Another year, another Vans Warped Tour has come and passed through Dallas, Texas (and for as long as I've been going, always the same venue, just a different name, Superpages.com center, Gexa Energy Pavillion, Smirnoff, the list goes on). And of all the years, this is probably the most pumped I've been on a lineup. Ever. More than my first in high-school, more than the first time I got to photograph the tour's date in Dallas. Seriously. I don't think I can explain how ridiculously awesome it is to walk around for close to ten hours photographing bands you've been listening to for years at a festival you've been going to for seven or eight years. So much damn fun. Even if I did get a bit sunburned (but I swear, I did use sunscreen, and reapplied, I'm perfectly satisfied with my current number of freckles ando not need a single one more). So in between filling up my rad podium chill with ice cold water, I photographed The Ghost Inside (Epitaph Records), Matty Arsenault of A Loss for Words (Rise Records), Yellowcard (Hopeless Records), Every Time I Die (Epitaph), Four Year Strong (Universal Motown), New Found Glory (Epitaph), Polar Bear Club (Bridge 9), For Today (Razor & Tie), and Taking Back Sunday (Warner Bros. Records).
The energy of Warped was just as intense as I remember it my first year and it definitely felt like the bands were doing more and more to get vocalists (at the least) up on the barricades and get everyone pumped even more. I wish that would have happened more when I was going in high school. Regardless, everyone on this tour killed it (at least that I saw). From New Found Glory's run through their discography including My Friends Over You, Hit or Miss, and Intro (a personal favorite), to The Ghost Inside's phenomenal set of blasting melodic hardcore, or Every Time I Die's intense riffs, it was certainly a year to not miss this tour. There were also some awesome bands like Step Dad, I am the Avalanche, and Memphis May Fire that I was unfortunately not able to make the first three songs of the sets to photograph them.
All together, a pretty f*cking awesome way to kick off summer, if I say so myself. And as always, going to try to catch Warped when it comes through town again next year.