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Show: Van’s Warped Tour
Venue: Susquehanna Bank Center, Camden, NJ
Date: 7/17/2009
Reviewer: Lynn Malpass
Photograper: Lynn Malpass

Site: vanswarpedtour.com

With the all-day fun and experience of the 2008 Van’s Warped Tour long behind me, I looked forward to its successor, anticipating another great day of music and people, and everything that the Van’s Warped Tour has brought to fans for the past 15-plus years. And, after having survived it once, with all body parts and camera gear intact, I was ready. I was a pro at this. Most importantly, I knew where to go to check in! Silly as it may sound, I was a bit bewildered at the start of last year’s even, but this year, this year I was definitely seasoned and ready, and anxious for the show to get started!

After my check in and taking a few moments to cool off in the press room – which is a nice treat at this venue, I have to admit – I grabbed a copy of the day’s schedule and started my work for the day. Planning. Since the schedule is not available until arrival time, all set-catching needs to be worked out after the fact. I have now found, too, that I add into my schedule about twice as many bands as I can feasibly get to (which is a disappointment, not having the ability to split myself in two), but this time, as with the last time, no matter how many I’ve seen or not seen it’s a busy, fun-filled day that’s left me sore and exhausted – in the very best of ways – both times. Sunburned and muscle-strained, I slept most of the next day, but I’m already looking forward to 2010, yet another day at Warped and another day filled with music and the chance to see bands I’ve loved as well as bands that I’m sure I will love now that I know of them.

Main goal of the day was to see The Blackout perform, as I have heard much about them lately, with a new record and a new record contract, recently signed by Epitaph. Also, there was a lot of hoopla leading up about 3OH!3, so I intended to catch them to see what it was all about, though they were last to play, making for a very long day.

I managed to stick it out to catch 3OH!3, however I’m not really sure it was worth it. It downpoured rain in the evening and their outdoor performance on the Main Stage was rescheduled (for safety reasons, since there was a lot of lightening) until after the closer on the Hurley.com stage, which was indoors; what had been a hot, and now very soggy day was prolonged even more, and probably needless to say that those who had been standing in the heat all day at the barrier outside were less than thrilled of this change. And , which made the day longer yet, Sure, the tunes are catchy and sure they have a lot of fans, but to me the performance by 3OH!3 was a letdown. Two guys jumping around the stage in jogging shorts and t-shirts and… that’s it. It isn’t that I don’t find their songs at least entertaining, either. But if it’s true that some bands/acts are better only heard and not seen, I would classify 3OH!3 in that group. Or, at the least, they should just stick to making videos. I should have just gone home when it started raining.

So the end of my day was a bit of a wash (no pun intended), but thankfully the rest of it was not. Beginning with a very energetic set by Chiodos opening the Main Stage, everything was off to a huge start as they drew an amazing crowd, and very quickly. Lead singer Craig Owens is nothing, if he’s not a showman, and whatever I may not have liked about this band’s music was made up for by his interaction with the fans, and how well they performed as a whole. It didn’t take long for the first mosh pit to break out, either, nor for the first crowd-surfers of the day to get boosted up and begin their waves across the top of the crown and over the barriers in front. The band played a full set getting the crowd singing with some of the songs and screaming with others, all led by Owen’s great stage presence and charisma while he seemed to just eat up their reactions. By the time they left the stage some of the crowd already looked as though they’d been there for hours moshing, having put so much into their enjoyment during Chiodos’ set, and if that’s not the way to start off a great day, well I don’t know what is!

Next, I head inside to the Hurley.com stage to check out a band called I Set My Friends On Fire, curious by the couple of songs on their MySpace as to what they were all about. Well, they’re all about three guys who make a whole lot of… sound, and though the band is in its infancy, it seems to have quite a number of followers already. I can’t say I loved them. People who’ve read my reviews know I have a hard time dealing with screaming unless it’s accompanied by enough to actually blend it somehow, but I can’t say they were bad, either. Actually, they weren’t bad at all. Just too much for me, personally. After having a chance to listen to them again at home, without the added distraction of other kids screaming along and technical difficulties, I’ll say this. Good basis, capable players; I’m interested to see what else ISMFOF comes up with in the future as the band matures some.

