What's up everyone? I was fortunate enough to attend the Warped Tour 25th Anniversary in Atlantic City late last month so I figured I'd do a write-up on the bands I seen/heard and end it with my overall impressions of the event. Since this was a two day event I'll break down my schedule for each day, conflicts and my thoughts on each band and I'll wrap it up with my general feelings on the festival at the end.
Saturday June 29th:
I got through the gates at about 12:45 and the first band I wanted to see was Less Than Jake on the main stage at 1:30 so I opted to head over to the main stage and caught most of Save Ferris' set who was on before LTJ. They were fun enough, I hadn't really listened to them before and although the 40+ year old singer about sleeping with half of LA was awkward banter I wasn't for but overall it was okay.
Less Than Jake came on next and they sounded as good as they usually with the perfect amount of entertaining banter making it an enjoyable set while roasting in the heat without water. After their set we decided to stand in the long line to get water and was able to hear most of Travie McCoy's set on the main stage from afar... I forgot how many hits he had but I couldn't tell how he drew since I was basically watching from a screen. Eventually the line moved closer to the Monster stage than the main stage and I listened to Can't Swim. They sounded great from what I heard but I haven't really listened to them so I plan on rectifying that soon but they didn't have a huge turnout especially since they are a Jersey band.
Once we got our water we took advantage of some shade we found and sat down for a bit and finished the Can't Swim set before heading out to check out the merch. We got back to the main stage around 4 and got to see the end of Andrew W.K.'s set and let me tell you, Keanu Reeves gets a lot of attention for not aging... Dude's got nothing on Andrew. He looks the exact same with the same amount of energy he had when Party Hard was first released in 2001. He killed it, I wished I saw his whole set even though I wasn't terribly familiar with his back catolgue.
Simple Plan was the next artist at 4:30 on the main stage and they played well but it was a little disappointing they played the exact same set as they did at Warped last year with the addition of Shut Up given the extra 10 minutes they got. They instead used it to talk during I'm Just A Kid and bring up Travis from We The Kings to perform the rest of the song with them. All that being said they have an extremely fun show and I highly recommend anyone going to see them.
The next band we planned on checking out was Good Charlotte at 6 and as we were ducking in the shade waiting they announced they were clearing the beach due to thunderstorms at about 5:30 and let us back in at 6:30ish with music restarting at 7:15 and under the new schedule GC was going on at 7:35 now partially interfering with Valencia's set at 8. Our plan was to check out Good Charlotte's first 15-20 minutes and then head over to Valencia since they were the priority since they no longer tour. Unfortunately GC had technical difficulties which pushed their start time an extra 5-10 minutes and when they started Joel had mic issues and had to keep switching mics and shutting them off and on. We saw 2 songs and listened to a 3rd while walking to Valencia. It was disappointing going from no conflicts to this one but we did just see GC do a headline set last fall so it wasn't the end of the world.
Valencia played the Blackcraft stage and that was going to be our only trip to that stage (which was at the opposite end of the main stage) but it was worthwhile. They played a pretty typical set though I was dissapointed we didn't get Dancing With A Ghost I was okay with the choices overall and they played well despite the singer Shane just getting out of the hospital with pneumonia a day or two prior. Overall I'm at peace with the fact that I'll likely never see them live again.
Bad Religion was playing on the main stage when Valencia wrapped up and we opted to watch that from a distance while waiting for Set Your Goals to perform on the Monster Stage at 8:55. The only problem was that Wage War just started playing at 8:45. We had overheard Varials was having some technical issues after the rain delay and it appeared to delay the whole stage and made Varials miss their set entirely, though they did get to close that stage the following day.
As a result we could've watched We The Kings who closed out the Blackcraft stage at 9 but we didn't even think of it as we wrote it off as a conflict when we got the adjusted schedule so instead we watched Wage War and they were energetic and had the crowd going but their music isn't for me despite my best efforts to get into them. At around 9:30 Set Your Goals finally went on and I was able to catch their set which was very heavy on Mutiny songs much to my chagrin but I'm glad I got to see them once more and like Valencia, get the closure I needed knowing I'll never see them again.
After that we had to leave to catch our train and could only hear/see a few A Day To Remember songs as we left the venue and headed down the boardwalk to ensure we don't miss the last train. I was disappointed at the time but when the next morning came and everyone talked about staying for ADTR and missing the train and needing to ride buses back to the hotel only to get back at 2am I felt better about our decision to skip ADTR who still tour regularly and we've seen as recently as August 2016.
Sunday:
On Sunday we got through gates a little earlier, maybe 12:20ish and although we were missing Atreyu who went on right at noon on the main stage I mostly expected it and they were a low priority so it wasn't the end of the world but we did hear most of the songs on the boardwalk and in line. We also caught the last 2 at the main stage since we were heading there for Anti-Flag at 12:40. They sounded great but the crowd was very small given the time they played. A-F also had a small crowd but they riled everyone up like they normally do and played an excellent set stretching all eras while getting political like you'd expect and what was needed given the state of the US currently.
