Alright, so long overdue, but with other concerts and all of life's other enjoyments (Translation: Stress), I am finally here to discuss Warped Tour! Now, if you've never heard of Warped Tour, let me get a few things out in the open:
-Warped Tour is a summer-long tour featuring the biggest names in punk, pop-punk, alternative, metal and even hip-hop that has been running on it's 16th year!
-6 plus stages are set up to ensure every band on the bill has time to play!
-Almost every date of the Warped Tour is an entire day-long concert that usually requires a stadium-size parking lot for the venue. In fact, most of the venues are stadium theaters that have the concert-goers taking up the parking lot, as this is where the majority of the stages are set up.
-Some of the bigger names that have graced Warped Tour: My Chemical Romance, Fall Out Boy, All-American Rejects, Limp Bizkit and, no I'm not joking, Kid Rock.
Now that the introduction is out of the way, let's talk about THIS year's Warped experience:
This isn't my first Warped Tour experience, mind you. I've attended Warped 3 times before this! The fun thing about Warped Tour is that you can hang out with friends, travel stage to stage, watch your favorite bands or just find new ones that you've never heard of. Half the fun of this tour is the experience. The bands are usually great performers, but the majority of the venue actually looks like a carnival with all the buses, tents and boothes set up. And man, do those tents rule. Almost any and everything is available at these tents. Clothes, drinks, food, C.D's, DVD's, purses, free condoms (yep) and even temporary tattoo's for The Expendables.
Aside from the tents and attractions, the music stages are the true reason for attending Warped. Some incredibly talented bands played this year: Every Time I Die, Reel Big Fish, Alkaline Trio, Sum 41, Four Year Strong and many many more. If you ever find one band you aren't exactly getting into, you can walk 100 feet to the left and find a completely different genre of music being performed. Warped is truly the easiest experience to find the music you enjoy.
One warning for those already looking for tickets, it's a summer tour so don't expect to see it anywhere until next July. But don't worry, Warped is notorious for announcing bands a few months in advance. And more than occasionally, the bands are fairly big names. Now since this a summer tour, one other thing attending these tours other than music and fun is the heat. Ohhhh man, the heat. Make sure to bring an entire tub of sun block because you will absolutely need it. And never forget that water is a rocker's best friend! Many Warped fans have fainted and had stroked due to the sun and dehydration. These shows don't have roofs, so always be prepared for the most intense heat and/or rain. In my case, Atlanta found the worst of both. You know, the whole show was absolutely worth it.
Finally, to get you familiar with one of the artists on the tour, watch my interview with Andrew W.K, the master of the "party":