After ISMFOF, and while waiting for Black Tide to take the same stage, rather than go outside and try to rush to catch another set and potentially miss some of Black Tide, I instead stuck around to watch the band taking the SmartPunk Stage (which, at the Camden venue is simply the second half of the huge regular stage, run in alternating timeslots with the Hurley.com Stage), The Goodnight Anthem. They should have been called The Goodnight Lullaby. While the quality of their playing and their sound is good – almost too good – I didn’t find anything at all interesting about this band, yet another in a sea of high-singing male-fronted, pop-punk (and I use the term punk lightly) bands. The songs were nice. They were catchy, even. The band’s performance continued to give me ideas of bar room cover bands and frat parties ala Cartel (who I just don’t understand how they have the following that they do), however. It was a good effort on their part, but the audience seemed only partially entertained as well. Just my thoughts, but Warped Tour gets me expecting exciting bands and lots of activity onstage rather than a band that might do better on a Top 40 station. Kudos to The Goodnight Anthem and may they have all the luck in the world, but after an opener like Chiodos, they were a real snoozer. I put my lens cap on after the first of The Goodnight Anthem’s songs and went to get a good spot for Black Tide.

Black Tide, I’ve seen them twice before and every time I do they just get better and better. Last year they played the outdoor stages during the early sets on the Rockstar Mayhem festival, so I was a little surprised to see them on Warped this year. The great thing about their music, however, is that they seem to be attracting fans from both sides of the pop/emo/screamo-slash-metal fence. If you add that up, that’s twice the listenership, and I for one, feel they deserve it. Well seasoned to the touring life at this point, the band took the stage and simply commanded the watching crowd with their 5- or 6-song set, getting even the security guards at the barrier into their tunes. They’ve got enough of an old, ‘classic’ sound that it’s more than just teens who can enjoy them, something that I have always loved about them. One of my picks of the day for sure, and I recommend that anyone who hasn’t heard them or seen them live do so, for a real rock show.

Now that my blood was once more pumping, it was time to head outside and catch The Blackout, aka, The Set that Almost Didn’t Happen. With this being the band’s first lengthy summer tour in the US, the heat had been really affecting the members of the Welsh band, to the point of lead singer Sean Smith becoming sick during the tour, actually passing out onstage during a particularly hot set out west not a few days ago. I was disappointed arriving at their set to learn that Sean was, once more, feeling pretty terrible and they were considering not playing to save his voice and his health, but of course I understood. It happens. Hadn’t expected the singer and his co-lead, Gavin Butler, to cave in to the disappointed pouts of a young fan and decide in a minute that yes, the show would go on, however! And go on it did, with Smith, Butler and the rest of the band prepping and taking the stage at their specified time to play a blazing show. Other than the fact that Sean’s voice was not as strong as it usually is, they were simply outstanding, and everything that I had heard about them and was expecting. They had almost no crowd at the start of their set, probably due to their relative newness in the ‘scene’ and probably unheard of by many, but by the end of the set their twenty or so listeners had turned into a crowd that was as big as that for any of the other bands. Just walking past people’s interest was piqued as Smith and Butler dueled onstage, one screaming, the other singing, easily getting into the music and offering a great response at the end of the set. Definitely a highlight of my day, I was glad to see that their decision to play was met with as much enthusiasm as they gave, enthusiasm that seemed to follow them right over to their merch booth for the next hours. The Blackout may have been the longshot of 2009 if you will, but they definitely came out as Warped winners.

Continuing on, I then caught Madina Lake and Escape the Fate, two bands that I knew some about, but had never seen before. The bad news was that Aiden was playing at the same time, so, having seen the Seattle band before I was forced to skip this time. Madina Lake did not disappoint however, with their energized set complete with bassist Matthew Leone’s wall-walking antics while twin brother Nathan sang vocals. Their crowd, as well, was perhaps the craziest of the day, too. Maybe not the largest, but definitely the nuttiest! It was nearly impossible to get any decent photos, even from inside the barrier, with the excitement the band created with merely their presence, let alone the music, which was well-played, entertaining, and got me thinking I should probably take a closer listen to them when I had the time. Enjoyable all around, a definite band to see the next you have the chance to.

