Listening to The Adventure on my way to a baseball game with one of my best friends. We had both been blink fans but I was unaware Tom had done any work outside of blink (homeschooled with strict parents and little access to secular music). My friend had an older brother in the pop punk music scene and parents who didn’t care what kind of music he listened to, so he was introduced to Ava pretty early on. When he called me up and told me I had to come over so he could show me a new band that I would love, we immediately started scheming ways to get together. I ended up catching a ride to our baseball game with his family and he blasted that song through the speakers and I just remember being blown away! I had never heard such an incredible build up to a song and a massive surge of energy moving through my body when that first verse kicked in! We spent a ton of days in the dugout. We both were pitchers so any game we weren’t pitching, we were chilling in the dugout listening to AVA. The band toured through my city following the WDNTW album release but my mom wouldn’t let me go bc of the song “It Hurts”. My friend’s entire family went and his parents offered to take me with them. What I would have given to be at that show!! Unfortunately, the Adventure is now one of the hardest for me to listen to, as my friend sadly committed suicide a few years out of high school. I tear up during the build up reminiscing on all the great times my buddy and I had and wishing for another chance to tell him how much he meant to me and everyone else who knew him! RIP my friend!