Warped Tour 2018: The Final Cross-Country Trek Tour • Page 165

Mad props to him for keeping his composure up there and keeping the conversation relevant.

 

Knuckle puck did a secret set at transform today, looked real cool

 

what was the updated schedule looking like today? did they cut set times or what?

 

I cant say I'm crazy about As It Is's direction, but I have resoect for Patty and what he's making an effort to do

 

Also, Red Jumpsuit apparatus played today, anyone know what their crowd looked like?

 

Well, this is a full month after the fact, but since so many folks are re-capping their experiences at Warped this year, I figured I'd thrown mine into the mix.

I moved back to Washington state last summer, but the Pomona and Ventura dates seemed like an excellent excuse to plan a trip back to SoCal and visit some old friends (though I wasn't able to convince any of them to accompany me.) Since Pomona was first...

Made a point of getting to the fairgrounds as early as possible. A bit surreal for the first date of the final tour to be the site of my first, and at that point only, date of Warped I'd ever attended - just two years ago. Didn't really comprehend at the time that there was an early admission line and was getting pretty frustrated watching that line move for forever while I had to bake in the sun. Got in about 15 mins before start time, fortunately Assuming We Survive was opening, so I had some time to walk around, look at the schedule, and get my bearings for merch, stages, food, toilets, etc.

Watched This Wild Life as the first 'real' mainstage act of the tour. They're from the area so it was something of a hometown show for them, I was happy to how stoked they seemed to be there. Sounded great and the summer vibe they're pushing with this record is perfect. A nice, chill way to start of the day. Checked out Issues right afterwards to see how quickly they would play "Coma," didn't have to wait long, I love that song.

Pottered over to the Owly stage afterwards to check out Don Broco, but they were the first of many bands that day who were having sound difficulties that ended up cutting into their set time. I got frustrated and walked around for a bit before returning. I originally just wanted to see "Come Out to L.A.", but I walked away with "Pretty" being my favorite song. They fucking brought it hard for a dance rock band, made a fan out of me for sure.

Went and checked out Knuckle Puck who quietly snuck into my top priority bands over the past couple of months. Ended up standing in front of the Left Foot mixing booth to watch them. They put on a great show except for the fact that you could barely hear Joe's vocals the entire set - this cemented the trainwreck that was the Left Foot sound crew that day. Immediately went from that into FYS' set, I somehow had never been able to see a full set from these guys and wanted to make sure I finally got it in. Was in the pit for part of this and it was by far the most aggressive crowd that day. Aside from that, they sounded good, but it quickly sank in for me that there's not much here for me past that first album, and I was already bored of how predictable the setlist was even from only seeing them (incomplete) a couple times prior. Glad I did it, and don't really need to do it again. On the way to scout for merch, I watched Mayday Parade play "Jamie All Over" to a massive crowd - somehow missed the boat on these guys back in the day.

After this I know I finally found some lunch, reapplied sunscreen, and took a long rest in the shaded bleachers on the grounds. It was all right behind the Owly stage, and as I was coming down I could tell As It Is was playing. Was bummed I'd missed the start of their set, I was initially excited to see them, but I gotta be honest - I'm not into this pseudo-MCR emo throwback look they're doing, or the songs coming out of it. (That, and Patty's unwavering All-American speaking voice kinda freaks me out.) Glad I got to see "Dial Tones," that's about it.

Had a long break after that, so went around and picked up some merch from the Waterparks and Maine tents, and got a $5 signed copy of Petaluma from the TWL tent, got to talk to Kevin there and he was super sweet. I walked around for a while and tried to take seriously the idea of looking into bands you'd never heard of before, so I wandered by the 'locals' stage (I think it was KROQ) and saw this band called called New Language - kind of the typical hard-driving rock music I don't usually respond to, but I watched them play a song and a half and was surprisingly into it. (Checked them out later on Spotify and their live energy did not translate to record.)

Then went and saw Reel Big Fish, who even with their super predictable setlist are always a good time, such a solid live band. Crowd was surprisingly rowdy for that day, and during the hoedown version of "S.R." I got to squaredance with a total stranger, so that was cool!

Had a long break after that, so I walked around and tried to take in everything else - walked past the Full Sail stage (I think Lighterburns was playing, wasn't into it), peeked in on a TEI class, and then stopped by the half pipe and watched folks do some tricks for a while (I don't know if this has been present on any of the other dates?) Looked towards where Tonight Alive was playing and realized that things had been unusually quiet for a while. Walked over and saw paramedics taking a girl away on a stretcher and realized the band had stopped playing to make sure she was okay. Once it was all said and done they were about out of time, so I watched them close with "Temple." Wish I more into this band, Jenna is an incredible frontwoman and all-around class act. Then sat in the shade while 3OH!3 played (to an enormous crowd) and made a point to watch them play "Don't Trust Me."

