Only In It For A Minute

The tour had been going around two weeks now and everyone was settled in. Everyone on this tour was so nice and it was great getting to hang with such good friends everyday. We didn’t see much of Taking Back Sunday apart from during soundcheck and their set, but whenever they did show their faces, they were always super friendly, down to earth guys. We were now in New York and a few of us were sat in the back lounge of The Maine’s bus watching some film the guys had put on. So far today, I had sorted out timesheets for soundcheck and stage times, dealt with tonight’s guestlist as the band had a few friends coming to the show, checked all the equipment had been loaded in and all merch was accounted for and finalised plans for any interviews A Rocket To The Moon had booked. One thing I loved about this tour was everything I was learning from The Maine’s tour manager, Larry. He’d been with the guys for a while now and he always did his day to day duties with such ease. Although, then again, I was just happy not to have lost any band or crew members so far.

I was now taking a bit of time to chill out before interviews began. Sat between John and Andrew, I was getting more and more confused by the film they’d put on while they became more and more interested. Before this tour started, Andrew was probably the one member of A Rocket To The Moon I knew least as he didn’t live in Arizona, but since we’d been on the road, we’d become more friendly and if either of us were doing a late night drive in the van, the other would start up and keep them company, which I was especially thankful to him for since I still wasn’t overly confident of driving on US roads.

“What the fuck is that guy doing?” I questioned.

“Getting away from that other guy,” Andrew answered.

“Why?” I asked.

“Because he doesn’t like him,” Andrew answered again.

“Why doesn’t he like him?” I asked again.

“Because he killed his friend,” Andrew sighed.

“Well, that wasn’t very nice, what’d he do that for?” I asked again.

“Do you want to ask anymore questions?!” John laughed.

“I just don’t get what’s going on!”

“If you shut up for 5 seconds, maybe you would,” he told me.

“Hey guys, soundcheck in 5,” Larry said, opening the door to the back lounge and telling The Maine guys.

“Thank god for that, I thought I was going to go insane if Tash asked anymore questions,” John said, moving my legs from his lap and standing up. I kicked his non-existent bum as he got up and stuck my tongue out at him. One great thing about being with John was he had his serious side and then he also had his playful side and he could never stick with one for too long meaning our relationship was never boring and never too serious.

“OK, guys,” I said, turning to Andrew and Justin who were sat with me. “I guess that means it’s time for interviews for you guys.”

“Alright, awesome, what have we got?” Justin asked, as I check my sheet.

“Andrew, you’ve got a magazine q and a with Eric,” I told him. “Justin, you’re with Nick for a quick photoshoot and acoustic session.”

We found the other two guys helping get equipment set up inside the venue and I directed them to where they needed to be before going off to meet the interviewers and give them their passes.

Over the next few hours things got busy and people came in and out of the venue for different things, meet and greets took place for the other bands, A Rocket To The Moon soundchecked, other press people arrived either to review the show or take photos from the pit and soon enough doors were open and it was show time again. Each day I did this, it got easier. The guys were helpful in that whatever I needed them to do, they did without complaining. It got a bit harder once they had played as they’d then begin drinking and would want to party after each show in every city but sometimes they would have an early bus call and after standing out to meet fans, I hated being the woman saying ‘no, you can’t go enjoy yourself’, but that was my job.

The next week of tour went by just the same and it was all beginning to be a bit of a blur. The only way I knew which city I was in each day was by my schedule I kept with me at almost all times, other than that it was all just roads, venues and hotels and pretty much all looked the same. Every day, more and more of my belongings seemed to be ending up on The Maine’s bus and I was spending more of my time there. Obviously, I still spent a lot of in the van with A Rocket To The Moon, but when it was a long drive and wasn’t my shift or if it was just easier, I would stay on the bus with John.

We had two days off between Chicago and the next show in Denver, so the two bands decided to spend the day at a lake, which was left to me and Larry to organise, although if I’m honest, Larry did most of the planning. As the van and the bus parked up and all of us piled out, we got a lot of strange looks, especially me as I was the only girl with nearly 20 guys. We spent the day on a boat, drinking alcohol and laughing as we all said and did stupid things.

Eventually everyone started jumping in the water as I relaxed at the back of the boat, sunning myself in my bikini and enjoying having a bit of time to myself as the guys played in the water. I laid back on the lounger, bottle of beer in one hand, eyes closed as I heard the guys shouting. And of course it wasn’t too much longer before the guys decided it was time for me to come and join them, however they couldn’t just ask me to join them. Even with my eyes closed, I could tell something was in the way between me and the sun.

“Don’t even think about it,” I said, without even opening my eyes.

“How did you...?” I heard John say.

“I learnt how to know exactly what is going on at all times whilst on this tour, so you should watch out,” I told him opening one eye. “I always know what you’re doing now!”

“Oh man,” he sighed. “Well, I guess I should be really careful now then,” he said, coming closer to me. “I mean, if you know exactly what’s going on, I guess you know that I NEVER LISTEN TO YOU ANYWAY!” he shouted, as in one swift move, he picked me up and jumped off the side of the boat into the water. As we went under water, he kept his grip on me and pulled me back up to the surface with him, as I held onto my bikini top so I didn’t end up flashing.

“JOHN YOU FUCKER!” I shouted as I got my breath back. I wrestled against his grip around my waist, causing water to thrash between us.

“Oh come on!” he laughed. “You know I like you so much better when you’re wetter!”

“JOHN STOP BEING SUCH A JERK!” I said, whilst trying not to laugh. I could never stay serious, no matter how much I wanted to. I swam off to the rest of the guys leaving John behind. “Andrew, help me, John’s being a dick!” I said, as I reached my new friend.

“Oh really? John, what d’you do this time?” he asked, as John swam behind.

“I just got her in the water with us!” he protested.

“Yeah but now I smell disgusting!”

“If it’s any consolation, we all do,” Garrett chimed in.

“Yeah but you guys don’t have long hair that will now stink and be disgusting,” I told him. “Well actually, Garrett, you kinda do.”

This went back and forth between us all until this ended in one massive splash fight between everyone which caused more looks from everyone else around us at the lake. Eventually we all got tired of being in the water and got back on the boat to dry off and have a few more drinks. Once my bikini was dry, I threw some clothes on top and cuddled up with John.

“Sorry about earlier,” he said, wrapping an arm around me.

“It’s alright, I couldn’t stay mad at you too long,” I smiled. “Plus, if you lot don’t like how I smell the next few days, you’ve only got yourself to blame.”

And sure enough, my hair was disgusting for the next couple of days.