You know that feeling of overwhelming anticipation? Almost like the first day of school, or how all mothers say they feel in the months up to the birth of their beloved child. Well that’s exactly how my friend and I felt a week before what was going to be an experience of a lifetime: Vans Warped Tour 2011. I had dreamed of going to Warped Tour since my first introduction to screamo music. Months prior to Warped Tour I begged my father to take me. I knew there was no way that I would be able to hitch a ride with anyone else (my parents just wouldn’t allow it). So after using practically every method possible to beg (facebook posts, groveling, texting) I succeeded, but on one condition: I had to pay. I continued the job I had for my work study program at my school during the summer and easily raised the money to go. But then the thought popped into my head: What fun would it be without a friend? So I contacted one of my best friends Ashley and asked her if she wanted to go. Of course as always with best friends, her answer was a scream of joy. So there we were both ready to be off to Warped Tour 2011.
The day before Warped Tour was excruciating. The anticipation of Warped Tour being just one day away was exciting. I was receiving calls non stop from friends who had desperately wanted to come along. I was continuously getting texts from my friend Ashley who was going with me saying things like, “What are you wearing to Warped Tour?”, “ahhhhhh Warped Tour is tmrw”, “Danny Worsnop” (which happens to be Asking Alexandria’s lead singer). We were acting like such little kids; it was ridiculous. We’d text back and forth right until the moment I got to her house to pick her up. Finally when we picked Ashley up, we both shared my iPod and jammed to screamo all the way to Houston. These small similarities between you and a person are what you cherish about friendships. The ride to Houston seemed to last forever because we were both so pumped up for warped tour it was hard to stay still. Funny enough, everyone was able to be in bed early, ready for a busy morning and day.
Ashley and I left the parents as quickly as possible heading for the first band we had planned to see: The Ready Set. It was fantastic and the crowd was calm and pumped. The next concert we decided to go see was a band called New Years Day which turned out to be a very good decision even though we had no idea who they were to begin with. Lesson learned: always try new things. We quickly made our way to the stage where we knew Dance Gavin Dance would be performing later, ready to wait out the other band in order to be up front for Dance Gavin Dance. Ironically, we both turned out to love the band before Dance Gavin Dance so much we want to see them again. We constantly were taking care of each other throughout the day like making sure we drank enough water, and grabbing each other when people began to shove and pull us apart in mosh pits. As we continued through our day at Warped we realized it is a place to bring close friends. If you can’t depend on your friends you definitely will have a problematic time at Warped. Warped tour is a place where friendship is a necessity. If not, you will get lost and swallowed by the crowd caught up in the scene and possibly bring harm to yourself.
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