Driven Far Off

The latest on the indie, alternative, and rock music scene including news, music, contest, interviews, and more. Best described as your favorite place to find new bands.

  • Home
  • Reviews
  • Interviews
  • Videos
  • Articles
  • About
  • Contact

To Write Love On Her Arms “Heavy and Light” Show

December 15, 2008 By Ben Minsky Leave a Comment

To Write Love On Her Arms will be putting on their second “Heavy and Light” show at the House of Blues Orlando on January 11, 2009.

The concert features performances from Dustin Kensrue (Thrice), Jon Foreman (Switchfoot), Anthony Raneri (Bayside), Aaron Gillespie (Underoath/The Almost), Josh Moore, and Zach Williams.

You can purchase tickets here.

Filed Under: News Tagged With: Aaron Gillespie, Dustin-Kensrue, heavy and light, To-Write-Love-On-Her-Arms

TWLOHA Casey Calvert Shirt

November 29, 2007 By Bryce Jacobson 5 Comments

To Write Love On Her Arms will be releasing a  shirt in  memory of Casey Calvert of Hawthorne Heights. All proceeds will go to Casey’s family and funeral expenses. Pick up a shirt here.

twloha.jpg

Filed Under: News Tagged With: Hawthorne Heights, To-Write-Love-On-Her-Arms

Warped Tour Update #1

July 2, 2007 By Michael Schneider 2 Comments

Hey DFO community-
I’m out on the warped tour with the band Bayside, representing the organization To Write Love On Her Arms! We’re on our thousand mile drive up to Vancouver for our first two Canada dates, and we just finished the first three in California. I cannot tell you how incredible this tour is. I’ve been able to see about 1/4 of the bands so far, and not one has let me down.

In Pomona, I dropped by Cute Is What We Aim For’s set, and regardless of what you think of them, the addition of Dave Melillo on guitar/vocals adds even more to this band’s incredibly addicting music and sharpens the live show, performing tighter than I’ve ever heard them.

Ventura allowed me to see a little more music, starting with The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus. Regardless of the fact that they’re one of the most genuine bands on the tour, they have crafted a nearly perfect live show. Ronnie’s vocals are more passionate and powerful with every note. I could, and probably will, watch this band every day. Later in the evening, I got to see my tourmates and winner’s of that day’s long performance, Bayside. Bayside is not your typical warped tour band. They don’t sound like a wanna-be Bad Religion, or emulate the same typical metal sound so many bands have adopted. Bayside is a rock band, and they do nothing but that, rock. Chris was telling me he hates it when people say “you rocked!”…well sorry, but you guys did. Half the crowd knew every word, and the band never missed a note. Bayside is a MUST-SEE on this tour.

Mountain View, because TWLOHA was so low on merchandise, gave us a lot of freedom during the day. Between The Trees played an incredible set on the Hot Topic stage, never failing to disappoint. Then I jumped over to The Spill Canvas, who delivered yet another stellar performance introducing a couple new songs as well. One of our volunteers, David, and I caught the last few songs of The Almost, and Aaron was as exciting as ever without the drums restricting his motion. Boys Like Girls played to a huge crowd, many fans screaming the words so loud you could hear them over the Amphitheater’s sound system. Later in the day, we all made our way over to support our friends in Paramore, and I will tell you this flat out. I would go to Warped Tour and lay face down on the cement in the sun for the entire day, if it was the only way I could see Paramore. Their new songs are unbelievable live. Everyone in the band is within one year of my age, yet they play with more passion, energy, and accuracy than most bands on the whole tour. Lastly, we got to see the always-pleasing Anberlin camp play the Smartpunk stage. On their first tour, you can tell they’re not quite used to playing in the sunlight rather than in sold out clubs, but they’re still just as good as ever, and well worth a half an hour of your Warped experience.

I know that’s a lot to read, but it was a lot to experience as well. Please send in your requests for interviews, and reviews and tell me which bands I should see!

Warped in Canada
7/3 Vancouver

After roughly 26 hours straight driving from San Francisco, the Warped crew made it up to the University Of British Columbia. A vastly different setting than the previous three, a smaller crowd but a larger area quickly tired my legs that were so accustomed to bus living. One of the most interesting and frustrating parts of the tour is Canada’s policy on bringing merchandise into the country. Any merchandise you bring across is automatically taxed, which forces the 50+ groups on the tour to ship their merchandise to the venue. The band I’m riding with, Bayside, shipped about six days early. The merchandise arrived in four days, and was then sent to the back of the delivery line since it  couldn’t be delivered till the day of the show. Unfortunately, for the band and that hundreds who voted for them to win the Energizer Long Lasting Performance time (an extra ten minute set), no merchandise ever came for them. We’ll see if their luck changes for Calgary.

