Southern California’s emotive power pop punk rockers CASUAL FRIDAY are currently on the road in support of their immensely catchy and listenable full length record, “Weekend Forever”! They are touring alongside their friends from California act IRIS JUPITER! In an attempt to make sense of, and for the involvement and enjoyment of anyone who wants to know what it’s like to be on the road, they will be keeping a journal of everything that happens on the Dedication To The Riff tour. This is our week one recap. Bon appétit!
These Southern California boys who like rockin’ and rollin’ are rumored to have descended from the Gods. Gods which have granted them powers to combine riffs and melody to enchant listeners into joining their rock cult. The scope of their conquest is unknown but with influences like Piebald, Weezer, Oasis, and all good things rock n roll, these riffs know no bounds.
[UPDATES] Round #3 is up! See the teaser commentary below and scroll down to see the whole diary!
Hi! My name is Vaughn, and my best friends name’s are Keyvan and Zach. If you didn’t check in last week, here’s a recap. We play in a power pop band from the beautiful Southern California called Casual Friday, and we’re on a 24 day US tour with our buds in Iris Jupiter. In an attempt to make sense of it, we’re keeping a weekly log of every day and night of the trip. Here’s the week two roundup. Thanks for checking in! See y’all next week.
Tour Diary, part 3:
Click photo to enlarge and scroll down to see previous entries.
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Tour Diary, part 2:
Scroll down to see the previous entry.
Day 7, 8, 9: This weekend is the Fest 16, a punk rock music festival that takes place every October in Gainesville, FL. We got a hotel for the weekend and stationed the van in Shanty Town, which is a dirt parking lot in the middle of the Fest grounds in downtown Gainesville where all of our friends bands parked their vans for the weekend. Shanty Town became an all day and night hang out sesh with all of the homies in between sets. Shout out to Just Friends, Prince Daddy and the Hyena, Save Face, Graduating Life, Iris Jupiter, Pictures of Vernon, Kississippi, Sundressed, and Fossil Youth. Love y’all.
We played at arguably the coolest bar in the area called the Palomino on Saturday, and the crowd was awesome. I saw Smoking Popes on Sunday and got them tatted on my body. So sick.
Day 10: Thanks to having a hotel for 3 nights, we hit the road rejuvenated and ready to rock. We played at a tight house in the backyard of another house in Columbia, SC and someone lit a couch on fire. That was sick. Shout out to Fk Mt. for letting us sleep on your floor and to Soul Glo for being a great band. Oh and we saw a spider that was as big as my hand.
Day 11: Today is Halloween! It was originally a day off, but the great dudes in Pictures of Vernon got us on their Halloween show in Asheville, NC. This was by far the most lit show of tour so far, with at least 100-150 college kids showing up to party. Nothing feels better than playing to a crowd of half drunk people that want to jam out. We stayed with both Daniel and Joel from Pictures of Vernon and hit the road for Richmond the next morning.
Day 12: Today we drove 6 hours up to Richmond, VA to play in a basement that only fit about 12 people minus equipment. Regardless, everyone that came out was super nice and the Milkstains and Neat Sweep were great local acts to play with. We took refuge with Keyvan’s lovely sister Ornella and her husband Justin in Gainesville, VA for the night, and their family took care of us like one of their own.
Day 13: We got to sleep in and spoiled ourselves with coffee and bagels. On the way to Baltimore, MD, we stopped at the childhood home of our touring guitarist Aaron, and his lovely mom made chili and let us set up sleeping arrangements for the night after the show. The venue was a DIY show space in Fallston, MD, called the Grateful Acres. The locals that came were outgoing and supportive, and the owners of the spot were super awesome.
Day 14: We slept in at Aaron’s parents house, regrouped and booked it to Philly, where we played the lovely Darren house in Point Breeze. This was our first of three consecutive shows with the New Jersey band Toy Cars, who rip the shred, if you know what I mean. We literally loaded in through hole in the ground that led into the basement of the Darren house, where the ceiling was just about 6’2″ tall. Our friend Cole in Goodwill Hunting played songs from their self titled LP to start the show off. Shout out to Cole, Kenny Miller, Darren, Toy Cars, and Matt Yanko and Shelby for letting us sleep at your house and taking us to get cheese steaks.
