The Death of an Era

The sweatiest day of your teenage life is now coming to an unimaginably sad end. Many 90s kids can say with pure confidence that we dabbled in the wonders of Van’s Warped Tour at one point in our lives. A full day concert of meeting all your favorite bands and artists, jumping into random mosh pits, or even crowd surfing. It was always an exhilarating experience and usually the best day of your summer.

This is the place where many of the “misfits” went. The people with a harder sense of music, it’s not too often people who listen to pop or rap are found at this concert. This was a place of unity and love for a particular type of music and style. The kids you would find “head banging” in the bathroom to some music turned up way too loud in their headphones. This was their home and where they belong. On the hottest day of the year (what felt like it, you were surrounded usually shoulder to shoulder with hundreds of other people) you would constantly switch venues to go see your favorite bands, jump to different tents to buy merch, spend the day avoiding eating or drinking too much so you wouldn’t have to use the portable bathrooms they provide but drinking just enough to keep yourself out of the medic tent because heaven forbid you miss one of your favorite bands because you passed out (happened to me once).

A love for music doesn’t even begin to explain the feeling deep down in your chest when your favorite band is playing and they stop singing and you and the whole crowd are singing the lyrics at the top of your lungs in the most perfectly imperfect harmony you’ve ever heard. The goosebumps on your arms, sweat down your back, and maybe your head hurts from being kicked by a crowd surfer. Nothing gives you the feeling over and over again like Van’s Warped Tour. Nothing feels as great as finally meeting your idols in their tents while they sign the merch you got and thanking them for giving you a sense of hope, relief or understanding when you listen to their music. Tears mixed with other bodily fluids some of which aren’t yours as you hug one of your favorite guitarists.

Various bands started at Warped Tour, many only got bigger. Sure, the food was over priced, and the day was always getting hotter, maybe it rained, but it never stopped the dedication of these fans. Rain or shine, unbearably hot or on the warmer side, sick or injured, you never missed this festivity. Who knows, your new best friend or boyfriend/girlfriend could be standing next to you in a crowd at the show.

It’s so sad to see the cross country Van’s Warped Tour is coming to an end because it was a truly unique gathering. You see things like iHeart music festival on TV because you couldn’t fly to Las Vegas to be there in person; well, Warped Tour went everywhere and it was awesome. You would never see so many of your favorite bands in one place on one day to enjoy the beauty of their art. It’s truly the death of a beautiful era for the misfits who felt they belonged.