Vans Warped Tour

NewspaperVans Warped Tour, held at Verizon Wireless Amphitheater on July 24, brought a variety of musical artists to St. Louis.

“I was satisfied with the selection. Some of the bands weren’t my thing, but I liked their stage presence and they got everyone pumped up even if they weren’t fans,” said senior Chancey Bloodworth.

Throughout the venue, there were a multitude of different stages including the main stage where the most well-known bands performed. Forever The Sickest Kids and The Summer Set are two of the bands that performed on that stage.  

“I think it’s good that there are a lot of different stages. It keeps things moving smoothly. The more stages that there are, the more there is to see, and the more bands that can actually be here,” said Calvin Walker, junior at Roosevelt High School.

Besides watching the bands, audience members also purchased food and drink. The food and drink averaged seven to twelve dollars, which some people at the event thought was too expensive.

“I feel like the prices were too high, and people aren’t going to want to spend 10 bucks on a meal when they could be buying shirts and CDs,” said Bloodworth.

There were many merchandise tents all around the venue. Every band that was scheduled to be there had its own merchandise tent.  Aside from the band tents, there were also many other merchandise tents for different organizations like To Write Love on Her Arms and tents where concert-goers could buy things like sunglasses, bags, and Vans Warped Tour merchandise.

With all of the stages and tents, people could get lost. “Everything looked the same, and it got kind of hard to find where you’re going.  I thought everything was a big circle, but it was not,” said Bloodworth.

Audience members could venture a bit farther into the arena to find the big inflatable set list which told them who was playing when and where. Most new bands played in the morning. Many of the more popular bands went on later in the day.

“I think one of the worst things that happens is when you arrive too late to see a band that you really want to see, or if you end up having to wait all day because one of the bands that you want to see doesn’t come on until way later in the evening…However, considering all that you get to do and see, the price of the ticket is actually pretty reasonable,” Walker said.

By: Editor-in-Chief Aurora Wrancher