Warped Tour: music summer camp
Anna Clay
Issue date: 7/23/10 Section: Arts & Entertainment
Vans Warped Tour, an annual music festival, has been described by many musicians as the summer camp of rock music, moving through a host of cities across the United States each year. The tour is hot and sweaty; it takes a lot of preparation to endure. For bands and fans alike, friendships grow and memories are made. Also providing the summer camp atmosphere is the range of attendees: the veterans who are prepared for anything and the new kids soaking in the fresh environment.
Each year, Warped Tour hits some of the same familiar spots, including the Susquehanna Bank Center in Camden, N.J. For those who go each year, it feels familiar and different all at once. There are things that never change: the heat, the chaos, the schedule announced day-of. At the same time, there are plenty of things that continue to change - namely, the musical trends. New bands are added to the tour while some bands reach a veteran status; the rest fall somewhere in between. Bands such as The Rocket Summer and Motion City Soundtrack know the ropes but have not quite reached the legendary status of The Casualties or, say, the Bouncing Souls.
"The Rocket Summer is kind of in between the old band and the new band," front man Bryce Avary explained. "And so it's kind of cool because a lot of these new bands will come up to us [and say], 'I've been listening to you for a long time.'"
These new bands represent a diversity of sounds, but a group of them also represent fresh trends in music. For some, including Motion City Soundtrack member Matt Taylor, Warped Tour is an eye opener to the popularity of certain genres.
"Sometimes you don't really notice when things really change … I kind of stopped the other day and said, 'Wow, I don't really know a lot of these bands' … but they're drawing tons of people. We're definitely in a weird spot where we are kind of with the old school guys now … kind of in the middle but a little closer to the old school guys," Taylor said.
Each year, Warped Tour hits some of the same familiar spots, including the Susquehanna Bank Center in Camden, N.J. For those who go each year, it feels familiar and different all at once. There are things that never change: the heat, the chaos, the schedule announced day-of. At the same time, there are plenty of things that continue to change - namely, the musical trends. New bands are added to the tour while some bands reach a veteran status; the rest fall somewhere in between. Bands such as The Rocket Summer and Motion City Soundtrack know the ropes but have not quite reached the legendary status of The Casualties or, say, the Bouncing Souls.
"The Rocket Summer is kind of in between the old band and the new band," front man Bryce Avary explained. "And so it's kind of cool because a lot of these new bands will come up to us [and say], 'I've been listening to you for a long time.'"
These new bands represent a diversity of sounds, but a group of them also represent fresh trends in music. For some, including Motion City Soundtrack member Matt Taylor, Warped Tour is an eye opener to the popularity of certain genres.
"Sometimes you don't really notice when things really change … I kind of stopped the other day and said, 'Wow, I don't really know a lot of these bands' … but they're drawing tons of people. We're definitely in a weird spot where we are kind of with the old school guys now … kind of in the middle but a little closer to the old school guys," Taylor said.
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