One Last Summer with the VANS WARPED TOUR: Prepare Yourself for the Atlantic City Extravaganza! [Festival Preview] →

If you’ve ever been to Warped Tour, you know what an eclectic group of musicians might await. However, twenty-five years ago, in 1995, Warped Tour kicked off with just 24 bands, the majority coming from the alternative rock genre. Starting in Boise, Idaho, the tour wrapped up almost two months later in Detroit.

Just one year later, in 1996, Vans became the big name sponsor and thus the name changed to the “Vans Warped Tour.” The genre likewise shifted to a more punk rock aesthetic with only a couple of extra bands added to the bill, including 311 and Beck.

Over the next handful of years, it morphed into the Warped Tour we all know and love. It became the place to see your favorite up-and-coming bands as well as discover new music as artists were given a platform to reach a greater audience.

As we all know, there are plenty of music festivals, but none quite like the Warped Tour. So, when it was announced that 2018 was the last year for the WT festival, a lot of us were collectively sadden, but also understood, that all good things must come to an end. And just when we didn’t know how we were going to fill the hole that was left by the absence of the tour, Kevin Lyman swooped in and saved us with 25th Anniversary shows.

June 29 & 30th will be the 2nd of these last 3 shows, taking place on the beaches of Atlantic City. 311, A Day to Remember, The Offspring, The Aquabats!, Blink 182, The Menzingers, Set Your Goals, Taking Back Sunday, The Starting Line, and Valencia are just a few bands that will be in AC for the weekend!

Aside from the 50+ bands that will be taking the stage throughout the two days, there will be a skate ramp where you can watch skate demos from some of the top skaters, also freestyle motocross, a wrestling ring for the final Warped Smackdown, and David “The Bullet” Smith returns as the human cannonball for his first appearance since the 2000 Warped Tour, and a Warped Museum (curated by photographer Lisa Johnson) featuring art of and inspired by the tour of the last 25 years.

Warped Tour already took care of transportation for you too. They are utilizing a service called Rally to get to the show. You can find a pickup up point over at https://rally.co/warped-tour-atlantic-city - The locations go south to DC & Maryland, and north to Penn Station in NY and Paterson NJ with roughly 20 additional pickup locations. From Philadelphia rides run about $40 each way, which is about a 45-minute trip. Once you are as far away as DC, the price is $70 each way. Take a look and book, the sooner the better as prices increase May 15th.

For those of you that want to drive in, take a look here and pre-book your parking - I use services like this for work, and they are very handy. They get you the parking you want, at a price you can afford, and also allows you to compare prices to nearby parking lots and garages. Highly recommend doing this before you come!
If this is your first Warped Tour, let’s run down a few things! Also, because this is on the beaches of Atlantic City…

01. When to Show & Go
- Doors are at 12pm and the last band will play around 9:30-10pm – Set times are posted the day of.

02. Stay Hydrated
- They will have HYDRATION STATIONS available for you to fill your own container with filtered water. You’re allowed to bring in: a. One (1) EMPTY water bottle (up to TWO (2) liters in size) PER PATRON, b. One (1) FACTORY SEALED water bottle (up to ONE (1) liter in size) PER PATRON, c. Camelbacks (MUST BE EMPTY)

03. Getting Wet & Salty
- You can go swimming in the ocean at Warped Tour! Bring a towel; doors to the ocean from the venue will be open till roughly 7:30pm.

04. Skip the Line!
- Go to the Feed Our Children NOW! Tent located by the main entrance with ANY ONE of these in exchange for an express entry wristband: a. 3 Canned goods (no dented or expired cans), b. $5 donation, c. 1 used cell phone

05. Weather is NOT a Factor
- Event is RAIN OR SHINE. Bring a poncho, sunscreen, hat, and hair tie, whatever you need to get by.

06. Got Needs? Bring ID!
- If you need to bring special foods or medication – Keep in mind you need an ID that matches your prescription bottle, and a doctors note for any special foods you might need.

07. Drinking = Identification
- If you are of age and want to drink: Bring your government identification!

As hard as it will be to say goodbye to the Warped Tour, at least we get one more summer of an epic lineup to do so. If you plan on going, hurry up and grab tickets while they last. 2-day general admission tickets are still available for Atlantic City.

You can head to www.vanswarpedtour.com to check out the full line up, tickets, find hotels, and more information about shuttles to the venues.

What’s There to Be Excited About BOSTON CALLING 2019? We’ll Tell You! [Festival Preview] →

I am so incredibly excited about this year’s Boston Calling Music Festival which will be happening May 24th-26th in, you guessed it, BOSTON (it’s actually Allston, MA). If you do a quick Google search, you find out that Boston Calling is in its 6th year and that it’s been named one of the top 10 festivals in the country. Good stuff, yes, but I think that one of the many things that makes this festival noteworthy is that it’s not just about music! It’s also about comedy, about food, and art, which honestly, is there ANYTHING better? Probably not. But just in case you need some convincing… let’s talk about what separates this festival from others.

