Head to the Ground

“Hello Warped Tour.” I whisper to myself as I walk through the almost full parking lot. It was full of hundreds of tour buses, all belonging to one of the many bands on the tour. All around there is people preparing for tomorrows shows, some of whom I recognised from the posters littering my bedroom wall back home. I can feel the excitement in the atmosphere.

“Hey Harley!” I hear, spinning around to come face to face with my best friend. Lily Davidson stands before me, in all of her 5’7 glory, dressed in an outfit very similar to my own: ripped black skinny jeans and a band tee.

It may be summer, and it was certainly hot in Salt Lake City today, but shorts make me uncomfortable and skirts are not my thing, so I have no other choice but to wear skinny jeans. My outfit consisted of black skinny jeans that are ripped at the knee with a Drop Dead tee with the sleeves cut off, making it open at the sides. I had on my favourite, and torn up, pair of black Vans along with a pink beanie covering my auburn hair.

“What’s up?” I ask, the smile on my face never faltering.

“I’m going over to hang with Oli, you coming?” Lily asks, bringing her hand up to her eyes to shield them from the burning sun.

“I’m going to walk round for a bit, tell them I’ll see them later though.” I smile. Lily nods and turns around, heading off in the direction of one of the tour buses as I begin to walk in the direction I was originally going.

It’s an odd feeling to walk around Warped Tour without crowds of people waiting to see their idols, or without any of the stages and tents. It’s strange seeing everyone rushing around to get everything set up before tour kicks off tomorrow, and it was definitely weird seeing people who’s music I have been listening since I was a teenager just walk past me. But it was a good weird, a nice weird, because it meant that I had finally done what I have been wanting to since I was 14 years old.

Being on Warped Tour was something that I have been aiming towards since I was a teenager. Throughout high school, whenever someone asked what I wanted to do with my life, because apparently I had to decide the rest of my life when I was barely even able to decide what to wear, the only answer I was sure of was that I wanted to be on Warped Tour. Of course, being from England meant that not many people knew what that was, but it didn’t matter. Those few that did know what Warped was just assumed that meant I wanted to be in a band and then told me that I needed a realistic dream because being a rockstar just wasn’t going to happen. Obviously, I knew that me being a rockstar would never happen, due to the fact that I have no musical talent whatsoever. I do, however, have a talent for photography and know my way around a soundboard pretty well. So, combining those two factors with my passion for music, I went to college to study photography and music technology, and moved to America when I was 21 with my best friend, all with the hope of one day being apart of the Warped Tour.

And here I am. After dreaming of spending the entire summer on Warped for nearly 10 years and living in the States for 2, I finally got the chance I had been waiting for: one and a half months on Warped Tour 2012 taking photos of some of the bands that made me who I am. If that isn’t perfect enough, I get to stay on the bus belonging to one of my favourite bands, Bring Me The Horizon, who’s lead singer I have known since I was like 4, and I get to do it all with my best friend, who was actually their temporary tour manger for the tour, by my side. I could probably cry.

I admit, I could have probably done Warped Tour before this year, but I had never really felt ready, or good enough. Previously, I had always been in a place where I knew that living on the road for the summer wasn’t good for me, but this year when the opportunity arose I just couldn’t say no. Not that I actually thought about refusing. Maybe it was that my best friend, my rock, was going to be there with me along the way, or maybe it was the fact that the line up was pretty good, or maybe it was that I was finally putting myself first for once and not letting my insecurities stop me form living my dream.

A nudge on my shoulder causes me to stumble forward a little bit but I manage to catch myself before I can fall completely. I spin around, face set into a frown as I prepare to yell at whoever walked in to me,

“Adam!” I exclaim, once I see who it was, a grin replacing the frown. I throw my arms around the bald males neck and pull him into a hug. Having the same job as me meant that Adam knew how things were done and that he understood what I did. We had been friends for a while and had supported each other when our careers began to take off. Both of us being on tour a lot meant that we only really saw each other in passing but now we had the entire summer to hang out.

“Hey lady!” Adam laughs, arms wrapped around my waist as he hugs back.

“I thought you were only doing half of Warped?” I ask as I let go of the man and take a step back, tilting my head in confusion. He had been telling me for months that he was joining the tour half way through because he was on a different tour for the first half.

“I decided that I’d just do the whole thing. Plus the band I was suppose to tour with cancelled the tour so.” He smiles, showing off his sparkling teeth. “So I actually wanted to ask if you were okay?” He quirks an eyebrow and looks at me seriously.

“What? Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?” I ask confusedly because honestly, I thought that I couldn’t look happier.

“Well you’ve been staring at the entrance sign for the past fifteen minutes and I think people are starting to think you’re crazy.” He laughs.

