My First Warped Tour: What a Thrill!

When going to something new, go in style. This past week, I was fortunate enough to attend my very first Warped Tour in sunny Southern California.

This year's Vans Warped Tour was held in a number of lovely cities, including Pomona Ventura, where the weather was absolutely delightful.

The sunscreen? It was so temperate and cloudy, there was no worry of burning!

The Vans Warped Tour is in its fifteenth year of providing amazing and energetic musical acts on an exceptionally grand scale. If you haven't been to one, imagine this: there are multiple stages where performers sing (and crack jokes and even dance around), so at any given time, there are about half a dozen different bands you can visit.

Another wonderful thing about Warped Tour is the many incredibly talented, but perhaps not well-known bands who play in it. This time around, some of the stand-out performers included The Millionaires (a trio of talented female singers who no doubt will soon rise to the tops of the charts with their energetic and humorous lyrics) and Alana Grace, who took the crowd's breath away with her beautiful and strong voice.

Another incredible find that day was From The Top, a punk rock band with great energy, catchy tunes and great personality. I happened to meet the band afterward while in the crowd for The Ataris, and was quite pleasantly surprised to also learn what friendly and kind men the band members are. The San Luis Obispo-based band will soon be heading to San Jose, so for those in the Bay Area... check it out!

Warped Tour is a great way to catch up with some of your favorite punk and rock bands, and to discover some great up-and-comers. Superstars New Found Glory are often playing at the fest (unfortunately not this year) as do other big names, such as NOFX, The Ataris (who are awesome in person), Thrice and Senses Fail. And the merchant booths are full of plenty of tempting merchandise for music fans who want to show their pride all year long.

Warped Tour was also tied in with the world premiere of "Endless Bummer," part of the National Lampoon series, and starring such big names as Matthew Lillard and Lee Ving. The cast was also at Warped Tour, signing posters and giving interviews. Lillard was very down to earth and easy to speak with. Ving was incredibly kind, cheerful and a delight to speak with: what a gentleman! Interestingly, Ving told me that he is a musician at heart, and has been lucky enough to act as well. His band, Fear, performed at a downtown Ventura theater, right before the film premiere. Still rockin' out with great talent, Ving noted that he's been rockin' out officially for about 30 years with Fear. Rock on, Lee!

See you at next year's Warped Tour, music fans!