A Day To Remember

In my previous blog I gave a list of the bands that are to play the main stage. The band that is clearly highlighted on the website is A Day To Remember.

According to the biography provided by Warped Tour’s website, the band signed with Victory records in 2006 and have released three albums since then. The most popular album is probably Homesick, that was released in 2009 with the hit single “The Downfall Of Us All.” (My favorite song off that album happens to be “Have Faith In Me.”)

They also played at Warped Tour in 2008 and 2009. I know for a fact that I attended their entire performance in 2009, but at the time I was not familiar with their music. Now that I know them I will be able to appreciate their performance. What I do remember is standing in the back of the crowd and shoes were being thrown. The gentleman standing next to us used his quick reflexes to catch a shoe flying throw the air and protect the people behind him from getting it. I don’t know I so vividly remember this, but I found it hysterical. Hopefully this time around, the actual performance will be the highlight.

A Day To Remember visited Chicago at the Congress Theater on March 24 along with Pierce the Veil, Bring Me the Horizon and We Came As Romans. My brother Alex Mateo, attended this show. ADTR and We Came As Romans will be at Warped Tour this year, giving Al a preview of what their performances will be like. Having never heard We Came As Romans before, he was highly impressed by them. Since they were the first band who played, the crowd was not as wild, but that did not take away from how well they played.

ADTR closed the show and started off with smoke engulfing the stage. The crowd went crazy. The band started the show by singing songs off their newest album, What Separates Me From You. Although my brother did not stay for the rest of the show, he heard that lead singer, Jeremy McKinnon, entered the crowd in a clear blow up ball while singing a song.

If this is any indication of how their performance will be at Warped Tour then I have another thing to look forward to!

-AngAllOver

Changes/Additions!

The Warped Tour website seems to have undergone some construction cause it looks slightly different. It kinda gives off a red, white, and blue theme.

But just to let everyone know, the Warped Tour pre-sale has begun!

Also, the Teggart main stage bands have been announced:

A Day To Remember

The Devil Wears Prada

Asking Alexandria

3OH!3

Gym Class Heroes

Against Me!

August Burns Red

Attack Attack! 

Tess Dunn, this one's for you.

Recently Added:

Less Than Jake

We’re Doomed

Ionia

So Long Arletta

Planet Smashers

Electric Touch

Motionless In White

Tess Dunn

Black Veil Brides

Madina Lake

Continental

Jack’s Mannquin

Permanent Bastards

Rapid Decline

Street Dogs

Steel Wells

The name that struck me out of this list was Tess Dunn. (Mostly because in her picture she is wearing an enormous fuzzy hat with ears that looks adorable!) I clicked on her name and found out that she is only playing at one set and that will be July 2 at Mountain View California.

Side note: I usually despise female singers. Do not ask me why but I cannot stand when girls try to sing rock music or anything resembling it. It makes me angry because it sounds horrible.

For example: I think the band Paramore is a joke. Her voice annoys me. In fact, it annoys me so much that for the longest time I could not figure out why I hated that song “Airplanes” by B.O.B. I later realized it was because the lead singer of Paramore, Haley Williams, is the female vocalist.

This is why me taking interest in a female singer is a big deal because it is normally something I would be completely against.

Now, back to Tess Dunn. I immediately went to her band links and found her Youtube page. The first song I listened to was a cover of the song “Make You Smile” by +44.

Her voice blew me away. Already being familiar with the song, I had something to compare it to and it was beautiful.

As I listened to her song I went to her bio as provided by Warped Tour. Dunn is only sixteen-years-old and has already played at Warped Tour last year.

I watched the videos from last year’s performance and saw that she played at the Kevin Says sponsored by Kia Motors. It does not appear that she had an enormous turn out, but at her age, that is not expected. As she plays keyboard in front of her band, I could not help but fall in love with her singing. Even though the film quality also contains noise from the crowd and surrounding bands, Dunn’s voice over powers it all.

The song that impressed me the most was, “Wishful Thinkings,” but I also enjoyed others like “Marionette of Me” and “Paper Cuts.”

I continued to read her bio and could not believe the words I saw:

“Diagnosed with cystic fibrosis (CF), an incurable life-threatening disease which causes progressive lung damage, Tess faces issues of mortality that infuse her music and lyrics with radiant richness and haunting depth.”

Reading this just made me sad. Here is this girl with an incredible voice dealing with a disease she has no control over.

Before her performance of the song, “Your Words Could Bite Ears Off” she explains that the reason for her raspy voice is because of the cystic fibrosis and that she hopes to help rise money for finding a cure and inform the public of this disease.

Having this knowledge, I wish Tess Dunn would come to Chicago so I could see her in person and tell her how inspiring she is. Despite her disease, she pursues her dream and uses that as a way to educate her fans.

It actually makes me want to give other female singers, who do not sing awful radio pop music, a chance. Maybe Haley Williams has her own story too.

But this blog is dedicated to Tess Dunn. I hope she succeeds in every aspect of her life. Good luck at Warped this year!

-AngAllOver

Tour Explained!

As of today, there are 78 bands on the Warped playlist. The most recent additions to the list include the following nine bands:

D.R.U.G.S

Demerit

Good Guys In Black

Cold Forty Three

The Sheds

Veara

Vonnegutt

Marchee

Gatsby’s American Dream

(As I was browsing through the list I saw that The Expendables are going to be there which makes me happy because I got into their music last year and love it)

Anyway, moving on, it had never occurred to me that others did not understand how Warped Tour works. I will try and give a brief overview of how the tour travels.

Warped starts June 24 at the Gexa Energy Pavilion in Dallas, Texas and ends August 14 at the Washington County Fairgrounds in Hillsbro Oregon. There are 43 venues that they will appear at total.

Of course, not all 78 bands play at each venue. That would be impossible.

For example, I Set My Friends On Fire plays at each 43 venues. The new band added, D.R.U.G.S., plays from July 7 through the end of the tour.

When you get to the venue, there are stands and stages set up all over the place.

At a normal concert, the main band plays on the huge stage. Well, the main stage at Tinley Park’s First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre is split in two so immediately following the bands performance on one side, the next band on the other side can play.

Also, I would recommend buying a map/time sheet after immediately entering the venue. These generally cost two dollars and are vital to knowing what will be going on during the rest of the day.

On one side of this two dollar treasure is a map of where each stage is and what they are called. On the other side is a list of the stages and underneath shows which bands are playing there and what times.

I’m not exactly sure how many stages there are, but I’m guessing about eight. Bands are playing simultaneously throughout the day and if two bands you like are playing at the same time, you have to chose which one you would rather see.

The shows begin as early as eleven and ends around nine.

Hopefully this helps in explaining how there can be so many bands playing throughout the tour and been seen at so many venues.