By Jen Thuy-Tien
Contributing Writer
Staff Page
It's a day later and I am still experiencing the thrill and madness of Vans Warped Tour 2010. It has always been known as the rock event of the year. This year was no exception. Big name bands such as Sum 41, Alkaline Trio, We The Kings, Emarosa, Mayday Parade and Hey Monday were on the list. In addition, up and comers like Breathe Carolina, Disco Curtis, We Are The In Crowd, Ionia, Fake Problems, Kelsey and The Chaos, Ice Nine Kills, Closure in Moscow and Artist vs. Poet. The Vans Warped Tour is definitely one of the highlights of my own summer. It is one of the few times of the year where thousands of people unify for the single purpose of indulging in musical awesomeness.
Vans Warped Tour 2010 started in Carson City, California on June 25 and is ending in Hillsboro, Oregon on August 15. Orlando was midway on the tour’s schedule, on July 25, and was held at the Central Florida Fairgrounds. For ten hours, thousands of music lovers inhabited what became their temporary home as they waited, listened and rocked out to their favorite bands. It may be crazy to some people to know that others paid money to scorch in the blazing Florida summer heat, but what you experience at the Vans Warped Tour makes the mad amount of sweating totally worth it!
There were seven stages set up throughout the fairgrounds for performances. The names of the seven stages of this year's Warped Tour are Teggard Stage, Skullcandy, Glamour Kills, Kia Kevin Says, Ernie Ball Battle Of The Bands, Altec Lansing and AP/Advent. Interesting names, huh? At any rate, attendees chose which stage to go to depending on which band was playing. The downside is that you might miss another band performing if they were on a different stage and playing at the same time.
Aside from seeing seventy-odd bands perform and basking with others in a fun atmosphere, fans attend the Vans Warped Tour to purchase the bands’ merchandise, enter free giveaways and roam past half-naked people. (Just kidding! Well, maybe.) At events like the Vans Warped Tour, fans can purchase their favorite bands’ t-shirts, hats and cds from promotion tents. When bands have signings, fans are able to personally meet the people who make up those bands; not to mention, they can get things autographed and possibly a photo with the band members. In this sense, dreams can surely come true for die-hard fans. Another cool thing about Vans Warped Tour is all the free stuff! For instance, Amethyst Jeans gave away more than 600 pairs of free jeans from their aptly-named "jean machine." (By the way, their jeans are great and you can find them in 5,000 retail stores nationwide.) American Rag also gave away free T-shirts for people who signed up for their email list. Lastly, about the naked people, let's just say that there were many!
The bands I ended up watching did great! I saw Sum 41, Mike Posner, We The Kings, The Rocket Summer, VersaEmerge and Flatfoot 56 perform live. As for the bands that didn't get to bless me with their presences, I’m sure that they did wonderful!
You can learn more about the bands mentioned, and the Vans Warped Tour 2010, by logging on to this and clicking on a band’s name. There will be links to official websites and Myspace and Twitter pages.
Thanks to Vans Warped Tour for allowing me to have such a great experience.
This is a link to additional photos by Danh Nguyen.