I feel like Escape the Fate was a very similar set in general to Madina Lake’s, what with their similar fanbase and occasionally similar sound, though there was a lot standout to it as well. Escape The Fate carry with them a rough-and-ready vibe, a rebel tone of ‘get with us or get out’ in their music and their stage presence, something that will always get a crowd going. I’ve seen Craig Mabbit when he was still fronting Blessthefall and thought he was decent, but Escape the Fate definitely suits him better in not only his vocal tone but in the natural comfort he seems to have with this band and its music. And while Madina Lake gets the “crazy crowd of the day” award, I have to give the “crowd most into the band” award of the day to Escape The Fate. As for the band themselves, very into their playing, very interactive with the crowd, and I don’t know… something about drummer Robert Ortiz makes me think of what would happen if Slash played drums for Motley Crue, which to me just adds to the show they put on. Fun set, for sure. Can’t wait to see what they come up with next as already the work they’ve done in collaboration with Mabbitt seems lots better than the bands prior work.

Then, from post-harcore I relocated all the way across to the opposite side of the venue to the Main Stage once more, where one of the bands that made this tour what it is today took the stage, the one and only, legendary, Bad Religion. By this time the crowds were packing in tight and I for one, was glad to see so many young people getting really into Bad Religion’s set since so many of the bands they’d seen and still would see have been influenced by them. I find it amazing, too, and a testament to their devotion to their music, that after all these years the band members, a couple of whom are in their 50′s at this point, are still willing to take their greatness on the road with Warped, something that I’ve heard is not like any other tour for bands to travel with. They went through a set that didn’t even begin to touch the depth of their catalog of music, but in playing the favorites and the more well-known songs, seemed to please everyone. A massive circle pit got going through their set, to be expected at any Bad Religion show, and the addition of crowd surfers once more, it seemed like old school punk rock heaven, and a perfect contrast to the post-hardcore bands on the tour this year.

After Bad Religion I ended up, quite accidentally at that, checking out a band I’d never heard, never heard of, and knew absolutely nothing about other than another photographer telling me “Been told the lead singer looks like a girl and has this amazing voice, so I wanted to check them out!” In heading indoors to get a break from the blazing heat I went ahead and checked out A Skylit Drive, not knowing what to expect in the least. When lead singer Michael ‘Jag’ Jagmin took the stage, honestly, I thought he had to be a girl… especially when he opened his mouth and sang. But after an initial moment to accustom to just how different this band sounded to a lot of the other alt bands that were out these days, putting them more into the experimental genre I would guess, I fell in love. My inner RUSH heart came out with Jagmin’s tones and by the time the set was over I was a fan. Everything about this band was just different enough to make them completely stand out from the whole rest of the tour, from the soprano of their femme-looking singer to the flash and style of drummer Cory LaQuay’s stick work and everything in between. I ended up looking them up at home a few days later and have been a fan ever since. Best mistake I made all day.

Unfortunately, the worst one was not leaving after A Skylit Drive, but I’m always willing to at least give something new a chance. In that case, sometimes you win and sometimes you lose, but that’s the beauty of Warped – checking out favorites, soon to be favorites, and definite non-favorites so we can fill our musical appetites for the rest of the coming year until it’s time for Warped yet again!

Show: Rockstar Mayhem Festival
Venue: Midwest Bank Amphitheater, Tinley Park, IL
Date: 8/10/2008
Reviewer: Tasha Schalk
Photograper: Tasha Schalk

Site: rockstarmayhemfest.com

I would like to begin this with a preface: in general, I am not a fan of metal music. I would like you, the reader, to keep this fact in mind, because I am going to try to convey how fantastic, exciting, and eye-opening Mayhem Fest was.

The Chicago-area stop of Mayhem Fest was at Midwest Bank Amphitheater in Tinley Park, IL on August 10, 2008. By some stroke of luck, the weather was perfect – approximately 80 degrees and sunny with little humidity.  This was the first sign that it was going to be a good day.

I started off the day with Miami-based band Black Tide. With a band average age of 17, Black Tide appeared older than their years. They came onstage with enough confidence to spare. While their performance paled slightly in comparison to some long-term performers, I think this is definitely a band to watch out for.

Next up was the classic Mastodon, for the first performance on the Rockstar Energy Main Stage. Mastodon has a list of accomplishments a mile long, and after seeing them perform, it is no wonder why. Despite being comprised of only four members, they filled the massive stage with a wall of sound. As a very visual person, I enjoyed their engaging performance as well as their music.

