Music Makes the World New

Yes. It is finally time for Warped Tour: The Great American Punk Rock tour that has been in commission since its inaugural tour in 1995. Thousands of bands have been hand selected by Kevin Lyman to join his ever popular tour, and millions of people have purchased tickets to spend a single moment of sincerity with whichever band pulls them into the crowd first. It is an entire day full of music, sweat, overpriced concessions, more sweat, mosh pits, and, of course, even more sweat. The only thing that could quite possibly be better than this is the Reading and Leeds* festival in England.

Although it is a highly anticipated tour each year, some people feel like it just isn’t living up to its reputation as of late. When Warped Tour started, they would pull bands such as AFI, Avenged Sevenfold, My Chemical Romance, Mindless Self Indulgence, The Used, and Blink-182 to play the entire tour. Lately, the bands playing have been a lot heavier and involve too much screaming for the faint hearted. An anonymous junior says, “You can look at the situation in two different ways; Warped Tour is 'selling out' or Warped Tour is being smart in the business light of things.” On the other hand, a different junior says, “I was stoked for the metal bands like last year. The only bands I’m super excited to see [this year] are Of Mice and Men, Pierce The Veil, Blessthefall, Motionless in White, and Breathe Carolina.”

Heavier music has become more of a staple in the music world lately, but that doesn’t mean the tour is dominated by it. All Time Low, Mayday Parade, Catchingyourclouds, Taking Back Sunday, Yellowcard, New Found Glory, and We The Kings grace the tour with their “unicorn poop” music styles. To this, the first junior says, “That’s how Warped Tour is being smart in a commercial way. They are appealing to a wider audience and thus will get more business and earn a larger profit.” Junior number two also gives her input to these softer pop-punk band’s role in the lineup, “I don't want to pay an outrageous ticket price to see a few bands. I suppose I should maybe be a little more open minded that there is going to be a bigger variety of bands this year, but I'm still a little weary.”

Whether or not you think Warped Tour is worth the 40 dollar ticket and however much you spend on Falling in Reverse merchandise and water is up to you. It doesn’t look like Kevin Lyman is planning on stopping it any time soon. Take the opportunity to become a part of a community that will never judge you for anything you ever do, and go to Warped Tour at some point in your life.

*huge two day music fest in England