Warped Tour: 15 Years Later
Listening: Breathe Carolina – Wooly . I love that they don’t give a fuck.
If you read my last post, then you know that my first experience at a live show of any kind was also my first experience at Warped Tour way back in the day (read: 1997). Fifteen summers ago I was a 12 year old punk rock kid letting out aggression by seeing live, fast-paced music and losing my mind. Now that I’m not an amped up pre-teen punker, I have a different appreciation for live music as well as music as a whole. With this in mind, on Friday I went back to where it all began: Vans Warped Tour 2012. For all intents and purposes, this is the account of my experience.
Festivals are a totally different type of beast. You need to learn the lay of the land, and quickly. You’ve got to plan out your day, get a solid route from stage to stage, scope out your go-to merch tents, stay hydrated, watch where you’re going, watch where you’re stepping, remember what the people you’re with are wearing, and pay attention to what’s going on around you at all times. I have broken down the day into several aspects as follows:
Weather
Weather plays a huge part in outdoor shows; this is especially true for all-day festivals. One good thing about Warped Tour ‘97 is that it was in Asbury Park. Near the ocean is always a couple degrees cooler, and on a day like Friday, that would have been a huge difference. It was very hot out, and being around tens of thousands of other people didn’t help. The lines for the water fountains were 10 people deep. We had to buy shirts halfway through the day because the ones we wore there were covered in sweat. It cooled down towards the end of the day, which was when all the heavy hitters were playing anyway, but the long hours of the day were exactly that.
Venue
Another amazingly important aspect to any show. Looking back, I should have probably bought the $2 stage setup map they were selling to make this part easier to explain (at the time, I was appalled that they were charging for them, so I refused; it’s a principle thing). The big question surrounding Warped Tour being at PNC Bank Arts Center was how exactly they were going to set up 10 stages at an amphitheater in the middle of the woods. Well, they pulled it off, I guess. The House of Marley stage and Tilly’s stage split the amphitheater in half, which I found really weird; bands like Senses Fail and Lostprohpets had to play there. The best stage out there was probably the Kia Rio stage; it was the furthest from any of the other stages, was in front of a huge grass field, and had some of the better bands play on it. The Monster Energy stage had most of the bands I wanted to see, but it also had the back the Kevin Says stage somewhat in front of it a couple hundred feet, as well as the Kia Soul stage off to the right. If you stood in a certain spot, you could hear bands from both stages playing, and the walk from stage to stage was always a blend of two bands fading in and out depending on your position. At times, it was beneficial; at others, annoying. While I thoroughly enjoyed the fact that it was around the corner from my house, I don’t imagine Warped Tour will be at PNC next year. There has to be a better venue in New Jersey that’s not in Camden.
Crowd
The crowd was as I’d expected it to be: predominantly white, probably 60%-40% male-female, punk rock teenagers, pre-teens and early 20-somethings searching for/creating their own identity in this space full of collective uniqueness (there’s a new oxymoron for you). Surprisingly well-behaved, they had all the energy that I myself had a decade and a half ago, running from stage to stage with the enthusiasm that comes with a total day of freedom. Their immaturity doubled as my possible over-maturity for such an event; but like I always say, young at heart is what counts (don’t worry… by the end of this post I’ll definitely be eating those words). At least I wasn’t in the “Reverse Daycare” area, which is a tent they had set up for parents who were attending with their kids. That gave us a chuckle.
Bands
Now on to the meat and potatoes. Full disclosure: of the 114 bands on the schedule on the Holmdel, NJ date, I was really only there for one: Every Time I Die. Their latest album catapulted them to one of my favorite bands ever, and since I missed them twice in April at area shows (shows that I heard were just utter chaos), I refused to miss them again; even if their set was only a half hour. This is probably a good time to mention that, in all honesty, I wouldn’t mind if Warped Tour had 57 bands with hour-long sets rather than twice the amount of bands with half the set. That being said, since there was only one mandatory set to revolve my day around, the rest of the day had to be mapped out.
Upon walking in around 12:15, the first order of business was to do a quick lap, get a lay of the land, find out where each stage is, and get a schedule. Every Time I Die went on at 6:45 on the Monster stage, which meant 6.5 hours to kill wandering, watching, listening and learning. I was with my good friend Kyle, who was more familiar with a majority of the acts, so I defaulted to him on which ones to see if there was nothing glaring that had to be seen by either of us. That system turned out to work out as well as it could have.
