Meeting the members of the band Hands Like Houses.

Giving the drummer of my favorite band a high-five, watching bands that I’ve been a fan of for years preform- if you told me that I’d accomplish any of that just a year ago, I’d probably laugh. July 4th 2105, however, made all of that actually come true.

I had never been to Warped Tour before, and I didn’t really think it was my kind of thing. Loud crowds and mosh-pits, and you can’t forget the horrible traffic on the way there. I didn’t think any of that would appeal to me, and I really didn’t know much about Warped Tour to begin with. I didn’t even know that there were merchandise tents where you could actually meet bands and artists. I was definitely surprised, and pleasantly so.

The first person I saw who I recognized from my years of listening to rock music, coincidentally enough, was the lead singer of my favorite band. There he was, Trenton Woodley from Hands Like Houses, standing there and agreeing to take pictures and even talk to fans who were approaching him. Laughing and jittering nervously, I was forced by a couple of my friends to take a picture with him. One of them had a polaroid camera, which she used to take a picture of us with (which never developed, but hey, I still have it). After, another friend went on to chase him down to have it signed. Thanks, guys.

As far as meeting and taking pictures with people goes, I’d say I was pretty successful. I was able to meet all of Hands Like Houses during their signing, where the drummer gave me a high-five after noticing I was wearing one of their band’s t-shirts. The rest kindly said hello, smiled, and told me they’d see me next time.

Beyond those little experiences, I was able to take a photo with Joe Taylor from Knuckle Puck, Travis Hawley from Night Riots (plus a friendly hug), and photographer Adam Elmakias. All of whom were super kind guys, and it really was a pleasure to meet them in the scalding Florida heat.

When it comes to who I saw preform, I can’t complain. I saw Hands Like Houses (obviously), Night Riots, Pvris, Pierce The Veil, We Came As Romans, Knuckle Puck, blessthefall, Black Veil Brides, Neck Deep, New Years Day, Never Shout Never, and The Wonder Years. I’m probably missing some others, and I saw many other bands performing while just walking around. The only band I missed out on who I really wanted to see was Asking Alexandria.

I kept away from the main part of the crowd for most of these, considering some of them got really crazy. When I was watching Pierce The Veil, for example, I thought I got there somewhat last and would be near the back of the crowd. I was definitely wrong, however, because I somehow managed to end up right at the edge of the mosh-pit. This led to me backing up alongside my friend, trying to get out of that insanity. It wasn’t that difficult, thankfully.

For bands like We Came As Romans and blessthefall, I kept around the edge because they also had pretty chaotic crowds going on. I was more towards the front though, actually close to the stage. I was right at the barricade for Hands Like Houses, which was the closest I got to any band for the day. I was only behind one other person, and after having rushed there after watching We Came As Romans and taking a picture with Travis Hawley, I don’t think that’s half bad.

Warped Tour as a whole was nothing like anything I had ever experienced before. It was a day spent with friends, listening to good music, and freaking out to all of the talented artists around us. Already, I’m looking forward to March when they’ll be announcing next year’s lineup.