Warped Tour 2016

I’ve probably mentioned before that I was a bit of a late bloomer when it comes to concerts. I didn’t start going to shows until I was about 20, really, so unfortunately I missed Warped Tour in its prime. But amazingly enough, Warped Tour 2016 felt like a throwback year. So many of the bands on the lineup were bands I loved years and years ago. So despite being a month shy of 24 years old, it felt like a good first Warped.

Unfortunately some of the bands I really wanted to see weren’t at my date (Mountain View, CA) like Good Charlotte or 3Oh!3 (or Hail the Sun, but they’re not a throwback band). I got Sum 41 though, and that was pretty cool.

Me: takes samplers from every table and buys all the CDs, then stuffs my face

Doin Warped Tour right? I’m not sure if I saw as many bands as I probably should’ve, but I was much more concerned with hearing (and keeping) all the music.

The venue had this awesome shot of my favorite band on the walkway toward the amphitheater:

Festival food is too expensive, dude. I say that no matter where I am. I guess venue food is often overpriced too, but I’m never as desperate to eat there as I am at day-long festivals. Put me in the heat for hours on end, and I’m gonna wanna sit down in the grass and eat all of the food.

At one point I ran into a kid who recognized me from an I the Mighty show, which was pretty cool. He’s not someone I’ve really kept in contact with, but he remembered me. Speaking of I the Mighty, their typical merch guy Life was working with Too Close to Touch, so I stopped to say hi to him for a bit. Their manager Bear was also working with them, but he was off being a manager somewhere else so I didn’t see him.

There was this set-up kinda in the middle of the amphitheater that I think was for anti-smoking? I’m not quite sure. But they had some games where you’d guess the song or sing karaoke, and stuff of that nature. It was pretty cool. Different. You didn’t have to be watching a band the whole time, there were other things to do too.

Jeffree Star was also there.

Now, onto the music…

Should I start with the bands I did see or the ones I didn’t see?

There were quite a few bands that I was looking forward to seeing that I didn’t end up getting to for some reason or another. That list includes:

• Less Than Jake
• Knuckle Puck
• The Interrupters
• Like Pacific
• We the Kings
• The Maine
• Sleeping with Sirens
• With Confidence

Holy crap, that’s a long list. I was especially disappointed about With Confidence because I’ve heard so much hype and SUCH GOOD things about them, but they were playing at the same time as Sum 41, and they were basically who I was there to see. Next time.

As for the bands I did see…

I learned that Mayday Parade is from my home state of Florida. I’m not sure why I didn’t know that already. And I was reminded that I should listen to them more because they’re awesome.

Unfortunately I did not get any videos of Mayday Parade, so here’s one by not me:

I knew I wanted to see Too Close to Touch, so I went to that double stage area early to catch Waterparks and Emarosa as well, so I saw all of those three sets.

Waterparks was my big surprise of the day. I hadn’t really listened to them before, but they’re super pop punk and I loved it.

They joked about “Warped Prom” which made me laugh for reasons.

Emarosa’s frontman did some crazy shit at one point, climbing onto the top of the stage. That was fun.

And here’s some Too Close to Touch:

I caught a decent amount of Yellowcard’s set. I regret not seeing the whole thing, since they’re breaking up and all. They’ve got quite a few songs that I love.

I wasn’t as impressed with Real Friends as I thought I’d be. I like a few of their songs, but I didn’t feel the need to stay for their whole set.

And then Sum 41… Oh boy. I went nuts for the entire thing. I knew all the words to every song they played. Whoops? No shame. I’ve always loved them.

A video by not me:

It felt like such a long day. But I had to remember it was just one day. I’m going to Riot Fest in September, and that’s three days long, so Warped was basically practice.

Want to hear some of the bands on this years lineup? Here’s a mixtape!