Warped Tour, unlike what stereotypes suggest is simply scremo music, is actually an assortment of several stages that feature artists playing everything from metalcore to dubstep scremo and even includes a few acoustic tents. It is the place for showcasing rising talents while also sharing the stages with established acts. One band, Less Than Jake, announced that they’ve been on the Warped Tour longer than anybody else and they are very proud of it. Unlike last year where the stages extended into the parking lots of Darien Lake, the main stage in the amphitheater was separated into two main stages, the Kia Soul Stage on the left and the Electric Soul Stage on right. The remaining 8 extended through the lawn doors and opened up to a (soon to be) mud pit.
I arrived around noon and purchased a classic $2 Warped Tour band schedule. I, along with hundreds of hurried fans, broke out the suggested sharpies and mapped out our day. Analyzing the busy schedule, the bottom right corner announces the timed main band signings at their mystery-on-the-map tents. I picked up a free “20 Years of Warped Tour” poster and had it signed by Falling In Reverse, Breathe Carolina and Cute Is What We Aim For(a Buffalo native band). Every stage had a sign plastered onto it reading, “You mosh and you crowd surf, you get hurt, we get sued, no more Warped Tour.” Because of this, I saw fans “alternative moshing” which consisted of such things as doing crazy dance moves and kick flips in the air which was pretty humorous. Later, with more than several alerts blowing up my phone from The Weather Channel warning about a thunderstorm, the Warped Tour crowd was prepared. Umbrellas and rain ponchos were married to the dedicated fans off and on while the rain came down.
I did not see any females on the main stages, and the female fronted bands Echosmith and We Are In The Crowd that played on the smaller stages also played first so the majority of people missed them anyways. Also, they had a stage called the Shiragirl stage. It was doused in pink and titled “Romantic Rock.” Emily Whitehurst, who once fronted the bands Tsunami Bomb and Action Design and has toured with Warped six times between 2001 and 2008, agrees the stage is a bittersweet solution.”When I was in Tsunami Bomb, I felt conflicted about the Shiragirl stage,” says Whitehurst. “I appreciated that they felt females should be better represented at Warped Tour, because it’s obvious. And it at least helps point out the problem while empowering girls. But it also made me feel like it was sending out a message that these ‘girl bands’ were not on the same level with “regular bands.” (Emily Whitehurst in her recent column in Wondering Sound)
Throughout the day I noted a consistent echo of, “Make Some Noise,” which was being touted by most of the bands. The highlight of my afternoon was seeing Bowling For Soup perform. It was everything I wasn’t expecting, especially their age. They had their own theme song and photo opportunity song where they posed for photos. They also took note of “Make some noise!” a phrase that all of the younger bands have adopted. The lead singer was training the crowd and would call out the phrase and then yell at anybody that reacted. It was awesome. Other bands I took in included Yellowcard, We The Kings, Falling In Reverse, Breathe Carolina, and Of Mice and Men. OMAM had huge guitar amp stacks that melted my face and had the crowd bypassing the no moshing and crowd surfing banners overhanging Austin Carlile on stage. Crazed fans were flooding into the press box as a result of crowd surfing. Of all of the bands that played, they were the headliner you could say. I had to leave only a few songs in but from what I’ve gathered, Austin was working the crowd very nicely. On my way out from the front, at perfect timing, he had the entire crowd kneel down to the ground causing me to have to crawl over everybody. Ha. All in all, Warped Tour has something for almost every taste and I actually had a lot more fun this year than last year, even with less familiarity of the bands.
Of Mice and Men Setlist:
Public Service Announcement
The Flood
O.G. Loko
Feels Like Forever
You Make Me Sick
Bones Exposed
Would You Still Be There
The Depths
You’re Not Alone
Photos by BackstageAxxess Correspondent Dave Jones. We would like to thank Danielle Mardahl from Vans Warped Tour PR for the credentials to review the show.
