You can't buy happiness, but you can buy Warped Tour tickets, and that's kind of the same thing!
Throughout life, there are some things you grow out of. For me, going to the Warped Tour is not one of those things. As I've grown up, the feelings I experience have just changed.
Here are some feelings you'll feel before, during and after your time spent at the Warped Tour:
1. Excitement
The days leading up to, and your car ride there seem almost unbearable! You make lists of all of the bands you want to see, try to get their set lists and make sure you know every single song so you don't look like a fool during each set.
2. Anxiety
After choosing all of the bands you'd like to see and planning out the whole day, you start to think about what's going to happen if two of those bands play at the same time. There's also the anxiety of your favorite band performing first, and you will still be waiting in the mile long line to get in.
3. Relief
You finally get in, buy your schedule (or take a picture of the giant inflatable wall, because who needs a paper schedule?) and see that not all of your favorites overlap. The biggest relief is when the bands who perform one right after the other are between the left foot and the right foot stages - two steps, and you're there!
4. Excitement... Again
That first band takes the stage and all the feels come pouring in. You jump up and down and become completely submissive to anything that band tells you to do. Circle pit? Sure, I love getting pushed and punched. Crowd surf? Yeah, as a grown adult I totally like being groped by total strangers.
5. Fangirl-ing
Oh, em. Gee! Did I just get a picture with Mayday Parade? Did We The Kings just sign my shirt?! I think I may faint.
6. Heat Stroke
Because no matter what the weather is like in the week leading up to the Warped Tour, it will always be 100 degrees that day. There will never be enough sunscreen in the world to protect you from a "Warped Tour Sunburn." Thankfully, they have free water fill stations so that you and your friends can stay hydrated!
7. Nostalgia
Of course, one of the best things about going to the Warped Tour is seeing all of your favorite bands from middle school. Whether you've seen them 100 times, or you were never old enough to see them when they were actually touring, all of your adolescent woes come rushing back.
8. Teenage Angst
It doesn't matter if you are attending the Warped Tour at 13 years old or 30 years old, you will still become filled with angst. Hearing the music, seeing the mosh pits; you'll be joining the circle pit in no time!
9. Fear
Suddenly, you start to realize that the day is coming to an end. There's still merch to buy; there are still autographs to obtain. Also, why does it ever have to end? Can you travel with the Warped Tour? There are so many bands you still haven't seen!
10. Depression
It's over and now you have to go back to reality. Whether you called in sick, or pre-planned to have the day off, you have to go back to work tomorrow. You will have the pictures, the t-shirts, the sunburn and the memories, but you have to wait another year to experience it again. Some bands may be touring for the last time, so you will never experience them again; those are the thoughts that cut the deepest.
11. Regret
It's the next day: you're tired, sunburned, dehydrated and sore. You haven't had that much physical activity in years and you listened to loud music for far too long.
All in all, the day after the Warped Tour is the worst day of your life.
Finally...
12. Happiness
You'll always have the memories of the best day of summer!
