Vans Warped Tour 2018 (Part 1)
 | Written by Timothy Cox Photographed by Lilia Mattingly (C) 2018 All rights reserved by www.metalmasterkingdom.com VANS WARPED TOUR 2018 (PART 1) @ Old Cypress Lot @ Metropolitan Park Jacksonville, FL, USA August 2, 2018 For anyone who lives in Florida, there is always one thing you have to count on, which is the chance for rain. As much sun as the state gets, you can’t have the rainbows without the rain, and that’s exactly what happened at the Jacksonville show for the 2018 Warped Tour. |
The Warped Tour isn’t as it once was for the most part, something I’ll discuss a little later in part 2, but I was expecting a little more out of this show. For starters, I can’t even remember the last time it was in Jacksonville. Secondly, this was listed as a sold out show every time I went to see if there were tickets left online, and thirdly, it was one of the last four shows of the tour. Yet, there didn’t seem to be much of a crowd at all. There were fans that came from Georgia, South Carolina, and Alabama that I met, but the response I expected for the show fell short again like years past.
Of course though, even with the small crowd there, it was a good crowd. In typical Warped Tour fashion, before the show, there were bands promoting their CD, the tour staff selling two dollar schedules, and everyone just talking about the bands they were most excited to see with each other.
The gates opened and the excitement of fans headed to get to the front of the stages. I have to admit; the lineup was really good for most of the stages. They put a lot of heavy-hitters and crowd-pleasers in the morning and early afternoon such as State Champs, Issues, Chelsea Grin, Falling In Reverse, Ice Nine Kills, Crown The Empire, Twiztid, Motionless In White, and Simple Plan. All of them put on killer shows as they normally do. As the day continued on, and more people began showing up, it looked like it was starting to turn into a really good festival.
Of course though, even with the small crowd there, it was a good crowd. In typical Warped Tour fashion, before the show, there were bands promoting their CD, the tour staff selling two dollar schedules, and everyone just talking about the bands they were most excited to see with each other.
The gates opened and the excitement of fans headed to get to the front of the stages. I have to admit; the lineup was really good for most of the stages. They put a lot of heavy-hitters and crowd-pleasers in the morning and early afternoon such as State Champs, Issues, Chelsea Grin, Falling In Reverse, Ice Nine Kills, Crown The Empire, Twiztid, Motionless In White, and Simple Plan. All of them put on killer shows as they normally do. As the day continued on, and more people began showing up, it looked like it was starting to turn into a really good festival.
| By mid-afternoon, I got the opportunity to see In Hearts Wake, who I interviewed earlier in the day. I had never seen them live, and wasn’t really sure what to expect when they came out on stage. I was really taken aback by their performance in the most unexpected ways. Consisting of board shorts, an African safari hat, a fake mustache, and an inflatable raft, yes, you read that right, an inflatable raft, their performance was incredible. They were full of energy and good fun, everyone in the crowd enjoyed themselves during the show. Before playing one of their songs, they had a sample introduction of “I’m On A Boat” by Andy Samberg’s band The Lonely Island, right before the lead singer Jake Taylor jumped in the middle of the raft, and was sailing the waves of the crowd in the boat while singing. By this time of the day, there had been a few light showers, but nothing too concerning., so the show continued on. I decided to head over to the Mutant Stages and check out Dayseeker and Sharptooth. Although they didn’t draw much of the crowd at the show, the Dayseeker put on a very good set. Their message was inspirational, and full of heart that really resonated to those who were there listening. After, I looked up to the sky, and you could see the darkness was approaching extremely fast. It was then that I knew that the day could possibly be ending very soon. SHARPTOOTH Photo credit: Lilia Mattingly (C) 2018 www.metalmasterkingdom.com | MOTIONLESS IN WHITE Photo credit: Lilia Mattingly (C) 2018 www.metalmasterkingdom.com It was now 5:00 and I walked over to my left about a hundred feet to the other Mutant Stage to see Sharptooth. It was probably the best and worst thing of the day. Lauren Kashan, the lead singer, came out on stage and started belting away lyrics and bringing a massive crowd to its feet. They started hard and kept going with their hard-echoed guitars and passionate sound from Maryland. The crowd was engaged, the band was energized, and the storm was there for it. Not long after two hard pounding songs did the sounds of thunder emerge, and the lightning followed at 5:10pm. I envisioned Jack Black being in the crowd and screaming, “Yeeeaaaah! You brought the thunder!“ As tour production staff immediately cut the power to all the stages, the rain began to start following, merchant tent crews began hustling to bring their gear to the trailers, security started directing people out the exit, and all Sharptooth wanted to do was keep playing. I stood there watching Lauren talk to security, pissed off, frustrated, and trying to understand exactly why the band had to stop playing when it’s just rain. Unfortunately, it really wasn’t the rain, it was the lightning and the safety precautions in place. But, as the PA announcements were being made for us to exit and get to shelter, the tour made it clear that they planned to continue the show and let everyone back in once the storm passed. I’m sure that happened on earth reality C-137b, but not in this one. |
| In this reality, 10 minutes after we exited the park and headed to the car, the rain started pouring in true Jacksonville fashion. When it rains in Jacksonville, and all of Florida pretty much, it’s as if God wanted to wash his shiny blue planet with a fire hose. He must have been in a bad mood today because he turned the nozzle to the jet setting, and started spraying us down. It’s comical as it always is, but by 5:35pm we were in the car drenched, and wondering if there was any hope of rain to stop. In this reality, and not earth reality C-137b, there was no plans for the rain to stop until past 1 AM. That was that. The show was over, and for some of us, the tour was over. The day ended sour with rain and disappointment from not being able to see all the bands that were scheduled to play. Later on in the evening when I got home, I decided to go and look on the Vans Facebook page for the tour show. Out of curiosity, I wanted to see what other fans had to say about the day. Even though it was pouring outside, I got a nice dose of sunshine in that moment. The tour directors decided that due to the rain and fan disappointment, they were going to honor all the tickets purchased for the Jacksonville show with free access to any of the remaining three shows being played in Florida. I was absolutely shocked; ecstatic by this news. | IN HEARTS WAKE Photo credit: Lilia Mattingly (C) 2018 www.metalmasterkingdom.com |
Being a broke-as-a-joke music lover, going to the shows can be pretty costly, as everyone knows. This had to be probably one of the classiest things that the tour has ever done. Needless to say, and as you can imagine, I went to another tour show. But when you live in Florida, it’s always sunny with a chance of rain. And sometimes there’s a lot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Be sure to check out part two of this review to find out how this tour adventure ended.
VANS WARPED TOUR 2018 (Part 2)
| SIMPLE PLAN Photo credit: Lilia Mattingly (C) 2018 www.metalmasterkingdom.com | Written by Timothy Cox Photographed by Lilia Mattingly (C) 2018 All rights reserved by www.metalmasterkingdom.com VANS WARPED TOUR 2018 (PART 2) @ Coral Sky Amphitheatre West Palm Beach, FL, USA August 5, 2018 All things come to end, and this is no different. As cliché as the saying is—it “rains” true. If you read part one, then you can clearly recognize the pun, but this was the second attempt to seeing a complete show in Florida. On a bright and sunny day, with the heat index at 97 degrees and just about zero humidity, the Vans Warped Tour officially ended August 5th, 2018 at the Coral Sky Amphitheater in West Palm Beach, Florida, and the one thing that echoed from stage to stage was “Thank you Kevin Lyman!” |
What’s even more interesting is that to those who have never been to the tour, would say that this is unusual or that the bands are all doing something special for the last show. But this is absolutely not the case. This isn’t the first time those words have echoed at a show during the tour. So who is Kevin Lyman?
Lyman is simply a music lover and event producer who saw an opportunity to connect the bands, brands, social platforms, and culture to the fans. This was a two-way dream come true for both bands and fans. Bands and fans were given a way to connect and have a more intimate relationship together. This connection between the bands and fans only helped make these tours more successful over the years.
Lyman is simply a music lover and event producer who saw an opportunity to connect the bands, brands, social platforms, and culture to the fans. This was a two-way dream come true for both bands and fans. Bands and fans were given a way to connect and have a more intimate relationship together. This connection between the bands and fans only helped make these tours more successful over the years.
| From the very beginning, bands have been thanking Kevin for giving them the opportunity to be part of the tour. When Warped Tour started in 1994, it had no major sponsorship, and was just making the rounds as a punk/ska oriented tour. It wasn’t until 1995 that Vans officially became the sponsor. By doing so, over the years the Warped Tour became more than just an annual tour, it became a musical incubation chamber for bands and artists to rise. Spanning across two generations, it launched many careers such as No Doubt, Black-Eyed Peas, Green Day, Blink-182, My Chemical Romance, Sublime, Eminem, New Found Glory, Avenged Sevenfold, Kid Rock, Paramore, Black Veil Brides, Sum 41, and even Katy Perry. Even though this is the last tour, it still held true to the end. This year’s tour came out and killed it with the lineup. Veterans like Simple Plan, Crown The Empire, 3OH!3, Movements, We The Kings, Less Than Jake, and Real Big Fish were as fabulous as ever. In a surprise move to fans, New Found Glory joined the tour and were there to share the stage for the final tour performance line up. Most notably for anyone who looked at all the dates, and the bands playing, was that the final four shows ended with a performance by Pennywise. | 3OH!3 Photo credit: Lilia Mattingly (C) 2018 www.metalmasterkingdom.com |
| MAYDAY PARADE Photo credit: Lilia Mattingly (C) 2018 www.metalmasterkingdom.com | In customary fashion, lead singer Jim Lindberg walked up to the mic and gave his famous shout out, “Hello, we’re Pennywise from Hermosa Beach, California”, and the last 30-minute set of the tour started. It was everything you’d expect from a Pennywise show, which is energy, angst, friendship, raw lyrics, and that backyard punk sound from the west coast. This set though was much more special of course. Toward the end of the set, Lyman came out to the center of the stage, and address the crowd. It was clear Lyman had an important message he wanted to share with the fans and the band. After all the “thank you’s” he had received over the years, he personally wanted to thank all the fans who had supported the tour for the past 24 years. When the tour was announced, I thought it was interesting that the last four shows were the only ones that had Pennywise performing. Lyman revealed as to why. He tried to get in touch with the band's agents in the early ears of the tour, and had no success. So, he had a secret meeting with the band, and a week later he went directly to Fat Mike (Owner and founder of Fat Wreck Chords) to get them on the tour. It was 3 years ago, when Lyman was thinking of closing the tour, he made it officially clear that it would be Jim and Pennywise who would be the last band to ever play whenever the tour finally ended. Lyman said, “They are the heart and soul” of what this tour is all about. |
As Jim and the band started “Bro Hymn,” Fletcher and Kevin shared an emotional hug on stage. Jim was then surrounded with Kevin and his daughter in the middle, and everyone on stage who also had been watching the final performance to be part of this special moment, and help sing the tour to an end. The house lights came up, Fletcher and Randy threw out their picks, and that was that. Now sadly, the musical circus train that has given us 24 years of music and culture is officially closed for business. But, Lyman isn’t done just yet. He has something up his sleeve for what would be the 25th anniversary of the tour. He hasn’t officially announced it yet, but he has something in store for us all. Who knows what it will be, so we will all just have to wait to see.
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