I went in for the Kosha Dillz….and I came out a fan of many. I really didn’t know what to expect. I’ve heard about Warped Tour for years, and as a connoisseur of festival culture, I was truly blown away by the hoard of people who got off their asses on a Thursday in July to brave the heat at Sandstone.
Yes, we’re calling it Sandstone. End of discussion.
11 a.m. and the parking lot was almost as full as the sold out Dave concert weeks before. I’ve never seen so many young people, SO hot, and SO excited to be present. It was a rocker’s paradise. Every band had it’s own tent; every band you could go and shake hands with, and every band had a 30-60 minute time slot on one of the eight stages set up in Sandstone. Six of the eight stages took over a whole parking lot, and forgive me if you’ve been to Warped Tour before, but for those of us who have not, it’s quite a picture to paint.
Kosha Dillz kicked it off early on the Beatport stage, with more energy and hutzpah than any Jewish rapper I’ve ever seen. The Bar Mitzvah of his sidekick rapper Flex Matthews was a nice touch. (For all you goy’s out there, a Bar Mitzvah is a BIG DEAL, and yes they did the hora)
The Carousel Kings were on point with an amazing lead singer and superb crowd interaction.
Riff Raff was in the HOUSE! (yay)
Even the comedy tent was hoppin’ … Grant Cotter blew me away.
You can scope the full lineup of artists here: http://vanswarpedtour.com/bands
It was truly a unique festival experience. Every performer there was hustling, HARD… to get people to their show (with signs and promo featuring the time and location of their show), hustling to get people to buy merch afterwards, to take stickers, to be friends with and build up their fan base.
The whole production clearly took effort, from the volunteers, to the vast array of merchandise, sound and stage production, vendors and info booths galore… everybody there was COMMITTED and in for the long haul. (Well, except me, I came, I saw, then I got the hell out of there and came back to the AC to write this blog post… which is why some people actually get paid to do this shit… it’s hard work being out there all day!)
All in all, well done Warped Tour. Ya’ll actually had your act together, which for a rocking shit-show, can be hard to do. I for one was impressed, and with a little planning, hope to be back next year on your lineup!
Sincerely,
MissConception, reporting live from Kansas City #WarpedTour2015
P.S. Moral of the day: “The Dream Doesn’t Chase Itself”
Go get it.
