“Denver, you crazy mother*****s!” - Jeremy McKinnon of A Day To Remember.
Jeremy’s exclamation was no understatement regarding the crowd of devoted fans that surrounded the stage. Despite overwhelming heat, thousands of music lovers came out to Warped Tour to see their favorite bands. Throughout the day I even met several devoted fans who drove from as far as Wyoming for the show.
When I arrived at the show the line went on for what felt like miles. Fans eagerly waited for 11 o’clock when the doors would open. One particular thing I noticed was how many kids brought cans of food for the Feed Our Children Now skip the line pass. For those who do not know what this is, it’s the opportunity to wait in a shorter line for kids who bring canned food to donate. It’s a wonderful program because it cuts the excruciating wait in addition to helping a wonderful cause. According to Warped founder Kevin Lyman, Warped has gotten several notes this year from food banks across the country saying that Feed Our Children Now has left the largest donations in their histories. Although bringing food does not completely eliminate the wait, it is worth bringing a 69 cent can of beans.
Once doors opened, the venue flooded with people. Most surrounded the vans inflatable tent scribbling set times on notepads or their arms. Many took advantage of Warped Tour’s free new app for Iphone and Android that provides a simple and intuitive set list builder. I personally use the app because it helps me stay organized and keep from missing any of my favorite bands. The vans booth was overwhelmed with people yelling out the daily ‘code word’ in order to be one of the first 100 people to get free Vans goodies. The Music Saves Lives tent also had an impressive line of people who donated blood to get a VIP Voucher that can be traded for a backstage wristband to the first 150 people. Even the people who weren’t in the first 150 got a wristband that would allow them into exclusive meet and greets and other VIP perks.
Shortly after doors opened, I retreated to the Label Tent where I volunteer to help hand out free goods such as stickers, fliers, beer cozies, posters, fans, and credit card sliders for smart phones. At the label tent there is also a daily drawing for a limited edition distortion pedal from Visual Sounds. Many people stopped by to enter the contest and pick up some free stuff. The Label Tent isn’t the only one on tour with free item available, the Keep A Breast Tent gives out things such as wallets and sunglasses in exchange for a donation and many other tents have free items for the first visitors. One way not to miss these chances is to follow the companies on twitter. By doing so I have gotten many things such as free tee shirts, tank tops, sunglasses, drawstring bags, and much more.
The first band that I watched was The Word Alive. They had an extraordinary live performance and the crowd went crazy despite it only being 12:30 am. After watching them play, I went back to the press area to sign up for interviews with bands. I was able to talk to JR who plays saxophone in the band. He was very friendly and didn’t mind at all when I realized 4 minutes in to the interview that my mic was off and didn’t record any sound. I tried to lay particular interest wit in what the bands would tell to young local bands who want to play music and are trying to ‘Earn It Themselves’ in my interviews. When I asked JR what he would tell to young musicians hoping to make it in the industry. He said, Stop. Quit. Sell me all your gear, I’ll buy it. And then after you quit go back to school and get a degree because your parents were right and it’s all just a fantasy. You know, you shouldn’t be here. I don’t know, the hardest thing to tell a kid that’ s 20 years old is that their dream is not gonna happen, you know? Because I was 20 years old and people told me that my dream wasn’t going to happen either. So, I would say that if I was going to tell somebody, if they wanted- if they really wanted to do this, then you better become serious about it. And not serious like: I need road cases, I need a crew, I need a record label. Serious like you better write good songs, you better learn how to play your instrument and you better fucking be good at what you do because there’s a hundred bands out here that are better than yours. Seriously. So if you wanna like real serious as a heart attack answer, that’s serious as a heart attack answer. Joking answer: quit now because it’s a lot more work than you think it is.” His response may have been slightly negative, but it was very honest. Many people think they want to play music but they don’t understand how much work it is. I agree wholeheartedly that being a serious band does not mean having professional gear or a record label, it means having true good music. The next musicians I talked to where Annisa and Alexia from Eyes Set To Kill. I asked them if they had any other advice for girls who may want to pursue a musical career in the metalcore genre and Annisa said, “Never give a crap about what anyone thinks about you, just care about what you think of yourself ‘cause there’s always gonna be people that judge you negatively and you should never let that change who you are. Because then you’ll start, end up like straying away from being true to yourself as an artist. So that’s my advice”. Alexia followed with, “Yeah that and just as long as you keep practicing and keeping your mind set on like playing music and keeping focused, you’ll make it”.
