Sundressed have embarked on their “Let’s Try This Again” Tour (see dates below), and we’re proud to partner with the band to host a tour diary as they progress through their travels. Check out the second entry below, and stay tuned for more. Be sure to check them out if they’re coming to a city near you, and read all previous tour diary entries here.
From Forest Walldorf (Guitarist/vocals):
Day 2 of 40 (cont)
We left off with me driving the last leg of the drive into OKC. We made it in time to the UPS store to pick up our shirts! We are always racing and chasing the clock on tour. Afterwards we headed to The First Pastafarian Church in Norman, Oklahoma where we were destined to play our first set of the tour. The venue was pretty sweet with a crazy stage set up consisting of individual platforms. We loaded in merch and gear, and then I took off on my long board to catch Pokemon and call my girl. I found a lot of really cool historical monuments near the train tracks of the town. It began to rain and it was very windy. I quickly realized how humid it was and began sweating profusely, but it was still very refreshing compared to the dry desert of Phoenix.
After awhile I headed back to the venue to watch the first bands play. Locals No Render opened up the show and sounded really tight. After No Render our boys in Secret Stuff played their first set ever with our drummer Garret, who had taken on the challenge of filling in on drums for them for their entire leg of our tour together! They sounded absolutely beautiful together, I loved it. Michael’s voice really carries and everyone played their instruments with precision. I really enjoyed their set.
It was finally our time to set up and play, I was very excited. Justin (bass) and I set up our Pokemon plushes on our amps. He has Squirtle and I have Bulbasaur! We began to play and everything was sounding pretty great! I didn’t have much space but I had a good time and I hope we sounded good [laughs]. I can never really tell. I often over-analyze and overthink every set we play and I try to just be positive. I’m used to high standards of performance from marching band, WGI, and classical/jazz performance but sometimes I’m probably too harsh. I try to use constructive criticism just to improve future sets, because I want us to be the best that we can be.
The set went pretty well, and we tore down for Daisyhead and Fossil Youth, who literally tore the entire venue apart with how loud and fucking awesome they were. Both bands are incredible and sounded great. Fossil Youth are label mates of ours and it is always a blast to play with them. The last time I saw them play was Fest 14, which was beyond sick.
Afterwards Justin and I cruised around on our boards to catch Pokemon and then came back to load up and go eat. Unfortunately, the promoter didn’t have much gas money for us 3 bands, but Fossil Youth was kind enough to help all of the touring bands out with a few bucks thrown to each band. We also made a decent amount in merch. Our dad hats have been saving our lives and selling well so far.
After we left to eat and we couldn’t find anywhere to eat at all [laughs]. We pulled up to a Sonic and their lights turned off right as we pulled up. We made our way to the Love’s across the street. Jordan (lead guitar) and I got some taquitos that were absolutely awful. They were super dry and over cooked. I got two cranberry Red Bulls because I’m in love with them. Trevor got a bomb ass pizza that took like a half hour for them to cook and then we left. Jordan drove us all the way into Springfield, Missouri. We arrived around 5 am and went straight to sleep.
Day 3 of 40
We woke up around noon or so and all showered. A huge shout out to these guys Cole and Juan and everyone at the house for letting us crash and hang out and shower. These things go SO FAR on tour, so thank you so much to them and everyone who has helped us and who will be helping us on this tour!!! You’re all saints and angels.
We hung out for awhile watching this hilarious show called Danger 5 that Jordan showed us. It’s style is similar to that of the movie Airplane, with older style props and acting styles. So damn funny I definitely recommend it! Around 4 pm Justin scored us free Chipotle burritos so we cruised out to get em. Free food is always the best. After Chipotle we headed to the world’s largest Bass Pro shop, which was a BLAST!! We saw live alligators and turtles and there’s tons of crazy taxidermy that shows you just how big deer, moose, and bears are. It’s kind of insane. Justin and I picked up some slick Bass Pro hats and we headed to the venue in downtown Springfield! We loaded in and then Justin, Jordan, and I cruised off to catch Pokemon and it was POPPIN! There were tons of stops and great Pokemon to catch and we had a great time. We went back to the venue to catch the locals, Secret Stuff, and Daisyhead. The sound was great, at least off stage [laughs]. We played after Daisyhead which no one should have to do. Our set started pretty good but I was getting some gnarly feedback in my monitor and I couldn’t hear much of anything coming out of it except feedback. I asked the sound guy to turn the feedback off and to try and turn up my vocal, and he did neither. We are pretty sure he just turned down bass and lead guitar. It’s very difficult to play well when all I can hear is feedback blaring in my face, but I did my best to play it off and have a good time. The set went alright but I think we can definitely do better, which is fine. Not every set is going to be great, although that is the goal IMO.
Overall I had a wonderful time in Springfield, Missouri! Another local closed the show and sounded way heavy, it was awesome. I played a couple games a pool and then we packed up and headed out to a Steak and Shake.
For whatever reason at this point I felt super defeated. Sometimes I question myself and wonder “what the hell am I doing?”. I wonder if I should play music anymore and if it’s worth it. Especially when I have next to no money and no job. I love music so much but sometimes it’s just hard after a set where I feel like I didn’t do very well. I know that I won’t always play perfectly, but I want to be the best that I can be. Sometimes I just wonder whether it’s all worth it or not, and sometimes I feel like giving up. I am trying my best to be positive and look forward and remember that this is a huge opportunity regardless and I am so stoked to be a part of it. Any touring musician has been at that low point though where we are just wondering what the heck we are doing with our lives [laughs]. I know that I’ll always play music to some degree. Right now it is a huge focal point in my life and I love it so much. i want to play music for a living and I know that it’s hard as hell but I am doing the best I can. Who knows what the future holds? Only time will tell. It’s hard because sometimes it seems like I’m just losing everything and I think i need to go back to school and “get my life together”, but at the same time I’m living my dream and I couldn’t be more happy about that. I’m traveling the country with good friends and playing music and it’s amazing. Sometimes it’s just really stressful for me and I’m so nervous all the time and my anxiety gets out of hand. I’m doing my best to stay positive.
After steak and shake I lost a couple bucks at a dice game with the guys in Secret Stuff and Daisyhead and then we headed back to Juan and Cole’s house to crash. I made a bed out of two big chairs and an ottoman which was actually quite comfy. We made jokes about Mumford and Sons because Justin had one of their shirts on when we went to bed. We also had some good laughs about Interpol’s vocals and just kept singing “we have 200 couches where you can sleep tight. sleep toniiight”. I put on some Radiator Hospital, LVL UP, and Slaughter Beach, DAWG before crashing out.
