Warped Tour <3

Adulting Hack: Buy concert tickets before a dentist or doctor appointment you don't want to go to so you kinda have to go. Warped Tour was bribery at it's finest this year. I didn't shoot as many bands as I have in previous years, but I definitely noticed myself letting loose, screaming (even dancing during I Prevail!) along with my favorite songs, and actually enjoying the concert way more then I have before. I lifted my camera to shoot I Prevail, but during the set I realized I couldn't necessarily remember how to act (or just remember how to not hide behind my camera) at a concert where I wasn't shooting so I threw my camera in my bag and went hard with the people around me. For me photography has been about validating my memories and telling stories of what's around me. It was extremely hard to put down the camera and I opened and closed my bag at least three times before I actually did it. A part of me regrets it even though it was literally a half hour, but a bigger part of me is proud of myself for letting myself have fun and not care what people think.

This year I ended up shooting about two and a half bands (Sylar, Silent Planet, Being as an Ocean). I was really impressed with Silent Planet. I had heard some of their stuff while listening to Radio U back up in Mount Pleasant but I hadn't really looked into them since their music was more *screamy* and has a darker feel then I usually listen to. After listening to them at Warped I instantly fell in love not only with their music but with their personalities and faith as well. The lead singer constantly talked about how grateful he was for God. They finished up the set by encouraging the crowd to come and talk with him about anything at his table even if they didn't plan on buying any merch. All of the songs that they played related to real life issues such as immigration, suicide, or anxiety. The main vocalist, Garret Russel, shared that he used to be a therapist before becoming a musician. This is so unique and I really admired that he went from helping people one on one to helping people through music while still talking one on one with fans at meet and greets for free. When I walked by, fans were telling their stories and he was actually listening and offering advice. It was definitely refreshing to see.

Warped Tour gets a bad rep for being known as a tour that supports drug use, profanity, and heavy metal (heavy metal on it's own gets enough talk, let's be honest. I mean sex, drugs, rock and rollll?), but honestly it is so much more then that. While depression, anxiety, and suicide are often talked about at the tour, this year every band except one that I personally watched stopped to talk about suicide. The day before the stop in Detroit, Chester Bennington, lead singer of Linkin Park, committed suicide. Before one of the sets, a guy walked on stage. I thought he was just a tech guy testing the microphones at first so I didn't pay much attention when he introduced himself, but he stood on stage and talked about Bennington's death. "One of our own died yesterday, but it's not the fact that he was one of our fucking own. It's the fact that somebody fucking died...We need to be reaching out and letting them know that it's okay to not be okay. It's so fucking powerful, it can save a life...It takes a lot of strength but I'll let you know we are all strong enough to do this and we have the ability to do it. Let's break the silence together." Warped Tour is a place where people can come and interact with individuals who are going through similar experiences and strangers accept you just as you are, even if it is just for one day. There are so many booths dedicated to such amazing causes. They are so diverse there's absolutely no way you cannot find something that you care about, and I think that perfectly describes the Warped Tour community <3

Sylar