Highlight of the summer so far: Warped Tour 2014!!! It was my second year, and let me tell you that I loved every minute of it! It is the tour’s 20th birthday and the bands brought their A game and did not disappoint. I was worried that this year would not live up to my high expectations based on summer of 2013, but my expectations were exceeded!! BEST DAY EVER!!!
I was fortunate enough to win a contest with the band Echosmith and the clothing brand BCBGeneration…I received 2 passes to have a meet and greet with the band. Echosmith is an indie-pop band from Los Angeles, California made up of a family of talented musicians; Jamie, Noah, Sydney, and Graham Sierota. Meeting the band was awesome! I was able to talk with them for a few minutes before their manager took our picture and I was on my merry way. I had told the lead singer, Sydney, that I tried out for my school talent show with one of the band’s songs called Bright, one of my favorite songs.
One of the things I love about Warped Tour is that wherever you stand you can hear music. When I was waiting for Echosmith’s set to start the band We Are the In Crowd was performing at the stage next door and I was able to see the set from where I was standing. We Are the In Crowd is a pop-punk band from Poughkeepsie, New York, made up of Taylor Jardine, Jordan Eckes, Mike Ferri, Rob Chianelli, and Cameron Hurley. I had never listened to any of their music before I overheard their set, but I am going to start now! I have to give Taylor mad props for having some serious Girl Power! As an aspiring female musician it gives me hope when I see a girl rocking out on stage in front of countless adoring fans. Before the band’s last song Taylor hopped off the stage and ran with her microphone to sing on top of a light post amidst all the fans gathered to watch the set. I just thought it was a really cool and personal thing to do on a whim to please her fans.
One of the most memorable moments of my day at Warped was the We the Kings set. We the Kings is an alternative rock band from Bradenton, Florida, made up of Travis Clark, Hunter Thomsen, Danny Duncan , Coley O’Toole, and Charles Trippy. It was like everyone who showed up to Warped was listening to the We the Kings set. I was so far away from the stage that the band looked like ants, but the crowd was amazing! Everyone was dancing and waving their arms in perfect synchronization as the band played their last song Check yes Juliet. Before the song started Travis stated that it would be their last song and it “will always be our last song!!”
The final set I listened to before going home was The Ready Set. The Ready Set is a pop rock/synthpop band made up of Jordan Witzigreuter, and Deryck Stanek, Michael Naran, and Travis Rountree (for tour only). This set was my favorite set of the entire day! I have never felt so compelled to dance with all my heart and scream the song lyrics at the top of my lungs. There were two songs that really stood out during the set that I’ve been blasting ever since I got home. The first one was Fangz, which I had never heard before. Everything about this song was appealing to me and I went crazy. The second song was Give Me Your Hand (Best Song Ever) I’ve adored this song since it was released as a single and the fact that this was the song to close the set made my day.
I walked out of the venue feeling alive, and energized from the amazing music I’d witnessed and excited for every concert to come. Thank you so much for reading my very first blogpost and I look foreward to writing many more.
-Swaggie Maggie