Warped Tour KS From One Writers Eyes
The Vans Warped Tour is known for blistering heat, and July 30th was no exception. With temperatures surpassing ninety degrees by 11am, the Bonner Springs date of Warped Tour in Kansas proved to be another hot one. There are many jokes that go around about the humidity that plagues the Midwest, but when that is combined with an all-day endeavor on top of asphalt, the heat was no laughing matter. Over-shirts had already been removed and sunburns had already sprung up on fans before the concertgoers began to filter through security.
Despite the heat, Warped Tour is Christmas for the music lover, and, despite months of planning to catch as many of your favorite bands as possible the official schedule always manages to throw a wrench in things. Finding out that you have to choose between one brand or another is like waking up on Christmas morning and finding that Santa hadn’t eaten all of the cookies before leaving. (In short, it’s a bummer.)
Out of the four years, this writer has been to Warped, this was the first that everything seemed to be going on at the same time. There was no time for disappointment, though, because Hands Like Houses opened up the morning at 11:15 on the dot. With hundreds of bodies on baking asphalt things had started to heat up even more. It required a mad dash away from the festivals other stages to reach the amphitheater stage that housed both the Journey’s Left and Journey’s Right stages but the next four sets made it worth the trek.
The Amity Affliction put on an amazing show with a crowd that was equally as fun to watch. Not one second of any Amity song went was un-echoed by the crowd. The fan’s engagement was beyond energizing. It seems impossible to have left that set without any sort of bounce in your step.
After a lengthy chat with some friendly Warped employees about tattoos and living in other countries, it was time to head off to the Shark and Unicorn stages even farther back in the venue. Between these two main stages was where most of this writer’s day took place. The back and forth was only paused briefly to stand in line for Set It Off’s signing, which took nearly an hour or so to finish. After that came an acoustic set from Onward, Etc. and a partial jog back to the Journey’s stages to catch As It Is.
There’s a certain sort of excitement in watching an unfamiliar band play, especially when their live performance varies dramatically from their recorded music. After hearing all the hype surrounding the pop punk band As It Is this writer had high expectations and was not disappointed. Their newest release, Never Happy, Ever After was frequently mentioned between warped goers, and their crowd interaction put a majority of bands to shame that day.
Mod Sun took the stage next, and his was definitely one of the most exciting performances in this writer’s day. For the first song, Mini Mod Sun joined the band on stage, complete with a tiny guitar and even his own chances at adding to the music. With Mod Sun throwing out merchandise before the set began an array of paper fans, shirts, and tote bags rose above the heads of other concertgoers, waving in unison at given cues. Towards the end of the set came a bet that half of a bottle of whiskey couldn’t be finished before the final song’s note. Mod Sun finished the bottle off before two minutes passed. The bet ended his set on a high note before it was back to the main stages for Blessthefall, We Came As Romans, and Pierce The Veil.
The main stage trio crowds captivated, even drawing parents from the Reverse Daycare tent to watch in awe. Blessthefall never fails to leave fans wanting more, and that held true with their warped performance, especially when they threw in a couple older songs for the fans that had stuck to the band from the beginning. We Came As Romans continued this trend. They almost immediately left the stage after their set to walk out into the crowd and sell the newest release themselves.
The crowd grew both anxious and massive as Pierce The Veil’s set drew closer. Tony Perry (Guitar) was not with the band in Kansas, but his replacement Jesse Barerra definitely had all eyes on him for a duration of the set. Confetti cannons and smoke had photographers held back for the first half of the band’s latest single, “The Divine Zero”, but the set was, otherwise, phenomenal. Pierce The Veil never seems to have a dull moment on stage.
With the day finally coming to a close, there was a mad dash by all patrons for the water stations, bathrooms, and merchandise, leaving the Monster and Unicorn stages vacant as Pvris closed out the night. This writer definitely did not leave disappointed. As one of the year’s most talked-about bands, Pvris sure showed their onstage proficiency. Even after an eventful day with temperatures that climbed into the hundreds of fans still seemed to have an abundance of energy.
Bonner Springs, Kansas was asked to provide an awesome show for the 2015 Vans Warped Tour and far exceeded this writers expectations. Though the sun has set on another year of the warped tour, it was a day that definitely writer’s book. Warped Tour has been affectionately dubbed, “the best day ever”, and this year the saying still held true. Here’s to hoping next years Warped Tour is even better!
All photos were taken by Elizabeth Porch. Check out Elizabeth’s full Warped Tour gallery HERE
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