Mall Policy

Standing on an escalator behind a mall cop, I overheard the following from his walky talky:

"I would like to reiterate that this is ALSO a customer service job. We do NOT need to yell at people to take their hoods down or stop dancing by the fountain or stop playing with their yoyos. Everybody needs to chill out."

Ironically, the man on the radio was screaming.

Press the Button!

During Noah's last visit to the tour, Pyro Steve gave him a little Smoke 101.

A Tour, In Pictures

I've started posting pics from the tour on my Flickr stream again.  Anything particularly picturesque will make it's way there, so consult the Flickr badge on the right side of this page to see if any new photos have shown up, and click on it to go get an eyefull.

On Tour with Tiny Drummer!

Noah is coming to visit the tour again.  In honor of his visit, here are some great pics from earlier in the tour.

Soundcheck

Listening to the mix

Resting up for the show

Watching the show

Congratulating the star

After-show commute

Pajama party!

Schmid Island Did Not Sink Into the Ocean, I Promise

You may have noticed:  I haven't been blogging as much on this tour as I did on the previous one (unless you count all the Tweeting!).  Take this as a good sign.  It means I'm having much more fun this time around, not living in the dumpy post-apocalyptic wasteland of divorce and custody battles.  So this means I'm not hiding from the band in my bunk, writing pithy blog entries every second of every day.

But I do miss you.  Let me give you a hug.

*HUG*

I haven't forgotten you, loyal readers.

Here's a picture of a little monkey to cheer you up.

I told you it was little.

Anyway, we're having a great time putting on a huge show full of singing and dancing and flying objects and explosions.

Now, I gotta go rock Schmid Island for our big make-up show here in Omaha. Then off to Texas!

What Are You Looking Forward To?

This time around, I'm psyched that I get to use a wireless keytar, and leave Schmid Island for a bit.  Sure, the Island is a great vacation destination, but sometimes you need a vacation from your vacation, you know?

What are you most excited about for this tour?

Here We Go Again!

After many hours and days and weeks of rehearsals, we're ready to hit the road and perform our humongously entertaining show for you!

I've been packing all night; trying to cram 2 weeks' worth of clothes into a tiny weekender bag. Good idea, Mike. But eventually, I won. 

My computer is freshly upgraded (after I gutted the thing and replaced a couple parts... cause I'm too cheap to buy a new laptop), and all my gear has found a cozy home in my backpack.  I'm hoping to finish my new album on the road.

Flying out in the morning.

Portland, here we come!

Coming Soon to a Town Near You!

Yes yes y'all! We're gearing up for an incredible Miley tour this fall, and as always I'll be blogging it all from the road like a nerdy little newsman.

I'm so excited about this tour. It's gonna be a blast! I'm going to do some things a bit differently this time though. For instance, this time I plan on:

-not coughing up a lung the whole friggin' time
-not getting violently hit by a car
-not being such a saaaad little emo boy
-not spending any time in Rochester

Hope to see you at a show. While you're waiting for the best night of your life, you may wanna brush up on the rules for attending a Miley concert.

Bye Juice

It sure has been quiet here at It's All True recently. That's because I've been having a great time being a Dad!



You may have heard that we have a tour coming up this fall, and of course I'll continue to bring you my own brand of mildly snarky backstage commentary.

Watch this space.

Way Way Away

Still in Europe, doing a round of promo for Miley's "Breakout" album. WiFi access has been spotty at best for the last 3 weeks here, but I've taken buckets of pictures, so plan on full disclosure when I return next week.

Until then, here's a video of a monkey waiting tables:

Pop Goes the Comfort Level

After two days of rehearsals in L.A., we flew to Florida for two more days of rehearsal. That's just the way we roll.

We were booked to stay at Disney's Pop Century Resort. The band and dancers were all speculating as to what type of hotel it was. "What kind of theme could Pop Century" be? Pop music? Pop culture? Popcorn?" We couldn't figure it out.

Once we got there, it became a little clearer. The decor was a mishmash of eras, colors, and random pop culture. Each building represented a different decade.

Here's the 70's building:

Apparently the Rubik's Cube was the only important developement in that era.

And the 80's building:

Is "Totally Awesome" an 80's phrase? I still use it. But I'm no gauge of cool.

