Illuminatour 2011

Illuminatour half way point.

SO where do I even begin. Firstly, every dude on this tour is freaking awesome. I knew coming into this tour that Stray and Let Live were going to be nice people within reason merely because of the few interactions we have had with them/ hearsay, but I don’t think I expected to get along with these guys this well. We all have our own way, but we are cut from the same block at the core. I haven’t agreed more with a band’s ethos in a long time. I think Give It A Name with Thursday was the last time. It’s been truly refreshing. The tour has been up and down in so many ways it’s crazy. Summer is a mad time all around. Either way, we are healthy, sleeping and having as much fun as humanly possible! Our friend Dave Summers http://summersphotography.org/ came out to Bloomington and shot some sweet shots of the show. Enjoy, and until next time….keep it real and go download something.

T

Win Tickets To The Illuminatour!

Want to win tickets to the Illuminatour? Now’s your chance! Noisecreep is giving away a pair of tickets to EACH SHOW, along with the latest CD from each of the bands on the tour.

Check out all the details on how to win at: http://www.noisecreep.com/2011/06/30/underoath-illuminatour-tickets-giveaway/

Greetings from all that is letlive. We’ve currently been quite detached from the 21st century technological realm,  considering our endeavors in the European regions and the lack of means to connect ourselves. Now, we have acquired the abilities to present you with a video of some live footage from the past few weeks - quite possibly an example of things to come. We can not express how damn ready we are to move forward back in the states with Underoath, Times of Grace, and our boys in Stray From the Path - not to discredit our European counterparts. We certainly do love you as well. There are few bands that we can fully back and appreciate in the modern age, and the group of individuals we are pairing up with fit perfectly within those few.

We will have some new merchandise, and a sample or two of new tunes - be sure to check it all out. Until then, stay gold pony boys and girls.

Stray From The Path- after 6 weeks of touring and recording, it is good to be home

After 1 day of being at home, we are anxiously awaiting for the arrival of the Illuminatour! We do lots of tours with a lot of great bands, but this tour is extra special. I feel like I can set up a lawn chair on stage every night and watch the entire show….and throw in the occasional stage dive. Watching legendary veteran bands like Underoath and Jesse and Adam from Times of Grace as well as one of the best up and coming bands in the scene right now with Letlive is very exciting and Stray is truly honored to share the stage with such a sick line up.

Playing two brand new songs off our new record which will be released in August on Sumerian Records on this tour. It is very exciting to start playing this new material that we have been working very hard on, so I expect the energy of the band to be at a new level. You can find us at any show floating around and we are wanting to talk to as many new people as possible. So make sure you come find us! New video coming  from us shortly where you can get to know each member closer and check us out rehearsing for tour! See you soon.

Underoath vs. smoke and mirrors.

We have so much to do and so little time to do it! We have to figure out our set list, our production ideas, what merch to take. It’s insane how much prep goes into a tour. You think you have a month off before a tour but it’s really like 2 weeks off. The rest is planning, email chains, merch approvals, production design, video shoots and so on. I wish I could just fast forward to day one. We haven’t been on a tour where there are four completely different bands with 4 completely different ideals only bound truly by one thing, music. I can’t wait for the collide and exchange of world views, the conversations to come at 2 a.m. on a day off, for Adam D. running around like a lunatic. Good times await and for now we must prepare. We want to step up the game. We want to push ourselves and do something different, but where do we go from here. You can only do so many different set lists, so many different lighting set ups, and all on such a fixed budget. One thing you can’t  buy, rent or switch on and off with a board is passion. That feeling you get when you watch a band and you actually believe what you are seeing. Everyone bangs their heads and swings guitars these days. It’s all smoke and mirrors. Basement shows, 2002 church shows, Meow Meows….those where shows you believed. All you really need is to fall in love with the music you play, and that will be enough to captivate someone. I think I will be trying to find some inner fire as much if not more fervently than I do a cool new light to bring out on tour to hide behind. I think this tour is going to be a lot of fun.

One love homies.

Tim

5.25.11 - Jesse from Times of Grace checking in

“As we prepare our warm ups for the first official over seas dates for “Times of Grace” and the first for me ever! I truly look forward to coming back to the US to join Underoath, Stray from the Path & Let Live. I think it is a nice rounded out line up and from what I have watched and heard through youtube videos and the bands sites, every band is passionate and full of energy. I have always admired Underoath for what they do and the energy they always bring, so to me this is such an honor.

