Warped Tour 2017 Festival • Page 53

Frankie from Emmure did a couple. There were 2 more in between but I didn't catch their names.

 

Just got home from my 2nd Warped date this summer.

How is no one even mentioning Save Ferris? Best set of the day.

 

I saw half their set. Had no idea who they were but they were impressive

 

If anyone caught Silverstein in holmdel today, Shane was wearing my band's shirt! I gave it to him earlier in the day and didn't have any idea he would wear it on stage. Coolest thing ever.

 

I was wondering what band that was. That's awesome! Link us to your music

 

Ruminate.bandcamp.com

Or just search Ruminate on Spotify/Apple Music/whatever you use

 

Went today, was a great day, GWAR literally was the best set I've ever seen at warped. Too much fun.

 

Today was insane.
Some thoughts:
- PNC security is garbage, I walked in and they barely looked in my very large backpack. Because of that, a huge amount of weed got in. Not that it bothers me, but someone could have easily brought in much worse.
- Microwave is an insanely good live band and about 200 people showed up for them which was nice to see
- The Full Sail stage was horribly placed. There wasn't enough room for the Knocked Loose crowd and a lot of people were being crushed/hurt because of it.
- Counterparts played at the same time as Beartooth so I was able to get nice and close for them since they had a small crowd. They started playing like 5 minutes early so I still made it to Beartooth in time.

ALSO: Does anyone know what all the fighting was about toward the end of Acacia Strain, over on the left side near the Mutant North stage? About 10 guards were involved and it looked pretty serious.

 

Yeah I caught the tail end of that. I think a security guard gave a warning to a guy moshing, he didn't stop donkey punching the crowd so he grabbed the kid and others attacked the security guard. Mind you, a week ago I was also at the Long Island Warped date and there were 2 huge fights during Emmure and 1 during Acacia Strain.

I think these bands come with the territory. Legit the biggest, most ripped humans on the planet mosh to this shit.

 

I totally agree with the most ripped humans part with Emmure, I've never seen Acacia Strain so I don't know, but I tried to mosh to Emmure in Massachusetts where everyone for the most part is very respectful in the pit, I had to leave because I would've got badly hurt, I'm 5'7 and have been in a lot of pits, but none like that

 

That's awesome AJ Styles wore your shirt haha. I can't believe how much he looks like him now.

 

All they would have had to do today is start the left main stage 5 minutes earlier and bump 1 Hard Rock or Skullcandy band to the right main stage and everyone could have had a 30 minute set. But they decided to keep Hard Rock/Skullcandy at 25 minutes each. Kinda shitty especially when Hatebreed is getting 35 minute sets for no real reason.

 

Here's a little recap (if I can remember everything):

