Warped Tour Feature
Investigating the Legitimacy of Time Travel
Words:  James Ferreira
Photos: Michael Spadoni

The onset of another blazing Florida summer signals many things, none more pressing in the world of punk rock than the annual corporate cash cow that is the Vans Warped Tour.  At one point, this event was a rite of passage that I held dear to my heart—an afternoon with all of my favorite bands and a reckless abandon that only capricious youth can truly understand.  Two years ago, I decided it was time to pass the torch, so to speak, as I brought my little brother to attend his first Warped Tour.  After that day’s re-creation of hell on earth (due to a combination of several things that were entirely my fault, namely the excruciating pain only a hangover can cause and a lack of sunscreen coupled with a truly blistering heat index) it became obvious… I had outgrown the Vans Warped Tour.

I’m fully aware of the dangers that time travel presents, having seen Donnie Darko and the entire Back to the Future trilogy several times.  Nevertheless, I decided to conduct a little time travel experiment of my own for this year’s Warped Tour (though without the aid of any giant bunny rabbits or flux capacitors).  This year, I would enlist the assistance of a brave group of adolescents in order to accurately report back to the bay area just what this year’s Warped Tour was all about.  And to be honest, it was a blast, like a live-action trip down memory lane.  On this day, my posse consisted of Spencer Heckman (14), Elix Pope (14) and AJ Ruggiero (17).  Their knowledge of the bands playing and the current hardcore and punk scenes greatly surpassed my own, so get ready to experience the Warped Tour through eyes of the next generation of punk rock day campers.  They’re the future, man… the future.

REAX:  Was this your first Warped Tour?  If not, what did you think about this year in comparison to years past?

AR:  I went two years ago, but I liked this one more.  There were a lot more bands that I wanted to see this time around; it was just a better overall selection of bands.

SH:  I liked this year better because there was more musical variety, plus they ran the concessions a lot better this time than they did two years ago.  Drinks were more expensive two years ago, and you had to wait in line to buy tickets. 

EP:  I went last year.  But I thought this year was better.

REAX:  Which bands were you most excited about seeing? (AJ and Spencer actually handed me a list)

AR & SH: Underoath, As Cities Burn, The Bled, Thursday, Silverstein, Saves the Day, Anti-flag, Against Me!, and From First to Last.

EP:  Senses Fail, Underoath, The Bled, Thursday and From First to Last.

REAX:  Which bands did you like the most? 

SH:  The Bled was good because they played their old stuff.  I missed As Cities Burn, since they were playing at or around the same time as Underoath, who was good.  They played half old stuff, just like Thursday.  From First to Last was nowhere near as good as they were a few months ago.

EP:  I think Senses Fail and Thursday had the best performances—both bands played with a lot of energy and sounded good live.  I was looking forward to seeing Silverstein but they didn’t really put much energy into their performance on stage.

AR:  I really liked Underoath and the way they started with their older stuff to get the crowd into it.  It was great until Elix landed on her head crowd surfing during “Writing on the Walls”, which is a great song by the way.  I hope she remembers it.  Anti-flag was a big disappointment, and so was From First to Last.  Anti-flag mainly because they didn’t play “A New Kind of Army” and pretty much stuck with all new songs where everyone just chants the words… this gets old, because all the songs ended up sounding the same.

REAX:  What are some things that need to be improved about the Warped Tour as a music festival?

AR:  The food prices are ridiculous; a pulled pork sandwich was five bucks.  I didn’t like how the band scheduling overlapped, forcing me to see half sets or none at all.  We all really wanted to see the Bled, and they started fifteen minutes before Thursday on the complete opposite side of the park.  Silverstein was one of the main bands I wanted to see, and I only got to catch one song, “Discovering the Waterfront”.

SH:  The food prices, although better than two years ago, are still pretty steep.  But the scheduling needs to be done by genre, not popularity, because you know most of the kids who want to see the Bled will want to see Thursday and the kids who want to see Underoath are going to want to see As Cities Burn.  It would be cool if they could spread it out over two days or something to that effect.

REAX:  How does the Warped Tour influence your opinions about shows in general?  In other words, do you like the day-long festivities?  Or would you prefer a more intimate setting for a show?

EP:  Personally, I like all-day music festivals more.  They’re more fun and you’re around a lot more people which always makes everything more interesting.

AR:  I like shows where it’s just one main band, but I also like Warped Tour because you get to see so many bands and meet new people.  It’s always cool to see how they react to new music.

SH:  Warped Tour is cool, because you get to see a lot of bands that you are into.  On the other hand, they play shorter sets and you have to sit through lots of bands that you aren’t really into.  They bunch all the bands you want to see together on the schedule.  I guess that’s why going to smaller shows is better; you get to see all the bands you want to see for longer periods of time.

REAX:  What were some of the highlights of your “punk rock day camp” experience?

AR:  The Reax tent was amazing, I can’t wait to see all the spam in my e-mail.  Just kidding.  Everyone there was super nice and they were very generous with their shade.

EP:  Crowd surfing and getting sent to the hospital in an ambulance, which was pretty hardcore.

SH:  It was cool hanging out at the Reax tent when crappy bands were playing, and getting free stuff.

REAX:  What were some of the low points?

SH:  Not being able to see all the bands that I wanted to sucked.  The weather was way too hot, and there were a lot of drugs and drinking going on.

AR:  The heat definitely brought us down a bit.  Elix landing on her head and going to the hospital doesn’t really happen every day.  And missing bands I wanted to see.

EP:  Getting pushed into pits that I didn’t want to be in.

REAX:  Will you guys be attending future Warped Tours?

EP:  Hell yes!

AR:  Yeah, it’s a really fun experience getting to hang out and meet new people. 

SH:  It depends on the bands.  That’s really all it hinges on.

All kidding aside, it’s amazing to see what Warped Tour has become.  As a ten year veteran, I still have a hard time imagining my first one at the fairgrounds all those years ago.  While I may not agree with the current state or direction popular music has taken, notably the commercialization of the punk scene (which began long before I was around, I know), it’s refreshing to see so many kids out there enjoying live shows, struggling through the elements, supporting bands, dancing and singing along.  In fairness to the current scene, I wanted to let some more knowledgeable fans voice their opinions.  But I enjoyed myself, and there were some bands that I am still a fan of who played this year.  NOFX is always a great time and a riot on stage, Joan Jett did a fantastic job recreating her heyday, but the best performance I caught that afternoon was Against Me!  Hope to see you there next year!  And don’t worry, none of the past was altered enough to affect the future.  The future, man… the future.