{"id":1001,"date":"2014-08-15T14:00:00","date_gmt":"2014-08-15T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mlecharbinger.wordpress.com\/2014\/08\/15\/something-for-everyone-at-warped-tour-2014-by-carina-vo\/"},"modified":"2014-08-15T14:00:00","modified_gmt":"2014-08-15T14:00:00","slug":"something-for-everyone-at-warped-tour-2014-by-carina-vo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mlecharbinger.org\/?p=1001","title":{"rendered":"Something for Everyone at Warped Tour 2014 by Carina Vo"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"unnamed\"<\/a><\/p>\n

It\u2019s hot, not too humid, and not really that hardcore, but still kind of \u2013 it\u2019s Warped Tour at West Palm Beach\u2019s Cruzan amphitheater.

2014 proved to be a pretty strange year for Warped Tour. After Warped 2012\u2019s heavy concentration on the scene\u2019s most \u201chype\u201d bands at the time (Sleeping With Sirens, Pierce The Veil, Of Mice & Men, and so on) and Warped 2013\u2019s pop punk powerhouses (The Story So Far, The Wonder Years, Man Overboard, and so on), Warped 2014\u2019s line-up seemed to lack a strong genre to focus on. This, along with the presence of older bands, definitely seemed to disillusion a lot of people, eliciting \u201cWARPED SUX THIS YEAR\u201d tweets and stubborn refusals to buy tickets until the \u201cgood bands\u201d were announced.<\/p>\n

What a shame for them; this year held strong. While it wasn\u2019t a metalhead\u2019s dream or a pop punk kid\u2019s fantasy, the 2014 Warped line-up had a little bit of something for everyone.<\/p>\n

Take State Champs, who played first in the amphitheater, for example. Although they\u2019re nothing groundbreaking to pop punk, they still kicked off Warped Tour\u2019s split main stage with an undeniable energy that the crowd reflected. The pit audience pointed and pushed, singing along to the stick-in-your-head choruses that State Champs singer Derek Discanio managed to nail at only 11:15 in the morning. State Champs\u2019 set list consisted of a good balance between fast-paced (their song, \u201cElevated\u201d) and groovy (\u201cPrepare to be Noticed\u201d). Even non-fans would consider State Champs\u2019 energy admirable, to say the least.<\/p>\n

And while the crowds\u2019 energy didn\u2019t hold up quite so well in the heat, the bands\u2019 did. Cute Is What We Aim For, playing another relatively early set, came out swinging with songs both old and new, nudging the nostalgia even out of warm fans. The band urged the audience to sing along, even if they didn\u2019t know the words. \u201cIf you don\u2019t know the words,\u201d Shaant Hacikyan, the singer, yelled, \u201cmake \u2018em up!\u201d It only reinforced the acceptance of everyone at Warped.<\/p>\n

Yet you can\u2019t get more acceptance than that of The Maine \u2013 John O\u2019Callaghan, the singer, dedicated the band\u2019s entire set to Pitbull. Although it seems like a silly remark, the band\u2019s performance was far from it \u2013 The Maine, perhaps one of the best bands on this year\u2019s Warped Tour, played one of the most interestingly upbeat and emotionally raw sets of the day. Their slow, build-up of an intro into \u201cRun\u201d seemed almost visceral, and their invitation of a fan onstage during \u201cGirls Do What They Want\u201d was incredibly interactive. And they changed their songs. \u201cGrowing Up\u201d, which was released as a slow song, was sped up, and \u201cMisery\u201d, the band\u2019s final surprise song, featured a hard-hitting riff not present on the original track. For not being on Warped in five years, The Maine still know how to rock a crowd in only half an hour.<\/p>\n

The Acoustic Basement tent was always ready to catch you when you fell tired, which would be expected about halfway through the day; upbeat acts like Allison Weiss and Better Off stripped down to only acoustic guitars and maybe some small form of percussion. Even I the Mighty, who played a full-blown post-hardcore set in the sun, went acoustic for half an hour to show off singer Brent Walsh\u2019s beautifully controlled voice.<\/p>\n

