One of the greatest innovations in music that has emerged in the past century is the music festival—a plethora of bands and artists who all coincide in the same location for a full day of endless excitement. Woodstock incited the craze that we even see today with Coachella and Governor's Ball. But Van's infamous Warped Tour broke millions of hearts across America when they announced that 2018 would signal the last ever cross-country tour in America.

Rumors still float around that the tour will remain, yet it would be centering on coastal cities rather than hitting every state in the nation. However, this is still disheartening as there is no other similar act like Warped Tour across the globe. The most convenient and affordable music festival, the bands themselves traveled across the country to perform in 50+ cities which made the festival easily accessible even in smaller locations that usually get looked over when it comes to concerts.

I decided on a whim to buy tickets the day before Warped Tour, spurred by curiosity and the finality of it being the last Warped I could ever attend. The actual festival was something beyond my wildest dreams.

I had only slept an hour before catching 3 trains (an hour ride) and driving an hour and a half to the venue itself at Jones Beach, but I was buzzing with energy. Somehow I managed to be at the barricades for a couple of performances, which was invigorating in its own right. After Real Friends finished their forty-five-minute act, I felt electrified—my whole body seemed to be on vibrate and I was talking a mile a minute. My cheeks and nose were burning from the sun but it didn't matter to me. I was bursting with an infectious vitality I could never hope to command in my day-to-day life. I was ecstatic, I was alive (and I promise, I was completely sober.)

By the time my favorite band Movements took the stage, a foreign courage took hold of my body. I turned to my friends, asked them to watch my stuff at the front, and charged for the back of the crowd. I asked the biggest man I could find if he could please lift me up, which he did without hesitation. And just like that, I was crowdsurfing.

Hundreds of hands gripped onto my body propelling me to the stage as if I were a weightless feather. I had the sensation of floating across a sea of people when a color packet exploded in the middle of the crowd and engulfed us all in vibrant summer-pink. Unfortunately, I was dropped just before the barricades but I reunited with my friends with shaky hands and tears rolling down my face. I was beyond elated.

The other acts followed suit, all equally animated and lively. By the time the final act rolled around, everyone who had attended the festival showed up with their iPhone flashlights to simulate lighters, the effect surreal and unifying. Before the last song, I was hit with a sudden wave of sadness. I could never experience this again.

I had been to a couple of concerts, all of which I enjoyed somewhat, but nothing could ever reach or even imitate the fresh and vivacious spirit of Warped Tour. Even the concert-goers themselves were teeming with positive attitudes and high energy, which was extremely refreshing. Warped Tour is held in stark contrast compared to the rap/pop acts of today that are marked with a stony indifference and apathetic nature. I have known friends who paid hundreds for Coachella and Governor's Ball only to return and say they didn't enjoy themselves at all. There is less energy, less respect for the concert-goer, less unbridled enthusiasm.

However, it seems that's what sells to the public of today, as thousands still pay to see lesser acts like 21 Savage in concert (which by first-hand experience, I can say with certainty is a waste of your money.) Maybe another festival will sprout in Warped's place and fill the void it left behind, but I highly doubt it.