After the receptionists took several years checking us in (I have no idea what took so long), I was informed that my building was all the way at the other end of the resort. This was basically the equivalent of staying in the next town. They told me to "follow the path past the giant 8-track, past the life-size Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head, and around the computer pool." What is a "computer pool" you ask? See for yourself:

Exactly as described

When I finally reached my room much later, I was surprised by what I found. This was basically a motel. "Resort" is a relative term, I guess. The bed was harder that the "glorified floor" in Seattle. The walls were paper-thin, so I could hear screaming children on all sides. I was afraid of the shower.

At dinner with the band, we all compared notes on how ghetto the hotel/motel was. Everyone agreed that we were depressed about going back and sleeping there.

Stacy placed a call to our tour manager, Omar, who felt exactly the same as we did. So Omar placed a call to some higher-ups, and said we had to be moved.

No answer yet as to our fate.

We still stayed there that night (convinced that we were being nibbled by bed bugs), and the next morning we showed up stiff and groggy at rehearsal.

After we finally snapped out of our Pop Century comas, we ran down the entire show, then there was a little family jam:

That's lil' Braison Cyrus on drums. And Miley gets better at the guitar every time we see her. Jaco taught her a few new chords.

Which she learned in, like, three seconds. Smarty.

Rehearsal ended fairly early, and we were notified that we would be moving to the Hyatt Cypress Garden. There was much rejoicing. Yaaay.

The difference between Pop Century and the Hyatt couldn't have been more polar. At Pop Century, there was nothing to do. Literally nothing. And there was only one restaurant, which was basically a cafeteria stocked with fried foods. The Hyatt, on the other hand, was absolutely stunning. It had the biggest pool I've ever seen, which surrounded several man-made caves, waterslides, and a massive lake with kayaking and paddle boats. I went kayaking several times. I do love me some kayaking. There was also a full golf course and many restaurants featuring everything from bar food to sushi. Paradise. I have no pictures of the Hyatt, cause I was far too busy having a wonderful time to whip out the camera.

With a big chunk of spare time, we spent much of the day lounging by the pool, preparing for the next day's big show, which I'll tell you about tomorrow at 11:55pm. (How's that for specific!)

The Grand Finale

The end.

Vashon Scares The World

During soundcheck in New Orleans, Vashon shows a little creepy Mardi Gras spirit:

Workin' Up the Crowdy

During the show, Hannah, Candice and Kay work the crowd into a frenzy. Well technically, they were already in a frenzy, but it's fun to help it along a bit.

Pumpin' Up the Party

Here's some video I took during the show, while playing with one hand.

WOOHOOOOOO!

Our little 3D movie grossed approximately $29 million over the weekend, in only 683 theatres! This is insane. We were the #1 movie in America. It is already reported to be the highest-grossing 3D film ever released!

Disney is now rolling the movie out into even more theatres.

Non sequiters

More video on the way. I've been having lots of fun going through the pics and videos I took on the tour, and it's nice to know that you guys are enjoying them too.

In completely unrelated news, I was stunned to hear that a big-screen version of the cancelled TV show, "Arrested Development," is currently in the works. I could cry. Story here.

Tonight, I went to the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater here in Hollywood with Ben and Samantha. The hilarious Jeff Garlin (Curb Your Enthusiasm) does stand-up there every Sunday for $1! It doesn't get any better than that. Jeff and friends Nicole Parker and Mark Marin workshopped new material and we laughed our little lungs out.

It's so good to be home. I feel so calm and rested and on my way to finally shaking this weird flu/cold/bronchitis thing.

Lest I forget their creepy omnipresence in my neighborhood, a coyote slunk down the sidewalk as I got home tonight. It glared at me. Like a warning. Oh yeah, I forgot. They own this place.

The Walk

After the Circle of Power, we made the walk to the stage. Here is a first-person-view of what we experienced every day before the show. (I apologize for how dark the video is, but it was dark back there!)

The Circle of Power

Every day before the show, we joined up for the Circle of Power. It might sound a bit creepy or culty, but really it was just the cast holding hands in a circle, doing the wave. The point was to energize us.

Here we are assembling for the Circle on the last day:

Miley's Last Day Song

Yes, it was no secret that Miley was excited about the tour ending. Here's a little song she made up for the occasion (on the way to soundcheck):