- Just like @ryanfears said, security was a joke. You opened up your bag, they hit it with a stick and then let you go. It could've gotten incredibly dangerous.
- First band I caught was Dance Gavin Dance. Incredible performance but a smaller crowd compared to the rest of the day.
- The Ataris were good but did extended jams on most of their songs. They could've added another song but decided to do a 7 minute version of Your Boyfriend Sucks.
- The press area was completely messed up. They weren't doing any day-of sign ups which is completely stupid. Also, we were originally signed up to interview Silverstein, Blessthefall and I Prevail and had a couple maybes in Carnifex and The Acacia Strain. We were on the list for Silverstein, American Authors, Dance Gavin Dance, Lakeshore, and William Control. Thank God we don't have any prepared questions haha.
- Interview with William Control was okay. He had a "rockstar" vibe to him which completely annoyed the shit out of us.
- Caught most of Anti-Flag. For whatever reason, the Hard Rock stage was 5 minutes early. Great set of mostly hits.
- Got a text from Elizabeth over at TWLOHA asking if we could interview her and we did. She said we were the best interview she's done on tour. I mean it was good but in no way phenomenal haha. I'm terrible with taking compliments.
- Interview with Lakeshore was fun and we talked about a lot of non-band related things. Shawn loved it. Ben wasn't having any of it. I guess some artists like the same questions over and over again. Too bad we're not that show.
- Had an hour break until the Silverstein/DGD interviews so I caught After the Burial. Somewhat small crowd but they sounded great. Boring performance though.
- Interview with DGD was great! Talked to Jon and Will about changing their Warped set daily, Will's incredible guitar setup, and then chatted about the Oakland Raiders. Really good guys!
- Interview with Silverstein was just as great! It's funny, we were supposed to talk with Paul and Shane. Shane opted to do another interview and we talked with just Paul. I guess Shane didn't want to talk with the podcast that influenced his show? Talked to Paul about the new album, their Warped run, found out he was originally a NJ Devils fan and more.
- Ran out and caught Hawthorne Heights. Solid crowd and they sounded good. Mostly a hits set but I didn't expect anything else.
- I looked for a band to shoot and saw Silent Planet just starting. Holy crap! I knew what the band was about but I didn't realize how much of a connection they had with their fans! Really solid set.
- Hands Like Houses was the next band and they sounded great! A lot of energy and a lot of fun poses which was great to shoot.
- Next up was Beartooth which had the top 3 craziest crowds of all day! A lot of crowd surfers. Band had a blast on stage and fed off the crowd's energy.
- CKY had a lot of fun onstage but the crowd seemed to be the smallest mainstage crowd all day. Interesting moment was when the singer/guitarist had an issue with something and then started screaming at one of the roadies. No idea what that was about.
- Last interview of the day was with American Authors. The lead singer rode in on a skateboard to the press area. Interesting entrance haha. We talked about the music industry, playing in front of radio crowds and then Warped, and a few more. Publicist gave me the wrap it up sign 10 minutes in so the interview will seem cut off.
- I ran out to catch Hatebreed and this was my first time seeing them so I was pumped. Kevin Lyman comes out onstage and tells the crowd that Jamey's grandmother passed away and that special guests were going to sing. Gwar came out and made a little bit of a scene which was pretty funny. Vincent from The Acacia Strain was first. Then came Tony from Municipal Waste, then there was someone else I didn't know, followed by Frankie from Emmure. The band crushed it and the guest singers did a good enough job. I left after shooting them to grab a $5 pretzel. It was the only thing I ate all day. They also closed up the water station around 7 so that killed me a little bit.
- Silverstein was next and that was probably the craziest crowd of the day. The band had them in the palm of their hands! It also makes me laugh how much Shane looks like AJ Styles. It made me laugh the entire set! It was mostly hits which the crowd loved. I think this was the 17th time seeing them and they're still killing it!
- Blessthefall was the most energetic band of the day. Beau couldn't keep still for more than 2 seconds so I got a lot of blurry photos. The crowd was the ones that fed off of the band and they loved every minute of it!
- While waiting for STYG, I decided to shoot Attila. Holy shit that was odd. The band could probably urinate on their audience and they'd love every second of it. Their crowd was massive and kept chanting "Ah-Til-La" and "Suck my Fuck" for 10 minutes straight before their set. I still don't get what SMF means but a lot of impressionable teenagers loved it. The music was just weird. I've seen Attila before so I knew what to expect but I never actually listened to the actual music. They were entertaining but I don't think I'd ever go out of my way to listen to them. After the set, Dan (co-host of BTB) asked if I saw the girl flashing the band. I didn't and he told me she looked "very underaged". It's unfortunate but doesn't surprise me.
- Caught the last set of the day in Stick to your Guns. Gwar went on at the stage right before them so they played the first song in front of 20 people. After shooting them and seeing the crowd, it seemed like most of the remaining people at Warped were there going crazy. Good for them! Their set was energetic and amazing but the lighting completely sucked. I couldn't really get a good picture which was unfortunate.
- Heading out, I saw a good crowd for Our Last Night on the main stage. I've known the band since Trevor was around 15 years old. They've came a long way since those days and I'm proud of them. The crowd loved their cover of Shape of You but didn't really connect with any originals.

All in all, it was a good Warped Tour but the attendance was lower than previous years. It made it easier for me to move around but I'm sure the tour got hit hard financially. We'll see what happens next year!

