Thousands of music lovers packed the PNC Bank Arts Center in Holmdel for the 2015 Vans Warped Tour on June 19. ADAM C. UZIALKO/STAFF Thousands braved the grueling heat and heavy traffic to see their favorite bands play an all day festival at the PNC Bank Arts Center.
The 2015 Vans Warped Tour on June 19 attracted throngs of mostly teenagers and 20- somethings, many tattooed and sporting greens, blues and purples in their hair. As the first wave of exhilarated millenials trudged toward the venue from the parking lot, there was the palpable sense that all of the waiting and sweating had been well worth it.
Nicole Rzekick and Annette Malysa, both of Clifton, were particularly excited to see Metro Station and Simple Plan take the stage. Malysa said she had never been to Warped Tour before and was happy to just take it all in.
“It’s just so much fun being in the crowds,” she said as she waited in line by Metro Station’s tents among a sea of vendors. “People are all moshing and crowd surfing, even though they’re not really supposed to.”
Rzeckick said she loved the openness of the festival and the willingness of the attendees to all “do their own thing” without fear of reprisal.
“Everyone is just expressing themselves,” Rzeckick said. Malysa agreed, noting the plethora of colorful ink on display in the human masses that snaked through the tented fairgrounds.
Every now and then, as one strode past the endless rows of merchants and vendors, a chorus of cheers and shouts would erupt from a nearby crowd as a band emerged to take a stage that was a stone’s throw away.
A power chord would be struck, and the once still horde would lurch forward, then back, and a circle pit would open in the middle of the crowd. Bodies would be hoisted into the air, carried forward by fields of hands, until they were finally helped down by yellow shirted security at the front of the stage. Many awestruck youth would simply run to the back of the crowd and do it all over again.
Some people found a spot in a parking lot, well away from the stage, where they danced to the music from a distance and opted for a bit of a reprieve from the humid center of the thrilled fans. The bands responded in kind, ramping up their energy level between each song and appealing to their wild spectators to keep the energy level up.
Sgt. Corrin Campbell, an active duty soldier in the U.S. Army, was hoping for such a reception when she played the “Hard Rock Kevin Says” stage at 5:20 p.m. In a backstage interview with Greater Media Newspapers, Campbell said she loved Warped Tour because of how inclusive an atmosphere it produced. “I grew up on [the Warped Tour],” Campbell said. “It’s just great – the diversity of people’s backgrounds and lifestyle.
“It’s really more like the Army than people think. There’s a lot of variety.”
At an event where the genres of pop punk and screamo are exalted, Campbell said many people scratch their heads at the idea of a band of soldiers playing. The disconnect, she said, seems to be that one would expect an Army band to be straight-laced and stonyfaced, but Warped Tour is happily disheveled and, in many ways, chaotic.
“We get a lot of criticism out here because it seems strange,” Campbell said. “Like, Warped Tour and the Army?
“But we’re not here to exploit anyone’s patriotism. We just want them to listen to the music.”
Campbell and her band, The Election, pride themselves on just playing their instruments without any digital effects or auto-tuning, drawing heavy inspiration from ‘90s era Seattle sound/grunge. The act has hit 42 states in the past year, bringing a “coming of age context” to each of their shows.
“It’s a lot of coming of age context, and I think I got that from the Army,” Campbell, who enlisted after high school, said. “The Army taught me work ethic and is where I really learned how to hustle, but the songs are common to everyone.
“It’s just about life and people, and a lot of blending of two worlds – the creative and the military.”
Some fans checked in on the guest list, eager to see friends and family play on one of the several stages scattered throughout the PNC Bank Arts Center. Ryan Grey and Joe Diaz were two such attendees, whose friend was playing in Pierce the Veil, a band that plays a derivative of hardcore punk. Both Grey and Diaz were attending for the first time.
“We’re both musicians too, so it’s really cool to be here and see them play,” Diaz said. “I’ve never actually been here and, since I live so close, I’ve always wondered what it was like.”
Others cooled off on the inflatable water slides and tried to refill their water bottles in tents that sprayed a cool mist on the inhabitants.
Grace Hangly and Sydney Hess, both first timers from Sussex County, sat in a field anxious to see both Neck Deep and Baring Teeth after making a quick stop at the water slide.
“I crowd surfed for the first time,” Hangly said excitedly. “It’s just been a once in a lifetime thing … hanging out and meeting new people here.”
Hess said there was no lull between bands, with plenty of vendors, free merchandise and activities to explore between stages.
The consensus was clear. Although the temperature was pushing triple digits and the heat radiated off the parking lot black top like a solar wind, Warped Tour was an event not to be missed.
“It’s totally worth the burn,” Hangly said.
At the end of the day, as sweaty and ragged festival-goers slinked back to their cars, nearly ready to drop where they stood, halftired smiles crept across many faces and satisfied chatter could be heard flitting through the exodus. Many uttered “that was awesome” or “I can’t believe it’s over,” and there was at least one “I can’t wait until next year.”