12.15.11 - Moline

Video from Tulsa!

Last night we played in Moline, Illinois. I had never heard of Moline before, but they sure came out to play. It was a sold-out show, and it was all smiles throughout the venue as I pointed the camera at whoever wanted some facetime on OzTV. One woman just about cried when I got her on film right before the show started. She was just totally thrilled to be part of an episode. A pretty rewarding experience for me actually!

My parents made it to this show. They decided to drive themselves down to the gig from St. Paul (six hours) to see the show and visit with me. It felt incredible to see them there, and I was able to surprise my dad for his birthday as well! I told him that I would hook him up with free tickets and a pass for the VIP room with my mom. That happened, and then I told him to come with me, where I led him backstage to see how I work. I introduced him to the tour manager, Ozzy's assistant, and Adam Wakeman. My dad is a big fan of Adam and his dad, who played for the well-known rock group Yes.

Our conversation with Adam was cut short by Ozzy's assistant asking us to follow him somewhere. I had been secretly setting up a meet-and-greet with Ozzy and my folks, and it ended up working out! My parents entered the dressing room with me, where they shook hands with the boss, and I had Ozzy sign a copy of his new record addressed to my dad. It was a really cool moment, as I could tell that neither of my parents knew this was coming. They were unprepared for the surprise visit, but I think that was for the best. I was so happy to do that for my dad on his birthday. He's done so much to support me as a developing filmmaker, and this was a great way to show my thanks. It ended up being a great birthday for him!

Mom, dad, and Ozzy. Crazy...

Today I had dinner with Gus G at the Cheesecake Factory. I now understand all the hype behind these restaurants. 'Nuff said if you've ever eaten there. We took a trip to the local Best Buy after drowning ourselves in pasta, where he spotted a CD from his Greek band, Firewind. He ended up purchasing it for me, since I admitted I hadn't listened to any of his stuff previously.

Gus G, and Gus G again.

I took some time to check out Chicago on a particularly nice day.

The photo on the left is of some escalators, and those are buildings on the right.

Because I was in Chicago, I HAD to check out Gino's East,

which is worldly famous for its Chicago-style deep dish pizza.

2.11.11 - Denver/Tulsa

Tacoma!

Denver! This guy in the front row had nieces who live in Mendota Heights. That's so much win!

 As we left Seattle for Denver, I noticed this 787 chilling at the airport.

I guess Boeing tests all their fun toys at this airport. Neat!

Let's talk Denver. For whatever reason, I have been looking forward to seeing Denver more than anywhere else on this tour. I imagine it's full of beautiful scenery, beautiful people, and lots of fun stuff to do.

Well, it was cold, and uneventful. I did get to see my beautiful friend Laura though! She attends the University of Denver, so she showed me around campus, helped me do laundry (clutch), and we dinner-ed a couple times. I still felt at home in Denver. It's cool to imagine that my career could bring me to a point where I'll get to decide to live anywhere.

Laura and I successfully got a random stranger to take our picture on a really cool,

lit-up street in downtown Denver.

Peanut butter "bucket." So mega...

I finally made it to one of the restaurants featured on Man vs. Food named Duffy's. They do burgers. Weird burgers. Check out this video to see what Laura and I sank our teeth into:

I realize this blog is turning into a food blog, but deal with it, mmk? I figure, I'm traveling to all these cool places that have all this unique regional food, and who doesn't love to eat? Tell me I'm wrong.

Yesterday we split from the Mile High City and landed ourselves in Tulsa for a great show. The first thing I noticed about Tusla is that everyone was so nice! Each person I passed on the street outside the venue responded to my "How ya doin?" with a cheery comeback. What a great town! I asked one of the venue security guys what Tulsa's staple is, and he said "oil." Sure! He then proceeded to tell me about when he worked an Insane Clown Posse concert, and was soaked in root beer, as one of the lead guys dumped 2-liter after 2-liter over his head.

Everyone was pretty wiped after the show, but in a great mood. The plane ride was saturated with cheese platters, grilled salmon, and anecdotes from Adam Wakeman. What a fun bunch of dudes! When we arrived in Chicago, I quickly started my uploads from the night's round of shooting, and knocked myself out. Instantly.

 This is easily the nicest hotel I've ever been to.

They even wrapped this cord when I requested they make up my room.

Chicago's another place where I would just love to live. Only downtown, though. This place has tons to do all the time. I headed out on the town today with Adam Wakeman and Ozzy's assistant, Tony. We hit the mall to pick up a few things. I needed a pair of black pants (Adam looked at me funny and then corrected me: "trousers"), as I kept getting scorned by the crew for not wearing my "stage blacks." Whatever. Black pants: done.

  Winter Chicago streets. The cold feels more "normal" than sunny LA.

I'm done pretending it's not winter.

My eyes widened as I saw the Ghirardelli store. A lovely woman handed me a caramel-filled chocolate square at the door, and then I got an obligatory hot cocoa. Yes, it ruled.

Because I'm a forgetful ninny, I totally forgot to mention that a local newspaper in Minnesota wrote an article about my new gig! They called me up before a show to do an interview, and you can read the article here! <----click "here" you dummy.

2.5.11 - Tacoma

My blog's got some catching up to do.....so here are some videos that haven't been posted here yet:

Phoenix

Las Vegas

Los Angeles (I feel this is my best one yet)

San Jose

Whew! Ok.

After LA we played a show in San Jose on the 3rd (hence, the video above), but nothing too exciting happened. I tried some strange-looking sushi on the plane that no one else was daring enough to attempt. Super good, but I couldn't seem to sell it to anyone else. Whatever, more for me!

 

There was a film shoot going on outside my hotel room in LA.

These guys were working literally 10 feet away from my balcony!

