One common thing this year has been stress. I've still been under a ton of it and worked a lot. It was also a light year for shows for me too. Between the sciatica and just touring cycles, I had not been able to see any. When I saw that Senses Fail was coming back to town, I knew I would be there no matter what.

I spoke to Gavin a few days before and aligned on a time. The Marquee Theater has church services on Sunday mornings, so load in was going to be a little later than normal. I wanted to be able to wind down and relax so I booked a room nearby at the Hampton Inn. I was up early and hit the road to Tempe. I wanted to get some shopping done at Tempe Marketplace. I made that the first stop and spent an hour walking around and picking up a few things. I was still early so I headed to the hotel. I was lucky in that they upgraded me to a suite and could get me in immediately. I got everything settled into the room and then laid around and relaxed for 30 minutes.

After a little wind down time, I headed over to the venue. I got in and immediately ran into Daniel. I said hi and he directed me inside. I took a look around but nobody was there. He brought me over to the bus where I found Buddy and Gavin. I got settled in and Gavin and I caught up for a while on all of the fund house and car projects that we have done or need to do. Buddy and I caught up for a bit while he got this things settled. Not long after, Jason and Steve came onboard and I was able to catch up with them too. It was great to see so many awesome people.

The band needed to soundcheck so we went in and they ran through things. When they were done, we started to rally for a nice dinner. Before that could occur, they needed to sign some posters and records. They got everything ready and we hopped in the car. We headed back to Tempe Marketplace and hit up The Thirsty Lion for dinner. We sat around and told stories, had some great food, and enjoyed a fairly empty restaurant. We hit the road as they had the meet and greet to get to.

I dropped them off and headed back to the hotel. I dropped off the car and then decided to walk back. One thing that I need to do more of is to slow down. Walking back, taking in the sunset, and looking at the skyline was a nice reset. I got back, found the guys, and we settled in to hang. I had some Makers 46, told more stories with everyone, checked out Saves The Day, and helped backlight a few social media posts.

Senses Fail took the stage. The whole setup was amazing to see. It was an absolutely amazing production and the sound was just as great. The band tore it up and it was the best show I have seen from them yet. They closed the show out by having the other bands join them on stage and run through Helena, by My Chemical Romance. With that, an amazing show came to an end.

As much as I have worked this year, I relaxed as hard. I got settled in on the bus with everyone had had more Makers. Being out with great people and not having to be responsible was good, the level that I took it to was a bit much. It was time for me to head out, so I said my goodbyes and got an Uber back to the hotel to get some sleep.

I am glad for the day and the time away from life. I am thankful to have such great friends, to have spent more time with them, and for them to be so supportive while I work through life. I'm looking forward to the next time that we all hang.