The first band we took a minute to stop and watch was Cinsera at the Ernie Ball stage; they’re best described as generic hardcore music with only a handful of people checking them out. They were heavy, that’s for sure. I guess we got there halfway through their set, because 2 songs and it was over. After that, Kyle assured me that Sleeping with Sirens was the next band to see on the Kia Rio stage. Their half hour set was pretty good; I personally wasn’t the biggest fan of the stark contrast between the singer’s singing voice and his screaming voice, but once I got over that, I enjoyed what they had to offer. This brings us to 1:20 and 30 minutes to kill until the next band that my buddy wanted to see. Wandering around we found our friend Joanna, who was there all by her lonesome. At the same place we saw her, we also found a hidden gem on the Ourstage.com stage: Larry g[EE]. Their music was more in the background of us catching up with her/talking, but once I realized that some funky stuff was going on, I was fully enthralled by their performance. That guy can flat out sing and puts on a great show. I will definitely be checking his stuff out. Had to cut out before his last song, though, as the band that Kyle wanted to see was also a band Joanna wanted to see.
Personally, I had never heard of Breathe Carolina, but they both assured me that it would be a good show. Boy were they wrong; it wasn’t a good show by any means. It was a GREAT show. Outside of ETID, and maybe in spite of them, Breathe Carolina was easily my favorite set of the day. The crowd apparently had heard of them, because the Kia Rio stage was jam-packed with kids all looking to start a huge outdoor dance party. The band obliged, raging through their electro-pop songs with larger than life energy. I have never seen anything quite like that; they had a smoke machine, laser lights, water guns, and a keytar (which I thought was a great touch). I’m told they play their live songs MUCH heavier than they are on their albums, which, in my opinion, is both amazingly awesome and terribly disappointing at the same time. The crowd would jump when they said bounce, clap when they said clap, and scream when they said scream. Somehow, this crowd of teenage party rockers also knew when to absolutely throw down, because when the band would surge into one of their not-quite-out-of-place breakdowns (which are as heavy as you will ever hear), a huge pit in the middle of the field would open up and insanity would take over. If you want to know more about what I’m talking about, listen to the link at the top of this post; it’s pretty quintessential of their live show. They ended their impressive set with their biggest hit “Blackout” (which I also had never heard, I guess I’m the only one). When all was said and done, I could only thank Kyle and Joanna for the huge smile I had on my face. Next time they’re playing in the area, I am definitely going. They made a new fan, and I found a new band; that is ultimately the helix of what Warped Tour is all about.
After their set, Kyle went to grab food. While waiting on line, I heard a band in the distance that was playing like they wanted to get into hell. I told him I’d be back, I had to investigate. If there is one thing that can sum up a festival of that sort, it is this sequence: I literally just kept walking, following the heavy sludge of guitars breaking down halfway across the venue until I got to (surprise) the Monster stage. What I saw when I got there was interesting to say the least. At this point in the day it was at least 90 degrees, yet the band in front of the huge Motionless in White banner were all dressed head to toe in full black tuxedos. They all had their faces painted white, except the guitarist who looked to have a hair/mask combo going on. They had the look of a goth band by all accounts, but they were possibly the heaviest band on the bill. I ran back to get Kyle and convince him he should eat his food near their stage so we could watch them. Each of their songs gave the audience multiple opportunities to kill each other, and kill each other they did. After that brain-melter, we needed a bit of the break from the heavy, so we went to the House of Marley stage to chill out to Ballyhoo! in the shade. At this point, the day is 1/3 over.
Some separation at this point; Kyle and Joanna wanted to see New Found Glory, and I did not. While they played, I walked around until I found Anti-Flag playing the Kia Rio stage. I’ve seen them more times than I can count, but they never disappoint. I watched a good chunk of their set before realizing how much time had passed. High-tailing it back to the Kia Soul stage, we met back up and went back to the amphitheater to watch Lostprophets. I am a huge fan of their first two albums, and they did not disappoint with song selection. I would enjoy seeing them again in a different setting. There was a bit of a lull after their set; the calm before the storm I suppose. We filled the void by watching All Time Low on the Kia Rio stage. I don’t really have an opinion on them. That took us to around 545, which took us back to the Soul stage. Admittedly, I had heard of the band Of Mice and Men, but never heard their music. They had a HUGE crowd that was ready to go. Thinking back, it might be a tie between them and Motionless in White for the heaviest band award. They were killer. We watched their entire 35 minute set (including the biggest circle pit of the day; maybe that I’ve ever seen), then ran back to the Rio stage for The Used, who was playing their last date on the tour. That show was really good, all things considered. The day is now 2/3 over; the last third would prove to be the one to beat.