 

I've been going to the Scranton date for 13 years now and they've never done more than look in my bag. I've never been pat down upon entry or anything. Security for Warped is far more relaxed than any other show I've attended at the venue. Me and my friends smoked on the lawn about 5 times throughout the day this year and didn't spot a security guard patrolling even once.

 

The Full Sail stage was seriously a MESS. It was on a bizarre angle to the point where if a bigger band was playing you could not get through.

 

At least the water station actually had cold water this year. Last year it was lukewarm.

 

Oddly enough, the only setup change at Scranton this year was Full Sail switched places with one of the Skullcandy/Hard Rock stages, which meant it had a bigger space for crowds than those two. It was in the same spot Monster used to be before there were two of them.

 

Bad news: It doesn't look like I can go to Tinley Park anymore.
Good news: I may be able to leave work earlier and spend more time in Auburn Hills than anticipated.

 

Assumes that for next few dates it'll be hatebreed with guest vocalists?

 

Yesterday was incredible, as usual. Got to the venue around 11:30. I had to park further than usual but in the end that was good because when we left it was quick and easy. We got into the early entry line. As stated by other people, yeah security didn't really check your bag much but they never have in the years I have gone. They were using the metal detector wand randomly for people. I was one of those people.

Doors opened around 12:15, so a little earlier than it was suppose to. The first band I wanted to see didn't go on until 1:25 so we had a lot of time to spare. We walked around to see where all the tents were and visited our friend who was volunteering at the AP tent. I also saw Ansley from Jule Vera walking around so I went and got a picture with her. Now let's get to the music:

-First band I saw was the Ataris. I only knew one song by them (as did a lot of people), but they sounded great and were pretty into it. Good way to start the day.
-It was now around 2pm and we figured we would get lunch early to avoid the long lines. And a great decision as there was literally no line. We sat in the amphitheater and watched Microwaves, who were were pretty good.
-We stayed in the amphitheater for Anti-Flag and they were awesome. Setlist was great and they were able to get the crowd into it even with all the seats. My friend hated them though as their viewpoints on the country don't necessarily agree lol
-Next I saw Andy Black. Most of the people there didn't really know the songs as they probably just like BVB and he even acknowledged that and said something along the lines of "Whether you know these songs or not, it's just a great pleasure to be playing them for you guys and that you are here to listen and support me and Warped tour"
-Right after this on the other main stage was Jule Vera. They had a small crowd, definitely the smallest I saw on the main stage all day. But hey that means I got a really close spot, and they sounded great. Still don't understand why they were put on the main stage
-Neck Deep had one of it not the biggest crowd of the day. I was really far away since we got there just as they were going on so that is probably why I didn't enjoy them as much as I had hoped. They also played Motion Sickness for the first time, but they cut December from the set so that was unfortunate. They were still good though
-Went back to the amphitheater for some shade and saw some of municipal waste. Not a band for me. Big D and the kids table was next and they were pretty great and the crowd was into it too.
-Headed back to the main stage for Beartooth who was probably my favorite set of the day. The energy from both the band and the crowd was awesome and made it a great set.
-It was only a little after 6:30 and the next band I wanted to see wasn't on until 8pm so we just walked around for a bit and then sat in the shade some more. We caught some of Save Ferris' set and they were impressive.
-After they were done we just waited at the stage for American Authors. I was surprised that their crowd wasn't bigger, but I guess their commercial success doesn't translate well with the warped crowd. Either way they were awesome and sounded great.
-To end the day we planned to just watch GWAR for a few songs and then head home, but their set was so strange but entertaining we stayed for the whole thing.

All in all it was another fantastic year. I saw all of the bands I came to see and more.

 

I walked past Jute Vera and felt secondhand embarrassed for them. Decent band, but they would have been better on something like Skullcandy. Maybe they could have put Trophy Eyes on main or something?

 

On a year with more bigger bands available for Main Stage, Jule Vera would have made a perfect Skullcandy band.

 

I like Jule Vera, but legit

Anti-Flag, Silverstein, even Trophy Eyes, all would've made better mainstage bands

 

Shit, looks like I have to miss the July 18th date in Cayuhoga Falls due to unfortunate family obligations. If anyone wants my ticket message me.