Tag Archives: Vans Warped Tour

Brainwashing The World – While She Sleeps

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While She Sleeps

While She Sleeps

UK metalcore outfit While She Sleeps made their big return to North America doing this year’s edition of the Vans Warped Tour. While they are here in support of their latest album Brainwashed, they are going through the usual first day chaos of the tour. Aside from working on their long overdue suntans, they are managing to get their adventures started.

“It’s fucking hot though. It’s starting in California. It started in the deep end of the heat. It’s cool though,” says bassist Aaran Mackenzie, about dealing with the Southern California dry heat.

“We’re trying. We’ve got some sunscreen on. Obviously you can’t burn,” he adds, talking about getting a tan while not sunburning at the same time.

Loz of While She Sleeps. Photo Credit: @hennythepooh (via Facebook)

Loz of While She Sleeps. Photo Credit: @hennythepooh (via Facebook)

Another minor dilemma was their vocalist Lawrence “Loz” Taylor did not arrive with the rest of the band, due to visa issues on the US embassy’s side. Fortunately the problems were resolved quickly and he only missed one show.

“They said it was a problem with the visa. I think the printing system went down,” said Savage.

“It was worldwide in the US Embassy. We got through it first and then Loz was a little later,” added Mackenzie.

Fortunately this got resolved quickly with friends coming to the rescue. “We have Beartooth’s singer [Caleb Shomo], We Came As Romans’ singer and Capsize [Daniel Wand] filling in. They’re all filling in a song each. Everyone’s supporting us and it’s a good family based thing. It’s cool everyone’s helping us out,” explained Mackenzie.

“The thing is the kids are there and will still enjoy it. It’s something different. Whatever will happen,” added drummer Adam Savage.

This is their second time on this tour and they admit they have learned from their experiences from the first time on how to better prepare themselves to last on this lengthy journey. 52 days is quite a while and they were up for the challenge.

“It either makes you or breaks you. You’ve got to be pretty tough to last the whole thing. It tests you but being British, we rarely get to America and it’s a novelty for us. You see it in movies your whole life. To be here and being in the mountains in Los Angeles is like a dream come true,” explains MacKenzie about what being on this tour means to him as well as the rest of the band.

While She Sleeps on Warped Tour 2015 (via Facebook)

While She Sleeps on Warped Tour 2015 (via Facebook)

Brainwashed is their latest album (out now via Razor and Tie in North America and Search and Destroy in the UK), and continues their growth process from their debut album.

“It’s kind of the same, like our previous albums. It’s a natural progression in our band really,” said Savage.

“It seems like some concepts like we’re sung about on This is the Six, but we’re not beating around the bush any more. The title Brainwashed, we’re trying to tell people how it is about this stuff. We did the writing in a similar style as we did to our first mini album (2012’s The North Stands For Nothing). We all moved in together and we tried to really clinch the four live parts of the writing than writing the whole album on a computer and then on ProTools. We all moved in together and played stuff live together as much as we could. I think it’s come out really good,” added MacKenzie.

“A lot of things we’ve learned and many things are different learning curves. You learn a lot of things from this session and put it into this one and all sorts of different stuff on the next one,” concluded Savage.

Being that While She Sleeps have began to venture across the globe and reaching new fans everywhere they play, their longtime fans and friends back home have been supportive of their ambitions. Mackenzie summed it best about their longtime supporters: “We’ve been in this band since school. This is all they’ve known us to do and that’s all we’ve known. So they get it.”

By Rei Nishimoto

While She Sleeps on Facebook
While She Sleeps on Twitter


New York’s New Breed – The Karma Killers

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Billy Stevens and Micky James of The Karma Killers. Photo Credit: Tara Dettman

Billy Stevens and Micky James of The Karma Killers. Photo Credit: Tara Dettman

Rock music in the New York City area was once engrained within their DNA, as history has spawned a number of once promising acts within the music scene and made that region a desired destination to launch many artists’ careers at one time.

