I was lurking at Hawthorne Heights Myspace page today and I noticed that the big promo pic at the top was shot right here in good ol’ Chico, in Upper Bidwell Park, known around here as simply Upper Park. It seems like the last year or so Upper Park has been in more many emo band pics as Paul Frank. First there’s the cover of the new Saves The Day record, Under The Boards, which makes sense since STD frontman Chris Conley has been known to lurk around these parts:

Then there’s also the video for Number One Gun’s “Wake Me Up,” which makes a lot of sense, since Number One Gun aka Jeff Schneeweis live right here in Chico. In fact, if you look hard enough at that Hawthorne pic you can see a couple pieces of that door that Jeff smashes at around the 3:12 mark in the video, still kicking it on the hillside thar. Wake Me Up, moar liek PICK IT UP AMIRITE?? KEEP BIDWELL PARK BEYOUTEEFUL!!!1

UPDATE: It turns out that the backdrop in the above Hawthorne pic is actually the cover art for their new CD, Fragile Futures.

Former Get Up Kids frontman Matt Pryor and Saves the Day frontman Chris Conley (pictured) are stepping out for a couple weeks worth of solo touring. If this tour isn’t called the “Party Like It’s 1999 Tour” someone at Vagrant is BLOWING IT! Here’s the press release:

Matt Pryor (ex. The Get Up Kids, The New Amsterdams) is pleased to announce solo co-headlining tour with Chris Conley of Saves The Day!

A limited number of tickets have been held for Matt Pryor fans and will be available through an exclusive Ducat King presale that begins this Wednesday, June 11, 2008 at 1:00PM local time!

Click here to buy tickets:

Tour Dates:

Aug 6 – Minneapolis, MN @ Triple Rock
Aug 7 – Omaha, NE @ Waiting Room
Aug 8 – Denver, CO @ Marquis Theater
Aug 9 – Salt Lake City @ Burt’s Tiki Lounge
Aug 11 – Vancouver, BC @ Media Club
Aug 12 – Seattle, WA @ El Corazon
Aug 13 – Portland, OR @ Hawthorne Theatre
Aug 14 – San Francisco, CA @ Bottom Of The Hill
Aug 15 – Reno, NV @ Satellite Lounge
Aug 16 – West Hollywood, CA @ Troubadour
Aug 17 – San Diego, CA @ House of Blues – San Diego
Aug 19 – Anaheim, CA @ Chain Reaction
Aug 20 – Phoenix, AZ @ Modified

“Crawl,” the first track from Two Tongues, featuring members of Saves the Day and Say Anything (including both Max Bemis and Chris Conley) can be heard on the band’s Myspace here. SPOILER ALERT: the songs is fucking BADASSSSSS!

Our friends Saves the Day announced that they are going to be selling the 2nd and 3rd volumes of their homemade Bug Sessions recordings during their stint on the upcoming Bamboozle Road Show tour:

So I’ve got really great news! I just heard back about a little surprise we’ve been keeping from you… Bug Sessions Volume 2 AND Bug Sessions Volume 3 will be ready to sell on the Bamboozle Road Show this spring! We just received word that the discs are now being shipped to us so we can bring them on tour to sell directly to you, our beautiful fans! Bug Sessions is our little way of showing our appreciation to our hardcore fans by doing acoustic renditions of old and new STD songs. You can’t find Bug Sessions in any stores. You can only buy them at Saves The Day concerts, which ensures only diehard fans can acquire the special CDs. We know you guys loved Bug Sessions Vol 1, so we set out to give you two brand new Bug Sessions at once! Last fall, David and I embarked on an acoustic tour of the US, and we recorded every night to use the best performances for Bug Sessions Vol 2 & 3. So after listening to all the shows, we decided we had enough good material for two new Bug Sessions. Each CD will have 7 songs, a mixture of old and new Saves The Day music. One of my favorite aspects of these new Bug Sessions discs is the audience participation. I can hear you guys singing along real loud, and it gives me goose-bumps on songs like “Hold” and “Rocks Tonic Juice Magic”. It’s really neat to be able to feel the vibe of the show. And in Austin, TX, we got pretty drunk, so you can hear us having a good time with the songs! Ha ha. Well, that’s all for now. Just wanted to fill you in on the exciting news. And if you haven’t already bought tickets for the Bamboozle Road Show, then now is the time! Gotta make sure you can get your hands on Bug Sessions 2 & 3, cause they’re sweet as strawberry jam! Werd out, twigglies. Love ya!
chris

Dates for the tour, which also features Armor For Sleep, Set Your Goals, Metro Station and on select dates, A Cursive Memory and Lydia  can be found after the jump. In the meantime, interviews with Saves The Day, Set Your Goals, Metro Station and more can be found on our YouTube channel. If you’re bored (and you are, if you’ve read this far) check that shit out:
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Well, at least I’m excited for them…so hopefully you will be too!

Amidst not having anything to do the other night, I went searching around to see who was on tour–because seeing music live is just that amazing that I’m willing to shell out my cash to see the magic in action.

Here are the results of my late-night live-music search:

Saves the Day - Acoustic Tour

Last time I saw these guys was Warped ‘06…it was good times, I took a picture of Chris with my phone, it was my phone’s background for a bit. I know, I live an exciting life. The final show of the tour at the Troub WILL be fun. I promise! So LA peeps, get tickets soon–THEY WILL SELL OUT.

