More fan friendly, even if the fans aren’t friendly. Cheaper than seeing Ozzy Osbourne haul his carcass on stage to forget the words to ‘Crazy Train’. My first encounter with the Vans Warped Tour was an interesting one.
Taking over the newly renamed Comcast Center – Great Woods to those in the know – something near 90 bands converged on eight stages. This festival had everything from free hugs and huge burritos to Mohawks and bad eyeliner.
Music ranging from punk, power pop, Ska, Christian punk/rock, hardcore, emo and plain noise could be heard emerging from a stage at any given time. Each band is given 30 minutes to show their stuff before break down and another band is ready to go. The stage next to it will erupt with music, and all you have to do is turn slightly to catch a glimpse. This whole festival is efficient and wastes no time getting music to fans.
Considering the fan base of such a show it is no wonder the invention of ‘Reverse Daycare’ came in to creation. Your mom probably doesn’t want to sit through All That Remains, so she can hang out in a tent with other adults while you surf crowds. Seriously, this idea needs to find its way to other gigs that attract tweens.
During the time we stayed – and before some torrential rain struck – we took in sets by Against Me!, Say Anything, Family Force Five, Ludo and several others. I will give props to the marketplace setup of band tents. Buy individual band merchandise and possibly meet them, this tour had thought of everything and had fans in mind. Would I go again next year? Probably not, but for what I paid and what I got, I was pretty pleased over all.