After years of crafting their sound and fine tuning their songwriting skills, The Karma Killers are taking their music onto the road and sharing their music with the masses. They have released their debut EP Strange Therapy via Island Records and have been playing every day this past summer on the Vans Warped Tour’s Ernie Ball stage to lots of new yet enthusiastic fans on each tour stop.

“It’s been fantastic. It’s been really great,” says frontman and guitarist Micky James, about their touring experience. “The kids have been very receptive so far. It’s been hot. We’re getting into the groove of things and the swing and becoming really awesome. I can’t wait until we work on the rest of the tour.”

“It’s the first time on this tour and our first real tour. We did a little run to South By Southwest, but this is the first real tour. We’re really trying to catch on.”

Billy Stevens of The Karma Killers. Photo Credit: Tara Dettman

Billy Stevens of The Karma Killers. Photo Credit: Tara Dettman

Their band name came together by sheer accident and evolved from there. Taking musical influences ranging from David Bowie and the Cars to Billy Idol, U2, and The Ramones to a variety of new wave and classic punk rock, they began to build a foundation of what is heard on their ep.

“Billy (Stevens, guitars) had this name Killing Karma at first and then we talked about it. We thought it was a cool name, but we wanted to throw in a “The” in front of it. We wanted it to be like The Rolling Stones. Micky was like ‘what about the Karma Killers?’ It was that simple. We all thought it sounded good. We were strangers at the time. We had just met. It was the first or second night we had met each other and we walked away with a band name,” said bassist Mango.

“I liked how it had a meaning to it. I see a lot of bands that don’t have that kind of thing to it any more. I thought it was cool. That’s what I was drawn to,” added James.

Josh Grisby of The Karma Killers. Photo Credit: Tara Dettman

Josh Grisby of The Karma Killers. Photo Credit: Tara Dettman

So what was their reaction to how they fit into this year’s Vans Warped Tour lineup, considering they are not either pop-punk, screamo or any of these other subgenres that this tour is well known for featuring every summer? “I mean a lot of the bands here seem a little different from us…but it’s cool. We feel like there’s a bunch of different bands out there. We like that,” said James.

The real surprise came where they had some fans who were familiar with their material on some of the earlier stops across California, where the Vans Warped Tour began. Plus the irony of it all is the band had never played anywhere on the West Coast prior to this moment.

“The past two shows there were actually kids actually knew the words. I was completely shocked. This is so new to us. Even kids knowing our band name is or knowing the words is incredible,” said James.

“It’s crazy. We’re literally on the other side of the nation from where we come from and where we’ve always been playing in New York City. To be in California and see even one or two people that are aware of the band’s existence, it’s awesome,” added Mango.

Within a relatively short period of time, The Karma Killers grabbed attention within their own area through their songwriting and strong live shows.

“We started in 2012 in New Jersey. I was starting off writing a bunch of songs as a solo artist and this guy I was recording with, I was looking for a band and he knew our guitar player and was introduced to Billy [Stevens]. Billy knew Mango [bassist], and a couple days after that we were writing songs and it instantly clicked. We found the name of the band from there. We wrote a bunch of songs. We played in New York City for years. Just breaking our backs trying to be a do it yourself rock n roll band. We took some steps and now we’re here.”

“I’ve been in bands since I was ten, kind of like hardcore bands in New Jersey. Then I started writing songs when I was 18. My old band fell apart and I was looking for something else and something new, and this fell in my lap. It was a blessing,” said James.

But Mango shared the moment where the band knew they had something special and made the band click. After sifting through songs James had written on his own, they knew that they were into something that could make the Karma Killers special.

“Actually he had on his own did a demo track, I guess you could call it. When Billy and myself heard it that is what started the band. We got wind of that song and that track, and we loved it so much, we thought it was great. From there we got together and we kind of molded it together as a solo artist, but it eventually took on its own life. It really became the Karma Killers after some time.”

