Talkin' about poop (and St. Petersburg).

I'll let you faithful AP Tour blog readers in on a little secret. There are three things the average person (read as: me) looks for when they wake up in the morning on a tour bus.

1. A place to poop.

2. A place to get caffeine.

3. A place to eat.

St. Petersburg, let me just say that you passed with flying colors. I woke up around 10 this morning in front of Janus Landing, where tonight's show was to be. As soon as I disembarked the bus, I turned around and wouldn't you know it, but there was a Starbucks on the opposite corner! 10 minutes later and Nos. 1 and 2 had been checked of my to-do list. (TMI? Hardly.) As I walked around the block, iced venti soy chai in hand (if you want to be my best friend, bring one of these to an upcoming show). I found a super-sweet pizza-by-the-slice place and indulged in a stuffed slice. Muy delicioso!

Jannus Landing was a pretty sweet open-air venue, which let us take full advantage of the sunshine and the wonderful breeze. As we loaded in, we rolled our gear over some sweet chalk drawings made by blog reader Whitney (yo, Whitney, thanks for reading!) and her friends. Unfortunately, the venue staff hosed down the entrance so they were lost forever, but not before I videotaped them. Look for that soon!

The crowd tonight was pumped as could be. We did an early signing with All Time Low that quickly got out of control (seriously, moms, if I ask you to back up, please back up. I don't want to have to get physical with you). One girl even gave them gigantic Jelly Belly lollipops, which Alex immediately opened and began licking rather seductively. Talk about unorthodox, bizarre, unexpected behavior from the All Time Low boys. I thought they were very reserved and closed-up!

Due to our booth's positioning tonight, I was able to see and hear every band tonight. Sonny really, really impressed me -- his band really feel what they're doing, and it takes a lot of guts to go out there knowing that virtually no one has heard your music and give it your all. (Plus, the music is actually really, really good.) If you were thinking about getting to the show late, you should definitely reconsider that, because Sonny plays second and you'll be sorry you missed him.

Even though I've only been on the tour for two days, it already feels like home -- everyone is getting along so well, and the the atmosphere is so friendly and inviting, bands are even trading members! Zack from All Time Low came out during the Matches' set and played bass on "Chain Me Free," and then Justin from the Matches returned the favor during ATL's "Dear Maria, Count Me In." Zack actually took Alex's guitar, which left Mr. Gaskarth with a wireless mic and a whole lotta stage to run around on). Midnight tonight was Zack's birthday, too, so a whole lot of us crammed onto ATL's tour bus and celebrated with drinks (water for me, thanks). The vibe here is awesome.

I'm currently on the Matches' bus watching episodes of My So-Called Life (oh, Jordan Catalano, you're so dreamy!); before that, we were viewing the new Muse live DVD, H.A.A.R.P. (which apparently has been in very heavy rotation on the bus so it was ejected shortly thereafter). Our bus is set to leave in a few minutes; we're heading to Atlanta for our off-day tomorrow with most of the tour minus ATL, who are flying to New York City to tape an appearance for TRL. How you tape something for Total Request LIVE is beyond me; maybe I just don't understand the space-time continuum as well as I once thought. Anyway, if you're in the greater ATL area (ATL meaning Atlanta this time, not All Time Low), leave a comment and tell me where the good record stores are.

PS - No one's given me buttons for my backpack yet. What gives?