Article about California Redemption / Summer Meltdown Review!

So...It all started on Friday. I checked my e-mail and had a message that Brenda Stardom wrote another report about us. It mostly talked about me, but she also described our songs on the split and wrote, "I'm having a blast listening, my brain operating on all cylinders, pistons pumping, I'm in the pit, fist is punctuating the air. I dig CARE." I hope as other reviews start rolling in, the response is that good! She also talked about Live Free Or Die, which off the top of my head, is one of the two songs Doug has ever written the lyrics for. It is one of my favorite songs we've ever written, so that was cool. Check out the article here.

Ok...Saturday: We met up to load the equipment into Keegan's truck early and made it to Santa Clarita's Golden Valley High School at around noon. We loaded in our equipment, and realized that we were hungry, so Keegan and I went to go pick up food while Doug and Mikkei hung out with our stuff. We got some sandwiches from a place called Poor Boys. Pretty good stuff. The bread MADE the sandwiches. We got back to the school and watched about half an hour of Indiana Jones before the show started. The school seemed brand new, and their amphitheatre was pretty awesome. At a normal show at an average venue, the amount of people would have seemed incredible, but because the amphitheatre was so big, it didn't seem so crowded. So anyway, the show began at 2 and the crowd started rolling in. Every band was COMPLETELY different, and it made for a very diverse crowd. The whole thing was a benefit show for Santa Clarita's "Yes I Can" special education program, so that brought a few people that you know wouldn't have normally been there.

At 4:05 we took the stage and had a blast. The music was loud, there were a good group of kids singing along up against the stage, and the stage started coming apart! It was great. The sound equipment was too good for us, and we could hear ourselves way too well at first, but then the sound guy turned everything down and I felt right at home up there. It was weird playing during the daytime outside and on a hot windy stage, but it was a great time, and it was awesome to meet new people and kids that I had only known through MySpace or e-mails.

After we played, we went over to our merch table and sold a ton of CD's and shirts. We donated the money we made to the program, and did a few minute long interview for some local AM radio station. I'll post more info when I get it. I was told that the whole thing will be downloadable...I'll let you know.

If you were at the show, THANK YOU! It was a great time, and we're totally stoked that we made so many new friends. Hopefully we'll see you next time we're out there.

Here's the setlist: Youth Culture, Armor Piercing Words, Live Free or Die, Preserve and Protect, Religion For Dummies Part II: The Resurrection, Sectional Tension, Golden Rule, People With Guns, Our Way, and Equals.