Summer is a time to make memories, go out with friends, see family you haven’t seen in awhile, and go to new places. This summer, which mostly consisted of lying in bed and going to work, I had the opportunity to go to Warped Tour on August 6.

Warped Tour is a tour where bands such as Sleeping With Sirens, Falling in Reverse, Water Parks, Real Friends, and many others go to different cities and states to go play music. This music festival included music from rock, punk rock, pop, metal, alternative rock, hip hop, electronic, and ska bands, including Falling in Reverse, 3OH3!, Sleeping with Sirens, Chunk No, Captain Chunk!, Waterparks, and Bullet For My Valentine.

Starting in 1995, Warped Tour only traveled  in the United States, but today they travel to Europe, Australia, and Canada. It started as a festival that only played alternative rock, but in 1996 they added punk rock and began getting more diverse over the years, adding hip hop in 1999. The impact of this festival for the bands is that it helps bring up new artist into the spotlight such as Blink-182, My Chemical Romance, Fall Out Boy, and Paramore. Kevin Lyman, founder of Warped Tour, in Pledge Music News addressed the impact of the tour, “People say it inspired them to start a business, to start a band, or to start a non-profit. That’s what we are. We are beyond a music festival. I always say it’s music and philanthropy and education.”

Even though this is the place where bands can get their recognition, most of the bands that went were already really famous. When they went to play, their music was exhilarating and engaging and the whole audience sang at the top of their lungs with the singers and the lead singer would stop singing to hear the audience singing their song with happiness. Some bands even had props, such as beach balls, and threw them into the crowd.

Kellin Quinn, the singer from Sleeping with Sirens, often engaged the audience and stopped singing mid-song to encourage them to sing louder and to say how much he loved his fans. After they were done with their set, a surprise singer came out named Waka-Flocka. Because most people who performed were rock bands, having a rapper there changed the tone a bit, but the fans loved hearing him perform and moved their head along to the beat to his songs “Go Hard In Da Paint” and “Workin’.” Thinking there was only going to be rock music I was surprised when Waka-Flocka came out. I think he put on a good show, his music was captivating and the audience sang his notes on point along with him.

In my opinion, the band who got the most excitement was from a crowd was Sleeping With Sirens. They sang seven songs for their set and the audience sang along at the top of their lungs especially when they sang old songs from their album “Let’s Cheer To This”, and “If You Were a Movie”. Another act that I enjoyed was from a band called Chunk, No Captain Chunk. Even though their music was a little slow compared to other bands, they were still engaging. During their set they brought out two people, one dressed in a panda suit and the other in a gorilla suit.

Along with the excitement of listening to bands live, there were other cool experiences. There were volunteers who walked around and told you about the activities that were going to happen, like meet and greets. For $25, my little sister got to meet Ryan Seamen, the drummer from Falling in Reverse. There were other opportunities to have a meet and greet with other band members from different bands and you got to take pictures with them, which was pretty exciting. Also, if you bought a t-shirt or something from a certain booth, you got the chance to take a picture with a band member.

In addition to meeting band members, there were Youtubers there who were sitting at booths and you can just go and talk to them, get autographs, or take pictures. This is a great place where fans meet their idols, their loves, and get pictures and autographs with people such as Nick Major, Kyle David Hall and Chris Ryan.

Besides listening to music and meeting Youtubers, there were booths set up selling, and talking about different things. There were booths giving awareness of people wearing animal skin, how it’s harder for people who have tattoos to get jobs, and also how to detect breast cancer. There was also this orange van that gave notice to the truth about smoking.They played music, came up with group games for prizes, and had dance competitions.

Even with the attraction of the booths, the main reason everyone goes is for the music. Because the bands are so big and popular, they have seven different stages for the bands to play on and the fans aren’t just in one location the whole time, also if there is a band you don’t really like playing you can move to a new location.

Warped Tour has a lot to offer music fans – from being around people who let you be you and feel comfortable, to meet and greets with band members and Youtubers, to rocking music – it’s an amazing event that you must experience to appreciate.