This will be the longest stretch of dates I have ever done as a singer and I know it will be a challenge for me, but I couldn’t be more excited! Here I am approaching middle age and getting a shot to make a living off of music again after a personal 5 year hiatus from touring and having to work a “normal” job. I feel so pleased to know that I will have fellow brothers and good people all around me. I am certain there will be some amazing moments to be witnessed on and off stage on this tour. I feel humbled to have the privilege to live this life as fleeting as it may be and to tour along side a band (Underoath) that has outlasted over many years. Our record “The Hymn of A Broken Man” was and is a testament to the struggles of Adam & I on our separate yet parallel paths. To relive these songs on stage is both difficult at times and therapeutic. To look over on stage and see my good friends; Joel, Adam, Dan & now Matt is immense to me. Such talent and quality people who give there all to the music. Mark my words the future is uncertain, tomorrows not promised, do your self a favor and come out to these shows. If for no other reason than to celebrate passion in music as well as have a good time surrounded by good vibrations!

See you on the road everyone!

God Bless & One love for all!

5.23.11 - Stray From The Path here and Blogging to you

Hey everyone, Stray From The Path here and Blogging to you from the road. We are currently on tour with Norma Jean, After The Burial, Motionless in White and For The Fallen Dreams. We are getting really psyched for the Illuminatour w/ Underoath, Times of Grace and Letlive.

Playing some cities we haven’t played in a long time and playing some cities for the first time. We are looking to release our new record on Sumerian Records on the illuminatour and will be playing a few new songs from the new record on this tour!  Stay tuned for more updates regarding new material from Stray From The Path, and tour blogs from Underoath, Times of Grace and Letlive.

5.16.11 - Illuminatour blog..warming them up to that which is letlive.

Although belated, please understand that our fervor remains the same. In true letlive. fashion we will comprise a slightly hyperbolic (when placed beside our own standards) arrangement of digital words to serve as colorful strokes on the canvas of our future that had been dreadfully blank just before the commencement of this year. One of the brightest colors upon this proverbial canvas was this- THE ILLUMINATOUR. Regardless of what it is you feel about letlive. or any other band on this prodigious tour there is something to be said about the contemporary approach of seemingly clashing ideals or platforms working together in an effort to propagate something bigger than a single sect of thought. This tour, in theory, is bigger than all of our bands. Well, maybe not Underoath, these niggas reached certified gold status with “Define The Great Line” in 2006; they’re considerably bigger than the verbose pseudo lecture I am currently orating to you. But I digress. Thank you to Underoath for making this a possibility for us, a band that is often requested to disambiguate our stance on pressing world issues and/or who we think should be represented in “Maxim’s Top 100”, with no questions asked. Thank you for considering us with grace and condor. And thank you for writing  ”Young And Aspiring”, that shit goes hard.

Jason Aalon and the letlive.

STAND UP.

5.7.11 - Australia…and then…

6 more shows…then a break…then illuminatour. Just listened to some Times of Grace and got stoked to see Adam D. and company. I have never met Jesse before, but from our brief email correspondence, he is a swell fellow. We just flew for almost 40 hours including layovers from Tampa to Perth.

Tampa —> Dallas —> LA —> Sydney—>missed connection —> new connection to Perth—> steak sandwich, a pint of pale ale and internet—> sleep.

Tonight is our first show with ADTR, but not before we jam some Nando’s. If you don’t know, now you know.

TM….out.

4.27.11 - SOOO This Tour Is Finally On It’s Way…….

We are two months out and I feel like this tour has consumed us. This for the most part is a good thing. We thought it a great a idea to team our video release with the tour release to make sure that once we had people’s attention, we told them everything we had to tell, instead of hoping to be able to reach that many more people a few weeks later with another announcement. For all intents and purposes it was a success. This tour and video has had more attention in the first day than probably any other tour we have announced.

The Achilles’ heel of this whole thing is that almost 50% of the attention is based on a fantasy that we have somehow become a part of one of the most elite and secret societies in the world…the Illuminati.

The Achilles’ heel to the Achilles’ heel however, is that this would be impossible, because the fame, fortune and status that we would somehow accrue once this initiation has happened is not present, and it is a bit weird that a “SECRET” society member would be plastering their new found membership on a video, poster, admat, t-shirts etc.

I for one am all for crazy stories. I can believe that there are a room full of men controlling the stock market somewhere. I can believe that we have been visited by other lifeforms, or at least that they exist. I can believe there are some insane people out there. What I can’t believe is that so many people blindly follow a misguided and misinterpreted understanding of some of our art. You show your unabashed weakness and ignorance in your faith and understanding of others if you can still maintain these, honestly hilarious notions. There is a good chance that you are probably still living at home, probably haven’t dialogued with many other people of different faiths, and probably lack the real world experiences to properly digest most things of this level, especially things of the Illuminati ( I for one can’t understand the half of it). It’s not your fault, nor am I upset for people accusing us of ‘selling our souls’ as much as I am ashamed that one day when everyone is grown up, there will be a lot of people feeling like fools when they look back on things like this because unlike when I was growing up and spouting off at the mouth ignorantly…the internet is forever.

With that said…this tour is going to kill, and with no help of Satan, Jay-Z, all seeing eyes, or any other fantasies that are floating around our tour. Keep it real homies!

God {the one from the bible….;)} bless.

Tim