San Jose's fans kept grabbing me to do interviews on camera, and it ended up being a ridiculous chain of people that wanted to share their stories. I think that's great, I really do, but I couldn't stick around to listen to everyone. I eventually had to assert myself to a different part of the arena just so I could continue getting the shots I needed before the show started.

Why is there a remote in my bathroom?

Right.

Tacoma was last night, and their venue is just HUGE. The place is a giant bubble, and it was by far the biggest arena we have played since I hopped aboard the tour. I should have asked what the final count was, but one of the workers told me the venue caps at ~22,000 people. Nuts. There was a line of people waiting for the doors to open, and I talked to the family in front. They had been standing there since 11:30am, which to me sounded unnecessary because they already had tickets with reserved seats. But regardless, those guys had some serious passion for Ozzy, and that's what it's all about anyway, right?

During the very last song, Ozzy decided to destroy me with foam. Paying dues I suppose.

After the show, I met up with some friends from high school. One goes to Seattle University, and the other from Puget Sound University, which is where we headed for the night. I was fortunate enough to see both campuses, and it really made me miss college. We even went to a house party that night, and I felt more at home in the gnarly kitchen with some anonymous stains on the counter. It's not that I don't feel welcome on the tour, but a run-down college house comes with thoughts of being with the homies back at Michigan State University. Miss em to pieces.

 Evan and Rachel made sure I got a healthy dose of college in me.

More sushi last night at this pricey place across the street from the hotel. I would never normally go to a place like this, or order sushi on my own for that matter. I don't even know what I ordered, as I just closed my eyes and pointed to something on the menu. It's all fish anyway, right? To discriminate would be judgmental, and I'm not that kind of person. Capishe?

Heading to Denver today, and this has been my most anticipated location compared to anywhere else. Can't wait to be there!

2.1.11 - Los Angeles

Big Dave gives a tour of one of four crew buses!

We were supposed to have a show in Reno on the 30th, but the boss was sick, and decided not to play the gig. I feel for the ticket-holders, but I also have to admit it was nice to have a night off to catch my breath a little. I don't really have days off. When I'm not filming a show, I'm editing. And the next day is another concert.

I decided to spend my night tracking down an In-N-Out Burger. I'd never had one before, and absolutely had to try one because, well, I'm on the west coast! The nearest restaurant was an hour's walk from our hotel, but that was my way of justifying eating some greasy fast food crap. I got to the place after listening through the entirety of edIT's "Crying Over Pros for No Reason," and the inside of the small dining area was exploding with hungry customers. I made friends with a few Australian guys who only had left to visit White Castle to complete their American "Shit Food" checklist. Twenty minutes after ordering I sat down with my tray. This burger was completely worth the effort. The fruits of my labor were manifested with every juicy bite. Animal style, to those who know.

 A holy beacon in the night.

This is probably like porn if you're hungry...

The next day I spent some time with Tommy Clufetos, the drummer in the band. I want to do a video focusing on him, and how he approaches the tour. After taking care of working out in the gym upstairs, we met in his room because his publicist sent him a list of six different interviews to complete during the afternoon with different radio stations, magazines, websites, whatever. Between interviews I asked some questions myself. We ended up talking about his interpretation of success, and it was actually pretty inspiring to me. I discovered we share a very similar philosophy about chasing a goal and being passionate about something. The conversation only makes me want to work harder at this, and make every decision of every day based on growth. He also told me he discovered my blog, so I guess Tommy might be reading this meta sentence right now.

That night I also went on the hunt for LA's best macaroni and cheese, because I'm still a four-year-old and love mac 'n' cheese. Resident reviews pointed me to a place called Lola's, which was only a 30-minute walk from the hotel!

They did that thing...with the bread crumbs. It was a damn good bowl.

Tonight was an absolute zoo at the gig. We played at the Gibson Amphitheater in Universal Studios, and the guest list exceeded 400! Everyone and their mom was backstage, and there were two VIP celeb rooms apart from the normal VIP tickets room. I saw the likes of the original members of Black Sabbath, Howie Mandel, and the hosts of "The Talk." I shook hands with George Lopez and lots of people from Sharon's show. And I met Jack and Kelly Osbourne, who answered a few questions on camera for my episode. Super crazy win!

The Gibson Amphitheater. Great venue for the crowd, hell for videographers.

There was just no good way to navigate this place.

Tonight, being a part of the insanity backstage was a strange experience. It was challenging, inspiring, and eye-opening. For example, upon approaching Jack Osbourne, I reached my hand out to shake his and said,

"Hey, I'm Colin."

Before I could get a chance to explain why I was there, he responded stating that he knew who I was, and he'd heard that I've been doing a very professional job. Weird... Cool... Unexpected. What do you do next when a celebrity knows who you are before you meet them? Continue on, I guess. We talked for a minute or two about cameras, since he deals with video production. He actually directed one of Ozzy's latest music videos for "Let It Die." He then agreed to take a few minutes for my episode, so we escaped the party briefly. Super nice dude, very laid back and wants to please everyone.

At the end of the night I found myself in Ozzy's dressing room with Sharon, Kelly, Ozzy, and George Lopez. They were all hanging out and talking, and I was filming. How weird to be thrown into that situation. It was a super exclusive room to occupy, and there I was. The best part, and I'm glad it went this way, is that the situation was actually very small and comfortable, but it wasn't until after I finished shooting when I said, "Wow, that just happened." It's cool to realize that I don't find myself starstruck, really. The way I see it, these folks are working professionals, just like everyone in their respective careers. Their jobs just get them more national face-time than, say, a pilot or a teacher. Just regular dudes and dudettes.

Also, we received free In-N-Out burgers after the show. Ironic.