Lastly, being on their first tour, the Karma Killers have faced a learning curve towards necessities of life on the road. “Three days without showering was definitely interesting. We ran out of water on our van wagon,” said Mango, boldly sharing his Warped Tour moment.

“At the first day in Pomona, I had to shower at the amphitheater and I forgot my towel. So our tour manager Christian, who is the man, gave me paper – pieces of paper you’re supposed to put down on a toilet bowl. I dried myself with that! It’s probably the worst shower I’ve ever had. At least I took a shower. For me that’s my most interesting moment.”

“Now we know we’re going to keep that tank filled with water, so we can shower every day.”

By Rei Nishimoto

The Karma Killers on Facebook
The Karma Killers on Twitter
The Karma Killers on Instagram


Audio-Andy Biersack Of Black Veil Brides Appears On the Jasta Show

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the jasta show

Black Veil Brides front man Andy Biersack appears on the latest edition of The Jasta Show podcast, hosted by Jamey Jasta. You can hear the podcast at this link from Soundcloud or below:

You can catch Black Veil Brides all summer on The Vans Warped Tour.

Black Veil Brides, photo©Kevin Estrada / kevinestrada.com

Black Veil Brides, photo©Kevin Estrada / kevinestrada.com


Flying High- Braden Barrie of SayWeCanFly

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saywecanfly braden

Within the lineup of each year’s Vans Warped Tour, there is often a hidden gem amongst the crowd of names who perform amongst their multiple stages. On the Full Sail University Acoustic Basement tent each day, Canadian artist Braden Barrie’s one man act SayWeCanFly is getting heard each day in front of curious fans. He is enjoying his time playing for new fans and has had this moment as a goal of his since his teenage years.

“Literally Warped Tour’s been my dream for a long time. Since I’ve been doing this more and more, I try to think past that and set higher goals, but it’s cool that I’m finally meeting a goal I’ve had forever. I’m so excited just to be there and be in that world,” he says, thinking about the opportunity on the tour.

Much of this year has been a growing process for Barrie, as he spent time touring with Metro Station across North America, promoting his album Between The Roses, as well as reaching fans on his various social media pages through a variety of YouTube videos and fans discovering his recordings on Bandcamp. This was all done by himself and without the assistance of a record label or distribution companies.

saywecanfly

He talked about some of his favorite artists who helped shape his sound. “My first album I ever bought was by Relient K, which is kind of a Christian band. I grew up listening to a lot of Christian music, kind of like rock stuff. I think the first album that caused me to start writing was Awake by Second Hand Serenade, which was the first acoustic artist I got into.”

“After I found him I started listening to a lot of indie acoustic artists that literally play with their acoustic and sing. So that was just seeing that other people had done it and was possible to have a good song with just your voice and a guitar.”

“For some reason acoustic guitar has been my favorite sound. I feel so free when I play it. Just seeing other people do it inspired me to start writing it and realized it was possible.”

Actually this is his second time on the Warped Tour, following his brief stint appearing on one date in Toronto, ON on a prior year. “I’ve had a small, small taste. The first year I did the Acoustic Basement Tent and the second year I did the Ernie Ball Stage, which was a little bigger. It will be cool doing the tent the whole entire summer.”

So what was it that attracted him towards doing the Warped Tour? ”It was amazing because a lot of my fans end up going. A lot of times they can’t go to my shows on school nights but I know they always go to Warped Tour. I get to meet most of them.”

“I got to see most of the excitement. When the doors open, it’s a stampede of kids. It’s crazy how much passion is in the air. It’s really, really cool.”

saywecanfly warped live 2015

Unlike many of his fellow tour mates, Barrie originates from a small town in the Ontario province in Canada. He talked about where he is from and how that affected his work ethics towards getting his music heard.