Afterwards I got ready for my final four band run. Watched The Maine play and they were fucking fantastic - I've only seen them in a normal venue once before but I almost feel like they thrive most in a Warped setting, the energy and John's interactions with the crowd just seem that much better. Met up briefly with some folks from another online music community I frequent towards the end of their set and got a selfie with them.

Then I got a good spot for Waterparks, who I was super excited for, #1 on my list, aaannnddd... If you were there or watching that day, you know what happened. After about 15 mins of nothing happening, I left to get a closer view for Simple Plan. I ended up hearing Awsten take the stage and play the three songs he did. Felt bad for him, but it was a trainwreck all around. After he finished Simple Plan launched into their set with possibly the best sound of the day, which almost felt like rubbing salt in the Waterparks wound. I only stayed for three songs, I love SP but have seen them headline a couple times and besides, I had one last priority band...

Finally walked over to the Monster stages, caught the very end of Twiztid, who sounded good and did some goofy banter about chicken fingers. As they left they said, "Enjoy Ice Nine Kills," which got an unintentional laugh from the crowd because ETID were up next. I was too tired to move and just stood towards the back of the pit, but ETID tore it up, as always. Got my 30 mins in with them and then left, grateful that everything I wanted to see was before 8pm and that I wasn't nearly as sunburned or as achey as my first Warped.

A decent day overall, will write about Ventura later...

EDIT: made a playsit of all the songs I saw in full, if anyone’s interested.

 

Just got back from the Atlanta date, I ended up staying in the amphitheater most of the day since the weather was extremely shitty. Most bands were pretty good, besides the Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, their vocalist sounded like shit. Don Broco also got moved up to main today & damn they were surprisingly good. My last song of warped was Take On Me by Reel Big Fish

 

Well guys, tomorrow is the beginning of the last state of Warped Tour. And the day Pennywise joins! Please somebody get pictures or videos of their set

 

So, to finish up with my experiences at the Ventura date...

Drove the hour-and-a-half outside the L.A. area to get to the venue. It was overcast that morning as I got into the line and with the air coming off the ocean (literally yards away) it was freezing. Security managing the line made it a clusterfuck, different staff were telling different folks which one was GA and which was early admission. Once folks figured out that you could just 'donate' $5 instead of food to get a wristband, a ton of people in my line started doing that. The couple in front of me were super nice and lent me the $5 to buy my own! Things finally started moving and getting organized around 10:30, I was lucky enough to be towards the front of what was now the Early Admission line. I swear I walked past Kevin Lyman overseeing everything and wanted to thank him, but was too nervous that I might have misidentified some random guy to say anything!

Got in, having heard good things about the Ventura venue, but it seemed like they just set everything up on the parking lot. It was surprisingly small and ended up being very hard to maneuver around as the day went on. Bought a schedule, planned my day, made my rounds, stocked up on water. Kosha Dillz was the one promoted to opening the mainstage that day and I caught him in the middle of his set. Only watched him for one song but was surprised at how energetic and funny he was and his ability to work his small crowd during probably the most thankless slot of the day.

Spent much more of the day at the Monster stages this time, and watched Senses Fail kick things off. Never really listened to these guys in their heyday but have heard so much about Buddy secondhand and through interviews over the years I figured it was worth checking out. Set was fun, Buddy was a livewire, and the much talked about 'Nu Metal Medley' was a highlight.

Had a long break wherein I stood in the food line for the better part of 30 mins, the food options were all noticeably worse than Pomona. Bought a baseball hat with a floral pattern on it afterwards, felt pretty the rest of the day. Was walking around somewhere in the middle of this and caught Issues playing "Coma" again, so glad I got to catch it twice!

(Also, somewhere in this I walked by the Owly stage and Story Untold were playing a medley of scene songs - tried to write it down but it turns out it wasn't changing verse by verse but line by line! I lost track maybe five song references in...)

Finally got to see Waterparks play a proper set, right as the sun was coming out. They seemed confident and relaxed, and best of all they ended with "Not Warriors," the one song I was hoping I'd be lucky enough to see! Checked out half of Real Friends' set afterwards, really enjoyed a couple singles, had considered seeing them live before but never gone. They were definition of 'Fine.' Not bad, not great. Would've stayed for the whole thing but I really desperately hoped I could catch the tail end of Deez Nuts. Made my way over there, saw only one song, didn't feel like I missed too much.

Fortunately I got to see Kublai Khan's full set and was so happy that they crushed it. It's always weird taking a chance on a new band, and overall I'm not super into 'OG hardcore' influenced stuff anyway, but these guys brought it and got the crowd to throw down. Dropping "Antpile" into the closer was sick! The only thing I didn't like was towards the very end the frontman gave a speech about how him and his mom were on bad terms after he left home and she passed away before he could make amends, and now he's "cursed to get up on this stage every night." I mean, I get the sentiment, but wording was like, 'c'mon bro.'

