On Warped Tour and the modern music industry;
A lot of people I know who are veterans of Warped Tour have become quite jaded with the tour in general. “It’s not what it once was” and “It’s not worth it” seem to be thrown around quite loosely by people in my generation that grew up in the 2000-2006 “high times” of Warped Tour. Yet, to this new generation rolling in of fresh faces with a fresh outlook on music and the industry, it’s no different than how we felt back when we were watching bands like Anti-Flag, Allister, Bad Religion, Fall Out Boy, and even Blink-182 play the stages of Warped Tour. The only difference is for this generation, these bands are their Bad Religions.
Sure, we all deemed it punk-rock summer camp. And hey, if you work on the tour you’ll find it very much still is a summer camp vibe going around most of the time. There has been rough years here and there, but the bottom line is this tour hasn’t changed as much as we claim it has…we have.
The veterans have all grown up and matured. Some are now in the industry, working behind the scenes and still as excited for the tour as they once were in their teen years. Some took the other roads and branched into new genres, stopping attendance completely. Some, like myself, are still attending and supporting the Warped Tour-scene, only mainly through volunteer work most of the day. Then there’s those who have become jaded. They’re bitter and biting at this new generation like they have the plague or something.
What I don’t understand is why it was okay for us veterans to attend Warped Tour at twelve but now it isn’t okay for the new generation? Why was it okay for us to have our fangirl and fanboy moments, but it isn’t okay for this new generation? There’s a lot of hate for Warped Tour and negativity towards it when it’s still an amazing, well put together, and eye opening tour for most new-to-music fans. Even veterans still have things they can enjoy, and I think people are far too blinded by the internet and certain bands to see the good that’s still there.
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