Since 1995, Warped Tour existed as a cross-country rock tour that traveled across North America every summer, bringing a variety of bands and musical artists from many different rock genres together for audiences all over. Even though I only went once, I feel that the impact of Warped Tour and the artists that the tour exposed me to made a great impact on my life, as well as the lives of countless others.

Warped Tour, which had been occurring since before I was born, offered artists an opportunity to have a platform for their music to be heard by the masses and for their careers to skyrocket. When I heard that the last Warped Tour was occurring this year, I realized that this was the last time I could take part in experiencing a punk rock festival that had been recurring for generations. Coincidentally, the last date was also to take place in West Palm Beach on August 5th, or my 20th birthday, so I knew I couldn't miss out.

Ever since I was in middle school, I had aspired to someday go watch the bands there - but I was not always enthusiastic about Warped Tour, or even music in general. The first concert that I ever went to was a Cheetah Girls concert, during which I fell asleep. Before middle school, my taste in music was primarily determined by whatever played on the radio in my dad's car when he took me to school, but despite this, the influence of Warped Tour was still felt on me. Even though I was not as steeped into all the subgenres of rock that I have come to appreciate now, I was still exposed to edgier, youth-oriented rock music through friends and the more mainstream bands who had been popularized through playing at previous Warped Tours, such as My Chemical Romance, Fall Out Boy, Yellowcard, and The All-American Rejects.

As I got older, I became exposed to other rock subgenres such as emo, ska, and hardcore, and I began to look at these types of music with a greater sense of appreciation. When people ask me about my first concert experience, I tell them about what I consider to be my first "real" concert experience - a local ska and punk rock show at a tiny venue that no longer exists. At the time I was still in high school, but the intimate setting and the welcoming nature of the bands and concertgoers there provided a space that I felt safe in. Something that I also came to appreciate is the raw emotional intensity of the rock subgenres I was exposed to, whether through instrumentation, vocals, or lyrical content. As someone who was experiencing symptoms of depression without knowing it for several years, I found an emotional outlet that validated my feelings and experiences via a small show - and would ultimately lead to my love for concerts.

That one small show exposed me to a subculture which did not shy away from acknowledging the emotional intensity of enduring personal struggles. It provided an environment where I felt it was okay to be honest about my feelings, whether negative or positive, through validation and even sheer emotional energy. This characteristic that is endemic to small shows was also exuded at Warped Tour. During We The Kings' set at Warped, I saw frontman Travis Clark exclaim how he was hit by this being his last performance at the tour that skyrocketed his band from obscurity. We The Kings was booked to play with Warped for the first time after the tour's organizer, Kevin Lyman, heard his own daughter listening to them, Clark explained. His sincerity about how much Warped meant to him was probably the thing that touched me the most throughout the entire day. And on numerous occasions, I saw musicians exhibit moments of honesty about their struggles. Dan Lambton from Real Friends was one example of such, as he encouraged the audience to seek help for any mental health crises they could be going through, and that he sees a therapist regularly. Mental health awareness was something that was mentioned in almost every set I saw that day. All in all, I thought the candid nature of everyone who performed there was remarkable and uncommon at other music festivals.

During my time in West Palm Beach, I came to understand that this large-scale event also served as a safe space for others. I saw many younger kids with their parents, and the crowds were filled with young adults and teenagers. Whether this was their introduction to the experience of a concert or their first time feeling solidarity with punk rock, I think that the annual nature of Warped Tour and its prominent, heavily publicized status made it not just a vital platform for performers to share their art, but also an important space for people who find solidarity and a release through live music.

My time at Warped Tour was bittersweet because although I was having fun, I knew that this unique experience would never happen again. My own experiences of coming of age with live music when I was younger made me realize how important punk rock is in my life, and I can't help but think about how participating in a concert changes people's lives for the better. I hope that in the future, more opportunities to discover amazing live music experiences are presented to the next generations. Only time can tell if that will happen, but for the time being, I am forever warped.