October 1 – San Francisco, CA @ Bottom of the Hill
October 2 – Anaheim, CA @ Chain Reaction
October 4 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Kilby Court
October 5 – Denver, CO @ Marquis Theatre
October 6 – Lawrence, KS @ Jackpot Music Hall
October 7 – Chicago, IL @ Subterranean
October 9 – Detroit, MI @ Shelter
October 10 – Cleveland, OH @ Grog Shop
October 11 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Diesel
October 12 – Richmond, VA @ Alley Katz
October 13 – Hoboken, NJ @ Maxwell’s
October 14 – Washington, DC @ Rock N Roll Hotel
October 16 – Philadelphia, PA @ North Star
October 17 – Albany, NY @ Valentine’s
October 18 – Allston, MA @ The ICC
October 19 – Rochester, NY @ Water Street Music Hall
October 22 – Atlanta, GA @ Loft
October 23 – Orlando, FL @ The Social
October 25 – Austin, TX @ Emo’s Jr
October 26 – Houston, TX @ Java Jazz
October 28 – Tempe, AZ @ The Sets
October 29 – Los Angeles, CA @ Troubadour

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Circa Survive

FUCK YES. That’s what I have to say about this tour. Circa Survive is by and far my favorite band and if, like me, you missed them on Warped this year, then here’s your chance to make up for it. Bay area peeps–I’ll see you at Slim’s on Nov. 11. Look for me, I’ll be the long-haired girl drinking a gin and tonic and signing every word to every song.

Oct 10: Worcester, MA @ The Palladium
Oct 11: Sayreville, NJ @ Starland Ballroom
Oct 12: New York, NY @ Nokia Theatre
Oct 13: Allentown, PA @ Crocodile Cafe
Oct 14: Philadelphia, PA @ Trocadero Theatre
Oct 16: Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club
Oct 17: Buffalo, NY @ Club Infinity
Oct 18: Clifton Park, NJ @ Northern Lights
Oct 19: Lancaster, PA @ Chameleon Club
Oct 20: Richmond, VA @ Canal Club
Oct 21: Charlotte, NC @ Tremont Music Hall
Oct 23: Jacksonville, FL @ Fuel
Oct 24: St. Petersburg, FL @ State Theatre
Oct 25: Ft. Lauderdale, FL @ Culture Room
Oct 26: Orlando, FL @ The Club at Firestone
Oct 27: Atlanta, GA @ Center Stage
Oct 28: New Orleans @ Voodoo Music Festival
Oct 30: Houston, TX @ Warehouse Live
Oct 31: San Antonio, TX @ White Rabbit
Nov 1: Dallas, TX @ The Palladium Ballroom
Nov 3: Tempe, AZ @ Marquee Theatre
Nov 4: San Diego, CA @ The Soma
Nov 6: Las Vegas, NV @ The Joint
Nov 8: Los Angeles, CA @ Mayan Theatre
Nov 9: Pomona, CA @ Glasshouse
Nov 10: Pomona, CA @ Glasshouse
Nov 11: San Francisco, CA @ Slims
Nov 13: Portland, OR @ Hawthorne Theatre
Nov 14: Seattle, WA @ The Showbox
Nov 16: Salt Lake City, UT @ Avalon Theatre
Nov 17: Denver, CO @ Bluebird Cafe
Nov 18: Lawrence, KS @ Granada Theatre
Nov 20: Omaha, NE @ Sokol Underground
Nov 21: St. Paul, MN @ Station 4
Nov 23: Royal Oak, MI @ Royal Oak Music Theatre
Nov 24: Chicago, IL @ Metro
Nov 25: Cleveland, OH @ Agora Ballroom

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Cold War Kids

So it’s official, the CWK tour with the White Stripes has in fact been canceled. HAHA! I wanted to get tickets to that, but they were sold out…so lucky I didn’t! They were going for like $200 - $300 on eBay and Craigs List…sucks for those people who bought them off there. Nevertheless, the ‘Kids did schedule a small tour. I’m stoked. I bought tickets the minute they went on sale…I didn’t want to take any chances–these tickets sell out as if they were giving them away. So go to Ticketmaster.com and order yours quick! Once again, LA peeps, I’ll see you at the Wiltern on Nov. 23–woohoo!!

Nov 17: San Francisco, CA @ Warfield Theatre
Nov 23: Los Angeles, CA @ Wiltern Theatre
Nov 27 & 28: Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club
Nov 29: Philadelphia, PA @ Theatre of the Living Arts
Nov 30 & Dec 1: New York, NY @ Webster Hall
Dec 4: Boston, MA @ The Roxy
Dec 11: Boulder, CO @ Boulder Theater

So it’s Friday night, and instead of being out doing what twentysomething dudes are supposed to be doing, my friends and I are huddled around a shitty Sony boombox in the Synthesis office listening to the new Saves the Day record, Under the Boards. It basically rules. I mean, I like In Reverie well enough and all, but as far as the majority of Saves the Day fans are concerned, that album was the lowpoint of the band’s career, with the ensuing follow-up, Sound the Alarm being something of a step back in the right direction. Under the Boards is a continuation of this, though certain aspects of the “new” Saves the Day -  Chris Conley’s more semi-Beatlesesque vocal affect, guitars with less oomph and more jangle - do carry over. But for the most part, Under the Boards should satisfy both Saves the Day veterans and newbs. Its nothing spectacular, but it’s definitely another step back in the right direction.