If this is indeed the final iteration of the Vans Warped Tour, it ends exactly how I would’ve imagined it: my voice gone from a day of singing along to my favorites, a headful of memories of all the good times I had throughout the day, a smile on my face, and a crowd surfer clocking me in the back of the head.
For the tenth and final time, I made my way up to Noblesville’s Ruoff Home Mortgage Music Center (formerly: Deer Creek Amphitheater, Verizon Wireless Music Center, Klipsch Music Center…) for the 2018 Vans Warped Tour. What’s in store for today? Much of the same as I’ve become accustomed to: an endless array of bands from across the spectrum, some of them even performing at the same time.
It’s been a wild journey. For me, this is a yearly festival tour that effectively dominated my 20s (sans last year). I’ve experiences plenty of highs and a few lows (*cough* 2009 *cough*), and I’m not quite done yet. Knowing this is the final year of this iteration of the long-running punk rock circus, I had to come back one last time. One more time to see all of my favorite bands, to spend all my money on band merch and water, to finally declare my Warped Tour bucket list as complete.
It’s 9:30 a.m. on a Tuesday in July. I’ve got a cup of coffee in my hand and the new Real Friends record pulled up on my Spotify. Let’s head up to Noblesville. Allons-y.
It’s a bittersweet day, but those thoughts of finality quickly go out the window after I got stuck in traffic. I haven’t arrived when the doors open in years, and I severely underestimated how much attendees like getting there right at the beginning. Thankfully, it’s not 1000 degrees today. Actually, it’s overcast and a pretty pleasant summer day here in Indiana.
It’s about noon. I’ve checked in at press and I have my schedule for the day. What’s on the docket? About 8 interviews and the chance to see Joan Jett and the Blackhearts perform later tonight, the latter of which staff and artists alike are all excited to see.
It’s not all about interviews today. In between, I do get to check out some of the festival. It may be the final cross country outing, but it’s business as usual all around the grounds. Excited kids – mostly high school and college-aged – eagerly make their way around the four stages to see their favorite bands. Some make their way around all of the merchandise tents, eager to spend their hard-earned dollars on a new t-shirt or several (much like me), or even take part in the free meet-and-greets. This may be the last time, but it certainly doesn’t feel like it. At least not at 2:00 p.m..
The day wears on, and much like any summer day when you’ve been outside walking or moshing your heart out, kids are starting to look tired. That said, I’m always amazed once the clock strikes 5:00 p.m. and when bands like Senses Fail or Twiztid take the stage, everyone is able to dig deep and give everything to the performance, like a professional athlete in crunch time. Fatigue is a very real thing, but never underestimate a concertgoer seeing their favorite band(s).
Speaking of favorite band, the sight of the night came around 6:30 p.m., when the legendary Joan Jett. took the stage inside the pavilion. A decent number of the people here for this performance weren’t even alive when the Blackhearts were first doing their thing, but that didn’t stop any of them from singing along to every word of songs like “Bad Reputation” or “I Love Rock n’ Roll.” How many people showed up? Enough to fill every seat inside the pavilion, plus every aisle way with staff and crew all lining up behind the band to catch a glimpse of her set. I spent a decent amount of time with the guys in As It Is geeking out over seeing her perform today, and after watching her tonight, it’s easy to see why.
But the day isn’t over yet. My head may be pounding at this point (either from lack of caffeine throughout the day or a lovely migraine…), but I have one more band to see before I can finally put this day – and my Warped Tour journey – to rest.
I’m not a huge Simple Plan fan, but I will admit that seeing them perform many years ago on this very stage was a lot of fun. They’ve played this festival a record 12 times, so why not leave off on one last sing-along of “Addicted” and “Welcome To My Life?” It may not be as packed as it was an hour ago, but there’s still decent number of people here to sing along to every word, crowd surf as much as they can, and take in what may be one of the last bands anyone will see at the Vans Warped Tour: Indiana edition. In short, this was everything I’ve loved about coming here every summer: great music, a sense of togetherness, and overall, having as much fun in one day as humanely possible.
There’s still an hour to go, but I – like many – are ready to call it a day. I head to the parking lot for the last time, passing by a few bands trying to sell more copies of their CD and tired kids talking excitedly about how much fun they just had.
Deer Creek is now in my rear view mirror (ok fine, Ruoff Home Mortgage Music Center), my head is killing me, and yet, here I am, ready to reflect on not just what today brought me, but what the last 10 years has.
My first Warped Tour journey began in 2008 when I was dragged to Cobra Starship’s set at the beginning of the day. In 2018, it ends with a rousing performance by Simple Plan. In a span of 10 years, I saw many of my favorite bands perform (some in the same day), met a number of them and had some really great conversations with, connected with like-minded people I may have never have met if it wasn’t for this, learned and grew as an aspiring writer and journalist, and more importantly, I had as much fun as a kid in a candy shop. It was more than just a place to express all the angst still left over from my teenage years. It was a place to be me. A place I could go see a bunch of bands and really express who I was without judgment. A place I could feel right at home even if I was surrounded by about 20,000 complete strangers.
This was where I got caught on a mosh pit completely by accident as I was walking through. Where the singer of one of my favorite bands geeked out over my tattoo after I met him (it was his band). Where I walked around dehydrated while only wearing one shoe because I was having the worst day of my life (not everything was great, but it was the most memorable). Where I learned there was more to interviews than just asking questions.
I did everything I wanted to do at the Warped Tour. The bucket list is complete.
What happens next? Who knows? Maybe it exists as a different iteration, or maybe this truly is the end. Even 24 years later, Kevin Lyman can still put on a great event. If this is indeed the final iteration of the Vans Warped Tour, it ends exactly how I would’ve imagined it: my voice gone from a day of singing along to my favorites, a headful of memories of all the good times I had throughout the day, a smile on my face, and a crowd surfer clocking me in the back of the head.
If this truly is goodbye, I say thank you for everything. I am Forever Warped.