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After arriving, I was pretty confused as to the schedule and locations of the stages. After about twenty minutes of wandering and what not, I found the schedule and planned the day accordingly. Seeing as how I had already missed The Academy Is…, We The Kings, and Automatic Loveletter, I headed towards the Myspace tent to watch a special acoustic set by Forever The Sickest Kids. The tent was packed, but there probably weren’t more than fifty people, and the performance was amazing. The vocals were spot on to the recordings, and the acoustic instrumentals were warm and mellow. While their personalities really shined, I expected that their performance on stage would be ten times more energetic with room to rock out. So after that acoustic set, I was bent on seeing them later that afternoon.

After the acoustic set by FTSK, I caught the last three songs by A Cursive Memory. One of the songs they played was a cover of Vanessa Carlton’s A Thousand Miles, which was actually really good. They also played their infamous single, Everything, and if you haven’t seen the music video for that song, do it now. I was shocked to see a very small crowd formed in front of the stage, with not more than forty people. Nonetheless the performance was still amazing, and everything from the vocals to the drums stood out. I was pleased to see that the two vocalists had really talented voices, and they complement each other very well. While I only caught three songs, I had to head over to their merch table and get some stuff.

At this point I had a bit of a break to check out all the merch tables and different shops setup. The venue was located at the parking lot in front of Arrow Hall, so it was quite a big venue, although Downsview Park would have been much nicer. At the ACM table all the cds were sold out, so I left empty handed but my friend scored a free EP. I did get a chance to pick up some EPs that would otherwise be hard to find in Canada, such as Automatic Loveletter’s. Being my first time at a music festival I enjoyed the whole walking, and choosing what I wanted to see and how my day would go, though I didn’t quite agree with the schedules, since they had bands in similar genres on different stages. It was quite a hassle to walk from one end of the venue to the other to see bands that should be grouped together, but not exactly a big deal.

While walking around waiting for The Higher, a band called Oreskaband was tearing it up at the neighbouring stage. A J-pop band, they were killing the crowd with their emphatic brass instruments including trumpet, sax and trombone. I’ve never seen six more exciting Japanese girls, and they were stirring a HUGE crowd. An incredible performance, I was made a fan.

The Higher finally made their way on stage after waiting out Oreskaband, and their performance was also spectacular. Although I did notice a slight difference in vocals, a little more higher pitched live, everything else was really well performed. At first the lead vocalist wasn’t really crowd pleasing but by the end, his on mic flare started to stick. Performing a cover of N-sync was also pretty spectacular. Overall The Higher’s music was extremely good, just like their album and I would love to see them in an actually concert environment.

The highlight of the night was the performance by none other then Andrew McMahon, aka Jack’s Mannequin. He was on the main stage, and had a HUGE crowd formed. Thanks again to Warped for the photo pass, because I got to be right up in front and I was in awe at how awesome he was live. Jack’s album, Everything In Transit, is my favourite album ever, and so for him to play songs off of it was amazing. He was so exciting just sitting and playing his piano, and when he rocked out on the harmonica, it was almost legendary. From first glance, Andrew seemed like one of the most inspiring guys alive and his personality was so chill. He’s been through a lot and I was really excited to get mere feet’s away from him. He also played a song off of his upcoming album, and it sounds like this album could be a new favourite. Only time will tell, but as for his performance at Warped, I couldn’t have asked for anything more. Not to mention when William Beckett came out, I was completely stoked.

Following Jack’s Mannequin, I headed to the next stage to watch a bit of Gym Class Heroes. They were exciting, a little quirky, and the music was pretty good. Nothing I was inspired about, but definitely music to get the blood flowing. Their on stage performance was pretty exuberant and it was nice to get to see them live. They also had a huge crowd formed, but after this, the concert took a turn for the worst. It started to drizzle and eventually poured cats and dogs. It was raining so heavily, and after being completely hot and humid, I was freezing from the wind and wet clothes. I had to hang out under a tent for over an hour, and I missed the Forever The Sickest Kids performance. Quite saddened by this fact I waited for the rain to die down, bought some tees, and then left the event early. There wasn’t really any band I wanted to see after FTSK, especially in the now wet venue. Tents had already begun packing it in, since the rain was SO hard.

In the end, Warped Tour was a good and bad experience. Although there were a ton of bands, I only saw five. A little disappointed, it was essentially my fault for being late, and the weathers fault for raining. Hopefully next year the line up is more stacked, and the scheduling is a little better, but for this year it was definitely a good experience. The bands I did see, further solidified me as a fan, and seeing Jack’s Mannequin alone, was worth the time spent. If you have the opportunity to see Warped, go check it out.

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