The Best Concert Experience of the Summer

Imagine sitting at home with nothing to do in the middle of your summer break. Imagine sitting there and listening to all of your favorite bands Now imagine sitting there, listening to recordings of your favorite bands when you know that all of them are just a few hours away, live, playing the show of the summer. My best friend Morgan and I were stuck in this situation for two years.

The Vans Warped Tour is a nationally touring festival in which about 50 bands tour and play together. The Washington State stop is the second-to-last day of the tour. The Washington date has a reputation as one of the best, because of the campgrounds at the venue. Generally speaking, the Vans Warped Tour is a punk rock festival, consisting of pop-rock and hardcore metal. My friend and I are self-proclaimed metal-heads and have wanted to go to Warped Tour since middle school. Our parents always said we were too young and inexperienced, so we couldn’t go.

Finally, in our sophomore year of high school, we got permission to go. We were both extremely excited for the entire experience. We planned months in advance and reserved our camping sites, as well as purchasing our tickets. Morgan and her mom had a camper, so we were all going to drive down together in that and camp out the night before. My parents couldn’t get time off of work so if was just Morgan, her mom, her mom’s friend, and I.

We had a three hour drive ahead of us, not accounting for traffic. Naturally, Morgan and I wanted to blast all of our favorite bands to get pumped up for the shows we would see the next day. For about two hours Morgan’s mom and her friend had to listen to a lot of screaming, none of which they understood. Eventually they couldn’t stand it any longer and they put on their own music – country.

By the time we got into the venue in the morning, we were so excited that we didn’t know where to go first. There were dozens of merchandise booths lined up near the six stages, some of which gave away free things. We checked the big blow-up schedule and took note of when and where our favorite bands played. In-between sets we bought merchandise and we even got to meet two bands – Of Mice & Men and Our Last Night. This festival lasted about 10 hours and by the end, we were both dead tired and very sun-burned. We hadn’t eaten a single thing the entire time and survived on water and Monster energy drinks. The whole experience of getting to see all of your favorite bands in the same day was amazing. One band would finish playing on one stage and then we would walk to another stage to see a different band. No one could escape the music, and no one there wanted to.

The ride home was very sad for Morgan and I because we never wanted it to end. But we realized that in exactly one year, Warped Tour would be back and we could do it all over again. I learned a lot about hygiene because not long after that concert, I got very sick because of the water I shared with many people. I also learned that I don’t have to be afraid to let go of my inhibitions and just be happy. Music allows for an escape from the stress of reality, and the Vans Warped Tour is a break that I will always look forward to.

Imagine sitting at home with nothing to do in the middle of your summer break. Imagine sitting there and listening to all of your favorite bands Now imagine sitting there, listening to recordings of your favorite bands when you know that all of them are just a few hours away, live, playing the show of the summer. My best friend Morgan and I were stuck in this situation for two years.

The Vans Warped Tour is a nationally touring festival in which about 50 bands tour and play together. The Washington State stop is the second-to-last day of the tour. The Washington date has a reputation as one of the best, because of the campgrounds at the venue. Generally speaking, the Vans Warped Tour is a punk rock festival, consisting of pop-rock and hardcore metal. My friend and I are self-proclaimed metal-heads and have wanted to go to Warped Tour since middle school. Our parents always said we were too young and inexperienced, so we couldn’t go.

Finally, in our sophomore year of high school, we got permission to go. We were both extremely excited for the entire experience. We planned months in advance and reserved our camping sites, as well as purchasing our tickets. Morgan and her mom had a camper, so we were all going to drive down together in that and camp out the night before. My parents couldn’t get time off of work so if was just Morgan, her mom, her mom’s friend, and I.

We had a three hour drive ahead of us, not accounting for traffic. Naturally, Morgan and I wanted to blast all of our favorite bands to get pumped up for the shows we would see the next day. For about two hours Morgan’s mom and her friend had to listen to a lot of screaming, none of which they understood. Eventually they couldn’t stand it any longer and they put on their own music – country.

By the time we got into the venue in the morning, we were so excited that we didn’t know where to go first. There were dozens of merchandise booths lined up near the six stages, some of which gave away free things. We checked the big blow-up schedule and took note of when and where our favorite bands played. In-between sets we bought merchandise and we even got to meet two bands – Of Mice & Men and Our Last Night. This festival lasted about 10 hours and by the end, we were both dead tired and very sun-burned. We hadn’t eaten a single thing the entire time and survived on water and Monster energy drinks. The whole experience of getting to see all of your favorite bands in the same day was amazing. One band would finish playing on one stage and then we would walk to another stage to see a different band. No one could escape the music, and no one there wanted to.

The ride home was very sad for Morgan and I because we never wanted it to end. But we realized that in exactly one year, Warped Tour would be back and we could do it all over again. I learned a lot about hygiene because not long after that concert, I got very sick because of the water I shared with many people. I also learned that I don’t have to be afraid to let go of my inhibitions and just be happy. Music allows for an escape from the stress of reality, and the Vans Warped Tour is a break that I will always look forward to.