Click photo to enlarge:
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Tour Diary, part 1:
Day One: The tour starts off with a bang. We brought our brothers and sister in Get Married all the way down from San Jose, CA and our local friends in Ridgeway out to kickoff the 24 day rock-circus. All of this happening at the best DIY venue in Southern California, Programme Skate and Sound. We asked ourselves, what else could we do to ensure that good vibes take over the night? So we got thirty Miguel’s Jr BRC burritos catered to the shop, and to no surprise everyone went nuts. The crowd matched our energy, and took it to the next level. We’re thankful for all of our friends and families and every SoCal band that continues to support us in this adventure.
Day Two: The gang hits the road. We’re anxious and excited to show the country what we’ve got. Our first show was in Tempe, AZ with Trouble Minds and Lychee, and the crowd was super responsive. The only thing we can hope is for people to bring their good vibes to the gig and Tempe brought it. We stayed with Ethan and the O’Neill family in Mesa, and hit the road at 10am for New Mexico.
Day Three: The gang plays under a bank. We played the new DIY venue in Las Cruces, NM called The Underground thanks to our friends in Sorrytown. We got bad fish at a bad diner with some great people named Shhashhan and Kendra, and drove through the night to Austin, TX.
Day Four: The gang gets weird. Our fourth show was at the coolest bar in Austin called Beerland with the post-punk rock trio Aquatica, who shut the place down with their noise. I got the opportunity to watch mewithoutYou play their first album, A to B Life, front to back at the Mohawk before our set. We got pizza by the slice, stayed with our friends Christian and Charlie, and hit the road for New Orleans at 9am.
Day Five: The gang goes Nola. The drive is beautiful and the conversations are unforgettable, but we didn’t see any gators. We play a cute little coffee shop called Neutral Ground with the jammers in Harbor and Sleaze, and drank coffee to prepare for the Bourbon Street hangs afterwards. Most of us slept, and the rest hit the town for beer and laughs.
Day Six: We get quick breakfast and hit the road to play an unofficial PreFest fest gig for The Fest 16 in Tallahassee. Some of us saw John Goodman in a gas station parking lot. We played alongside a bunch of punk rock bands that night that in my opinion blew us out of the water. After the fest we ate Whataburger and rapped over Spongebob trap edits in the parking lot. The great Ipp Family let us stay at their beautiful house in the woods, and let us shower and recuperate to head to Fest 16 in Gainesville this weekend.
Day Seven: The gang gets a day off. We hit Waffle House in Tallahassee because we hate ourselves, and use the day off to clean the van and graffiti off the trailer. The drive is peaceful, and we paced it slow to see the countryside.
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This has been week one of the Dedication To The Riff tour. We’re going to keep trucking, non stop rocking, and bringing the show to a city near you!
CASUAL FRIDAY Dedication To The Riff tour dates:
Friday, October 20th – Fullerton, California @ Programe Skate
Saturday, October 21st – Tempe, Arizona @ House Show
Sunday, October 22nd – Las Cruces, New Mexico @ Oregon Mountain Outfitters
Monday, October 23rd – Austin, Texas @ Beerland
Tuesday, October 24th – New Orleans, LA @ Neutral Ground Coffee house
Wednesday October 25th – Tallahassee, FL @ The Wilbury (Pre Fest)
Thursday October 26th – Day off
Friday October 27th – 29th – Gainsville Florida @ The Fest (We play Saturday the 28th)
Monday October 30th – Columbia, South Carolina @ The Roadhouse
Tuesday October 31st – Charlotte, North Carolina – Help?
Wednesday November 1st – Richmond, Virginia @ Church of Abe
Thursday November 2nd – Baltimore, Maryland @ Grateful Acres
Friday November 3rd – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania @ Darren House
Saturday November 4th – Lowell, Massachusetts @ House Show
Sunday November 5th – Long Island, New York @ TBA
Monday November 6th – Pittsburgh, Pennseylvania @ The Glitter Box Theatre
Tuesday November 7th – Ohio @ TBA
Wednesday November 8th – Springfield, Illinois @ The Black Sheep
Thursday November 9th – Kansas City, Missouri @ Bubba Spins Records and Flop House
Friday November 10th – Denver, Colorado @ House Show
Saturday November 11th – Salt Lake City, Utah @ Provo Bicycle Collective
Sunday November 12th – San Diego, California @ House Show
