It’s that time of year again. You’ve been waiting all year for this day and it’s finally here. You’ve got everything ready the night before for the big day so you can leave the house and get there early. Walking out the door you just can’t believe that you’re finally going to Warped Tour.
Vans Warped Tour is a huge music festival that takes place annually and has been around since 1993. It usually takes place in outdoor concert venues, parking lots, or large fields. Over the years, Warped Tour has had over 100 bands play over the summer at different venues worldwide There are also about 8 or 9 different stages at Warped Tour. The bigger and more popular bands usually play on the main stage while others will play on the other stages. There are also a lot of tents set up in between stages for band merch and people advertising different companies and businesses. Sometimes if you pass a tent they’ll hand out free stuff! You’ll usually get there at around at least 10:00 in the morning and the last band ends at around 9:00 at night. It’s an entire day of going to one venue to the next seeing your favorite bands play all in one day!
This year, one of the places on the tour was to Jones Beach right here in Wantagh and they set up the tents and stages in one of Jones Beach’s parking lots. The lineup this year included the bands Of Mice and Men, Motionless In White, Yellowcard, Bowling For Soup, Falling In Reverse, Issues, Attila, Crown The Empire, Chelsea Grin, Beartooth, For Today, and so many more. Each band plays for about 45 minutes and sings about 6-8 songs and then the next band will play.
The whole day you’re pretty much going from one stage to another hearing your favorite bands play one after the next. When you have time in between shows, you’re either buying overly priced food or visiting the merch tents getting your favorite bands merchandise. Warped Tour is hours of moshing and listening to awesome bands play all day long. If you’re someone like me, concerts are my one escape from all my problems and stresses of life. So, going to a concert that lasts a full day is like an entire day in heaven. The feeling of seeing your hero’s finally in person singing your favorite songs is honestly the best feeling in the world.
If you decide on going to Warped Tour, here are a few tips to survive the day/ what to bring & wear:
-Pack your bag the night before
-Eat a good breakfast
-Make sure to drink water all day because it’s going to be extremely hot and you don’t want to get dehydrated and faint (it has happened before).
-Bring enough money for water, food, and band merch
-A Ziploc bag to put your phone, camera, and other valuable items in if it happens to rain so it
doesn’t get wet.
-sunglasses
-hat
-wear sunscreen
-A sharpie and notebook for band signatures
-extra bobby pins/ hair ties
The dates for Vans Warped Tour 2015 will be posted on their website this fall so keep your eyes peeled for the announcements! Also, the band announcements begin this December! They usually announce a few bands every Wednesday on their Instagram, Twitter, or on the Vans Warped Tour website (www.vanswarpedtour.com). I guarantee if you go you will have the best time of your life.