Saturday, Saturday, Saturday! No, this isn’t an announcement for WWE, but for one of the best music festivals of the summer! Vans Warped Tour 2016 is coming to the Utah State Fairpark on Saturday. The lineup is awesome, and I have had my ticket since they went on sale, in March.
Some of the bands that I am excited to see are: Motionless In White, Falling In Reverse, Whitechapel, Sleeping With Sirens, Atreyu, Ghost Town, and Bullet For My Valentine. There will 71 bands in attendance at the Salt Lake date.
Besides all the excellent music, many information booths and clothing companies come to Warped Tour. The information booths are usually To Write Love On Her Arms, Peta2, and the Official Information Tent for Vans Warped Tour. The latter is important because you can buy a schedule from them, which states when exactly which band is playing and on which stage. The clothing companies are The Strange and Unusual, Serpent & Co., and My Life Versus Your Vacation (MLVYV). As always, Ernie Ball and Full Sail University will also be there, providing information about majors and programs (Full Sail) and guitar work (EB).
This year has some added highlights. The Entertainment Institute is featuring small classes to listen to your favorite musician talk about their craft and the music business on the whole. Also, a new addition this year is the Monster Energy Party Zone. The Monster Energy Zone has a North and South stage, featuring the hard rock sets of the day, such as, Motionless In White and Chelsea Grin.
Every Warped Tour has a theme. The first time I went, the theme was Best Day Ever. The concept was that Warped Tour is meant to be the best day ever, and with one of my favorite bands in attendance, it certainly was. This year is Myth Vs. Legend, especially featured with the Poseidon and Cyclops Stages. The artwork is really cool for this theme; we have a cyclops on the drums, hipster Medusa on the tee-shirts for this year, and a Poseidon sporting a scuba mask and tattoos.
As always, I hope someone reads my articles for different reasons. The reason I hope someone reads this one is to follow. These are some tips to survive the entire day of Warped Tour. First off, the time span of the day is roughly 9am to 8pm. Feed Children Now has set up a “skip the line” sponsorship with Warped Tour, so bring one of the following: three canned goods, five dollars, or an old cell phone. Things that will be allowed to pass through the security checkpoint are small and lightweight backpack, small homemade snack, sunscreen (!), empty water bottle, sharpie for autographs and set times, and of course, your fully charged cell phone. Don’t forget your ticket! Can you imagine getting all the way to the front of the line and then your ticket is still on the kitchen counter at home?
