Well, if you read my other blog, you already know that my Warped date this year was kind of shitty, but a lot of good stuff happened, too, so I figured I could make a blog about it since I’ve seen a couple other people make ones.
This year my dad, brother, and I actually made it when the gates were opening (for the past three years, we haven’t made it there until after one at the earliest)—and the car ride was actually kinda funny, if anyone wants to hear about that, too. Anywho, as we were pulling in, I looked over to my left and guess who was standing outside holding signs about their set time?
The Maine.
Guess who was gone by the time we’d parked and made it back to the entrance all of literally two minutes later?
The Maine.
So that kinda sucked a lot, but whatever. Another thing that kind of sucked was the fact that I could hear The Ready Set playing the Warhead stage when I hopped out of the car, making it the second time I’ve missed them, but at least I actually heard them play this year.
So we got inside and we were walking around and it was just awesome, y’know? We walked around to get a general feel of where all the tents were before looking at set times. The first band we wanted to see was Falling in Reverse and they weren’t going on for another hour at that point, so we continued to walk around, looking through merch, watching other bands play, whatever.
We officially stopped by the Air Dubai tent first, and Jon, the singer, was sitting there. I bought their newest CD, Be Calm, and it turns out that if you bought one CD, you got the other half-off, which I thought was great because I went with about $100 less than I usually do.
After that, time pretty much just ticked by. It was 12:15 when Falling in Reverse went on, and for the first time ever, I almost passed out. Like, I could feel it, and it was just weird for me because even though I’m a diabetic, I’ve never had that problem at Warped Tour before. I had to sit, so I couldn’t see the stage for half of the set, but I could still hear everything, and say what you will about Falling in Reverse, but I’m a fan of their music so it was nice (sort of) seeing them again.
By the time that set had ended, I was feeling back to normal and we continued with our walking and looking through tents. My dad said he liked their song Alone, and therefore had to get the album, and as we got to the tent, I saw a sign that said something along the lines of “Buy the EVIL shirt and get a ticket to a meet + greet @2.” And so I bought the album and the shirt.
After that, we started walking around again, waiting until two. We stopped by the Echosmith tent (where it started to rain pretty heavily for only a few minutes and I hid as much of myself as I could under the tent until it stopped, and one of the bands on the stage to our right was like "There's a tornado warning... the only way to be safe is to stand in front of this stage until our set is over" and I thought that was pretty funny after I got over my mini heart attack because I've been through one tornado and that's enough to last a lifetime), where I bought their two CDs and a poster (which I wanted to get signed to give to my sister since they’re pretty much her favorite band, but I kinda missed their signing and it made me feel bad… she was happy enough with it as it was, even though it got kind of crumpled in my bag, so at least she was happy) before heading over to the Bayside tent.
So I was like “How much for Cult?” and the merch guy told me it was five before saying “Are you gonna go see them next?” To which I responded, as classy as ever, “What.”
“They just went on on one of those tents over there. They’re playing right now.”
And, basically, bless merch dude because I totally would’ve missed them if it hadn’t been for him.
After Bayside it was still only around one, so we moved over to the stage beside it. We Are the In Crowd was going on as Bayside was finishing up, and I’ve never been a fan of them, but there were no other bands playing that I wanted to see so I figured there would be no harm in stopping to give them another shot.
Honestly, I still couldn’t get into them—we didn’t even last long enough to get through half of the first song. I mean, they probably aren’t bad live or anything, but we couldn’t even hear Tay over the instruments so that was basically a sign to just leave.
We made another round through the venue before coming to a stop at the Hard Rock/Kevin Says stage, and the band Icon for Hire was playing. And they’re one of the few female-fronted bands I can really dig. The singer, Ariel, is pretty as all hell, too, but that’s not important. Seriously, they’re fantastic and I suggest you check them out if you haven’t already.
Two o’clock finally rolled around, and I was near the back of the line for the Falling in Reverse meet and greet, whatever (and on the way there I saw a sign about an Air Dubai meeting at 4:15 so I was like fuck yes). I was hoping to get through the line by the time Of Mice & Men went on since they’re one of my favorite bands and would be going on at, like, 2:15. I was moving through the line, and I could hear PSA (Public Service Announcement) start up. At that point, we were still sort of back a bit, and that kind of sucked because the stage they were on was close but hidden by all of the tents.
I could hear everything, though, so I was grinning and dancing around because, I mean, at that point I was just excited that I could actually hear them live… and I’d kind of missed their meet and greet, so I was happily taking whatever I could get. And totally singing along as loud as possible, but whatever.
Soon enough I was near the front of the line, and I turned my head to the left, and what did I see? Alan Ashby head-banging onstage with half of Tino and Aaron visible, Austin and Phil running around. I squealed, actually squealed, “I can see them! Alan! Austin and Phil and Tino and Aaron!”
And a lot of people looked at me like I was crazy. It was great.
Anyway, a few minutes later and I was finally at the front of the line. It was my second time meeting the band, and the first time I was still new to meeting people and got awestruck so easily which made it hard for me to do anything but grin like an idiot, but this year I’ve gotten really good at talking to famous people so I handed my CD to Ryan and was like “Would it be lame of me to ask to shake your hand?”
And he laughed and said of course not and I went down the line like that.
Now say what you will about them, especially Ronnie, but each time I’ve met them, they’ve been nothing but polite.
Especially Ronnie.
He had this huge smile on his face and he asked me how my day was going and it was just really nice, y’know?
So I got out of the line, tucked my CD in my backpack, and I knew that Of Mice & Men still had at least two more songs left, so I was like, “I have to go see them!”