“I grew up in a place called Lindsay, Ontario. I didn’t realize how out in the middle of nowhere it was until I drove there from Pennsylvania. It was a 13 hour car drive and seeing how much distance it actually takes to get there. I think there’s like 25,000 people there. It’s actually really a nice little town. They have everything that you need. It always looks really nice. At first it was really hard to think past it and realize there’s more to the world. That was what drove me. I just wanted to get out of here. Everyone around me has this small town mindset and they’re going to stay there their whole lives. That didn’t feel ok to me.”

“I’m thankful to have grown up in such a small place. Everything I’ve experienced outside of that is amazing.”

Unlike many acoustic acts that perform on the live circuit, Barrie has mostly performed solo and without a backing band. He has devised a strategy on how to craft his music without the assistance of a backing band and has won over fans on each stop of a tour.

“I’ve jammed with my friends for fun, but Saywecanfly has always been me. When I record albums, I’ll have people come in and play. I had a guy come in and play cello and electric guitars. The live shows have always been me.”

The idea of a backing band has crossed his mind at times, as this scenario has been presented before. But he has reiterated that it may be a possibility at a later time, once he feels ready to do so.

“I’ve thought about the whole band thing but I want to get as good as I can on my own before I do that and before I take that step. I have a long way to go with that still. I feel like I want to get as amazing at playing solo so I feel super comfortable. It’s a process. I used to be super shy. I had a hard time playing for ten people. Every show I learn to be a little more comfortable, so I want to get way better at that.”

While his sound leans upon the singer-songwriter side, being around the Warped Tour has attracted him to some heavier sounds as well. But finding him in the mosh pit may not happen right away. “I love hardcore music. Underoath is my favorite band. No I wasn’t scared of mosh pits. I tried it once and got injured so bad. So I always stuck to the acoustic side. “

“When I started playing guitar, I started on electric guitar and I learned a lot of blues. I was listening to Stevie Ray Vaughn, BB King and stuff like that. So that was before I started singing. So I had those roots too.”

Lastly, he shared some of the artists on the Warped Tour he is excited to see while on the tour. “Definitely Pierce The Veil. I love Pierce The Veil. I love them because they incorporate so many different instruments in their songs. Their songs are so complex. This band called This Wild Life – these two dudes who play acoustic music. I’ve been listening to them a lot lately. A band called Pvris. They just put out an album. They’re kind of like Paramore and Lights. The girl who sings for them is super talented. Never Shout Never is one of my influences way back in the day. It will be cool to hang with him too. I’m excited to hang with everyone. I don’t listen to a whole lot of music, which is weird, so I don’t know a whole lot of the bands playing. But it will be cool to discover a lot of the bands playing and make friends.”

By Rei Nishimoto


Audio: Memphis May Fire Stream Acoustic version of Beneath The Skin

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Memphis May Fire Unconditional Deluxe Edition cover 2015

Memphis May Fire have released the audio stream of their new track, an acoustic version of their song ‘Beneath The Skin’ from the deluxe edition of their latest album Unconditional (Rise Records), due out this Friday. You can hear the track at this link or below:

‘Beneath The Skin’ is one of four bonus tracks on Unconditional The Deluxe Edition with new songs ‘My Generation’, ‘Stay The Course’ and another acoustic re-imaging; ‘Need To Be’.

Guitarist Kellen McGregor commented on the track:

“It’s always enjoyable to reimagine songs acoustically as we’re primarily a band that writes heavy music with a lot of riffing. ‘Need To Be’ made sense to choose considering it’s already a softer track from “Unconditional” & lends itself nicely to an acoustic interpretation. Reworking ‘Beneath The Skin’ was a fun challenge due to its heavier nature, but the process was very rewarding & it turned out more amazing than we could have possibly imagined.”

