British metalcore act Bring Me the Horizon are currently on a U.S. tour in support of their latest record, There Is a Hell Believe Me I’ve Seen It, There Is a Heaven Let’s Keep it a Secret. Each week, guitarists Jona Weinhofen and Lee Malia will be checking in with on-the-road updates and behind-the-scenes action.
Jona Weinhofen with the ‘Machine Gun’ by Glen Burton Guitars. c/o Reno Pawn brokers
Well a lot of s**t has gone down this week! We finally hit the west coast (also sometimes know as the best coast) and it’s proven to be one of the most eventful weeks on tour ever!
Tiger tattoo by Derek Noble @ Lucky Devil Tattoo, Seattle, WA
We began in Spokane, WA, when our monitor engineer along with two of his friends got into a bar fight and came out on top! Then we moved on to Vancouver where we went and checked out all the Zombies on East Hastings and also played to in an old Theatre that was mostly seating. Not ideal for our crowd but somehow the show still turned out cool! Then we headed down to Seattle where my tattooist Derek Noble resides and works out of Lucky Devil Tattoo studio.
Deer tattoo by Derek Noble @ Lucky Devil Tattoo, Seattle, WA
I stopped in to get my ribs blasted with the outline of a reindeer to accompany the tiger I recently had him tattoo on the other side of my ribs. Next stop Portland, OR, which is probably the Mecca of food for me. I ate so much that I felt like slipping into a food coma for the next three days! We also hit some really cool stores and we all raided the local comic store for some new reads. San Fran was a wicked show and a lot of mates came out including Scott Ferrara from EMG pickups and Tim McKee from Mesa Boogie.
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The next scheduled stop was an off day show (we headlined) in Reno, NV. The show was amazing and we all hit an insane Teriyaki restaurant where the chef was juggling knives and cooking our food with three foot high flames right in front of our faces. We also found a really sweet guitar in a pawn store that was shaped like a machine gun! It was simply too cool not to buy so I added that into my arsenal purely for fun factor.
Teriyaki Flames in Reno, NV
We performed outdoors in Fresno, CA in an arena and for the first time on this tour the weather was gorgeous…thank you California! It was decided that we put on a BBQ in the park by the venue and we spent the day chilling out eating steaks and veggie dogs and kicking the soccer ball around the park, an almost perfect day.
Now all of this has led up to our show at the Palladium in Hollywood, CA. LA shows are always hectic and our guest list is full of friends, industry types and people who work with and for BMTH. The show was insane and Rick Sales (Slayer’s management) seemed impressed. Also Brandon Marlon from Peavey came down to make sure everything was going well with my killer amp rig. However the show itself was not really the focal point of the evening.
BBQ’d Veggie dog in Fresno, CA
As we and our crew were loading out to our trailer and headed onto the bus, some form of attack happened not 10 feet from our bus. We heard a lot of whispers of what went down however according to the news an off duty police officer who attended the concert was attacked and stabbed in the hand and then shot the suspect in self defense. The entire street was a flurry of excitement and concern but it wasn’t long before carloads of LAPD stormed the crime scene & soon after we were told to leave our bus and the scene and that we wouldn’t be allowed to return for up to six hours.
I tried to kill some time by heading to Swingers 24 hour diner with some friends. Swingers seemed to be bustling with some who’s who of the LA scene. LA Ink’s Dan Smith was there with the guys from To Die For Clothing and soon after Kevin and Jeremy from A Day To Remember arrived along with Hayley Williams of Paramore and Jeffree Star. After a meal and a shake we returned to the venue at around 1:30 am only to find we still had to kill another 2 or so hours before we’d be allowed back on our bus. Finally at around 4am we were allowed back to our bunks and we headed off for San Diego.
