Last week, I had the pleasure of experiencing one of the best days of my life- Friday was the day that Vans Warped Tour came to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. For those that don’t know, Warped Tour is an all-day music festival that started as a way for fans of punk bands to gather together and listen to their favorites all in one place. Now it’s exploded into the longest running festival concert tour, it’s somewhere that new bands can get exposure and fans can find bands they’ve never heard. Usually I’m not a huge fan of large groups of people and small spaces, but this crowd was different. We were all there for the same purpose- enjoying the music. Whether you were a fan for 10 years or just heard them for the first time, everyone was excited to be there and I felt a great sense of familiarity (with both the bands and the fans).

All of the bands at Warped Tour were so kind- most (if not all) of them did meet and greets (which were free to everyone), they often times would walk around the venue and talk to fans, and all of them expressed their gratitude for us coming out to support them or for coming to check their music out. Many of the artists reminded their fans that they were regular people who just happened to be famous, and all of them made the crowd feel right at home like we were close friends.

Even though there were signs everywhere that advised against moshing and crowd surfing, everyone did it anyways- there was even a dedicated security force at the front to catch the surfers & make it safer. At first, I was terrified- how could I trust that the crowd would catch me? After seeing a bunch of people doing it where no one got dropped and a little coaxing from my friend, I finally decided to face my fear. I will never forget it- the moment I was lifted, I felt a huge rush of elation and all of a sudden I forgot why I was scared in the first place. I had the best view of one of my favorite bands, I couldn’t believe it. Just when I was feeling comfortable, I felt myself falling- this was the very thing I was afraid of! I thought that with all of those people, there was no way I’d get out of there unscathed!

Thankfully, when I fell I landed on my backpack & butt (which are both pretty good padding). Instead of getting trampled like I thought I would, everyone made sure I was okay & helped me up. Everyone was so helpful, anytime someone lost something it always got back to them. I lost my glasses a few times when I got someone dropped on me, one of the surfers dropped his wallet, and hats were flying off but no one even hesitated to get the items back to the owner. When someone fell down, whether in a mosh pit, while crowd surfing, or after getting a surfer dropped on them, there was always someone there to help you up.

There were so many places to get band merch, but my favorite places were the charity and informational booths. Instead of getting band specific items, I tried get more general merch- I got some stuff from the charities & the Warped Tour booth. As I wandered around the venue, I saw so many different booths. There were many that promoted health and awareness for things such as breast cancer, non-toxic alternatives, and veganism/vegetarianism. One of the booths were selling reusable water bottles and had a free fill up station so everyone could stay hydrated. Most of the booths that I saw were for the artists to sell their merch, host workshops, and have meet and greets.

I’m so glad that I got to have this amazing experience, my only regret is that I waited this long to go. And to think, I almost didn’t go- my schedule cleared last minute and my friend asked me to go since she had an extra ticket (it’s almost like it was meant to be…). To anyone who hasn’t gone, I would definitely suggest going!