided to invest some time in Anathallo’s new record. It turned out to be the perfect soundtrack to the drive. The album is amazing. They really took everything to the next level. I didn’t feel like I was listening to my friends’ new record. I felt like someone had just given me a new CD to listen to and I had just been introduced to something amazing. It was the sort of feeling I remember having listening to bands like GSYBE! or Sigur Ros but there are melodies and hooks that I could connect with on the first listen. Between this and the new Colour Revolt record, the bar has been set pretty high for us to make a new record that can be in the same league. Enough gushing.

We tried getting breakfast at McDonald’s but they were filming a training video inside so we couldn’t go in. Lame. To be fair they gave us coupons for free Big Macs. Sweet. Only good at that location. Lame. So we found our way to another McD’s who happened to let us use the coupons. Sweet.After listening to the Anathallo record I spent the rest of the drive watching 30 Rock episodes on J’s iPod which he was kind enough to let me borrow because mine was lost/stolen a while back. That show is absolutely brilliantly hilarious. Every character on that show is amazing.The XFM session was pretty short and painless. Andy did it acoustic and the rest of us just hung out in the lobby playing foosball. Andy did a Mountain Goat’s cover that was great. I really wasn’t into them at first but they really grew on me. Great songs.After checking into the hotel Jeremiah (of Anathallo) and I went and got some Thai food nearby. They were set up for Valentine’s day so we had a very cozy candle lit table. My dinner was great but incredibly too spicy for my taste. I’m a pansy when it comes to spicy food.Bret and I FINALY watched last weeks episode of LOST. I don’t even know what to think. It was amazing of course. Made our heads spin with questions and “what if’s”. They don’t air the new episode here until Sunday though so it will be a while before we get to watch it.Tomorrow we play here in Manchester so we get to sleep in and I will have to time to get some work done. I am way behind on getting together content for the new Favorite Gentlemen website that Elizabeth Malpass is doing for us. I should probably get to sleep so I don’t sleep in too late. So that’s it for my way to detailed summary of my day. Enjoy a few pictures from the trip so far.