Van’s Warped Tour 2016
I just got home from driving five and a half hours from Dallas. I went there for one reason, to go see Warped Tour. My daughter and a couple of her friends have gone to the Tour’s Dallas stop, but I hadn’t been to the Gexa Energy Pavilion for any reason. I did go see a Warped Tour in Mountain View, California a couple of years ago mainly to see the Aquabats and Reel Big Fish. Goal achieved! The one thing that I noticed on that tour was the high percentage of screamo bands that were on the day’s schedule. I’m not opposed to screamo music. That genre has throngs of fans, I’m just not one of them. I’m serious when I say that I’m glad those bands are out there filling a need for a group of people that obviously devour that kind of tense metal. I look at it the same way I look at Joni Mitchell. I don’t care for her music, but there are avid devotees that would watch her shop for groceries at the supermarket if there was a video of it.
AH!! Back to Warped Tour!!
This Dallas stop was the very first show on the 2016 Tour. This meant everyone was hyped up and ready to take on the world. The set of shows that I saw were a very diverse range of acts. I saw some great new-to-me bands like Waterparks, The Interrupters, Teenage Bottlerocket, and Pepper. I saw some favorite bands like Reel Big Fish, Less Than Jake, and Beebs – sans her Money Makers, but oh so good, as usual. Since I’m as pale as vanilla ice cream, I don’t like being in the sun too much. It hurts… a lot. The Gexa Pavilion had a huge covered amphitheater where the wide stage was split into two smaller stages. I was able to sit and watch one band play on the Cyclops Stage and almost immediately after they were done, another band popped up on the other side on the Poseidon stage. I sat there for a few hours throughout the day enjoying bands that I had never heard of before. They were playing their hearts out in front of as many people as they could. Everyone that I saw seemed to be very appreciative of everyone’s support. I, for one, was very appreciative of their effort and their music. When I wasn’t under the protection of the amphitheater’s awning, I was out walking through the paths that meandered around the complex. Every band had their merchandise booth and there were plenty of other booths with t-shirts, hats, and whatnot. It was good to see everyone getting along throughout the entire day. It gave me hope that not everyone in the world is an asshole.
Speaking of assholes…Truthfully, the only thing that had the potential of ruining the day was the food and beverage vendors. Everything in the complex was at least, let me emphasize AT LEAST double what it should cost. More often than not, it was triple what it should be. I'm no spring chicken. I know how much things cost to make and how much you need to sell them for to make a decent profit. I would never slight anyone for wanting to make a profit. I have done it many times. However, when you have a captive audience who is starving and thirsty and who aren’t allowed to bring any food or drinks in (except for one bottle of factory sealed water), they choose to gouge everyone they can. And they gouge them hard right in the ass. Here is what I can remember. Single sheets of copy paper with the day’s schedule for bands - $2, Hot Dog - $6, Corn Dog - $6.50, two small palm-of-your-hand-sized tacos - $8, tall boy beers - $14.50, regular sized beers $7, and 16 ounce cups of lemonade - $8. There were burgers and pizza and mixed cocktails and nachos, but I was honestly too scared to see how much all that shit cost. As for me and the crew, we mostly just had water all day and hogged out at Burger King after the show. In my opinion, all of the musicians should protest the high cost of food and drinks. Lower food costs would promote the fact that the bands could sell more merchandise at their tents. I would have bought a Pepper t-shirt, but instead I bought tacos and water for my wife and me. See how that works? I would much rather support a band on tour than a greedy corporation, but we were super hungry.
I didn’t let the way way way overpriced food and drinks make it a bad day. It was a very good day. I saw tons of great music because Ska and Punk returned to the Warped Tour. I got to hang out and not worry about anything. I didn’t get third degree burns requiring hospitalization. Overall, the 2016 Warped Tour show in Dallas was epic. Thank you and job well done, Mr. Lyman. (He’s the guy that started and continues to run Warped Tour in case you didn’t know.)