I happened to catch Walls of Jericho briefly between Mastodon’s and Underoath’s sets, but if I knew Candace Kucsulain was going to prove to be such a powerhouse, I would have made sure to see more than just the end of their set. Despite only seeing five minutes of the performance, I was blown away by the power of Candace’s stage presence as well as her dedication to fans. The highlight of the five minutes I saw of their set: seemingly half of the band climbing into a massive sea of happy fans to sing the last half of their closing song. Astounding.

Immediately after Walls of Jericho, Alternative Press (AP) darlings Underoath took the stage while the crowd chanted their name. This Christian band brought 35 minutes of high energy Christian metalcore, which their fans could not stop crowd-surfing to. Singer Spencer Chamberlain impressed me by spending the majority of the set on the bass amps, allowing for some great crowd interaction.

Machine Head was the headlining band on the Jagermeister stage, and for good reason. As one of the founding bands of the new era of American Heavy Metal back in 1992, Machine Head hit the stage hard and heavy. More so than any other band that day, the speakers were pounding, and some real, no-holds-barred metal graced the stage. Frontman Rob Flynn was astounding to watch; he was pure energy bundled up with a lot of hair.

But, the band of the day for me was the impeccable, hair-laden Dragonforce. After seeing pictures from previous Mayhem stops, I knew that they were an incredibly photogenic band but I was not prepared for the talent that poured off of them. Herman Li, lead guitarist, astounded me with the speed at which his fingers flew over the frets of his guitar. Bassist, Frederic Leclercq, was a powerhouse who navigated the stage with a purpose. Throw in some great vocals and keytar, as well as some drums and rhythm guitar, and a unique, but thrilling, sound is produced.

The interaction between the band members also made the set an enjoyable one for me. So often, band members seem to be confined to their own corner of the stage, lost in their own little world – this was definitely not the case with Dragonforce.

On the other hand, Disturbed, local Chicagoland boys, and the band I was most familiar with, proved to be a disappointment. Compared to the impressive riffage of Dragonforce and the visual spectacle of Slipknot, Disturbed paled in comparison. Fan favorites “Down With the Sickness” and the recent single “Inside The Fire” were played at strategic points throughout the set, but the vocals were slightly off and the performance lacked the energy that I had become accustomed to throughout the day.

Next to Dragonforce, Slipknot was the biggest surprise. When I began my concert photography career, Slipknot was not a band I ever imagined I would want to take pictures of.

They were fantastic.

Albeit slightly creepy, they put on a show that was unrivaled in visual simulation and creativity. With three different drum kits, all on hydraulics, and new masks for the tour, they were a band that definitely made a lasting impression. Frontman Corey Taylor, despite being hidden by a mask, was all energy. Vocals were spot on, and the drums, guitars, and basses provided a wall of sound that was exciting without being overpowering.

In addition to the high-energy music of the day, the festival was also very well organized, the staff was pleasant, and the PR contacts were very accommodating and helpful.  Overall, for a girl who had previously led a sheltered rock concert-filled life, the experience of Mayhem Fest could not have been better.

Show: Van’s Warped Tour
Venue: Susquehanah Bank Center, Camden, NJ
Date: 7/25/2008
Reviewer: Lynn Malpass
Photograper: Lynn Malpass

Site: vanswarpedtour.com

On a hot, sunny Friday in July I got to experience my first ever Van’s Warped Tour. Stared in 1995 as an “extreme” music and skate tour, Warped has quickly become a summer tradition featuring the best bands to be heard, as well as a place to have all kinds of fun including shopping, skating and BMX demonstrations and band meet-and-greets. As many as 100 bands have been featured each year and though it’s always seemed like a fun-filled day, until this year, I had never actually attended one. What a mistake that was, is all I can say! I don’t think I’ll miss one again as I ended up having the best time enjoying favorite bands galore and talking music with so many people, I already can’t wait for Warped 2009! Though I went to seek out the lesser-knowns and the not-so-mainstream bands, I have to say it was a great experience and I can’t wait to do it again!

Unfortunately my day did start on a bad note, having missed From First to Last opening the main stage getting held up at the Press tent – I have been missing their shows now for two years simply due to bad timing – but the rest of day was perfect. A fan of the more obscure and less-heard of bands myself, I started my actual day seeing Beat Union, a punk band from the UK that simply floored me. Nice start to an amazing day. Beat Union, who I’d never heard of until receiving the press release from the band’s tour agent, are the epitome of 80′s punk rock. They were a breath of fresh air with their Clash-esque style and Costello-ish sound. This is a band that I can say nothing bad about. They put on a great set and I thoroughly enjoyed them, especially for the fact that they brought to the tour a lost style that fans today are really missing out on. A child of the 80′s myself, Beat Union is definitely one of the bands on Warped this year that I recommend everyone pay attention to if you’d like to get a taste of something off the mainstream path, with definite roots to real Brit-punk, something that’s so sorely missed in today’s music scene.

