Vans Warped Tour ’19- Pomona

This was a Christmas present a while back that I’d be going to the first date of Vans Warped Tour in Pomona, California. If you know, prior to this I had only attended one date which was my first time. I was hyped for this show. Plus this was the final run of the iconic Vans Warped Tour. It’s really sad that this tour came to end as it was a time for me to be myself and I met a couple of my closest friends at Warped. Let’s dive in and reminisce as these next few posts will be about warped and all the good times it brought me.

It turned into a road trip so we got to hit up Denver, Utah, Las Vegas and the lastly Cali. It was a long ass trip, about three weeks. And we drove…

When we got to Cali the next day was warped. I went with my dad, he’s a homie for taking me. I was excited to see Black Veil Brides, Movements, The Amity Affliction, Tonight Alive and to check out some other bands.

One of my greatest moments right here. I met Kevin Lyman. Founder of the Vans Warped Tour. He was helping out moving the line. I got a quick chance to thank him for putting the shows on. We got a picture too. He was really genuine and willing to talk. For festivals you don’t really see the founder getting their hands dirty, is the saying. He was there helping out which really showed how involved he was.

When we got there, first band we saw was Movements. They go hard! The crowd went crazy, I was almost barricade. Didn’t do much recording because it was crowded. Plus I was enjoying the moment. “Under the Gun” was the song they started out with, one of my favorites. The more known songs, “Colorblind” and “Daylily” were played.

There were a lot of crowdsurfers and they were pretty consistent. My dad got hit in the head and they knocked down his sunglasses. He thought they fell but the sunglasses were hanging low on his nose. It’s way funnier when he acts out what happened.

After Movements, we saw a few songs from (what I presumed as a local band) New Language. It was cool, not much to say about them. I noticed for smaller bands no one know people don’t check them out which sucks because every larger band started out as a local at some point. I enjoyed it but you know me, I love the local scene.

We saw Wage War for a few songs, it was my first time seeing them and it was killer. We walked over to the next stage and saw Motionless In White. I only stayed for like two songs because we left early so my dad, yes my dad, could see Tonight Alive.

He was really excited to see them. We hadn’t seen them since 2016. Tonight Alive only played three songs because something happened to someone in the pit. During those few songs, I stepped back just to see my dad enjoying the set, it made me happy to see he was also having fun.

I caught the last two songs from The Amity Affliction. “All fucked up” and “Pittsburg” were the songs. I was singing my heart out. Joel’s vocals live is incredible. the crowd seemed a bit spacey but still a good turn out.

I wanted to be pretty close to the front for Black Veil Brides so I went to the stage to try and get a spot. I think a lot of us can relate that they were that band when starting to listen to rock music. They’re one of the more mainstream bands of the genre but still definitely a great band to see. Simple Plan was playing at the other stage. I was lucky to hear “Welcome to My Life” because 5 year old me would jam out to that.

While waiting for BVB I saw The Used. The music was chill and people were getting into the music. I wouldn’t say mosh pits happened but a lot of pushing and shoving. They also had smoke bombs or chalk, something along those lines. That was annoying. It really wore me out so I went to the back for BVB and sat up on a barricade where the sound booth was. I really wanted to be up front but I still enjoyed myself from the back.

Right off the bat, I knew every song from BVB. It really took my back to middle school, I don’t listen to them as much now but I’ll still jam out to them here and there. The crowd really showed up for them, it was filled. I lost my voice during their set.

One thing I applaud the band for is staying into the set even with all their sound trouble. Throughout a majority of the set, you couldn’t hear Andy at all, but it didn’t stop him from his stage presence. As well as the other members.

After they played, we headed out. It was surreal that day even happened. To this day I can’t believe that day happened. It was the first date but the final run of the incredible Vans Warped Tour. Next up was Chicago!