I just got home from driving five and a half hours from Dallas. I went there for one reason, to go see Warped Tour. My daughter and a couple of her friends have gone to the Tour’s Dallas stop, but I hadn’t been to the Gexa Energy Pavilion for any reason. I did go see a Warped Tour in Mountain View, California a couple of years ago mainly to see the Aquabats and Reel Big Fish. Goal achieved! The one thing that I noticed on that tour was the high percentage of screamo bands that were on the day’s schedule. I’m not opposed to screamo music. That genre has throngs of fans, I’m just not one of them. I’m serious when I say that I’m glad those bands are out there filling a need for a group of people that obviously devour that kind of tense metal. I look at it the same way I look at Joni Mitchell. I don’t care for her music, but there are avid devotees that would watch her shop for groceries at the supermarket if there was a video of it.
AH!! Back to Warped Tour!!
This Dallas stop was the very first show on the 2016 Tour. This meant everyone was hyped up and ready to take on the world. The set of shows that I saw were a very diverse range of acts. I saw some great new-to-me bands like Waterparks, The Interrupters, Teenage Bottlerocket, and Pepper. I saw some favorite bands like Reel Big Fish, Less Than Jake, and Beebs – sans her Money Makers, but oh so good, as usual. Since I’m as pale as vanilla ice cream, I don’t like being in the sun too much. It hurts… a lot. The Gexa Pavilion had a huge covered amphitheater where the wide stage was split into two smaller stages. I was able to sit and watch one band play on the Cyclops Stage and almost immediately after they were done, another band popped up on the other side on the Poseidon stage. I sat there for a few hours throughout the day enjoying bands that I had never heard of before. They were playing their hearts out in front of as many people as they could. Everyone that I saw seemed to be very appreciative of everyone’s support. I, for one, was very appreciative of their effort and their music. When I wasn’t under the protection of the amphitheater’s awning, I was out walking through the paths that meandered around the complex. Every band had their merchandise booth and there were plenty of other booths with t-shirts, hats, and whatnot. It was good to see everyone getting along throughout the entire day. It gave me hope that not everyone in the world is an asshole.
Speaking of assholes…Truthfully, the only thing that had the potential of ruining the day was the food and beverage vendors. Everything in the complex was at least, let me emphasize AT LEAST double what it should cost. More often than not, it was triple what it should be. I'm no spring chicken. I know how much things cost to make and how much you need to sell them for to make a decent profit. I would never slight anyone for wanting to make a profit. I have done it many times. However, when you have a captive audience who is starving and thirsty and who aren’t allowed to bring any food or drinks in (except for one bottle of factory sealed water), they choose to gouge everyone they can. And they gouge them hard right in the ass. Here is what I can remember. Single sheets of copy paper with the day’s schedule for bands - $2, Hot Dog - $6, Corn Dog - $6.50, two small palm-of-your-hand-sized tacos - $8, tall boy beers - $14.50, regular sized beers $7, and 16 ounce cups of lemonade - $8. There were burgers and pizza and mixed cocktails and nachos, but I was honestly too scared to see how much all that shit cost. As for me and the crew, we mostly just had water all day and hogged out at Burger King after the show. In my opinion, all of the musicians should protest the high cost of food and drinks. Lower food costs would promote the fact that the bands could sell more merchandise at their tents. I would have bought a Pepper t-shirt, but instead I bought tacos and water for my wife and me. See how that works? I would much rather support a band on tour than a greedy corporation, but we were super hungry.
I didn’t let the way way way overpriced food and drinks make it a bad day. It was a very good day. I saw tons of great music because Ska and Punk returned to the Warped Tour. I got to hang out and not worry about anything. I didn’t get third degree burns requiring hospitalization. Overall, the 2016 Warped Tour show in Dallas was epic. Thank you and job well done, Mr. Lyman. (He’s the guy that started and continues to run Warped Tour in case you didn’t know.)