The Arena & Three TOP Reasons to Be Exited:
- Let’s talk about this one for a second and understand it. There are already THREE stages at this venue hosting 50 bands, and now, for the first time, they are tossing in the arena - where performances will be running all day and all night. We will see performances by rappers Princess Nokia and Dessa as well DJ performances from Yaeji, Frank White, Naeem, and Chromeo. However, in a sea of festivals all generally doing the same thing, Boston Calling is doing it differently, and here’s what to be excited for...

01. COMEDY:
- I think one of the things that makes this festival really special, is that it has comedy. The comedy was introduced to the festival in 2016. By 2017, they let it take center stage with Hannibal Burress hosting. People to look forward to seeing in this year’s lineup include Fred Armisen, an actor, and musician, who was an SNL cast member for 11 years, co-star/writer/creator on Portlandia. And the lineup doesn’t stop there.

Comedy stage will also feature: Jenny Slate who was Jean Ralphio’s hilarious twin sister on Parks and Rec, and also voices probably no less than a dozen characters (my personal favorite: Tammy on Bob’s Burgers), Michael Che who is co-head writer for SNL which is where you’ve probably seen him as co-anchor on SNL’s Weekend Update, Marina Franklinis not only a comedian, actor, and comedy writer who has made appearances on the Chappelle Show, Conan, Steph Colbert’s Late Show, and Louie.

Need more? Good! How about Mellissa Villasenor, whose voice-over work includes Adventure Time and Family Guy. She’s also an SNL cast member known for her impressions which helped land her a semi-finalist spot on America’s Got Talent. The stage will also feature Boston native, Lamont Price who has performed all over the country and was named the “Best of Boston” comedian for 2018.

02. IMOGEN HEAP:
- Probably one of my most favorite things tucked away on performance list, is Imogen Heap. She is a singer/songwriter/producer from England, and you probably know her work from either the song “Let Go” from the Garden State soundtrack when she was part of Frou Frou, OR Jason Derulo’s, “Watchayasay” song (that’s actually Imogen Heap’s song, Hide and Seek hidden in that track/chorus).

What you probably don’t know, though, is that she has also become a tech innovator in the last handful of years. Imogen has created wireless controller gloves, called “Mi.Mu,” that allow interaction with computer programs and can be worn by a musician so that the performance can be more fluid. She is currently on tour for the first time in eight years, demoing these gloves. For all of us nerds out there, get excited, because she will be giving a keynote address as well as a “Mi.Mu” demonstration Saturday and Sunday at Boston Calling.

03. BOSTON BALLET:
- The Boston Ballet is exactly what it sounds like, a Boston-based classical ballet company and William Forsythe is the choreographer behind those performances you will see. He is an international powerhouse in the ballet world. Forsythe is an installation artist, innovator, and educator. Getting to see the Boston Ballet perform is really a unique experience, and even the Boston Ballet’s site points this out by saying, “This unique collaboration aims to expand the parameters of what a music festival offers.” The Boston Ballet will be performing the Playlist (EP), which you can listen to now on Spotify and features Khalid and Natalie Cole.

You can check out www.bostoncalling.com, where the full line-up has already been announced for all three days of the festival taking place at the Harvard Athletic Complex. Tickets are also available for purchase on the site. Pricing for the 3-day festival starts at $279 for General Admission and goes up from there for VIP & Platinum.

TLDR: 3-day Music Festival in Boston (Allston, MA), music (50 bands on two stages), comedians, the best food in Boston brought to you (you don’t even need to hunt it down), art, a giant Ferris wheel, plus many other activities.

The Starting Line (w/ State Champs) @ Franklin Music Hall (Philadelphia, PA) on December 15, 2018 [Photos & Show Review] →

Ah, it’s that time of year again, and no I’m not talking about the holidays. While they are great and all, have you ever experienced The Starting Line’s annual holiday show? I have, and to be honest, it’s one of my favorite things about the end of the year... you know, besides all the food.

Thin Lips opened the December 15th show, but unfortunately, due to my inability to follow directions, I missed most of their first two songs navigating my way to and inside the newly named venue (previously known as the Electric Factory). I made it to the front of the stage just in time for them to finish their third song, so I was only able to hang out and enjoy their set, which was short but sweet.

Following them was the very loveable, State Champs. They looked so happy to be on that stage, it made their entire set really fun to watch. By the crowd reactions, they were just as happy that they were on stage. Mosh pits opened up almost immediately after they started if that is any indicator to the energy in the crowd.

To round out the night, the one and only, The Starting Line, took the stage. They wasted no time busting out their most well-known hits. Kenny joked about getting his AARP card in the mail recently, and how they were old. And in true TSL fashion, second to the last song, he reminded the crowd that there was no encore, as well had busy lives to get back to. And with that - was my cue to get out the door, to beat the crowd out of the parking lot... another Starting Line holiday show in the books.