This Old Man Learned an Amazing Truth at Warped Tour
Three of Them, Actually
It’s more than a year now since the world hit the pause button on live music because of COVID-19. Though signs are looking good for a return to concerts in the not too distant future, the extended hiatus has had me thinking recently about some of the shows I went to in the past, and one in particular that literally changed the way I see the world. In reality, it was the second one to do that, as seeing Springsteen live in 1984 changed everything. But you expect that with Bruce.
Before I get into the worldview-altering show — event actually, since there were multiple bands — a little background is necessary. I’m in my mid-50s now, and I grew up on acts like CCR and The Beatles (courtesy of my mom). As I hit my teens in the late 1970s and early 1980s it was Springsteen, Tom Petty, Thin Lizzy, and some of the New Wave bands. Throw in a generous helping of the Smiths, some Gin Blossoms, a dash of 10,000 Maniacs, a litttle Cult, and a bit of Pearl Jam and you’ve got my musical goulash. Suffice it to say I was pretty sure rock died when Guns N’ Roses broke up.
Fast forward to the summer of 2014. My oldest daughter, in spite of my attempts to convince her there was no music that didn’t involve the E Street Band, had embraced pop-punk, an ironic designation if ever there was one. And that summer she convinced me to take her to Warped Tour, the traveling musical circus that was the Mecca for young music fans who love weird categories: pop-punk, metalcore, screamo…the list goes on.
Up to this point I had only heard a few bands that fit the Warped Tour profile: Green Day, Jimmy Eat World, blink-182, and All Time Low. The first three had significant radio airplay; I knew All Time Low because my daughter worshipped them. None would be at Warped. I was hesitant, to say the least, but she assured me there was a “parents’ tent” where I could smoke and drink and wear earplugs. I gave in.
We lined up outside the gates the morning of the event, with me easily at least a decade older than even the few other parents I saw. Every possible teen and early 20s subculture was there, with every imaginable tattoo and with piercings I didn’t know were possible. Once inside the gates, trapped in a sea of humanity surging toward the various stages, there was no way I was leaving my teen and her friend unguarded. Thus, the first band I saw that day was Cute is What We Aim For.
If you’ve ever seen the look on John Cusack’s face when Jack Black starts singing Marvin Gaye at the end of “High Fidelity,” then you’ve seen my reaction: astonishment, followed by a slowly bubbling, inescapable joy. Hell, suddenly I was 15 again.
This continued throughout the day and into the night. In rapid succession we saw This Wild Life, We the Kings, The Summer Set, and PVRIS; every one of them were light years better than the auto-tuned shit that dominated the Top 40. The night ended with the band I still cannot believe has never hit it big: Mayday Parade; these guys are the real thing. If there was one downside (besides the heat), it was that the sound quality on multiple stages was what you’d expect with bands breaking down and setting up every 30 minutes, but I really did not care. I never got to see the Ramones at CBGB, and while this obviously wasn’t them, it was as close as this old bastard would ever get.
I steered the kids around mosh pits (resisting the urge myself) and past booths with PETA gear. I tried my best to keep them hydrated in the Texas heat and still make it to the next stage early enough to get close. Sometime around mid-day I saw a little girl with spiked pink hair, 12 years old at most, wearing a Smiths “Meat is Murder” T-shirt. Maybe there was still hope for the world.
In the six years between that Warped Tour and the pandemic shutdown I have seen Springsteen in concert once; it was my fourth time, but the first time I was able to bring my daughters and is one of the highlights of my life. In that same timeframe, with those same girls, I’ve seen All Time Low twice, Mayday Parade twice, This Wild Life twice, State Champs, Tonight Alive, Real Friends, Neck Deep, Candy Hearts, As It Is, Sleeping With Sirens, and Black Veil Brides (who I thought were a Motley Crue cover band for the first few songs).
So why was it life-altering? What’s my point? I have three, all of which I learned at that first Warped Tour and have only become more sure of as time has gone by:
- When you’re the only non-tatted, non-pierced person in a sea of thousands, you’re the freak.
- In spite of point #1, those kids were more welcoming, more polite, more kind than 90% of the people I’ve gone to church with.
- Rock did not die when G N’ R broke up. Not even close.
So for all you old rocker moms and dads out there, take time to listen to what your kids are listening to. The gift of music doesn’t just pass down from generation to generation. It passes up as well.
Here’s a playlist for you:
