Warped Tour 2015 Review
Posted: by Sean Gonzalez
Vans Warped Tour is easily one of the happiest days of my year, every year. How many other days do I get to spend sweating off a hangover in 96 degree heat watching bands I have been listening too for years play their best songs live? With each set roughly going about 25 minutes, the musical acts bring their most energetic and vivacious songs to keep the crowd jumping and hydrated. Here is a look at what I got myself into at the Minnesota Warped Tour Date.
It was fucking hot. I knew from the beginning it was going to be an exhausting day. It started out great with ’68 absolutely murdering their set. This was the first band myself and my friends saw and they are absolutely entertaining. A two man group had an unbelievable amount of energy, and they feed off each other. Scogin signed my iPhone. After this group I had to conduct some interviews with band (links will be later on) and after my press work was done I saw The Wonder Years. They are young veterans of the tour and put on a great show, even playing songs that were not singles but still held a lot of weight and kicked ass in the summer heat.
After one more interview with To Write Love On Her Arms, I caught the visceral and emotional Being As An Ocean slay the Monster Energy Stage. Joel’s harsh vocals have a raw power to them, almost like you can feel the vocal chords in your eardrum. Immediately after, Beartooth unleashed an earthquake of a set with the biggest crowd I have ever seen at the Monster Energy Stage. Here is a picture of as much of it as I could get (there were people behind me still).
Look at that crowd! I mean whenever prodigy rockstar Caleb Shomo asked for the audience to jump you could feel the quake of all the feet hitting the ground. Next up was Silverstein. For a band that has been around a long time, a person would never be able to tell. The entire crowd new about every lyric and the band members were jumping around almost the entire time. Hundredth came on next and I was ecstatic. They are one of those bands where their songs can be hit or miss on the album but they never miss live. The most dedicated of hardcore fans (I’d say 150 people) were in the front row shouting every lyric. I rushed the mic for Weathered Town as I always do. It is an expulsion of energy and the band never holds back either, sharing their intense emotions with the fans.
Pvris pulled an exceptionally large crowd. I always wanted to catch this act live because I was interested in how their sound would transfer to a stage. Let me be the one to tell you they are absolutely outstanding live. Lyndsey’s voice is perfect, and you can hear every ounce of emotion she throws in as well. I was very pleased catching them live. After this I saw a few songs of the pop-punk act Knuckle Puck. They were extremely lively and don’t hold anything back. Beautiful Bodies was the last act I saw. Alicia Solombrino and Thomas Becker are constantly bouncing around the stage and interacting with the crowd/security members. It was a fun show that was a smaller crowd, making it more familiar and friendly.
All went well throughout the day. I did not die of heat exhaustion because I drank about seven bottles of water. Moose Blood had their bus break down and were not able to make it. Nothing beats the Vans Warped Tour and nothing will ever leave me with tears in my eyes like watching music be performed by my favorite artists. Thanks again, and I hope it never ends. See y’all next year.