I’d like to take a few minutes and talk about one of the other non-profits on the tour. I’ve set up the last couple days next to Kelsey and her Boarding For Breast Cancer tent. Their goal is to raise awareness and teach how to properly examine for breast cancer. One of the most startling statistics is that 30% of cases are discovered by partners. They’ve been able to raise a considerable of money in donations, as well as teach hundreds how to properly check themselves or their partners for the lumps indicative of cancer.

Lastly, I said this is in my last update, but you cannot go to Warped Tour and miss The Spill Canvas. TSC are seriously four of the nicest guys I’ve ever met, not to mention arguably the most talented band on the tour. Their set, which blends older tracks with brand new songs from the new EP and upcoming full-length. Take a half an hour of your day and head over to the Hurley stage for their set, I guarantee you won’t be disappointed.

Boys Like GirlsThe AlmostParamoreAnberlin

Filed Under: Articles, News, Photos Tagged With: Bayside, Between-The-Trees, Boys Like Girls, Cute-Is-What-We-Aim-For, Paramore, The Spill Canvas, The-Red-Jumpsuit-Apparatus, To-Write-Love-On-Her-Arms, Warped Tour

Discourse Clothing To Donate To Write Love On Her Arms

May 14, 2007 By Bryce Jacobson Leave a Comment

Discourse Clothing will be donating 10% of their profits from all of our shirts sold until May 31st to the organization
To Write Love On Her Arms
is dedicated to help prevent people from self cutting, depression and Suicide.

To purchase any of our clothing and support To Write Love on Her Arm all you need to do is go to www.discourseclothing.com. We can ship anywhere in the US and the rest of the world.

Submitted By: Justin G.

Filed Under: News Tagged With: Discourse-Clothing, To-Write-Love-On-Her-Arms

Anberlin and Bayside Show Review – March 07

March 28, 2007 By Michael Schneider Leave a Comment

Anberlin, Bayside, Meg & Dia, Jonezetta
March 10th & 17th, 2007
Pomona, CA at the Glasshouse & Seattle, WA at El Corazon

As you can tell by the above information, I got to do something not many people get to do with this tour. Due a pre-arranged trip, I discovered I would have the opportunity to check out this tour a second time while at home in Seattle. So this review is from two different shows.

Venue dynamics played a huge role in my opinion of the two shows. Pomona supposedly caps at about 900 people, a large room with a decent sized stage, barrier, and about 15-20 security guards. El Corazon has a posted capacity of 807. However, since I’ve been going to shows there since I was 13, I know from experience that anything over 500 is ridiculous. This tiny room where the farthest you can be from the stage is about 60 feet, there is no barrier and crowd surfers take out the lead singer’s microphone cause there is no where else to go.

Opening band, Jonezetta, for me was the surprise on this tour. Only hearing the free EP that was released a long time ago, I didn’t really have much of an opinion of the band. Pomona was the first date with a new keyboardist, and I don’t know how much of a difference it made, but this band is absolutely phenomenal live. Dance-pop rock jams like “Backstabber” and “Get Ready” make it impossible to stand still. With three vocalists, their harmonies aren’t anything new or special but they’re executed perfectly, and that’s much more than I can say for a lot of bands today. Due yourself a favor and check out their new record out on Tooth & Nail.

Up next was sister duo Meg & Dia. My first experience with them was on the Daphne Loves Derby tour, and considering I’m listening to their album right now you can guess that I’ve been converted to a spot in their growing fanbase. I was impressed at these shows how many people in the audience were singing along. They played my favorite song, “Masterpiece” along with “Roses,” “Indiana,” and recent contribution to the Take Action compilation, “Monsters,” and quickly made their way up my charts of the best females in music. Next month they will be playing the Warped Tour kickoff party in Hollywood, for only $10!

Bayside, this band is surrounded with controversy, passion, and triumph between a van accident that killed their former drummer and the open, honest rebuttals their singer Anthony makes at any crude or unjust review of the band. Bayside, attitudes aside, are solid vocally and musically, live and recorded. When you add in their pure disregard for what people think of them, they get even better because you can know everything they do is genuine. Debuting songs off of their recently released, “Walking Wounded” as well as an acoustic song, and plenty of tracks off their last record, the band charged through their set and never really backed off. This being the first time I have ever seen Bayside live, I’m hooked. Pomona was an interesting experience. I severely underestimated their draw to this tour and after the band finished their set, more than 1/3 of the crowd left. In Seattle, while the percentage was not as great, a good amount of people did leave after Bayside. The bands fans seem like some of the most dedicated and passionate I have seen.

