Vans Warped Tour 2017, the Dallas, Texas version, brought to the stage an eclectic mishmash of bands that included: GWAR, Memphis May Fire, Hatebreed, Shattered Sun, Bowling For Soup, I Prevail, New Years Day, Alestorm, After The Burial, and a whole slew of others that covered almost every genre from Rap to Pirate Metal.
If you attended Warped Tour Dallas, horns up to you! You know what it was like to have drippy knees, armpit sweat down to the toes, and a nice roasting, or in my case, burning off the top layers of skin. You may ask “is it worth it?” Short answer, YES. Long answer, Warped Tour proves all the more that live music scene is alive and kicking ass. Fans not only come out to see their favorite bands, but they brave the elements to check out acts that are new to the scene as well. To all the fans that attend year after year, and the newbies, you are pumping vital breath into the live music scene, so again, horns up to you. Now to the bands.
Bands embark on this summer tour knowing that Warped is both brutal and beautiful. You have hustle your ass from state to state to hit stage after stage. You know that it is hot (for some reason the hottest day of the year usually falls on Warped Tours stops in many states). Texas was no different. Yet, you willfully do it. Grunting your gear around the country, you put in the miles and give one thousand percent of your energy from one stage to the next. You mingle, interact, and do meet and greets, keeping once in a lifetime fan moments strong and alive.
I’ve attended more festivals than I can count, so when I have a chance to bring a friend who’s never been to one before, it’s always a special treat. Warped Tour was the ultimate way to take my friend’s festival virginity away. He was blown away by all the different metal bands, including After The Burial, Hatebreed, and Memphis May Fire; and then there was Alestorm – a pirate metal band.
Yeah – I left a fan of Alestorm (whom I had never seen) as well.
My friend was especially fond of New Years Day (that was his favorite for the day).
He got to end the day seeing GWAR. For those of you not familiar, GWAR takes theatrical bands to a level of greatness and grossness that is beyond comparison. Talk about a fully-loaded Festival experience – especially for a first-timer.
When going to Warped Tour, I recommend a few things that will help you get the most enjoyment out of this event (and have you coming out alive): Water, water, and more water. Then sunscreen and a hat. Trust me when I say, you need all of these items. Also, comfy shoes. These will save you from leaving the festival with broken ankles… or hankles. For those of you who don’t know about hankles… they are swollen ankles that look like your knees dropped and landed around the top of your feet. Yeah, not so pretty.
Vans Warped Tour is hitting San Antonio today, then off to Houston on Sunday, and New Mexico on Tuesday. For tickets and more info, click here. Stay tuned for interviews with GWAR, Hatebreed, Memphis May Fire, and Shattered Sun!
