Warped Tour Atlanta, Georgia 7/24/14

Although I have been to Warped Tour five times, this year was the first time I was ever part of the press. With a little bit of luck and a lot of determination, I ended up with press passes for the Atlanta and Nashville shows.

After arriving in Atlanta, I checked in at the press tent. I ran inside to buy my band schedule. I am glad I did not waste time because the first band of the day that I wanted to shoot was The Story So Far. They put on one of the best pop-punk shows I have ever experienced. It was even more awesome because I was in the photo pit for the first three songs. They played

Quicksand (People were crowd-surfing to the front and Parker Cannon threw the microphone over to this guy who screamed the bridge of the song.)

Things I Can't Change

Roam

Right Here

Daughters

Empty Space

All Wrong

Swords and Pens

Stifled (Parker asked the audience who had their shitty first EP.)

The Glass

High Regard

After TSSF, I looked around the press area and found out some band interview times. I headed over to see a new band from England, Marmozets. I recently heard them on Sirius/XM Octane. I was stoked that they were going to be at my Warped dates. Their energy is contagious and their singer, Becca Macintyre has a voice similar to that of Renee' Phoenix of Fit For Rivals. They played

Particle

Why Do You Hate Me? (So Awesome)

Is It Horrible?

Born Young And Free

Captivate You

Move Shake Hide

Vibe Tech

Next, I ran over to shoot The Devil Wears Prada. I had not seen them since Warped Tour 2009. They have improved so much over the last few years. This was the best I have ever seen them. They played

Danger: Wildman

Reptar, King of the Ozone

Outnumbered

Assistant to the Regional Manager

Sailor's Prayer

Hey John, What's Your Name Again?

Mammoth

They were fun to shoot and their audience was on point. The amount of crowd surfers falling on me in the pit was astronomical and that made their set ten times more memorable.

At this point, the bottom fell out and it rained for over an hour. Throughout that hour, in my mind, I had two near-death experiences. During Neck Deep's set, their singer, Ben Barlow's microphone flew out of his hand and almost hit me in the head. When I looked at him, he looked mortified. But I made sure he knew it was more than fine. (You can see what happened in the pictures below). They played

Losing Teeth

What Did You Expect?

Tables Turned

Crushing Grief (No Remedy)

Silver Lining

A Part of Me

All Hype, No Heart

Over and Over

While it was still raining I went over to catch Attila. This was their home Warped, so the place was going off. I started out in the back of the crowd behind the Van's tent facing the direction in which the crowd was about to run. Fronz, Attlia's singer told the crowd to start a circle pit around the entire stage and take it behind the merch tents. I got caught in a stampede. I froze and could not go anywhere. This big, burly guy ran, picked me up, and moved me out of the way. Which was great until I realized I had to go in the direction of the crowd. If you can't beat them, join them. I inadvertently ended up in this circle pit and getting slapped, kicked, punched, and stomped on. Oddly, it was a great feeling knowing I was a part of the Attila experience. They played

Callout

Middle Fingers Up

Party With The Devil

Shots For The Boys

Rage

Payback

About That Life

After Attila, I went back to the press tent and interviewed Kelen Capener from The Story So Far. It was "shmeeb" (Check it out here)

Then I ran over and caught Yellowcard just in time to hear them close with Ocean Avenue.

Of Mice & Men's started immediately on the adjacent stage. They played

Public Service Announcement

The Flood

O.G. Loko (I go hard in the mother fucking paint remix tag)

Feels Like Forever

Bones Exposed

Would You Still Be There

The Depths

OM&M is another band that gets better each time I see them. Their crowds get larger and more rowdy. The mosh pits are moshier and the crowd surfers multiply. If there is one band you need to see on Warped the rest of this summer, it needs to be them.

The last band I covered was Less Than Jake. They are one of the longest running bands to ever play Warped Tour and tomorrow in St. Petersburg, Florida will be their 365th Warped show. That is a year's worth of touring just on Warped. They played

Sugar in Your Gas Tank

The Ghosts of Me and You

Last One Out of Liberty City

The Science of Selling Yourself Short

Landmines and Landslides

Do The Math

All My Best Friends Are Metalheads

Plastic Cup Politics

Look What Happened

During their set, I even saw Kelen Capener from The Story So Far run and jump on top of the crowd and surf his way to the front. That might have been one of the funniest things I saw that day.

This Atlanta Warped was definitely an experience to remember. I will be covering Nashville's Warped too, so check back for more updates, pictures, and interviews.