Memphis May Fire, photo©Kevin Estrada / kevinestrada.com

Memphis May Fire at Warped Tour 2015, photo©Kevin Estrada / kevinestrada.com

Memphis May Fire can be seen all summer on the Vans Warped Tour. Following a tour of Australia, Japan, Europe and the UK this fall, they will also play Warped Tour UK on October 18 in London, alongside Black Veil Brides, Asking Alexandria, August Burns Red and more.


Svetlanas World Tour Takes Them To Warped, Ticket Giveaway Contest Open

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The Svetlanas live

Russian anarchist punk band Svetlanas are in the midst of an extensive world tour , including a run on this summer’s Vans Warped Tour. Now the band is giving away two tickets to select shows of their remaining dates on the tour. You can enter the contest at the sign up form from their website: 

Svetlanas Featureing Blag Dahlia Revenge

Fresh off their tour of Europe opening for Punk rock legends The Dwarves, the band is on the road in the US supporting their recently released Revenge (Altercation Records) produced by Blag Dahlia of the Dwarves and Andy Carpenter, with Blag appears on the track.

Svetlanas Featureing Blag Dahlia Revenge vinyl record store day

Svetlanas online

Svetlanas on Facebook


Jona Weinhofen of I Killed The Prom Queen Talks Australian Hardcore

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i killed the prom queen 3

Australian metallic hardcore crew I Killed The Prom Queen are enjoying their time on the Vans Warped Tour, in support of their latest album Beloved. While on the tour, they quickly learned about the other fellow Aussies who will be taking part on the tour with them.

Guitarist Jona Weinhofen spoke about some of his fellow country people, and how he detects if that person is actually Australian. “I know there are but I can’t remember the names. They’re bands I don’t know personally. It’s the thickest accents. You can hear it within ten meters from where you are.”

i killed the prom queen beloved

Being that he is currently situated in the United States, he found himself getting more in touch with his Australian roots. He shared his thoughts on staying true to that plus how he sees his home country from afar.

“Honestly since moving away from Australia, I think I found myself a little more patriotic. It’s one of those things – you don’t know what you’ve got until you’ve lost it. It goes with the place you’re living as well. When I moved to America – I love it here in California. There’s so much opportunity, beautiful weather all the time and so much cool stuff to do all the time, but I did find myself missing certain things about home and that made me appreciate things about my home country a little bit more”.

“If you hear me around Warped Tour putting on a thick Aussie accent, that’s me trying to regain my patriotism,” he said, with a smile.

In recent years, he also spoke about another band he is very familiar with – Deez Nuts. The band features two former members of I Killed The Prom Queen – frontman JJ Peters and bassist Sean Kennedy. Weinhofen explains the connection between the two bands and his thoughts on his former bandmates’ new venture.

“He was our original drummer, JJ Peters. He was in the band with the reformation in 2011 and when we wanted to go full time again, he was already doing Deez Nuts full time. They have a huge following in Europe, so he left Prom Queen to focus on Deez Nuts. We’re totally cool with that. Our old bass player Sean Kennedy left the band for personal reasons and joined Deez Nuts the second time.”

“The Aussian music industry, especially with the heavy music with punk rock, hardcore – is quite incestuous. Everyone knows everyone, everyone’s played in everyone else’s bands. Our bass player Ben [Coyte] played in Deez Nuts. Our singer Jamie [Hope] played in Deez Nuts. I played one show with Deez Nuts. Everyone’s good at maintaining friendships no matter what band’s doing what.”

I Killed The Prom Queen’s newest bass player comes out of Day of Contempt, a veteran of the Australian hardcore scene. “Our bass player Ben used to be the vocalist of this band called Day of Contempt from Adelaide. We basically grew up and they were our idols. They were the Adelaide band we had to play with. I think they were the first Adelaide band to sign to an overseas hardcore label, the first Adelaide/Australian hardcore band to really come over and tour the US hard. I know they did some tours with Terror, Bleeding Through, 18 Visions and even Good Charlotte. They did some really good tours. They were a band we always looked up to. When he approached us to join the band, we were like ‘duh – let’s do this!’ “

By Rei Nishimoto


Mallory Knox – Asymmetrically Challenged

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mallory knox 2015 has been a relatively productive year for UK alternative rockers Mallory Knox, after spending the first half of the year venturing into new territories after making noise within their home country since their inception in 2009.

