Warped Tour 2010
by Chrissy Bulakites (Music Industry/Photography), published August 4th 2010
photos by Chrissy Bulakites (Music Industry/Photography)
On the morning of July 13, 2010 thousands of concertgoers rushed the gates of the Comcast Center in Mansfield, Mass in a frantic attempt to avoid missing their favorite bands’ sets. What began sixteen years ago as a celebration of all things punk rock has since evolved and acquired a much more eclectic repertoire. (Odds are, you won’t be able to see the Dillinger Escape Plan and Motion City Soundtrack play the same stage anywhere else.) Despite its diverse lineup, Warped Tour 2010 seemed to have one overarching theme: Nostalgia.
Attending the festival was like watching an episode of VH1′s ‘Where are They Now?,’ with acts like The All American Rejects, Sum 41 and Andrew W.K. all on the bill. The All American Rejects gave the sunburned masses a late afternoon pick-me-up on the main stage with fan favorites like, ‘Swing, Swing,’ ‘Move Along,’ and ‘The Last Song.’ Sum 41 charged onto the Glamour Kills stage in the pavilion at the Comcast Center just in time to get everyone in out of the impromptu rain shower that provided a welcome relief from the heat. They delivered all of their hits with just as much teen angst as they did when they were actually in their teens. The quartet closed out their set, and quite possibly stole the entire show, with the driving outcast anthem, ‘Fat Lip,’ which turned the crowd into a sea of fists raised in protest of becoming ‘another casualty of society.’
The Festival came to an end with a giant party, brought by none other than Andrew W.K. He managed to get even the most exhausted and mud-covered of attendees moving with the always-infectious ‘Time to Party’ and ‘She is Beautiful.’ Andrew left the audience with his signature song ,’Party Hard.’ It was at this moment that the true meaning of Warped Tour became clear. Everyone was singing, whether he or she was there to see Every Time I Die or NeverShoutNever. The entire population of the self-proclaimed ‘punk rock summer camp’ had convened to end the day with a bang, proving that the Vans Warped Tour isn’t about whatever genres or hairstyles are trendy at the moment- it’s about celebrating the concert experience and everything we love about it together in a giant whirlwind of sweat, circle pits, sing-a-longs and five dollar bottles of water.