Warped Tour Ventura
This past weekend, our entire crew was able to attend this year's Vans Warped Tour in Ventura, CA thanks to our good friends in The Acacia Strain, Winds of Plague, A Day to Remember, Set Your Goals, and Epitaph Records. For one day only, all of us tried to do our best to pretend like we were 17 years old again and relive the golden days when our only concern was if we brought enough sun screen lotion to last us the whole day. Oh, to be young again.
On our way to Ventura, Jase got pulled over apparently by the "nicest" cop ever. No ticket issued.
When we arrived, we started our day by meeting up with Vincent and the dudes from The Acacia Strain. Even though I've toured with these guys before and seen them countless times in the past, this was easily one of the heaviest and most brutal live sets I've ever encountered. I honestly very surprised by the huge response from the crowd since Warped Tour hasn't always been known for its extreme bands. Maybe this is the beginning of a new era? We shall see.
Vincent getting the crowd to join in his daily "fuck the world".
A fan posted a video of the last song of their set. Check out Vincent repping the L&O Box Logo tee. He also gives L&O an awesome shoutout at the 4:09 mark. Best dude ever.
Also, in TAS-related news, they just released a new music video for their song "The Impaler" where Vincent also happens to be rocking the L&O Fitted Hat. Check it out!
Immediately following their set, the Winds of Plague crew took the stage for their own version of violence via soundwaves. It's hard to see here but Art is wearing our Prophets tee while he punishes his drum set.
It was amazing watching Johnny easily command this audience to do whatever he wanted on a whim. Stage dives? No problem. Circle pit from hell? Coming right up. Wall of death? You got it, boss.
"Decimate the Weak"
I'm sure these dudes get hit up ALL the time by random clothing companies asking them to wear their shit on stage. Let's face it, they're a big deal. They're even being played on the radio locally on KROQ. Fortunately for us, the guys from A Day To Remember were more than willing to help us get a little bit of exposure. And by a little bit, I mean tens of thousands of screaming fans every single day of Warped Tour. Whoa.
It still trips me out how big these guys have become especially since we met them back in 2008 on tour in Arizona. At the time, we were on tour with The Acacia Strain and ADTR was actually on their way from their home state Florida to the first date of Warped Tour. They needed a couple shows to help pay for gas driving to Warped so they hopped on our show in Arizona. Our band Dear Life opened the show and I guess a couple of the guys from ADTR watched our set and enjoyed it enough to talk to us. Josh even wanted to trade merchandise with us so he could wear our shirt. And that's how it all started. Ever since then I've kept in touch with Neil. Now these dudes have a die-hard legion of fans and when Josh wears our shirt, thousands of eyes see it..
Josh and the Class Axe tee even found their way onto RollingStone.com in an article about Warped Tour in Southern California.
Look at the size of that crowd in this video! Incredible.
Last but certainly not least, Audelio and Set Your Goals tore up the Advent Stage that was still recovering from the previous TAS and WOP sets.
Check out Delio going hard on the vocals in "Gaia Bleeds", one of my favorite songs by the band.
It just makes me really happy to see friends of ours doing what they love and making a living out of it. A living out of loving.
Don't forget, both the Winds of Plague and The Acacia Strain collab t-shirts are still available exclusively at Warped Tour all summer long!
- Vince
(Photos courtesy of my iPhone, Rob's iPhone, JerryJohn.com, PunkWorldViews.com, and RollingStone.com)
(Videos courtesy of YouTube)
On our way to Ventura, Jase got pulled over apparently by the "nicest" cop ever. No ticket issued.
When we arrived, we started our day by meeting up with Vincent and the dudes from The Acacia Strain. Even though I've toured with these guys before and seen them countless times in the past, this was easily one of the heaviest and most brutal live sets I've ever encountered. I honestly very surprised by the huge response from the crowd since Warped Tour hasn't always been known for its extreme bands. Maybe this is the beginning of a new era? We shall see.
Vincent getting the crowd to join in his daily "fuck the world".
A fan posted a video of the last song of their set. Check out Vincent repping the L&O Box Logo tee. He also gives L&O an awesome shoutout at the 4:09 mark. Best dude ever.
Also, in TAS-related news, they just released a new music video for their song "The Impaler" where Vincent also happens to be rocking the L&O Fitted Hat. Check it out!
Immediately following their set, the Winds of Plague crew took the stage for their own version of violence via soundwaves. It's hard to see here but Art is wearing our Prophets tee while he punishes his drum set.
It was amazing watching Johnny easily command this audience to do whatever he wanted on a whim. Stage dives? No problem. Circle pit from hell? Coming right up. Wall of death? You got it, boss.
"Decimate the Weak"
I'm sure these dudes get hit up ALL the time by random clothing companies asking them to wear their shit on stage. Let's face it, they're a big deal. They're even being played on the radio locally on KROQ. Fortunately for us, the guys from A Day To Remember were more than willing to help us get a little bit of exposure. And by a little bit, I mean tens of thousands of screaming fans every single day of Warped Tour. Whoa.
It still trips me out how big these guys have become especially since we met them back in 2008 on tour in Arizona. At the time, we were on tour with The Acacia Strain and ADTR was actually on their way from their home state Florida to the first date of Warped Tour. They needed a couple shows to help pay for gas driving to Warped so they hopped on our show in Arizona. Our band Dear Life opened the show and I guess a couple of the guys from ADTR watched our set and enjoyed it enough to talk to us. Josh even wanted to trade merchandise with us so he could wear our shirt. And that's how it all started. Ever since then I've kept in touch with Neil. Now these dudes have a die-hard legion of fans and when Josh wears our shirt, thousands of eyes see it..
Josh and the Class Axe tee even found their way onto RollingStone.com in an article about Warped Tour in Southern California.
Look at the size of that crowd in this video! Incredible.
Last but certainly not least, Audelio and Set Your Goals tore up the Advent Stage that was still recovering from the previous TAS and WOP sets.
Check out Delio going hard on the vocals in "Gaia Bleeds", one of my favorite songs by the band.
It just makes me really happy to see friends of ours doing what they love and making a living out of it. A living out of loving.
Don't forget, both the Winds of Plague and The Acacia Strain collab t-shirts are still available exclusively at Warped Tour all summer long!
- Vince
(Photos courtesy of my iPhone, Rob's iPhone, JerryJohn.com, PunkWorldViews.com, and RollingStone.com)
(Videos courtesy of YouTube)
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