Warped Tour 2016 Recap

Warped Tour Recap – Emily Laurich

For many, it’s the highlight of the summer. Thousands of people elated to be there—among their favorite artists and strangers who share their passion for music. People not only bond over the bands that saved their lives, but also share their annoyance towards the blazing sun that’ll probably end up giving them sunburns/fading all of their exposed band tattoos.

For those that got there early enough, The Maine started off the day. In their matching button-ups and dress pants, they brought some unexpected class to Warped Tour. Shakopee wasn’t a special occasion though, the guys in The Maine have worn these spiffy outfits every date of Warped Tour. It definitely makes them easier to find within the massive crowd.

Warped Tour veterans (serving their tenth year on the lineup), Less Than Jake woke up the crowd with their upbeat horn section. Upon visiting their merch tent, I found a shirt that was designed to resemble a political party t-shirt—it read “Make Warped Tour Great Again.” This gave me a chuckle because Warped Tour has changed a lot since Less Than Jake’s first run in 1997. Even though today’s warped tour has gone in a newer direction, it’s nice to still see some of the original Ska/Punk bands that made Warped Tour great in the first place.

Since Warped has been heading in a more Pop Punk direction, Knuckle Puck was up next.

The crowd quickly grew around the main stage once We the Kings arrived. Thousands were shamelessly reliving their middle school years when “Check Yes Juliet” came on. Along with their classics, We the Kings also worked a few new songs into their set. Even though their first songs were released nine years ago, their consistent fan following shows that they won’t be stopping anytime soon.

Going from We the Kings to the band Secrets is a perfect example of the range of genres available at Warped Tour.

Although Cody Carson of Set It Off has been wearing an arm compression sleeve all tour for unknown reasons, he’s clearly not timid about using his legs. During their set, Carson climbed a pyramid of amps, which would have been plenty impressive in itself, but he took it one step further by jumping off of them. Set It Off weren’t the only ones exploding with energy though.

For their first year on Warped Tour, Broadside’s crowd proved that they deserved to be there just as much as anyone else. Broadside signed to Victory Records just last year in 2015 and haven’t slowed down since. Watching their set, it was clear they were having the time of their lives and this will definitely not be their last time at Warped Tour.

While Broadside was enjoying their first Warped Tour, Yellowcard’s experience was quite different, more so bittersweet; this year was Yellowcard’s last time performing for the tour. Their first time playing Warped Tour was all the way back in 2003. They’ve come such a long way since then and won’t be forgotten anytime soon. In case you didn’t already know, their final tour is happening in October. For tickets, click here.