Van's Warped Tour 2017
Virginia Beach
Since 1995 Kevin Lyman’s Van’s Warped tour travels coast to coast from June to August bringing fans of all ages to discover new music and relish in some familiar music of older bands. This longest running festival in the United States features seven stages and over 90 bands. There is something for every rock lover at the show. The only difficulty is deciding which bands you want to hear, all the while hoping they are not playing at the same time another band you want to see is playing.
The 2017 Warped Tour in Virginia Beach was a sweltering 100 degrees, and concert goers were ready with their water bottles, fans and bandanas. The tour featured mostly post-hardcore and metal bands with a few ska and pop bands. The crowd was a bit older this year with Generation X bringing their children to the show. I noticed there was not much crowd surfing due to the older fans. However, there were many mosh pits.
Anticipation grew as the gates got close to opening at 12:00 PM, with the first bands of the day to play at 12:30. Just like any other tour goer, we picked our first band and went off to the Full Sail Stage to take pictures for Movements. Our excitement matched those in the crowd. as we took photos. The band began to play for the first people of the day and they even brought up the guitarist from Counterparts to sing some of the song with them. This is what I like about Warped Tour. The bands become a family and will surprise you as other bands' members will show up on stage unexpectedly. The major label bands like Hawthorne Heights, GWAR, American Authors, and the ever so dreamy, Andy Black were nothing short of phenomenal to watch and photograph.
I have been attending Warped Tour since 1996 and I always enjoy discovering a new band. I had the pleasure of bringing along my assistant, Samantha McGranahan, this year which afforded us the opportunity to interview several bands. We were thrilled to interview two band originating from Richmond, VA, Bad Omens and GWAR. A few other band we interviewed were Sonic Boom 6, Too Close to Touch, Valient Thor, and Anti-Flag. All of the interviews were amazing with each band giving insightful answers. RVA natives Noah and Vincent of Bad Omens sat down and talked about missing home and how different living on opposite sides of the country can be. Laila Kahn, of Sonic Boom 6, relayed how becoming alcohol free gave her new freedom to write songs that have a deeper meaning that may also help her fans. GWAR’s leads singer, Blothar, poked fun at Samantha and her name, and then proceeded to explained how he is a mother of four which Samantha could only respond with “I’m sorry.” They are a great satyrical metal band.
Our favorite interview hands down was with Pat Thetic of Anti-Flag. Pat was so insightful and it was refreshing to hear that he has not given up his fight for civil rights.
Experiencing Van’s Warped Tour 2017 as a fan, photographer and interviewer is a joy, but with over 90 bands it is impossible to see all of the bands you want to see in just one day. Maybe next year we will hit up a few cities to be able to get in more shows and interviews.
Interviews:
Anti-Flag
https://youtu.be/C96mTeHZaGw
Bad Omens:
https://youtu.be/9TjkUXWqCtI
GWAR:
https://youtu.be/_0lZsNoF2WM
Photos:
lwww.rebeccamaguirephotographer.com/photos-2017-warped-tour.html
The 2017 Warped Tour in Virginia Beach was a sweltering 100 degrees, and concert goers were ready with their water bottles, fans and bandanas. The tour featured mostly post-hardcore and metal bands with a few ska and pop bands. The crowd was a bit older this year with Generation X bringing their children to the show. I noticed there was not much crowd surfing due to the older fans. However, there were many mosh pits.
Anticipation grew as the gates got close to opening at 12:00 PM, with the first bands of the day to play at 12:30. Just like any other tour goer, we picked our first band and went off to the Full Sail Stage to take pictures for Movements. Our excitement matched those in the crowd. as we took photos. The band began to play for the first people of the day and they even brought up the guitarist from Counterparts to sing some of the song with them. This is what I like about Warped Tour. The bands become a family and will surprise you as other bands' members will show up on stage unexpectedly. The major label bands like Hawthorne Heights, GWAR, American Authors, and the ever so dreamy, Andy Black were nothing short of phenomenal to watch and photograph.
I have been attending Warped Tour since 1996 and I always enjoy discovering a new band. I had the pleasure of bringing along my assistant, Samantha McGranahan, this year which afforded us the opportunity to interview several bands. We were thrilled to interview two band originating from Richmond, VA, Bad Omens and GWAR. A few other band we interviewed were Sonic Boom 6, Too Close to Touch, Valient Thor, and Anti-Flag. All of the interviews were amazing with each band giving insightful answers. RVA natives Noah and Vincent of Bad Omens sat down and talked about missing home and how different living on opposite sides of the country can be. Laila Kahn, of Sonic Boom 6, relayed how becoming alcohol free gave her new freedom to write songs that have a deeper meaning that may also help her fans. GWAR’s leads singer, Blothar, poked fun at Samantha and her name, and then proceeded to explained how he is a mother of four which Samantha could only respond with “I’m sorry.” They are a great satyrical metal band.
Our favorite interview hands down was with Pat Thetic of Anti-Flag. Pat was so insightful and it was refreshing to hear that he has not given up his fight for civil rights.
Experiencing Van’s Warped Tour 2017 as a fan, photographer and interviewer is a joy, but with over 90 bands it is impossible to see all of the bands you want to see in just one day. Maybe next year we will hit up a few cities to be able to get in more shows and interviews.
Interviews:
Anti-Flag
https://youtu.be/C96mTeHZaGw
Bad Omens:
https://youtu.be/9TjkUXWqCtI
GWAR:
https://youtu.be/_0lZsNoF2WM
Photos:
lwww.rebeccamaguirephotographer.com/photos-2017-warped-tour.html
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