VANS WARPED TOUR IN VEGAS!

VANS WARPED TOUR IN VEGAS! One of the most anticipated summer music festivals the 23rd annual Vans Warped Tour, rolled through Vegas this past June. The event was held at several stages inside the Hard Rock hotel and casino. Despite the heat, thousands of fans came out to see their favorites band such as FALLING IN REVERSE, GWAR, BARB WIRE DOLLS, NEW YEARS DAY, BLESS THE FALL, and many more.I started off with the Skullcandy stage that featured new up and coming bands. The first band that I saw was BAD SEED RISING, a hard rock band from Baltimore, Maryland. Lead singer Francheska Pastor exudes confidence while commanding the stage and the audience. The next band was WAR ON WOMEN. Another band from Baltimore, they are described as a feminist hardcore punk band. This is a great band with lyrics that delivers messages to their audiences about abortion rights, access to contraception, surviving rape, and online misogyny. BARB WIRE DOLLS are a punk band that comes all the way from Crete, Greece. They were signed by Lemmy Kilmister of MOTÖRHEAD to MOTÖRHEAD Music. Their sound is raw, honest, and are influenced by punk bands of the 70′s.

The Journeys Left Foot and Right Foot stages drew huge crowds throughout the day as each hosted several popular acts including FALLING IN REVERSE, CKY, NEW YEARS DAY, and SAVE FERRIS. At the Journeys’ stages, fans sang, chanted, and waved their arms in unison, as they watched their favorite band. My favorite band at the Journey’s stages was NEW YEARS DAY. Their alternative metal sound consists of crunchy guitar riffs and melodic vocals. NEW YEARS DAY is a breath of fresh air from all of the bands who sound similar on the Warped Tour.
Fans at the brand new Mutant stages head banged and moshed all day long. The Mutant stages brought together hard rock, metalcore, and metal bands such as SILENT PLANET, THE ACACIA STRAIN, SILVERSTEIN, BLESSTHEFALL, and legendary shock rock band GWAR. SILENT PLANET was one of the bands that stood out of all the heavy metal bands on the Mutant stages. With a unique approach to their metalcore sound, their music touches issues of politics and war victims. BLESSTHEFALL gave one of the best performances at Warped. During the song “Hollow Bodies,” lead singer Beau Bokan was energetic and jumped into the crowd. Making a connection with his fans, as he allowed audience members to sing into the mic, and to sing along with him.One of the main reasons I went to the Warped tour was to see GWAR for the first time. GWAR brought chaos, an explosion of blood and guts to the hot summer tour. The alien monsters of GWAR, drowned their fans in heavy metal music and blood. As the crowd pumped their fist in the air while getting a mouth full of fake blood, they kept screaming for more.
The 23rd 2017 Vans Warped tour had a larger selection of heavier bands this year, but was able to cater to everyone’s taste, with a variety of bands. It’s refreshing to see the Vans Warped Tour change things up with their band lineup each year, and I cannot wait for what they have up their sleeves next year!