Fortunately that led right into ETID (once again conflicting with SP, once again winning out), not sure what I can say about them that hasn't been said, these guys are the rulers. Was in the pit for this whole set and loved every second. Keith stated they would be digging out a lot of deep cuts to make each set this summer unique, and they ended with a tribute to Pantera (Vinnie Paul passed away the day before, I think.) Caught Sharptooth on the way back towards the mainstage, watched a couple songs. I really wish I liked this band more, they all seem like cool people and their merch and branding this tour has been fucking on point, but I just wish the singer's stage persona didn't feel so overdone to me (and that the riffs were better.) Still, they opened with a Les Miserables song, which is sure to get anyone's attention, and it's hard not to love a song called "Fuck You, Donald Trump!"

Watched Knuckle Puck play again, and it was such a better experience. The band sounded great, and I made a point of being in the pit the whole time - it easily gave any of the Monster pits a run for their money. Wandered back towards the Monster stage to catch some of Twiztid songs in full, since it's about as close to The Gathering of the Juggalos as I'll ever get. They sounded good, but there wasn't as much stage banter as I'd been hoping for, and I'm not really into the Juggalo scene, so there wasn't much for me music wise. Seem like cool dudes, tho.

Waited in the shade of the Owly stage to see Don Broco play again. (This and the Full Sail stage were the only ones on grass.) Once again, they brought the house down, had their guitarist get in the pit for the last song, so glad I discovered these guys. Afterwards I stood in a very long line for pizza and ended up inadvertently catching a lot of Phinehas' set.

Got my food and devoured it with just enough time to get a decent spot before TBS' set. Again, another band I never really listened to much back in the 00's, but hey, they were our exclusive that day and certainly had the biggest crowd. Enjoyed what I heard, then took a long rest under one of those rest tents - until 10 minutes later they started tearing it down, so I went and waited on my aching feet for All Time Low to play.

When ATL came on, it was dusk, I was tired and somewhat cranky, but man these guys never fail to entertain. I'm probably the only person on Earth wishing they pulled something out all the way from Put Up or Shut Up for this, but their sheer energy mitigated my (mild) disappointment. During "Everything is Fine" they put the call out for as many crowdsurfers as possible and five dudes in front of me just began helping girls up one after the other. It was a sight to behold.

My final set right after was The Used - another band I was never really into but that I figured this would be my only chance to see them so I might as well catch a couple songs. I gotta say, I was impressed. Their pink and yellow smoke canisters for the opening song looked absolutely badass against the twilight, and I was shouting "Take It Away" by the end even though I'd never heard that song until that moment.

Technically, my last song of Warped would be The Used's "Listening," but once I was already outside the venue and walking back to my car, I heard what I realized was Trash Boat closing out their set with "Strangers." I didn't technically see it, but I like that song better, so that's what I'm picking! (...even though, y'know, this isn't the end...)

Overall, this was my favorite of the two days, even with the difficulties of the venue and the comparative lack of 'favorite music.' This is a day I really treasure, and I really look forward to coming back for whatever they do in California in the future. My only real regret is that I chose to eat at In N Out on the way home instead of this adorable little pizza stand that was on the way to my car!

 

Whew! That is waaaayyy longer than anyone needs it to be, but to any of you who read this all the way through, my thanks for your time!

I’m gonna put up my playlist for Ventura, any of you who want to put up something similar, I’d love to see what y’all listened to on your respective days!

 

If someone who is going today, or any time this week can grab As It Is' new CD that'd be much appreciated!

 

what did the palaye royale guy tweet

 

Something along the lines, “lol mental illness what a pansy”

 

that's nuts, esp considering like... half the people listening to your band or more probably have some form of depression

that band is truly the worst

 

Then he was like "I'm not making fun of people with mental illness, I went to therapy and got over it. And if you don't get over it too you can kiss your career goodbye, cause you're too weak and ungrateful to be a musician."

He also said guys who wear makeup "look like transvestites" earlier in the week.

 

Setlist from Knuckle Puck's secret Transform Stage set the other day, sucks this got cut short, would've loved to have seen Alexander Pl live

 

There's hardly anyone here today in jacksonville. Makes getting from stage to stage simple though.

 

Is Limp Bizkit playing? Or just hanging out?

 

If anyone at these last dates can do me a huge favor and ship me a Four Year Strong Ralph Wiggum tee, PM me. :)

 

Oh, do I have some bad news for you...

 

Glad I didn't go today. The show has been cancelled due to the weather. They're accepting all Jacksonville tickets at any of the other FL shows.

 

Limp Bizkit was apparently just wandering around backstage

 

So three warped shows for free? Or is there some way of marking it

 

Also considering I got cancelled out at like 5:30 I still saw State Champs, Issues, 3Oh!3, Water parks, The Amity Affliction, In Hearts Wake, My Children My Bride, Dayseeker, and a couple songs from Sharptooth. Not bad for a halfish day.

 

WE DID IT