It doesn’t really feel like summer no matter how many times I’ve hit the pool or enjoyed a day of sun tanning until the Warped Tour comes through. If you’re not aware, Warped Tour is the Vans sponsored concert event that runs a nationwide tour packed to the brim with as much music and good times as a bunch of punks on the road can muster! With headliners this year like Paramore, Jack’s Mannequin, A Day To Remember and Pepper, there’s a band and a sound there for every alt, metal, ska or punk genre you’re looking for. This year, Body Candy got out there in the field at our local stop to represent and see the turn out.
With over 90 bands on the roster it’s mostly a question of what particular bands you’re looking forward to seeing, and with up to 50 bands playing on one day it’s more likely that you’ll be running around worshipping the schedule board to figure out where and when you need to be in order to see everyone that you want. It’s never paid more to listen to your teacher for once and make a schedule; believe me it pays off when you see someone sprinting across the field full speed so they can get into a pit before their favorite song is over.
Beyond all the bands and the rows of merch booths you’ll see a huge turnout and display of what’s hot in jewelry and mods. We were able to get a few pictures with some new Body Candy loyals showing off their metal for us in the sun. From a pair of plugs to a mouth full of metal and chest tattoos galore, everyone was showing off what they had.
Now it’s not all just about looking pretty and soaking in a beautiful summer day when the pits start to form. Warped Tour can produce some of the biggest and most ridiculous pits and circles in front of the various stages that I’ve ever seen. A wall of death can be an amazing thing to take part in, but when each wall is a different bands pit and it spans two separate stages, that’s something to see. Things like this are what make Warped Tour the experience that it is, being surrounded by (most likely, if your town’s stop is anything like ours) a majority of the modified in your entire town, all having a great day.
When even Blink 182 admitted that Mark “Fell in love with the girl at the rock show,” singing about times at Warped Tour is not just a concert, but a staple of punk and metal history. Even to someone like me who infinitely prefers a small show in a packed run down hole in the wall, Warped Tour is an epic festival not to miss. If you don’t believe me ask your friends. There’s an amazingly good chance that if the tour comes by you, you know someone that’s been.
