Warped Tour

Yes, that time of year has come once again. The Warped Tour came through town. It has been an annual tradition for some for the past 13 years. Those who know me, know that I worked and traveled on the Warped Tour for 4 years from 2000 to 2003. This past weekend, I got the chance to go to the show to hang out with old friends and check out the bands.

I went with my friend Gina Thieme, her daughter Rachel and Rachel's friend (I forgot her name, oops). I was able to get backstage passes for all of us. It was a dream come true for Rachel since some of her favorite bands were playing. She got to meet them and take her picture with them. It was cool seeing her meet her favorite musicians. She wasn't shy about going up to them and asking for autographs and taking pics with them. She seemed the most excited about meeting Bam Margera from Jackass.

As soon as we walked in the gate, I started running into old friends from when I was on the tour. The tour is very different from when I used to be on it. It seems more corporate now. There are lots of new people. Some of the people I worked with are long gone now. But I did enjoy seeing friends like Kevin Lyman (Warped tour owner/producer), Maurice Acosta (former stage manager), Shelly (owner of catering company), Kenny Leath (stage manager), Kerry Nicholson (Production manager), Gary Olitzsky (stage manager) Steve Sullivan (Director of Security), Mitch Alden(Stage manager), Brian Bishop (former backline tech), Greg Teal (former stage manager) and a slew of others.

I had a great time catching up with the guys in Flogging Molly. I hadn't seem them in almost 3 years. They are heading off to Ireland soon to work on pre-production for their new album. It's amazing how awesome they are live. I have been seeing them play for the past 7 years and they never seize to amaze me.

I was feeling a bit nostalgic as the day wore on. Part of me misses being on the Warped Tour but I think an even bigger part of me doesn't. A lot of people think it's pretty glamorous but trust me when I say that it is not. A lot of hard work goes into putting this tour on and making it successful. My hat goes off to Kevin Lyman and the rest of the crew and bands that make the Warped Tour what it is each and every year.

Musical highlights for me were, in no particular order...Killswitch Engage, Revolution Mother, Coheed and Cambria, Avenged Sevenfold (they were the surprise special guest band), Tiger Army, The Almost, Warped Tour veterans Bad Religion and Pennywise, and last but not least the one the only..Flogging Molly.

If you have never had the experience of going to a Warped Tour show, you must plan on going next year. It is not to be missed.