Ah, Warped Tour. It epitomizes everything that we love about alternative music, or “the scene” in general. When I first reached the gates at Orlando’s show, it was everything you would expect out of this hardcore traveling circus coming to Florida. Pink hair, tattoos, and costumes peppered the fans waiting outside Tinker field in 100+ degree weather. This horde consisted mostly of teenagers, with a few lost-looking parents as well as a healthy dose of Warped lifers eager to share stories of the Blink days.

As a college transplant from small town Louisiana, I never had the chance to see Warped in person. When I walked through the gate, it became instantly clear to me that my big city friends had told me the truth: this place was incredible. So much happened that I’ll have to cut it down to the highlights, especially since rain ended the Orlando show and I was able to have a bonus day in Jacksonville.

Let’s get right to it

 

The Headliners

 

Asking Alexandria

 

After parting ways with vocalist Danny Worsnop, AA fans across the world had many questions. Following much anticipation, Down & Dirty’s Denis Stoff was chosen as his heir in May. Because of their style, Asking Alexandria is one of the most demanding bands on a vocalist. Warped would be the first major tour to kick the tires (or the vocal chords) of their new frontman.

Stoff seemed more than up to the test during the show in Jax, screaming along with an eight-song setlist that featured a mix of old and new. Opening with the gothic and scream-heavy “Welcome”, fans were ecstatic from the jump. Between songs, bassist Sam Bettley formally introduced Denis to the Asking Alexandria nation by ragging on him like they’d been friends for years. As expected, the best songs of the set were “Not the American Average” and the closer “The Final Episode (Let’s Change the Channel)”. Overall, solid set despite the rainy conditions.

Pierce the Veil

 

As my second and third time shooting PTV, Warped Tour showcased the band as what they truly are: a big time band that can fill nearly any venue they book. Both days, the security presence was huge. “You may get three songs, you may get none. It all depends on how crazy they go.” Said a huge, bearded head of security amid screams and smoke machines during the set.

Pierce the Veil took the stage without their usual guitarist Tony Perry after a mountain biking accident sent him to the hospital before Warped. His injuries were pretty severe, and he’s still in recovery, so their buddy Jesse Barrera agreed to fill in.

As always “Caraphernalia” and “Bulls in the Bronx” were crowd-pleasers, but they treated fans to a new track fresh off the presses for Warped Tour called “The Divine Zero”. Many rabid fans already knew the track by heart, as it dropped on June 19^th.

The set opened in a flurry of smoke, and as the final lines of “King for a Day” left Vic Fuentes’ mouth, an explosion of confetti blanketed the crowd. Just think…somewhere there’s a truck full of confetti that follows them to every city.

We Came as Romans

 

A high energy act out of Michigan, We Came as Romans makes a main stage feel like a packed bar in their hometown. With two vocalists the pump up the crowd – the rugged Dave Stephens on unclean (screaming) vocals and the silky smooth Kyle Pavone backing him – WCaR took the stage by storm.

The six-member ensemble has many levels of production, with each member having several responsibilities. Even in an outdoor environment, their sound quality remained high. The band’s longest-tenured member, lead guitarist Joshua Moore, sent shredding reverberations through the night sky as they opened with “Tracing Back Roots”.

When I saw them in Jax rain was coming down in buckets, but Pavone still stood on the hands of crowd members as he delivered his lines from “To Plant a Seed”. The singer stayed in and around the crowd to finish their set with “Hope” as the water soaked fans screamed their heads off.

blessthefall

 

One of my favorite bands on the main stages, (and one of the few I hadn’t seen before) blessthefall impressed me on both days. Vocalist Beau Boken has a relaxed vibe, despite the anger in his lyrics and the daggers in his voice. They opened with “You Wear a Crown But You’re No King” a chance for some shredding by twin guitarists Eric Lambert (main) and Elliott Gruenberg (rhythm).

During the third song, “Guys Like You Make Us Look Bad”, former blessthefall frontman Craig Mabbitt came over from his current gig (Escape the Fate) to lend vocals to a song he helped popularize. This is the kind of performance that Warped makes possible, old band mates getting together and burying the hatchet for the sake of the fans.