After being totally focused on Bayside, I had almost forgotten one of the major reasons I attended this tour. Jamie Tworkowski, founder of To Write Love On Her Arms, and author of the story, took the stage to speak a bit about the vision of the movement. His brief description was met with complete attention of both crowds, and for the first time in a long while I sensed the audience was giving true respect to a speaker. Jamie ended with the introduction of his long time friends and headliners- Anberlin.

Tooth & Nail Records’ band Anberlin have been touring heavily since the release of “Blueprints for the Black Market” in 2003. I first saw them that year with Further Seems Forever, Movielife and Autopilot Off- Anberlin is the only surviving act of that tour. Never really giving them a proper chance, I always held their music as good, but nothing special. When I received a copy of “Cities,” my perspective definitely changed. I immediately tackled the chance to catch their first ever headlining tour.

Normally, I’m not a fan of bands that over produce their live shows. Anberlin, was a definite exception. Carrying along their own lighting rig, group of techs, and many additional pieces of stage equipment, their production equaled almost that of a boy-band. Opening on a dark stage to “A Whisper & A Clamour,” Stephen Christian controlled the crowd as they followed his every move. Pushing through “Never Take Friendship Personal,” the lights danced to the hooks of the songs, growing dark right before the first chorus of “Hello Alone,” the show reached full speed from then on. Playing favorites from “Never Take Friendship Personal” and “Blueprints,” the band balanced out new tracks from “Cities” and even pulled out the acoustic track “Unwinding Cable Car.” One of the best parts of the evening was seeing how perfectly new guitarist Christian (formerly of Acceptance) fit in with the band. His background vocals and stage presence complemented Deon, Nate and Joey’s musicianship perfectly.

Anberlin has reached a level that very few bands will ever push for. As their album continues to climb the charts, the band will continue to tour relentlessly throughout the US, Canada, Japan and more with bands like Copeland, Daphne Loves Derby and also almost all of the entire Warped Tour. It’s doubtful that you’ll be without opportunity to catch their stunning live show.

Photos by Michael Schneider at Glasshouse in Pomona, CA
*my apologies to Bayside-Glasshouse somehow had about 10 too many people doing photo during the set*

JonezettaMeg & DiaAnberlin

Filed Under: Reviews, Show Tagged With: Anberlin, Bayside, Jonezetta, Meg-&-Dia, To-Write-Love-On-Her-Arms

Stop The Bleeding Tour

November 9, 2006 By Michael Schneider 1 Comment

To Write Love On Her Arms has put together an incredible idea in the Stop The Bleeding Tour. They will be doing a short run next week and the dates are below! This tour includes the talents of Between The Trees, Bradley Hathaway and other artists. If you have a chance to check this out, it’d be well worth your time and effort.

November 15
Rocketown – Nashville, TN
TWLOHA presents Stop the Bleeding. w/ Bradley Hathaway, Between the Trees, Damion Suomi
November 16
Thirsty Thursdays – Chattanooga, TN
TWLOHA presents Stop the Bleeding. W/ Bradley Hathaway, Damion Suomi, Perelandra
November 17
Under the Couch – Georgia Tech Campus, GA
TWLOHA presents Stop the Bleeding. W/ Bradley Hathaway, Between The Trees, Damion Suomi
November 18
Murray Hill Theatre – Jacksonville, FL
TWLOHA presents Stop the Bleeding. W/ Sleeping At Last, Bradley Hathaway, Emerson
November 19
New Life Christian Fellowship
Jacksonville, FL – Jamie speaking at 6pm service. Contact: Amy Wilson, [email protected]

Filed Under: News Tagged With: Between-The-Trees, Bradley-Hathaway, Damion-Suomi, Emerson, To-Write-Love-On-Her-Arms

Recent Posts

Motion City Soundtrack To Release Video Documentary

Secrets Stream “Maybe Next May” Video

Emery to Launch Crowdfunding Campaign for New Album

I Am The Avalanche Stream New Album “Wolverines”

The Weeks @ The Ryman Auditorium

Copyright © 2025, Driven Far Off. All Rights Reserved.