Next, I checked out a band called Automatic Loveletter, a band that’s been gaining a lot of popularity this year. Fronted by the beautiful and talented, 22-year-old Juliet Simms, the band hails out of Tampa, Florida and while they have been considered to be a “scene” band, Ms. Simm’s vocal talents and the band’s style set them a bit apart from the rest. They’re not groundbreaking by any means, but Simm’s amazing stage presence and her hypnotizing voice really take this band far. The crowd, though it was an early set, seemed to really enjoy them as well. I could see some of these songs making their way to pop stations and even easy-listening stations, but they weren’t boring, and at least have their own “stamp” in the crowd of popular bands today. Simm’s voice is powerful and she could very well on her way to becoming one of the better female singers of the era.

After Automatic Loveletter, I checked out a Hip-Hop duo called Shwayze who were… pretty good. This is a stretch for me. Generally, Hip-Hop/Rap and Country are the two styles of music that I can’t tolerate, but after seeing these guys on MySpace I added them to my list of “Must Sees” since they piqued my interest. Alright, still not my favorite style of music, but I will say Shwayze was worth checking out. They drew a pretty decent crowd for it being early in the day, too. What I liked best about their music is the different styles that had been incorporated into their songs – rap, hip-hop, disco, rock, scratching, it was all there. Likable songs about having fun rather than popping caps in anyone’s ass, Shwayze and his partner Cisco were attractive, fun and put on a fun set of catchy tunes that had everyone dancing. Definitely not disappointed. Fun, easygoing tunes for having fun in the sun or driving on the boulevard.

I have heard a lot about the Sheffield band Bring Me The Horizon, another UK band having an amazing year, so of course I wanted to check them out. I’m a fan of metal of all styles, though I have to say sometimes screamo is a little too much for me. So while I did not necessarily appreciate that part of this band’s songs, I was generally impressed overall. The band, as a whole, are really young, just barely in their 20′s, and the presence these guys had going portrays a solid, steady metal band who can really put out. BMTH had the biggest crowd of the morning as lead singer Oli Sykes belted out screams to them, leaning off the stage and over the barrier, and it’s pretty obvious this band has some rabid fans already. Energetic set, head banging crowd, I think this band will make their mark in the metal scene. Personally I’d be thrilled to see a few lesser-violent songs from them as their melodies and beats were top notch, but I won’t hold my breath. If you’re into death metal and screamo though, they’re definitely your cup of tea.

My first band outside, I checked out Anberlin and seeing the crowd they had drawn, it really made me smile. I had found out about this band a year prior and none of the people I talk with really knew them. But I loved them. I had also seen them over the winter on tour opening for some other bands and thought I enjoyed their set thoroughly, I felt they did not get the reception they deserved. At Warped, and maybe with more exposure under their belts, I was very happy to see Anberlin getting an enthusiastic “full house”. This is a band that in my opinion has the most promise, the most talent, of any of the newer bands to reach the scene these last few years. Great drumming which stands out, unique sound combining the best of the scene with the best of some more classic, 80′s-style rock, Anberlin is definitely a band for someone who is looking for something a little more. Meaningful lyrics about life, lessons and happiness, and lead singer Stephen Christian’s amazing stage presence all combined for a superb showing that I would not have missed and made sure to watch their entire set. After the show, too, these guys are personable, friendly and just so thankful to their fans, I vote that Anberlin be Warped Band of The Year, if there even was such a thing. If you haven’t seen them before or heard their music, you definitely need to catch them on Warped or wherever you can.

