Digital Illustration by Matt Wiggins of wiggins-design.com
The grounds of the Washington County Fairgrounds are probably still being cleaned, from all of the cans of empty Monster tour waters and free Trojan ecstasy condoms that were given away. Sunday held one of the best festival style concerts I have ever been to. Oregon was the last stop of the Vans Warped tour, and every band left whatever they had on those fair grounds. There was an air of nostalgia. Every band and crew member I spoke to was happy to go home and see their families and sleep in their own beds, but they couldn’t help but to feel sad having to leave their friends and road families behind. Some bands are going home until winter, while others are taking a week off only to go back out on another tour.
This year, the Warped tour had some of the usual suspects, Warped Tour Veterans Less than Jake drew in a crowd as they mused at the fact that they received more applause for covering the Spongebob Squarepants theme song compared to their original material. This tour, more than any other I have attended, feature more of the next generation of “warped bands”. Grieves and Budo received high marks for being warped tour virgins, being able to generate a very grass roots style crowd, and converting people who came wearing spikes and Mohawks, and making them bob their heads as they proved that real hip hop has a home on this tour.
This year’s main stage was under an attack of brutal proportions. There was over six hours straight, of some of the most metal bands out right now. The Devil Wears Prada delivered the highlight show of my day. They hands down had the largest and most intense crowd–creating a dust cloud that was both suffocating and blinding at times–but fans continued to jump, scream and sing their way through the 45 minute set. A day to remember played a variety of songs from their last 2 albums, but for anyone who has ever seen them, knows that it’s the way they perform their songs that makes it memorable… between tight vocals and music, they also have synchronized moments in breakdowns were they will all head bang in unison or at the end of another song, the band will flex at you and simply ask “What are you going to do about it Portland?”.
Asking Alexandria closed out the night, performing for those who were able and willing to jump in the pit after 10 hours of sun and dust. They would constantly thank the crowd for coming out and sending them off before catching the red eye back to the U.K., and then ask in return to make a new memory for them… by demanding that the crowd turn violent, and leaving a haunting statement:
“Something dies here tonight….”
Luckily, there is a code when in the pit. If someone falls; pick them back up. Get rowdy but don’t get hurt–don’t get severely hurt anyways. As far as I was able to tell, nothing died there that night, except for maybe some vocal cords, guitars (Asking Alexandria smashed theirs) and some skin, as I now have a sweet tank top sun burn/tan line.
If you went out looking for a hell of an experience, you were given ample opportunities for it. I witnessed a dance contest at the Truth booth, a 17-year-old girl out performing a group of dudes at the Marines’ pull up bar and an outdoor set up of bass and electric guitars so fans could rock out in-between sets.
Until next time,
Josh “Lobster arms” Seech