To which my dad had to be a dick and snap, “Jamie, I’m hungry, I need to eat.” Like, you couldn’t have walked all of twenty feet to our right when we were in line? Where there were three food stands in a row? But I responded with “There’s only, like, two more songs, and then we can get food!” and he grumbled a “Fine.”
I got over there and I was in the very back and I was a good deal shorter than everyone else in the crowd, so I could hardly see, but I could see enough. The Depths started up and I started flailing and jumping and it was amazing. That, sadly, was their last song, but whatever. I heard my two favorites off of Restoring Force, Identity Disorder and Feels Like Forever, and that was the most important thing.
We got food (I could hear Motionless in White playing Abigail from mainstage, and that’s the only song of theirs’ I genuinely like, so that was nice), we sat down, we ate, and we were right in front of the Icon for Hire tent, where I could see the singer and bassist signing things and taking pictures. So I got up, walked over there to buy a CD (which was $15 and ridiculously priced considering I was getting newer, deluxe CDs by bigger-name bands for $10, but the Icon for Hire bus got in an accident or something so they probably had to jack prices for repairs, so I let it slide) and when I turned to see if the singer, Ariel, would sign it for me, she was gone. As was the bassist.
So I went back and sit on the ground for a bit, pulled all of my CDs and merch out to tear the plastic off to throw out so that I wouldn’t have to deal with it in the car, and at that point I think I had ten CDs. Well, my dad saw a shirt he liked (it said “I’m that motherfucker” and I totally would’ve gotten one but I was beginning to run low on cash and decided against it) and he got two CDs, three stickers, and a cuzzi out of it. He gave me the CDs, and one of them was a compilation CD while the other was an EP for a band called Uh-huh Baby Yeah! (and, honestly, I wasn’t expecting much because I’ve never heard of them, but they’re actually really fucking great, and they’re another band I would highly suggest).
We continued walking, passed by Real Friends' set (I’ve never listened to them before, but I liked what I heard) and then I remembered the Air Dubai meeting and made a total beeline for the tent that they’d be at. I had to stop to pull my CDs out, but when I walked up to them no one else was around which I thought was kind of weird because, in my opinion, they’re an amazing band—talented and nice as all hell.
So I said hello, asked them to sign my CDs, and I started talking to them about how much I like their music. The drummer walked up from getting a water, so he was standing right beside me and he asked, “Have you seen us before?” so I started telling them about how I saw them a little over a year ago at House of Blues with Marianas Trench and how I talked with them all then. So Jon was like “Well, you know we have a set at 5:45, right?” and I was like “Oh, yeah, I know! Air Dubai was the first band I looked for this morning when I was checking set times. I wouldn’t miss it for the world; I’m totally gonna be there!” and they all smiled and they handed my CDs back and I said that I was looking forward to seeing them again before thanking them and continuing on.
For a while, it was back to just roaming the venue, but then we stopped because I heard We the Kings say something about making a music video and using the crowd in it, so I turned and high-tailed it toward that stage even though I only like two (three, maybe?) songs. They played Check Yes, Juliet and Say You Like Me, which are songs I love, so that was nice. I was at the back and singing along and I was the only one singing in that area so you could, like, actually hear me, and it was a little embarrassing but I got over it.
Then it was time for Echosmith’s set, so we went to sit on the ground for a little bit (and we got free tickets to a reggae concert later this month, so I’m totally hoping to go to that as well as Cassadee Pope, if I can get the tickets) and then we moved more over by the stage to watch them set things up and they started and it was such a good, fun set. Like, I know for a fact that the drummer and singer are younger than me (and the eldest one is named Jamie, which is pretty cool. The first time I met them, Sydney, the singer, asked what my name was and then smiled really big before saying “That’s his name, too!”), so even though I get kind of jealous that they’re doing what I wish I could, it’s also an awesome thing to see.
When their set ended, it was back to waiting another half hour until Air Dubai went on, so we made one more round of the venue (and I walked, like, five feet away from Jeffree Star, which was cool and sucked all at the same time) before heading back.
The same exact stage that had Echosmith only an hour prior with an audience practically packed as far around as it could get, was virtually empty. Which, again, sucked in my opinion, but I got front and center at the barricade. Like, literally right in the center. So that was awesome. The entire band grinned when they saw me and that just made it all that much cooler.
They, as I expected, put on an amazing show (even asking how many people had seen them play at House of Blues, which had me smiling all stupid-like), and I’m so glad I didn’t miss it. I wish I could’ve stayed a little longer to go back to their tent to tell them that I thought it was great, but my dad was getting pissy and “I have to work tomorrow, Jamie,” so we had to leave.
I missed The Maine, Sleeping With Sirens, and Mayday Parade because I had to leave early, but Rian told me that she saw The Maine and Sleeping With Sirens (she got there, like, literally an hour after I left, and I don’t even know why she decided she wanted to go out there at last minute, but she got in free so whatever) and that they both sucked so I guess that kind of made up for it a little bit. All in all, it was a pretty great day. I mean, I got literally no pictures this year, but I’m fine with it.
Feel free to tell me about your Warped date because I’d like to hear other people’s stories! And, if anyone’s interest, I totally have, like… ten other concert experiences I could write about. And I think I’ll leave links below to some of the smaller bands (smaller bands, in my opinion) I listed up there, in case you wanna check them out.
Air Dubai — Warning ft. Patricia Lynn
Uh-huh Baby Yeah! — Dead Friends
Icon for Hire — Sugar & Spice
Echosmith — Bright (Live Acoustic)
Bayside — Stuttering
The Ready Set — Carry Me Home
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