Special: Warped Tour 2014 Review

Firstly, I haven't done a show review in forever so this makes my loins feel good. I attended the Darien Lake stop of the Vans Warped Tour this past Tuesday, which happened to be my tenth straight year attending Warped and it didn't leave me with those good loin feelings I previously described.

Let me preface this but listing the Top 20 bands I wanted to see in order of how much I was excited for them:

1. State Champs (Played at 12:10 on the Kevin Says Stage)
2. Chunk! No, Captain Chunk (Played at 6:50 on the Ernie Ball Stage)
3. The Summer Set (Played at 2:30 on the Main Stage)
4. Yellowcard (Played at 6:35 on the Main Stage)

5. The Story So Far (Played at 12:15 on the Main Stage)
6. Aaron West And The Roaring Twenties (Played at 5:30 in the Acoustic Basement)
7. Mayday Parade (Played at 11:05 on the Main Stage)
8. Four Year Strong (Played at 4:50 on the Main Stage)
9. Bayside (Played at 12:15 on the Journey's Stage)
10. We Are The In Crowd (Played at 11:45 on the Warhead's Stage)
11. Saves The Day (Played at 6:45 on the Warhead's Stage)
12. Real Friends (Played at 4:15 on the Journey's Stage)
13. The Maine (Played at 3:45 on the Warhead's Stage)
14. Breathe Carolina (Played at 4:15 on the Main Stage)
15. We The Kings (Played at 6:00 on the Main Stage)
16. Bowling For Soup (Played at 7:10 on the Main Stage)
17. Anthony Raneri (Played at 2:35 in the Acoustic Basement)
18. Courage My Love (Played at 6:10 on the Ernie Ball Stage)
19. Less Than Jake (Played at 7:45 on the Main Stage)
20. Nick Santino (Played at 12:50 in the Acoustic Basement)

A quick glance at the schedule will show you that there was a ridiculous amount of conflicts as in the top 5 alone I only saw 2 full sets and 2 partial sets (more on this later) but for now let's dive right in.

We arrived through the gates of Warped at about 11:15, luckily for us the main stages were set up right near the entrance so after coming in and seeing Mayday Parade already playing we stayed and finished the set. From what I could gather we missed about 3 songs, maybe 4 from their set. After Mayday Parade we started adventuring but we couldn't find any of the other stages or the blow up schedule... After about 10 minutes we discovered there was a fence separating the two sides. I noticed The Story So Far was playing at 12:15 on the main stage by glancing over someone's shoulder at their schedule. I also noticed We Are The In Crowd was playing the Warhead's Stage at 11:45 and when we found the stage just before WATIC went on, which so happened to have the blow up schedule right behind us. It was around this point that I realized my most anticipated band was on at the same time as TSSF, not to mention Bayside, who I'm sure my girlfriend would've liked to see so I felt bad for taking a dictatorship vote and going to see State Champs, though we had to unfortunately leave WATIC early to get to the other stage, luckily we passed it going to find the Warhead's stage so we knew where to find it.

State Champs were great and my girlfriend really enjoyed it as she knew all the songs (I made her listen to The Finer Things a lot in the car back in winter) and they were just a really great show. I was still bummed about missing TSSF on the Main Stage for the first time and Bayside who I haven't seen in years but sometimes at Warped you have to deal with things like these, although what followed sucked... We couldn't find the Acoustic Basement stage so we couldn't watch Nick Santino (formerly of A Rocket To The Moon) though he was far down my list so I wasn't heartbroken. What sucked was the 2 hours wait between State Champs finishing (about 12:40) and The Summer Set (2:30). We looked around and started picking up merch and refilled our water supply about 1:20ish we decided to stop looking around for stuff and just sat in the grass since Santino was now done his set... However we had to listen to Falling In Reverse on the main stage from where we were sitting and although I understand he has his fan base, Ronnie Radke is not someone I enjoy, after about 15 minutes we decided to continue exploring before heading back to the Main Stage at around 2:00 to get in a good spot for The Summer Set, who we were both looking forward to.

