blog post Postcards from Tokyo: “I need to give my fourteen year old self a high five.”

(Tokyo Police Club's Graham Wright will be sending us weekly posts from the road as his band tours the U.S. with Weezer, so stay tuned! Ed.)
...

When I was fourteen, I went with my friend Josh to see Weezer play in Toronto. 

It was the second concert that I ever saw (technically it was the third, but I only went to Econoline Crush because of a girl so it doesn't count), and a band from Toronto (I think) called The Weekend (I think) opened. 

At the time I thought that any band opening for Weezer must be the coolest and most wildly successful band ever, and as was natural for me in those days, I wiled away many a pleasant hour imagining what it would be like to be in their shoes.  Around the same time, I got a free Weezer sticker from a radio station, and I spent the next two years trying to find something worthy of being adorned with such a bitchin' decoration, until I lost it instead.  What I'm trying to say here is that somebody had better invent a time machine quick, because now that my band is actually opening for Weezer, I need to give my fourteen year old self a high five.           

I've always felt like a bit of an imposter in the music industry, but never more so than when I'm strolling around backstage at a Weezer show.  Up until now, the biggest venue that we ever played could fit maybe 1400 people, and even that was abnormally big.  Weezer is regularly playing venue ten times that size, and packing them with adoring fans.  It's the kind of rock stardom that I've always dreamt of, so its amazing to be tagging along, even as the lowly opening band.  Its always tough to explain what being on tour is really like, but heres what an average day looks like.

3:00 Arrive at the venue and pull our rickety old van and trailer into the back lot amongst the shiny tour buses and freight trucks as the local crew eyes us suspiciously, wondering if we're actually supposed to be there.

3:30 Find our way to the (surprisingly small) dressing room as teamsters carry our gear into the venue for us, setting our broken and beaten up amps beside countless professional road cases and huge lighting rigs.  At a generous estimate, the total value of our entire pile of equipment may rival the cost of Weezer's guitar cases. 

3:30-6:30 Eat.  Seriously, the best part about doing a big tour like this is the catering.  Hot meals prepared that day and served on real dishes?  Sign me up!

6:30 After Weezer and Angels & Airwaves finish their professional soundchecks, set our stuff up and run through two quick songs before doors open.

8:00 Play for a wonderfully short half hour.  Hope people listen/care.

8:30 Switch off brain.

So far, its been great.  Weezer's crew has been welcoming and helpful, the crowds have listened politely and sometimes even cheered as if we were a real band, and I've eaten like a king.  But we're only four shows in, and who knows what the future will bring...

Tune in next week as I continue my quest to chat up River Cuomo, who I'm totally intimidated by.