After Anberlin I took in a set from the infamous Bouncing Souls, one of the great 80′s punk bands of the era who still stand after 20 years of popularity and greatness. Though they continue to release music, I’d say the best part about their set was the audience and how into the band and the music they were. It was like a reunion, family members all out to see the hometown heroes (Bouncing Souls are from the New Jersey area after all), one giant party. The songs were fun, the crowd was cheering and happy, and there was this amazing vibe in the air that is what this band is all about. Crowd surfing galore, I witnessed the most amazing thing as the Souls played on, a wheelchair-bound fan being crowd-surfed to the barrier… and then his wheelchair being surfed up as well so that the security guards could set him back into it safely after his triumphant journey to the front of the stage. That, to me, summarized the set played by the Bouncing Souls better than anything else I could write about it! Amazing!

Back inside, my next set was watching another up-and-comer, Ludo. Again, I had heard a song or two on MySpace, as well as talked a bit about them with friends who knew the band, and found them to be interesting so I didn’t miss them. Recently signed by Island Records, they were simply entertaining! With a look reminiscent of something out of Happy Days, lead singer/guitarist Andrew Volpe really gives his all singing humorous tales of love gone wrong and life’s moments with a style all his own. Ludo’s sound is left of the “scene”, part rock band, part bar band, part Richard Cheese with the tongue-in-cheek attitude of some of their songs but it all comes together well to give us one really great result. Their songs were catchy and fun, and they were definitely a band that I would love to see again as I was thoroughly entertained through the whole set. Ludo performed their somewhat sarcastic tunes to a bouncing, rocking crowd that smiled along with them despite their left of the mainstream position as a band. If I had to judge one newcomer as the best on the tour, for me, it’s definitely Ludo. I even ran right over to their merch tent after seeing their set so I wouldn’t forget and picked up their CD, I loved their set so much.

To the outdoor stages once more, this time I caught a set by Angels and Airwaves, another band I have enjoyed for their uniqueness in a sea of copycats – yes, I know, some might laugh at that considering the band is fronted by former Blink 182 lead singer Tom Delonge, who seemed to have started an entire genre of copycat bands all his own – and I loved it. Also a fan of 30 Seconds to Mars I was particularly interested to see what bassist Matt Wachter – formerly with 30STM – would bring to the stage, and I thought the set was very good and very well received. I’ve never actually seen Delonge perform onstage, and have heard everything ranging from him being a musical genius to him being pretty talentless about him, but all in all, I really enjoyed his performance and his quirkiness. I’ve been a fan of the band’s music since they started releasing songs, again impressed by the way they’ve created a really different sound than everything else out there, and their live performance, while maybe lacking just a little bit because of the amount of synth and processing used on the record, was still breathtaking and inspiring. AVA’s vibe is truly that, and even out in the heat and without the benefit of all that added accompanyment, the feeling of their songs still came through. Another band that has gone and broken molds, so kudos to them and Delonge for breaking his own stereotype and coming up with something even more creative and pleasing.

In the afternoon I really got my exercise running from stage to stage, and back inside once again I had a chance to check out the Horror Pops. A punk/psychobilly band that’s been around for a little while, I was honestly surprised to see them on something like Warped Tour. But they were fabulous! I have seen guitarist Kim Nekroman perform before with his other band, The Nekromantix, and while that band is a bit more tongue-in-cheek than the Horror Pops, that same punk vibe showed through, though this time with his striped, hollow-body Gretsche and bassist/vocalist Patricia’s stand-up bass, which lends a really cool, rockabilly feel and classic 50′s vibe to the Horror Pops sound. They belted out amazing, fun tunes that had people dancing in the crowd, everyone bouncing on their feet, unable to stand still. Another very entertaining band to watch not only for their songs but for their look and presence as well in their gothabilly style. If you want to check out something different that you’re likely to get addicted to, don’t miss the Horror Pops when Warped comes to your town!

Then last but least, and I know I said I was looking more for the more unique bands and less for the “scene” bands, I had to see All Time Low who, despite their scene status, have become favorites of mine. Really, there is nothing to say about All Time Low that hasn’t been said by better and more well-known writers than myself so I will simply say this: Great fun, great band, great set and a great end to a really great day filled with the most amazing music. They’re a band who will tell you to your face they’re not in it to be the best, and only to have fun, and fun is what everyone definitely had. Drawing one of the biggest crowds of the evening, All Time Low played a fun set that drew Warped Tour to a close for us all and left us looking forward to next year, and maybe seeing them and some of these bands today, as well as a lot of new bands, again. I left the venue tired, sweaty and will my feet killing me but it was definitely a day I wouldn’t trade, and I hope you all get out to see the Van’s Warped Tour and support your favorite bands when it hits your town!