Because Warped just isn\u2019t Warped without at least one huge \u201cscene\u201d band, a mob headed over to the amphitheater shortly after I the Mighty\u2019s acoustic set to see Sleeping With Sirens. The post-hardcore band returned to Warped Tour to play all of Florida\u2019s dates, of course blessing the entire state with their presence. It was a pretty satisfying set, even more so for fans of the band\u2019s latest album, which strayed far from their original style. Sleeping With Sirens played four of their older songs, including their first huge hit, \u201cIf I\u2019m James Dean, You\u2019re Audrey Hepburn\u201d.<\/p>\n

Less Than Jake, who played right after Sleeping With Sirens, warranted more glory than any of the other bands that day \u2013 July 26th, 2014 at Warped West Palm Beach marked their 365th Warped show they ever played. The ska punk band rocketed t-shirts, balloons, and inflatable guitars off the stage, and they even brought out their blond-haired mascot. One of the members of the audience who so happened to catch an inflatable pink guitar was brought up on stage, and Less Than Jake invited him to air guitar for a whole song. Their whole set felt like a huge party, and people like to party.<\/p>\n

Across the parking lot were Real Friends, one of pop punk\u2019s most emo bands. With hard-hitting beats and a call for a circle pit, the band\u2019s songs, both old and new, took the crowd on quite a ride. Plenty of short, fast songs carried all the vivacity that\u2019s expected from Real Friends, but with \u201cI\u2019ve Given Up On You\u201d, the crowd was almost in tears just before the end of the set.<\/p>\n

Protomen played the stage next to Real Friends, right after their set finished. Protomen emerged in matching black formal outfits and silver face make-up. Besides resembling an Insane Clown Posse denomination, they also covered an Iron Maiden song. To reiterate: there was something for everyone at Warped Tour 2014.<\/p>\n

We Are The In Crowd, yet another strong band on the tour in 2012, put on one of the most \u201chardcore\u201d pop rock shows of the day. Guitarist Cameron Hurley and bassist Mike Ferri swung their guitars over their shoulders, and lead singer Tay Jardine climbed into the crowd towards the end of their set. They played songs both old and new, from \u201cNever Be What You Want\u201d on their first EP to \u201cThe Best Thing (That Never Happened)\u201d on their latest full-length.<\/p>\n

Back at the amphitheater, Parkway Drive, an Australian metalcore band over a decade strong, were laying down the law of metalcore sets at Warped. As the band headbanged in unison, crowd surfers sailed over the expanse of a full pit, and Parkway Drive seemed to have picked their heaviest and most well-known songs just for the tour.<\/p>\n

The Story So Far, who played right after on the other side of the amphitheater stage, provided a refreshing change of pace with their pop punk. The shifting tempos of their songs allow breathing space for not only singer Parker Cannon, but also for the crowd, who were still bent on filling in Cannon\u2019s missed lyrics. Cannon urged the crowd to go wild, however: \u201cWe don\u2019t have that sign that says you can\u2019t [mosh or crowd surf]\u2026 You won\u2019t get kicked out.\u201d<\/p>\n

And at 8:15 on the dot, the amphitheater\u2019s last act emerged onto the stage. Of Mice & Men, the scene kings of metalcore, opened their set with \u201cPublic Service Announcement\u201d, one of their newer songs that sounds more nu metal- and hardcore-driven than anything else. Much like Parkway Drive, Of Mice & Men played a relentlessly heavy set, which was only broken by \u201cWould You Still Be Here\u201d, one of their later, slower songs. They closed with \u201cThe Depths\u201d, which exclaims, \u201cI just want you to jump with me!\u201d<\/p>\n

For the most part, Warped Tour 2014 was not built to please any single genre. More nostalgic bands like Saves The Day, Yellowcard, Four Year Strong, and Bayside proved that they were still ready to take on Warped, and younger acts like Air Dubai and Plague Vendor established themselves on the festival tour\u2019s stages. Perhaps more than anything else, this year\u2019s Warped Tour was meant to unite the old, new, and everything and everyone in between.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s hot, not too humid, and not really that hardcore, but still kind of \u2013 it\u2019s Warped Tour at West Palm Beach\u2019s Cruzan amphitheater.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1001","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t