Warped Tour Atlanta 7/25/13

We Came As Romans is on Warped Tour this year? That is the only reason I need to go! It had been almost a year to the day that I saw them last, and I was beyond stoked because their new album, Tracing Back Roots, dropped two days before my Warped date. I headed halfway to Atlanta the night before to stay with my cousin so I would not have to wake up as early to leave from my house, which is four hours away from Atlanta. Of course, as soon as you walk into the door at Warped, you immediately go to buy the schedule to see when your favorite band is going to play and you determine if you need to run for your life to find the stage, or if you have time to get the lay of the land and walk around a bit. For me, I had until 5:55 before We Came As Romans (WCAR) came on. My first stop was to the Kia Tent to get my WCAR meet and greet poster pass. When I was there, I also got VIP access to the Kia tent by the main stages, which was awesome because it was in the shade and I had perfect unobstructed views for several bands and ended up with some great pictures (as you will see later). Before I saw any bands, I made it my mission to find more meet and greets which included meeting Adam Elmakias, an awesome photographer (also one of the reasons I want to pursue a minor in photography) and finding out Chiodos was signing after their set. My first band of the day was The Black Dahlia Murder. I watched them from the VIP tent and caught the last three songs of their set, which included Statutory Ape, What A Horrible Night To Have A Curse, and Funeral Thirst. They were not my favorite, but they were not the worst band I have ever heard. I only waited through them because I wanted to see Chiodos. I had not seen Chiodos since my first Warped Tour in 2009. Between 2009 and now, the band kicked out Craig Owens (their singer) and recorded an album without him. Since 2009, Craig left Chiodos, started a new band, D.R.U.G.S. (Destroy Rebuild Until God Shows), left DRUGS, went solo, then rejoined Chiodos. I was so excited when I found out that Craig was back because, it’s Craig Freaking Owens. When their set started, I swear every teenager in that crowd, including myself, went absolutely crazy. It was one of those moments that most of us had waited a long time to see. They played

The Undertaker’s Thirst For Revenge is Unquenchable. (The Final Battle)

Thermacare

The Only Thing You Talk About (D.R.U.G.S. cover) (Cue me freaking out because that is my favorite D.R.U.G.S. song)

There’s No Penguins In Alaska

Expensive Conversations In Cheap Hotels (New Song)

Two Birds Stoned At Once

The Words “Best Friend” Become Redefined

Baby, You Wouldn’t Last A Minute On The Creek

During their set, Craig talked about how the band loves Atlanta and they are coming back in December to the Masquerade because they have missed it so much. He also broke his bad news to the band that he accidentally deleted their entire NBA game off their bus XBOX. Apparently, they had been playing it all summer and they were almost to the playoffs and now they have to start over. The band just laughed, as did I.

After Chiodos, I decided to walk around for a little while before their meet and greet. I bought some merch and went to stand in line. While I was waiting, Lou Cotton walked by me and I ran after him so I could take a picture with him. Even though I was going to meet him within the next hour, I would not be able to take pictures with him, so I took my chance. He looked surprised but he happily agreed to the picture, which made me happy. When Chiodos walked out, everyone in line freaked out. It was simply awesome. I was excited because I have wanted to meet Craig since 2008. when I got to him, I asked him for a hug, which he gave me and then he proceeded to tell me that it was a great hug. I think I blushed. I gave him my card so he could look at my pictures. So Craig, if you are reading this, I hope you like it! When I made it out of the line, I ran over to take a few pictures of Black Veil Brides so I could try to attract more people to this post. Haha! I was pleased with the pictures I took considering where I was standing. I then walked by Like Moths To Flames stage and heard them play one of their new songs. I still stand by my statement from last year from Scream It Like You Mean It when I say that this band is going to be big. They are great. I headed over to stand in line for the We Came As Romans meet and greet which was about 30 minutes away. While I was standing there, I was lucky enough to meet the founder of Warped Tour, Mr. Kevin Lyman. I talked to him for a while and he is super nice. Kevin, if you are reading this, it was really nice to meet you! When it was my turn to meet WCAR, I was so happy because I finally got to meet the other three members that I did not meet last year at SILYMI and I finally got the opportunity to tell them that I used a lyric from their song Stay Inspired as my senior quote. Dave and Kyle just smiled at me (they could not talk due to vocal rest) and Kyle gave me a high five. Every single one of those guys are super nice and have so much love for all of their fans and for each other. That is one of the many reasons why they are one of my favorite bands. After their meet and greet, I headed over to their stage even though they did not start for another hour. I had to get my spot on the barricade. After all, they were the only reason that I bought a ticket and drove for four hours so by George, I was going to be in the front. I got there in the middle of Sleeping With Sirens’ (SWS) set. Even though they are not my favorite, there is something to be said about their fan base. They may be young, but they are super dedicated to their band. I love that. Billy Talent followed SWS. I had not seen them since 2008 with My Chemical Romance and I was pretty freaking stoked to see them again. They played

Devil In A Midnight Mass

Viking Death March

This Suffering

Devil On My Shoulder

Fallen Leaves (YESSSS!)

Surprise Surprise

Red Flag

Their fans are awesome too and I learned that BT has been a band for 20 years. They even had a flag to prove it. I did not realize that they were that old!

After them was The Wonder Years. They played

Passing Through A Screen Door

Local Man Ruins Everything

Woke Up Older

Washington Square Park

Dismantling Summer

Don’t Let Me Cave In

The Bastards, The Vultures, The Wolves

Logan Circle (YES!!!)

Came Out Swinging

Then *drum roll please* it was time for We Came As Romans!!! I wish I could tell you how excited I was. It is also amazing what adrenaline can do for you, because without said adrenaline, I would probably have a broken nose or even be dead. The crowd was exceptionally rougher than I had anticipated but still wonderfully painful. They played

Hope

To Move On Is To Grow

Fade Away (My favorite off Tracing Back Roots)

Broken Statues

Glad You Came (The Wanted Cover from Punk Goes Pop 5) (Best crowd response from any band that day)

Roads That Don’t End And Views That Never Cease (my favorite song of the day) (Somehow, Lou ended up playing bass and Andy ended up playing guitar. It was funny)

Tracing Back Roots

To Plant A Seed (featuring Hance Alligood from Woe, Is Me at the end of the song)

This is honestly the best I have ever seen We Came As Romans. Every time I see them, I am reminded why I fell in love with them in the first place. The coolest part of their live performance has to be when they all jump in unison. It is one of those things that you honestly have to see for yourself in order to believe me because words do not do it justice.

My last bands of the day consisted of The Used, Silverstein, and Stick To Your Guns, which I saw on my way out. The WCAR pit really took a lot out of me and I still had a two and a half hour drive ahead of me. It was one of the best days I had in a while, which was actually the theme of Warped this year: Best Day Ever. Oh, and they do not call it Hotlanta for anything. Never forget that!