We went our separate ways again, because Every Time I Die was to me as Four Year Strong was to Kyle. I made my way over to the Monster stage early to get a good spot with Joanna, who would go from one stage to the other halfway through. I hadn’t seen ETID in years, so my anticipation level was pretty high. They opened with No Son of Mine, with vocalist Keith Buckley making the disclaimer “We’re Every Time I Die from Buffalo, New York, and Warped Tour is not safe right now.” After the tone was appropriately set, they went into After One Quarter of a Revolution, The Marvelous Slut, their heavy-ass classic Floater (which I thought they would close with), Underwater Bimbos from Outer Space (one of my favorites, the opener of their new album, which I thought they’d open with), Typical Miracle, The New Black, We’rewolf, and closed with another classic, Ebolarama. I thought the audience should have been bigger for them, but after 7 hours at a show, I guess some people had to jet out. It was obvious the people in their crowd were the die-hards, screaming along with every song and anticipating breakdowns with pre-prepared mosh pits. Moral of the story: I need to see them again. A half hour isn’t enough, even if they can squeeze 9 of their economical songs into a set. Speaking of sets, come on down, ETID! You’re the next band up for my Ultimate Setlist! That one is going to be super fun.
ETID ended 5 minutes before FYS, so I got to meet up with Kyle at the Soul Stage to see their last song as well. Their crowd was much bigger than Every Time I Die’s. Why? I have no idea. They were good, heavy, but just like about 3 or 4 other bands at the festival. There are no bands anywhere like ETID; maybe that’s the reason their crowd was small rather than opposite. After Four Year Strong ended it was right back to the Monster stage for Memphis May Fire, who probably average 3 breakdowns a song. Their set started at 7:35, or 7 hours after our arrival to the venue. We could only watch as they dredged through the half hour set of progressively harder songs. After their set ended, we split the remainder of the night going from Taking Back Sunday (bleh) to blessthefall (who are just like Memphis May Fire), and walked out to the soothing sound of Pierce the Veil. In total: 9 hours spent with 2 good friends watching 16 bands play on 7 stages among 20,000 other people 4 minutes away from my house, all for $45.
Outdating Myself
What did I take away from Warped Tour 2012? Besides some new music to check out, the thing that stood out to me the most was this: I’m fuckin’ old. Long gone are the days of being 15 and having the energy to mosh and crowd surf it up for a full day. I found myself being the old guy several times throughout the day, and the later it got, the older I felt. Being on your feet, walking around all day in extreme heat isn’t as easy as it once was. A day like that takes a lot out of you, and being around mirror images of my past all day made me realize that my first time at a Warped Tour was before a lot of the people in attendance this year were even born (that realization was pretty depressing). I enjoyed the youth of the young crowd, reminding me to have fun and not care what anyone else thinks. There is a freeness in the air when you see a kid in a Jason mask (for Friday, the 13th, get it?) coexisting with girls with neon paint on them, black guys breakdancing, mohawks, hardcore kids, older merch people/roadies, and parents. Still, on more than one occasion I got that nostalgic feeling, like wondering when circle pits changed from complete mayhem to a circular race. The worst thing you could try to be at a show like that is too cool for school, but too old to be bold isn’t really a choice sometimes. In the end, I’m glad the majority of concertgoers were young and full of energy; it would have been a shame and unfair to the later bands if everyone was dead by 6 o’clock.
Extras
My favorite shirts of the day (and keep in mind, these are all written exactly how they appear on them; all of these are worth screaming with caps lock):
SORRY FOR PARTYING, YOLO, STOP SAYING YOLO, HIGH ALL DAY, HIGH AS FUCK, FREE MARY JANE, GET NAKED, GET BAKED, BONER, FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK CANCER, FUCK WHAT PEOPLE THINK, FUCK HIPSTERS, FUCK ONE DIRECTION, LET US FUCK, FREE HUGS, FUCK YOUR FREE HUGS, SHUT UP AND MOSH, MOSH MOTHER FUCKER, and THE USED DON’T GIVE A FUCK ABOUT SHIT
There also were several OLD old school band shirts that brought me way back, including Circle Jerks, Floorpunch, American Nightmare, Between the Buried and Me (Alaska). The guy wearing the Alaska shirt was eating a Carvel ice cream cone. Not sure why I found that so amusing; I guess it’s pretty hard to look metal while licking an ice cream cone.
All in all, I had a blast. So much depends on the lineup and your musical preference, but Warped Tour has evolved so much over its 17 year history that it will most likely have something for everyone. If you’ve never been, and want to go, you owe it to yourself to check it out. Just do it sooner than later, before you get too old and end up in Reverse Daycare.