At the time of this interview, the band just completed the first date of the Vans Warped Tour across North America, and over a 55 day span, they will be on one of the longest treks under a variety of climates across the country.

Frontman Mikey Chapman shared his thoughts on touring across the United States. “It’s interesting because obviously America is the most looked upon country in the world. You get your own ideas about what America will be like and predispositions about how things are here. The most exciting thing for me is destroying those ideas. I thoroughly love the people of America. They’re some of the sweetest, most inquisitive lovely people we’ve had the pleasure of meeting. It’s fantastic. We love it here.”

They also just released their latest album Asymmetry, their second album over and first for the North American audience.

“We actually dropped it a few days ago,” explains Chapman. “We released it in the UK a little while ago. We’re really excited to get out over here. There’s some great fans already in the US and we want to expand on that. It’s something we can keep working on and eventually come over and do our own headline tour. It’s a fantastic opportunity to get music out here. I think the American people will like it. I really do. It’s just getting them to hear it. That’s the trick.”

Prior to this run, they kept busy with touring across the pond, as well as making their debut on US soil. “Before South By Southwest, we did the world tour with Pierce the Veil and Sleeping With Sirens. Then we came back for a few days for South By Southwest. That was our last time over year so it’s nice to be back,” he explained. “We went home for a little while. It got to the point where I went a bit stir crazy at home because we did so much at the start of the year and kind of getting back to normality in our quiet little village in the middle of nowhere. It was a bit of culture shock.”

Mallory Knox. Photo Credit: Sammy Roenfeldt (via MK Facebook page)

Mallory Knox. Photo Credit: Sammy Roenfeldt (via MK Facebook page)

Much like many bands on their maiden Warped Tour voyage, word has spread about the experiences being tough, especially due to long travel days and working under extreme heat on many of the tour’s stops. Plus being from the UK, they learned quickly how to adapt and were up for the challenges.

Bassist Sam Douglas had a quite interesting perspective, especially being this was the first date of the Vans Warped Tour. “It’s been stressful for us so far. We can talk about the heat and us being pale British men. It’s going to be a shock and very warm. We’ve had a few things happen with our merchandise and first day problems, but I’m sure we’ll get to the swing of things pretty soon. It’s unique and it’s something I’ve always wanted to…even when I was 15 the dream was always Warped. To be here, it’s a weird thing. You wake up and you don’t know what time you’re going to play. So that’s a completely unique experience. It keeps you on your feet and makes you not want to drink so much at night. You never know what time you’re going to play.”

They explain the differences between tackling the challenges of performing on UK fests such as Download Festival or Reading and Leeds, versus the Vans Warped Tour. Not that either is an easy task but each one comes with its own set that is approached a bit differently.

“I think the fact that it’s a touring festival is something we don’t have. We don’t have a big enough country to do something like that on that scale. The fact that there’s 800 people on this tour and that itself is an insane amount of people to be traveling across the country together,” said Douglas.

“The fact that there’s so many stages and…70 bands is it? It’s crazy! To tour something like that for 50 days is…it’s an iconic festival. In the UK, I don’t think we could do it because there’s not enough places to go. That’s probably the difference.”

Chapman added, “The crowds are bigger. They are back home too. You’re looking at 16,000 people here, as back home you’re looking at 100,000 people at Reading and Leeds or at Download. In terms of scale, it’s slated but the ethos still rings true. It’s about having a good time.”

While being on this tour, the two of them have their lists of bands they would love to catch. Each one had their respective wish lists of who they will be seeing and spending their time bonding with. “I’ve been a huge fan of Transit for a few years. I’ve never been able to see them live,” said Douglas. “At some point I’d like to go check them out. I’d like to check out our friends in Moose Blood, who we took out in the UK a few months back. It was their first time ever out there and their record’s done pretty well.”