After my interviews, I went to the Earn It Yourself meet-up. There where about 20 attendees some of whom came from Fort Collins, Kansas, and even Minnesota. Kevin Lyman who founded Warped Tour was there and talked to us about the importance of working hard in this industry. He asked each person what they wanted to do in the music business. The answers varied from concert photography to band promotion to being a legitimate band. Everyone asked questions relating to their situation and got insightful and relevant information from Kevin and the other Earn It Yourself speakers. The meetup provides a rare opportunity to ask questions directly to the people in the industry who will have answers. Kevin explained what he has been trying to do lately with Warped, to bring it back down to it’s grassroots beginnings where what matters most is just the music. He told us how he picks the bands for Warped and that he looks past rumors and judges them based on if they are talented and if they can pull a crowd. The example given was a band that Kevin was told rapes girls. After some research he found out that this story originated out of the mouth of a 15 year old who when confronted by the police, refused to take the test that would prove her case. Therefor without legitimate proof of wrong doing, he booked them. The topic of musical diversity was brought up and Kevin told us how his goal is to have bands of all different types on the tour, including the more ‘out there’ bands such as Larry and His Flask. Kevin conceders them a success because before this tour began, they were no-names. Originally they were only supposed to play at the doors, but when an opening on stage came up they got it. Now Kevin feels that they could pull a large crowd and he plans to book them next year for the full tour on a larger stage.
I would highly recommend attending the EIY meet up to anyone who has even the slightest thought of joining the music industry in whatever way. Not only does it give the chance to ask questions to people like Kevin questions, it is also a wonderful place to make connections. For example, My passion is concert photography and I met several people at the meet up who either take pictures like me, or need people to take pictures. From this I will probably get several opportunities to shoot for bands and get press passes. It is a place for bands to meet future tour managers and tour managers to meet promoters and so on and so forth.
Throughout the day I was able to talk to other bands and get their perspective on how to start. I found this question very relevant to the message of Earn It Yourself and really wanted to hear what artists think new bands should know. Chapstick from Family Force Five had a lot of advice such as to “work your booty off”, ” just treat people well”, and to “know it makes such a big difference when you believe in what you’re doing and when you see it as something bigger than just you know, “I’m trying to make a living” or “I’m trying to get big” or trying to get famous. Like those, the people that I know that have that perspective always end up so sad and so lonely and so broken. You have to enjoy this and you have to truly be passionate about the music you’re making and what you’re shutting and communicating with the fans and along those lines, treat your fans like gold”. He also warned me that touring is much less glamorous than many people expect and that on Warped, “there’s like 2 showers and 800 people”. Despite the lack in abundance of showers, he still loves being on warped and feels that it is like a big family. The last person I talked to was Danny Worsnop of Asking Alexandria. He told me that the most important thing is, “Be unique, that’s how you get to the top.”
When I wasn’t doing interviews I saw several bands play. The performance that I enjoyed the most was A Day To Remember’s. Typically I’m not a huge ADTR fan, but what made their set incredible was not so much the band as it was the crowd. The sea of people stretched on as far as the eye could see. Everybody in the audience sang passionately along. I stood on the tips of my toes trying to get a picture to capture the moment. The guy standing next to me saw my struggle and offered to let me sit on his shoulders to get the shot. It really struck me that a stranger like that would offer to lift me up so I could take my picture. Sure enough, I got the shot I wanted and was delighted. That moment right there reminded me why I love going to concerts so much. It’s more than seeing a band or hearing some music, it’s a community. That moment illustrated Warped Tour’s slogan this year, “We are Warped”. I heard many times throughout the day from the bands that Warped Tour is a family to those who follow it, but I think even the kids in the audience are family at Warped. Hearing thousands of voices belting the same lyrics and swaying together gives such a powerful since of belonging to members of the audience, and that is what is most valuable to me.
After A Day To Remember finished up I went to hand out Victory Records Sampler CDs by the doors. As I handed them out I noticed the smiles across everyone’s faces as they left the venue. I saw sunburns, sweat, torn clothing, and messy hair, but everyone was smiling. That’s what Warped Tour is, It is a chance for music lovers to come together once a year and see their favorite bands. It is a place where everyone belongs and music is the heart.