After Craig left the stage, Beau returned and crouched with an outstretched hand to high five crowdsurfers during “Up in Flames”. Despite Warped Tours no crowdsurfing policy, Beau organized a crowdsurfing contest. During the Jax show, he grabbed a cowboy hat off of one of the security guys and danced around while delivering the ear-shattering vocals of “Hollow Bodies”.

 

Family Force Five

 

I’ve never left a live set as surprised (and confused) as I did with Family Force Five. Dressed in bright colors and oddball patterns, every member of the band stayed in motion the entire set. Vocalist Jacob “Crouton” Olds was already  breaking a sweat midway through the first song “BZRK”. During this song, the band bounced on individual trampolines that made it look like they were floating on stage.

Keyboardist Nathan “Nadaddy” Currin could be a lost Van Halen brother, flipping his hair and emphatically slamming the board as he jumped up and down. Guitarist Derek “Chap Stique” Mount held his guitar up like a rocket launcher and pretended to shoot other band mates. Crouton made a heart with his hand during the song “Love Addict” and watched as the crowd became a sea of hearts swaying back and forth.

 

The Sleepers

 

Emarosa

 

It’s a hard choice, but I’m going to say that Emarosa was the best live show of the tour. Jonny Craig’s replacement, Bradley Walden, had an amazing performance from the beginning with impassioned vocals. The whole setlist seemed to bleed together in a giant ball of energy as Walden spent as much time in the crowd as he did on the stage.

He began by hopping the barricade and walking around, pointing and screaming/singing at fans on the ground. He then did a song from the barricade before returning to the stage and…climbing the scaffolding of the stage and hanging from a support beam while still singing. Absolutely insane. Travis has photos of him doing this in St. Pete as well, which leads me to believe this is a regular occurrence.

After returning to the earth, Walden then walked into the crowd again and sang to them while supported only by their hands. Next, he laid down and got carried away into the distance by fans. I really feel for the stage crews scampering around him with big rolls of XLR cable. One would think a wireless mic would be a wise purchase.

Riff Raff

 

What does a Riff Raff crowd look like at Warped Tour, you ask? Exactly as you expect: a mass of mostly white school-aged kids trying to figure out exactly how seriously to take the Neon Icon as he pranced around the stage (in his jawwwdinz). Riff Raff took the stage in a different color of neon each day, with a manbun on day one and purple hair on day two.

His entrance featured a crowd-involved intro and a giant Peach Panther flag. This of course (how could you not know?) is the name of his newest album, which dropped June 24^th.

With Riff Raff, what you see is what you get. He’s a rare kind of performance art, as Hunter S. Thomson once said “too weird to live, and too rare to die.” His performance wasn’t particularly gripping, but he has gotten really buff and a tad bit chubby in recent months. “How to Be the Man” and of course, “TiP TOE WiNG iN MY JAWWDiNZ” were the heavy hitters.

 

New Years Day

New Years Day’s Nikki Misery earns the distinction of being my favorite guitarist on the tour. This guy was/is/forever will be insane. With a face full of makeup, tattered clothes, and a demonic attitude, he looked like the scary older brother of Black Veil Brides’ Jinxx.

As soon as New Years Day took the stage led by Nikki and frontlady Ashley Costello, rocking her signature black and red hair, I knew this was going to be awesome.

Ashley perfectly fits the roll of gothic rock diva. In contrast to Pvris’ Lyndsey Gunnulfsen, who basically stood around for her whole set, Ashley was alive and animated. Her pale skin, black attire, and fiery red hair made her radiate energy with every move she made.

Their signature song, “Angel Eyes”, is a sex-filled track that features siren-like vocals by Costello. The recording features Chris Motionless of Motionless in White, but as they were not along for warped, Ashley made it a solo that still played incredibly with the crowd.

 

Karma Killers

 

An interesting and diverse act out of New Jersey, the Karma Killers seek to blend elements of pop, punk, soul, and something I can’t quite identify. Each member looks like he’s the centerpiece of a band with a different style, with everything from gothic leather to pastel colored shirts, to dyed hair. With a new single “Coming of Age” and an album dropping in 2015, they took to warped tour for their coming out party. Their light, fun style could certainly find an audience in today’s landscape of rock music.

WILL OGBURN WARPED ORLANDO 2015 PHOTO GALLERY