“Pvris obviously and Pierce the Veil – two bands we’ve toured with recently. We’re really close with those guys. It will be nice to spend a whole lot more time with them and see how much they’ve come along the past few months. It’s such a great opportunity to hang out with so many bands. We’re looking forward to just as much making new friends as seeing old ones,” added Chapman.

Chapman shared his secrets on being British and enjoying the sun. “The vast majority of British people have resigned to not getting tans. We appreciate it. It’s great for other people but maybe not so much for us. I think us particularly we’re not ones for tanning. I don’t know…I might go a little bit for darker…” “I’m definitely not geared up [for it]. I’m one shade away from see through.”

By Rei Nishimoto


Vans Warped Tour 2015 – Pomona Fairgrounds and Seaside Park at Ventura Fairgrounds

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Warped-2015-lineup

Another year has arrived for the Vans Warped Tour full of anticipation and excitement to hit the summertime across North America. This year’s edition maintains their tradition of youth oriented angst filled music (or whatever the kids call it these days) and carving a path for the next batch of rising stars on the scene. Thanks to photographer Kevin Estrada for shooting these two dates of Warped tour for Ghost Cult!

The main stages (Shark and Unicorn) showcased the main attractions on the tour, ranging from the pop punk acts (The Wonder Years) to the screamo/emo (Pierce The Veil, Blessthefall) to the crossover half melodic and half aggro (We Came As Romans) to the harder sounding (August Burns Red) managed to keep the kids bouncing around in the crowd and rarely laying low.

August Burns Red, photo © Kevin Estrada / kevinestrada.com

August Burns Red, photo © Kevin Estrada / kevinestrada.com

Tour veterans Motion City Soundtrack made their brief California run appearance, showing the crowd how things are done on this tour. Metro Station (featuring Trace Cyrus, son of country performer Billy Ray Cyrus), melodic punk act Man Overboard, and hardcore outfit Fit For A King all set the pace for the day with their respective sounds while keeping the crowd engaged.

Atilla, photo © Kevin Estrada / kevinestrada.com

Atilla, photo © Kevin Estrada / kevinestrada.com

The main acts on these stages won over the crowd throughout the day. Memphis May Fire got the crowd into a high with their half heavy yet melodic styling that struck a nerve with them; Attila, led by their enigmatic frontman Chris “Fronz” Fronzak and his guitar crunching yet Eninem-esque “meth” suit bouncing along with the crowd; Black Veil Brides and their legions of die hard fan base singing along to every word; and Miss May I and their modern metallic sound that got the crowd worked up later on in the day.

The Amity Affliction, photo © Kevin Estrada / kevinestrada.com

The Amity Affliction, photo © Kevin Estrada / kevinestrada.com

While the main stage had their moments going on, there were a number of side stage acts making noise of their own. The Monster Stage housed their own brand of chaos throughout the day, as Senses Fail, Being As An Ocean, Beartooth, Mallory Knox and The Amity Affliction all got the pit crew throwing down alongside each band and rarely letting down. The harder driving acts such as hardcore outfit Hundredth had the pit kids going in effect, while veteran Canadian post hardcore act Silverstein had their mix of longtime fans as well as newbies who both showed their appreciation for the band. Australian metallic hardcore outfit I Killed The Prom Queen appeared to be bass player less, but that didn’t stop them from bringing out their At The Gates meets hardcore stomp to these fans. British metalcore act While She Sleeps briefly were down a singer (ie visa problems kept frontman Lawrence Taylor making a late start on the tour) but friends pitched in to lend a helping hand and fans didn’t even notice. Plus Escape The Fate closed out the evening with their eclectic brand of punk meets screamo meets modern metal that got the late comers their last bit of a sweat.

