May 06 Philly, Day Off & Washington DC

Last show of 11 in a row. It’s in a very exhausted fashion that we awaited the show in Philly. We had time to walk around a little bit, however. The venue was located very close to downtown, so we explored the city a little bit, visiting a few of the sights on our way to Starbucks. We’ve not seen the Liberty Bell, but were impressed by the city itself, and its very artistic architecture. Strolling through Chinatown, we made it downtown, where life was bustling, something you would expect of a big city. It was warm and humid, a pure summer day for us, and it felt good to have some sun to take in – some much needed Vitamin D – after spending so much time in a tour bus that’s way too cold. We came backstage just in time for soundcheck, and talked and stretched before going to enjoy the show of Pine Barons, a new band on the line-up for the night!  

The venue itself was a very beautiful one, very artistic, with a vibe befitting “Underground Arts” & “Black Box”. It had a somewhat hippie vibe to it, and the walls were all painted black… The concert has been amazing. Never you could have thought that night after night, for 11 days in a row, the guys would have been raging on stage like they did. And yet again, they got off stage ecstatic – really happy about the show. So happy in fact that Alex, so high from the show that had just ended – almost demolished amps as he was trying to “help clean the stage”. After which Ben gently suggested that he would take “a few minutes to come down from the buzz of energy he is on after a show”, because after all, if equipment breaks, we’re still only halfway through the tour 😉 

And then it was over… the first 11 shows of the tour were finished, and we could expect our first day off the day after! And believe me, it was a day we all were waiting for! Not only us, but everyone, including the guys from Trail of Dead and Boyfrndz, with whom we are touring this time! We took our time backstage, had a few shots to cheer to the first half of the tour that was now over, and continued on the bus. We had more than one reason to celebrate and be happy about, as today’s concert has been simply mind blowing! We carried the party to the bus, where Alex took upon himself to walk on the ceiling… 😉 Ended at 5am, the party left some marks on some of us… 😉 

We all woke up pretty late, after a night that didn’t do much good to anyone. Some people may think days off are glamorous, but the reality is in fact very, VERY different. For half of us, it consisted in a laundromat party, while for the other half, we invaded a Starbucks to write blogs…! Inspiring in a different way than most people could think of, I should say! At night, though, we decided to go out and explore the city a little bit! I mean, there was no way we could be in Philly and not eat any of their famous Philly Cheesesteaks (and pretzels!)! 

From the Starbucks where we all gathered, we walked down through the historical district, to see the Liberty Bell (which I thought would be much bigger, to be honest!). Surrounded with blooming tulips, I thought the scene was very poignant nonetheless. We walked down the street of a wonderful neighborhood, and then made it to South Street. Filled with bars, restaurants, and terraces, this is where we stopped for the famous Philly Cheesesteak! We chose Jim’s as our go-to place, being one of the original places that served the famous sandwich filled with what we less famously know as Cheez Whiz. We all had half of it, except for Jeff who had 2 whole sandwiches, and Sef, who decided to have hot peppers, because after all, that’s what they eat in Texas where we were. Yes, Sef, sure thing…!

We came back to the bus early, where we wanted to watch the baseball game. Without a proper internet connection, it was however a lost cause. We then decided to watch a movie, and opted for Interstellar. After some major TV problems and having to rebuild the TV mount in the bus, we managed to make it work like we intended to, thanks to YB and Ben, and Conrad holding the thing all together… 😉 We also took advantage of the night off to sip on some IPA beers we cannot find back home!

We arrived in DC quite late, to be honest, later than we would have loved to. We took the time to visit the venue before going anywhere else. Large, spacious, several floors on which spread the stage, the back rooms for the bands (1 for each band – true luxury when you think we are 13 sharing one same bus every day), with newspapers clippings glued to the wall, all about music. There are frames everywhere. Guitars with wings suspended from the ceiling. And there are enough mirrors to make sure you won’t ever have a dead angle and can see at 360 degrees at all times! The Rock And Roll Hotel is an ex-funeral parlor turned venue. A lot of the venues we’ve played at during this tour seem to be “ex-something” turned venue, which I think is pretty cool and tells a lot about people’s desire to turn “what’s dead” into something that’s alive and that will become a place of gathering, where music will be at the center of it all.

And the concert… WOW! What a blast it has been! Simply mind-blowing. People have been incredibly into it, giving us the kick we needed to be back on stage in a city like DC itself, a city so meaningful to all of them! It looks like the band totally took the city by storm. Once again tonight, something bigger than words took place, something than cannot be described with words but felt only, something that will forever live on… A night that was alive and incredibly inspiring for the rest of the shows to come… 7 down to go, as we are headed to Carrboro in North Carolina tonight! 🙂

Make sure not to miss the rest of the tour, and come meet us at one of the gigs!

May 7 – Carrboro, NC @ Cats Cradle
May 8 – Atlanta, GA @ Shaky Knees Music Festival
May 10 – New Orleans, LA @ Gasa Gasa
May 11 – Houston, TX @ Fitzgeralds
May 12 – San Antonio, TX @ Korova
May 13 – Dallas, TX @ Club Dada
May 14 – Austin, TX @ Holy Mountain

Get tickets to shows here!

– Stephanie

Like Your Favorite Enemies on FB

Follow @YFEofficial on Twitter

Visit the YFE Store

Follow YourFavoriteEnemies on Instagram

Subscribe to the YFENetwork Youtube Channel

And subscribe to our SFCC Fan Club!