While waiting The Ghost Inside were playing on the main stage and I was quite impressed with them, I generally not a fan of the metalcore but The Ghost Inside did it well and was quite enjoyable as far as an "in between band" goes and it was about this time that the rain started coming down. The Summer Set finally came on and everyone was standing on their chairs and me and the other 5 males in the audience made awkward glances to each other trying to make sure no one realizes how much we are enjoying ourselves amid a horde of screaming fangirls. The rain started slowing down and we went exploring some more, picking up our last bit of merch and refilling our water supply. at 3:45 we went to watch The Maine on the Warhead's Stage and as the rain fell, The Maine continued to play, however after a handful of songs the rain got stronger and stronger, knowing that we were heading back to the Main Stage to see Breathe Carolina at 4:15, my girlfriend wanted to see them and they were close enough to Real Friends in my rankings that I didn't feel too bad about missing them so she can have a better experience, we decided that we'd just head back to the main stage to get out of the rain since we'd have to miss the last two songs anyways it wasn't worth getting more drenched to hear another two songs.

Breathe Carolina brought out giant beach balls, which are always a favourite of mine, but other than that their set wasn't as good as I had expected since I generally like about half their songs. When Breathe Carolina finished, Four Year Strong started up on the Main Stage and I was stoked to see my Bearded Heroes back on stage. Their set was a perfect mix from their 3 past full lengths and their new EP which I picked up weeks ahead of it's release. After this solid set we went over to see Soupy from the Wonder Years side project Aaron West And The Roaring Twenties at the Acoustic Basement which we had since found behind all the record label booths. Soupy went fully into the character of Aaron West, so much in fact my girlfriend, who I'm certain now has never actually listened to The Wonder Years lyrics, was certain his real name was Aaron, he grew up in Long Island NY and had a wife named Diane. It was a great set and something much different than what I'm used to seeing at Warped and the pop punk kids crowded the tent since bands like Beebs And Her Money Makers and Motionless In White were occupying other stages.

It was a long walk back to the main stage after Aaron West as the hills and the mud was nearly unbearable when we made it back we saw We The Kings who I believe were still playing their first song when we showed up. We The Kings is another one of those bands I admire without ever actually getting super into them. It was a good set with a lot of new stuff and lots of old favourites as well. Once they finished up Yellowcard came on and they played their hearts out, for the 4 songs we seen anyway as Chunk! No, Captain Chunk was playing Ernie Ball at 6:50 and Yellowcard started at 6:35, this also meant missing Saves The Day at the Warhead's stage as they were going on at 6:45 which bummed me out since I love STD (heh) and have yet to see a full set of theirs. Even worse when we go to Ernie Ball Chunk was still setting up, or so I thought, turns out they had some technical difficulties and didn't get started until after 7 and only played 4 songs because of it, but boy was it an enjoyable 4 song set. After Chunk! We had the option of catching the last 2 or so songs of Bowling For Soup's set and then checking out Less Than Jake, but since both were low on my lists, and the convenience of the Ernie Ball stage being right next to the exit we decided to pack it in for the day. The weather and mud made it bad as did the worst scheduling I've ever had at a Warped but after 10 years of going, we were bound to have one of these. It will not prevent me from going to future tours as I'm already counting down to Warped Tour 2015.

Before we go let's just take a look at what I did get to see:

Full sets:

1. State Champs
3. The Summer Set
6. Aaron West And The Roaring Twenties
8. Four Year Strong
14. Breathe Carolina
15. We The Kings

Almost full sets:
7. Mayday Parade
10. We Are The In Crowd
00. The Ghost Inside

Partial sets:
2. Chunk! No, Captain Chunk! (technical difficulties)
4. Yellowcard
13. The Maine (our choice)
00. Falling In Reverse

Missed entirely:
5. The Story So Far
9. Bayside
11. Saves The Day
12. Real Friends
16. Bowling For Soup (could've seen last 2 songs, chose to leave)
17. Anthony Raneri
18. Courage My Love
19. Less Than Jake (our choice)
20. Nick Santino (couldn't find stage)

Here's hoping the weather is better next year and the schedule is better for us pop punk kids so we don't have to choose between The Story So Far and State Champs or Saves The Day, Yellowcard and Chunk! No, Captain Chunk!