Nothing screams summer to us quite like Warped Tour. It's America's longest running festival concert tour, reaching more than 500,000 fans every summer. The festival is held in venues, parking lots and fields throughout the nation for close to two months. What we love so much about Warped Tour is that it features so many different music genres. Rather you're a fan of punk, alternative, hip-hop, ska, emo or electronica, there's something for you. This year, we were given the opportunity to check out the hugely popular event when it hit the PNC Bank Arts Center in Holmdel, New Jersey on July 13th. Check out our review below:
There's certain things you know to expect when heading to Warped Tour. One is that there's going to be a huge crowd...which means waiting in a long line to even get into the venue. That's why it's key to take advantage of their "Skip The Line" pass. All you have to do to get one of these is donate three canned food items or $5.00 at the Feed Our Children NOW! tent located near the entrance. If you have an used cell phone to give up, that will work as well. As the name suggests, this pass allows you to avoid the general admission line and get into the venue first. Trust us, it's worth it. Plus, you're helping out people in need so win-win situation.
Another given when it comes to Warped Tour is that it will be hot. Since it's located in the middle of summer, temperatures are always scorching. Thankfully, Warped Tour has come up with a few ways to stay cool even in the intense heat. First, they have SIGG Water Hydration stations. There, you can refill your empty bottles with free filtered water as many times throughout the day as you'd like. Shade tents and misting stations are also located throughout the venue to help you cool off. Venues that have amphitheaters, like ours did, make for a great place to hide from the sun as well.
Once we entered the venue and scoped out where we'd be cooling off throughout the day (it was 95 degrees at our show), it was time to focus on the reason why we came out to Warped Tour...the live music. After checking out the line up and set times, which is posted on a giant inflatable next to the main Vans tent, we rushed over to see our first and most anticipated band of the day, The Summer Set. These Arizona natives are a pop rock band that truly know how to work a crowd. Even though they were up first thing in the morning, that didn't stop the audience from dancing and singing their hearts out. Our favorite moment came when The Summer Set sang "Lightning in a Bottle", which is one of their new songs off their latest album Legendary. There was even a moment where everyone, including lead singer Brian Dales, threw heart hands up in the air to match the lyrics of the song. So cool!
Next up was Allstar Weekend. It was pretty bittersweet getting to see them play. Through the years, we've become huge fans of this one-time Disney band. As many of you know, Warped Tour marks their last tour before they disband to form a new group. No worries though, that didn't stop them from putting on an amazing set. The pop band sang all their hits like "Not Your Birthday" and "The American Dream". We love their stage banter and can only imagine what they have up their sleeves for the future.
Later on, we got to watch Goldhouse's set. We've heard a lot of good things about him in the past, but never had the chance to actually attend one of his shows. Well, what were we waiting for?! He was fantastic! Goldhouse has this energy when he performs that is immeasurable. "Last One You Love" is our new jam.
The other pleasant surprise of the day came with 3OH!3. Like the rest of the world, we know a bunch of their hits like "Don't Trust Me" and "My First Kiss". Thanks to this, we knew we would have a good time watching them perform, but were definitely not expecting to love them nearly as much as we did. They had us, and the rest of the crowd, dancing up a storm. Between their fun stories on stage and their interactions with one another, this electropop duo has us hooked.
Throughout the day, we also got to check out Never Shout Never's set. We saw this Indie Rock band a few years back, and well...it was quite the experience. You can always count on Christofer Drew, the vocalist, to bring a laid back vibe to their set. With his ukulele playing, Drew delivers a very chill, folksy feel to the stage. He truly has the ability to make us feel like we were transformed back to the sixties.
The last band we saw at Warped Tour was Forever the Sickest Kids. In fact, they're one of our favorite bands playing the festival. As expected, they put on an incredible performance. The lead singer, Jonathan Cook, certainly knows how to pump up a crowd with his crazy onstage antics. Forever the Sickest Kids sang all their hits like "Whoa Oh" and "She's a Lady", which had the crowd going nuts. They even broke out "Chin Up Kid" and "Nice to Meet You" off their new album J.A.C.K. What a fun set.
We had a blast covering Van's Warped Tour for our Pop City Life: Music readers. If you have the chance to attend a show, go! It's a great day filled with live music, so you won't be disappointed. Thank you to everyone at Van's Warped Tour and The Mitch Schneider Organization for giving us this opportunity.
Review by Stephanie Coffey