We basically stayed parked at the main stage since Man Overboard was on at 1:20 and then The Story So Far at 2:00. Man Overboard played a great set full of favourites, no banter to get to more music which I was okay with since I made peace knowing that it would be the last time seeing them. They played great and haven't missed a beat despite not playing together for a while. TSSF played a good set with a mix of songs though mostly new but as usual the band itself is not energetic but the crowd makes up for a portion of it but I will say instrumentally and vocally the band is leaps and bounds better than the last time I saw them.
We had a mini break at this point waiting for Four Year Strong on the Monster Stage at 3:20 so we found some shade near the beach and heard Hyro The Hero's set from the Blackcraft stage. It sounded great and the band had a lot of energy. Highly recommending checking them out if they're near you even if you don't know the music. Four Year Strong played their usual Warped Tour set of favourites and although I used to say it'll never get old, it might but not yet. They added Stuck In The Middle with the extra 5 minutes which I was happy about and they are super energetic so they always get you pumped up even if we couldn't get anywhere near the stage which is surprising given it's a side stage.
At the same time FYS was on Big D was on the Full Sail stage but since we wanted to see Set It Off at the Monster Stage next we decided to basically stay put other than looking for some Icee's to munch on and we checked out The Menzingers on the main stage from afar. Once Set It Off started we knew we could only watch half their set to get to the main stage in time for The Starting Line and as always SIO put on a great show, if you ever get a chance you should check them out. We've been fortunate to see them a bunch of times and it never disappoints.
The Starting Line on main stage was next and they are much better live then I remember. They don't go on long tours anymore so I don't really expect to ever see them live again so this was nice closure for me even if I will never hear them perform Say It Like You Mean It front to back. Once they finished we had just enough time to get to the Monster stage to see Sleeping With Sirens. Their crowd was massive so we weren't going to get close on that smaller stage but that suited me well since we only had a couple minutes once they finished to get to the main stage for The Used. They played all their hits and the new song seemed to go over well, we'll just have to see if their fanbase is still interested in new music still once the new album comes out.
I had only seen The Used once before and it was at Warped Tour... Maybe 2015? I don't really recall but they didn't sound great but there was nothing else going on so it made sense to do. I gotta say they killed this live show. I'm not sure if the band is just in a better place now or not but they sounded great and had a nice greatest hits set. It's obvious they are going full nostalgia band but as someone who's never really seen them before I was fine with it. U/nfortunetly with Neck Deep playing the Blackcraft stage on the other side of the beach we missed the last few songs to catch all of their set.
By the time we made it to the stage Neck Deep was playing at, it was complete madness. Between their fans, fans trying to get a spot for Bowling for Soup on the next stage over and the Reel Big Fish fans that were getting ready for them to close off the Blackcraft stage after Neck Deep there was no room to move anywhere. We still enjoyed the set and got some nice surprise songs thrown in for a short Warped set. I'm still yet to see them outside a Warped setting but I'm definitely going to prioritize it on their upcoming album cycle.
Next was the toughest decision, out of all the bands on the card the only one I never seen was Taking Back Sunday who played the main stage from 7-7:45. Neck deep ate up the first half of their set but I could've ran down to the main stage and caught the end of it and be there already for The Offspring at 7:55 but I hadn't gotten a chance to get some water from the refill stands (we still had some water but it was hot at this point in the day) nor did I do any merch shopping. We decided to enjoy Bowling For Soup's set and do the water and merch since it was right near that stage since I had also never seen them even if they weren't as big of a priority but hydration was important at that point. BFS were great and their stage banter was topnotch as even in their late 40's they have not matured.
We left Bowling For Soup's set a song early (sorry 1985!) to make our way to the main stage for The Offspring. We stopped and grabbed food on our way. Since they were on the main stage we can hear them from virtually anywhere as long as we weren't near another stage so we were able to grab food while still hearing the band. They were solid and played all their hits including Pretty Fly and You're Gonna Go Far, Kid which I didn't get to see at Warped 2005 because the latter wasn't out yet and the former was too corny for a 30 minute punk set I guess? They didn't move around as much but that's not surprising considering their older but their banter was still good, despite some creepy uncle type moments.
After the Offspring there was only 1 band left to play. blink-182 closed out Warped Tour in Atlantic City and killed it. They played Enema of the State front to back first and then played a series of greatest hits afterwards. Unfortunately we had to miss the last few songs to beat the crowd and catch our bus but Enema was the priority and we got that. The band sounded great even if I am still getting used to Skiba singing the Tom parts. The banter and production was top notch with a highlight being Mark moving his mic over to the side of the stage and announce that he'll be playing the next song to the port-o-potties.
Well that's it folks. Thanks for taking a stroll down memory lane. I don't know when the next time I'll be able to do a Warped Review for you but hopefully it's not too long.
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