The summer of 2002 was a great one. I was in no hurry to get back into school, I had a great job, I had not a care in the world. So myself and a friend decided to start a band. It started off as a two piece, myself on drums and the other half of the band played guitar and sang. I can say I was anything but stoked on the project, but then one day it clicked and I had a new love for the band. We decided to name it Rip- Off Halo, maybe because it kind of sounded like Rip- Off Refused, which in hindsight is what we did, but that's besides the point. So we wrote some songs and found another guitarist, things were sounding great, I was having a good time, enough said. We recorded a demo we could sell on our upcoming tour. Now this tour was not just any tour, it was all of our first tour, and to top it off it was with the Americas. So the tour was booked, the merch was made, we did a nice split EP with both bands. A few disagreements were had about the artwork, no big deal we thought at the time. Rip- Off Halo found a bass player days before the tour, we practiced and then we were off. Six guys in a twelve passenger van, all the equipment included; two drum sets, two half stacks, four guitars, a bass amp, two boxes of merch and a pain in the ass pedal board. We were ready to take over the world, we didn't give a shit about anything, lock up your women and children. The tour started in Chico, a good warm up show for a local, supportive crowd. The onto Redding, great response from the crowd, everything was moving along smoothly. The next day was in Eureka, the show was great, Casey played accordion in the street, the cops pulled us over, we slept on a hardwood floor. Day four we headed to Eugene, Oregon. Said Rip- Off Halo singer drove this day (I did all the previous and future driving) he scared the shit out of everyone. The Eugene show looked a little sketchy, it's in a basement, it's raining, it smelled like lentils and burlap. Everyone but the lead singer/ tour booker are reluctant to play at first, but after the show we were all satisfied and had a great time, we drive overnight to Seattle, sleep in a parking lot of a park. I was driving so I had nowhere to lie down, I try the roof of the van, someone else slept in the park, then it started to rain, so we drive to the person's house that is putting on that night's show. He gives us free deep fried seafood, lets us shower and then we head to the venue. This show was supposed to be the climax of the tour, some great bands were on the bill, but we were so into not caring that we just didn't care. We were stoked on the inside, but we were also on our way to takeover the world, so we had to keep cool heads. The show was played, we all had a great time, but ROH singer was getting to be a little distant with all of us. The next show was supposed to be in Portland, but it fell through. We drove to Portland anyway to hang out with some friends and to pick up some other friends at the train station. While I was in the bathroom ROH singer snaps and yells to everyone how he hates this tour and we all treat him like shit, apparently because he had doubts about some upcoming shows not coming through and because we didn't offer enough praise for how awesome the tour was. He asks to dropped off at a friend's house, we gladly do so. The tour is over, he had quit the band, told everyone he couldn't be in a van with us, so we decided that night he would not be continuing our journey home with us. The next morning I call him, no answer, I tell him we are leaving soon. As I'm loading up the luggage he gets dropped off. Then the task of telling him he is not leaving Portland with us is at hand. The tension is thick in the air. I finally break the silence and tell him, " We decided it would be best if you didn't ride back with us." He doesn't argue, just asks for a ride back to his friend's house. The whole ride he's trying to get us to reconsider our decision, we decline many times, drop him off and head home. He eventually found his way back to town after a few weeks and communication between us (the remaining five) and him has pretty much ceased to exist. And that is my story about leaving a lead singer in Portland. As an afterthought, that was still one of my favorite tours I have ever done, maybe someday we'll all get together and finish our world domination, but probably not. Also, don't be a bitch, people will like you better.