Neck Deep, photo © Kevin Estrada / kevinestrada.com

Neck Deep, photo © Kevin Estrada / kevinestrada.com

On the other stages, indie hip hop acts MC Lars gave a lesson in nerdcore with rhymes about video games and Game of Thrones (ie his latest single “Dragon Blood), while Kosha Dillz brought out his East Coast blend of Spanish, English and Hebrew rhymes; and electro-DJ-performance duo mystery men Drama Club put on an interesting performance that combined part Blue Man Group-esque percussive moments with part electronica meets EDM moments and spontaneous bursts of energy that kept the interested crowd on its feet.

Pvrvis, photo © Kevin Estrada / kevinestrada.com

Pvris, photo © Kevin Estrada / kevinestrada.com

The Journeys Stages found Juliette Sims and Night Riots wowing the crowd with their high energy sets, while hotly tipped electro pop outfit PVRIS became one of the much talked about acts on the tour and their set did not disappoint. Hip hop act Riff Raff put on quite the entertaining show on this stage, with his colorful summertime dress and animated raps to get the crowd bouncing along.

New York alternative rockers The Karma Killers stood out amongst the vast number of acts performing on the Ernie Ball Stage, with their fresh take on classic pop-punk, rock, and alternative rock with an energetic stage show. While they are newly signed to Island/Def Jam and new to the scene, they showed that they could one day end up on one of the larger stages in the new future.

The Acoustic Basement easily became an area largely for shade against the sun, but while most of the acts attracted stragglers throughout the day, Canadian singer-songwriter Saywecanfly and Brian Marquis were two of the acts who attracted a decent sized crowd throughout the day. Saywecanfly attracted a packed tent and entertained the audience with his emotion filled lyrics that got his largely female audience awaiting with anticipation.

Overall, this year’s edition featured a good mix of repeat acts moving up to larger stages, as well as a number of fresh faces to the scene. It is a positive sign to see new acts on the rise at a time when the music industry is struggling to attract new acts to the public. Hopefully someone is paying attention to this tour to see that there is a new generation of artists on the rise.

Set it Off, photo©Kevin Estrada / kevinestrada.com

Set it Off, photo©Kevin Estrada / kevinestrada.com

 

 

 

Tat, photo©Kevin Estrada / kevinestrada.com

Tat, photo©Kevin Estrada / kevinestrada.com

We Came As Romans, photo©Kevin Estrada / kevinestrada.com

We Came As Romans, photo©Kevin Estrada / kevinestrada.com

Miss May I, photo©Kevin Estrada / kevinestrada.com

Miss May I, photo©Kevin Estrada / kevinestrada.com

 

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WORDS BY REI NISHIMOTO

PHOTOS BY KEVIN ESTRADA 


Blessthefall Kickoff Warped Tour Dates, New Album This Fall

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Warped-2015-lineup

Blessthefall kicked off their summer shows as part of the Vans Warped Tour this weekend in California. Their set was webcast and you can see several videos below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_mXHCZQBgE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6RamlLTLR1k

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V824Fk0uRGg

Blessthefall have also announced their new album is coming out in September. Entitled To Those Left Behind (Fearless), the bands fourth full-length album was helmed by award-winning producer Joey Sturgis (The Devil Wears Prada, Asking Alexandria, Of Mice & Men) and is the follow Hollow Bodies.

Lead vocalist Beau Bokan commented on the new music:

“As a band we are constantly trying to outdo ourselves and take a step forward with each record. With this new album we’ve taken a giant fucking leap forward and are at our absolute best as musicians and song writers. We’re looking forward to seeing where this album will take us.”

Bless the Fall To Those Left Behind album cover 2015

The band can be seen all summer on the main stage at every stop of Warped. Pre-orders for the album will be available all summer at he band’s tent. Fans that pre-order will have access to the front of Blessthefall’s signing line at the Full Sail University tent.