It’s only then that I realise that I must have stopped walking when I started thinking about being on Warped Tour. I also notice that Adam isn’t by himself as I originally thought he was. A man, who looks slightly older than me, is standing next to him and is also looking at me questioningly. He’s tall, then again everyone is tall to my barely 5’5, and has messy chocolate coloured hair that is styled in an I-just-got-out-of-bed sort of look, and is dressed in denim cut offs and a Glamour Kills tank top. He’s attractive though, that’s for sure, even with the bright pink patch in his hair. He has the whole rockstar vibe about him, from the way he looks like he just rolled out of bed to the way he’s stood, meaning that he’s probably in one of the many bands playing the tour. Which also explains why he looks slightly familiar, I’ve probably seen him in a magazine. I smile a him and he returns it.

I turn back to Adam and shrug, “I was just thinking, you know?”

“About what? It looked intense, I didn’t know you could think that hard.” Adam smirks and the unnamed guy chuckles a little. I roll my eyes but smile none the less because of my surroundings.

“It’s just, I finally made it man. I’m on fucking Warped Tour.” I breathe, disbelief, awe, and excitement evident in my voice as I grin towards the male photographer.

“I know,” he shoots me a small smile. “I’m proud of you Har, you deserve this, remember that.”

And okay; now I think I will start crying. Only two people have ever told me they were proud of me, and that means a lot more than Adam knows. It means so much to be here on this tour and I have worked so hard to make it happen.

“Fuck Elmakias, you’re gonna’ make me cry.” I laugh.

“Are you in a band?” The guy, whose name was still unknown, asks.

I turn to him and smile, “No, I’m a photographer.”

“Ah,” he nods and I see his eyes flicker over my face, as if he’s searching for something. He smiles, “Is it your first Warped?”

“I’ve been to Warped a few times, but I’ve never been on it. I’ve wanted to since I was like, fourteen so it’s a bit surreal to actually be on it this year.” I reply.

“Well, welcome to Warped…” He trails off since he doesn’t know my name. I laugh as he looks to the ground, awkwardly scratching the back of his neck.

“Harley. Harley Jameson.” I shoot him a genuine smile. Some people thought I was weird because of how much I liked my name. Sure, it wasn’t the best name in the world but there’s something about it that I really like.

“Like the whiskey?” He smirks and okay, that is really attractive. I accept his outstretched hand and shake it with a laugh. Maybe that’s why I like my name, because my surname was a brand of alcohol.

“Like the whiskey.” I nod.

“Well then, Miss Jameson, welcome to Warped.” He says, adjusting the snapback on his head and sending me another one of those smiles. I like his smile. It was a nice smile. It’s slightly lopsided, but his warm brown eyes shine a little as his lips curve upwards.

“Thanks,” I offer him a crooked grin. “Do I get to know your name?”

“Alex. Alex Gaskarth.” He states.

His eyes watch me as I try to piece together why the name sounds familiar. I bite my lip as my eyes scan his face, searching for anything that will give me a clue as to where I’ve seen him before. Maybe it was on Tumblr, if he was in a band, or maybe it was in passing. I’m pulled out of my internal debate by Adam’s snickers and Alex’s chuckle. I sigh in defeat.

“All Time Low.” Adam laughs at my confused expression.

“Huh?”

“My band,” Alex smiles. “My band is called All Time Low.”

“Oh shit! Yeah! Lily- my best friend- loves you guys. Your face is all over her bedroom.” I laugh, trying my hardest to draw the attention away from my blushing cheeks. I knew I had seen his face somewhere, I just never thought it was my best friends’ bedroom.

The two men laugh at my exclamation as I just stand there, blushing. I look down as my phone signals I have a text and pull it out of my back pocket to have a look.

‘Come to the bus! I got you Taco Bell because I’m the bestest friend ever.’

I roll my eyes at Lily before pocketing my phone, not bothering to reply since I’ll see her in a minute anyway. I turn back toward the two men who are in the middle of a conversation about someone called Jack.

“I gotta go. Adam, come see me later so we can have a proper catch up.” I demand as the aforementioned male pulls me into another tight hug.

“Leaving already?” Alex asks, with a hint of what sounds like disappointment in his voice but probably not. If I’m being honest, Alex seemed like a pretty nice guy and definitely someone that I could see myself getting along with. He has a certain quirkiness about him and seems to be fairly confident with the way he presents himself. Warped Tour is supposed to be a new experience for me, all about adventure and meeting new people, widening my horizons as people say. So, Alex could be the first new friend that I make on this tour.

I nod, “Lily bought me Taco Bell.” I deadpan.

Alex laughs, “I understand, you can never turn down Taco Bell.”

“Exactly,” I smile. “I’ll see you around Alex.” I add, giving them both a two-fingered salute before turning around and heading in the direction of the buses.

“Yeah, you will.”