Milwaukee Warped Tour - Photoblog!

Tuesday was the Milwaukee, Wisconsin date of this summer's Vans Warped Tour. I shot for Buzznet and had an amazing day, even with the intense heat! Here's a quick run/review of my day!

Katie and I left around 9:30. We got to the venue around 10:30. I picked up my photopass and then we waited to get in at 11. The first set I watched was MC Lars and Weerd Science. I think I found out about MC Lars shortly after my first Warped when I found his song Signing Emo. I first saw him my first semester of college, so it was nice to see him for a second time. They were really fun to photograph! I'm super happy they were the first act I ever *~Officially shot on Warped!

After the set we walked back to their merch stand to say hey. He complimented me on my shirt (I made it, it's from the Regular Show) and I gave him my Buzznet business card thing.

Soon after that, Ellen texted me that she was here, so we met up with her between the Skullcandy and Dzambo stages. Apparently, she was there alone and it was her first Warped, so we were glad to hang out with her for the day! She's super nice and awesome. :D

After that, we checked out Set Your Goals set. They were also really fun to shoot, very energetic and they had a HUGE crowd for the small-ish stage they were on and so early in the day. I feel like we may have been kicked out of the photopit early, but that's alright because I still got a lot of cool shots.

After that, we watched Miss May I's set. They were really fun to shoot, even though I'm not really into that kind of music. A minute into their second song, my first memory card was entirely full and I started to panic (in my head). I was trying to quickly go through and delete photos that I didn't like/need or that didn't turn out. Instead, I just got out of the pit as soon as that song finished. I sat in the grass a bit away from the stage, in the shade, to go through all three bands photos to delete more uncool photos. I managed to get a bunch more space and changed the photo settings to be a smaller size. Yay for things working out!

After that, I headed towards the mainstage to catch Less Than Jake's set. Before they started, I ran into Amber! And then Ellen! Hurrah!

Less Than Jake were so fun and funny live! They play like, every festival I go to and I always say I'm going to see them, but never had before. It was great, they were definitely into crowd interaction, considering they gave a guy a mohawk on stage! Also, they played the Animaniacs and Spongebob song!

While Less Than Jake were still playing, I wandered over to the skateboard area thing. Despite all the dates of Warped Tour I've been to, I've never actually watched the skateboarders. It was cool and stuff. I wish I could skateboard, haha. After this, I traded out my 1st memory card for a new one, yay finding a 2nd memory card from my old camera! I would've been lost without it. You can check out more skateboarding photos AND street style type stuff HERE.

Soon after, I found Katie and it was finally time to see Patent Pending. I originally foud their Band World videos sometime around freshman or sophomore year and I fell in love. They rarely come to Wisconsin and I don't think they ever played Milwaukee since I got into them so I was SUPER EXCITED. In senior year, Katie, Nikki, Jake, and I made a video for Cheer Up Emo Kid for our movie class. The band is a lot of fun and means a lot to me so I was SO happy to shoot and see them. At one point, Joe jumped off stage and told us all to follow him. He ran around part of the venue, through some merch areas and back in front of the stage, and he stayed in the crowd to finish the song. It was amazing and one of the most fun things EVER. It was the best set of the day for sure.

Right after the set, we talked to Joe and he's a super great guy. We're all number one, clearly.

After that, we had some free time so we went to fill up our water bottles and walk through the water mister sprayer thing. I got completly drenched, but was completly dry less than an hour later because it was a billion degrees all day. I REGRET NOTHING.  The three of us walked around a bit before Ellen and I headed back to the Dzambo stage to watch Phone Calls From Home.

This is Phone Calls From Home. They started a bit later than scheduled so I only shot about a song and a half. They were alright.

After that, I headed to the KIA Kevin Says stage for Sick of Sarah. I've seen them a few times before at Summerfest and I think they have their CD for sale at Maurices if you're interested. They didn't play a lot of songs I knew, but it was fun. They looked like they were having a good time on stage.

After that, Blacklist Royals played the same stage. They were good, but didn't have a big crowd. I still enjoyed their set, though.

Next I caught Stephen Jerzak's set. I've seen him twice before and he's from LaCrosse so yay Wisconsin pride, haha. It was alright, I guess I'm not that into his music really. After that, I hung out a bit, walked around, and found an actual chair to sit in because my back was dying.

I found Katie and Ellen so we hung out for a bit. Katie and I walked around while Ellen watched There For Tomorrow's set. This is me and katie being too sunburned to function.

Soon it was time for Paramore's set. I was really excited to shoot them, but was getting nervous about it. The sun was going down, my camera battery was dying, I only had about 80 shots left, and the photo pit was PACKED. Not just with photographers, but with people recording with their cellphones while dancing and singing AND security guards. I completly understand the security and having so many photographers, that's one of the challenges of shooting shows, but if you manage to get a press pass and just use it to be closer to the band (and not actually focus on photographing) you should probably get out. Enjoy yourself, sure, but stay out of people who are trying to accomplish something's way.

I found Katie as soon as I got out of the photopit and we walked to the Marcus Ampitheater to catch the end of Simple Plan's set. I think they were playing Welcome to My Life when we got there and my inner middle school self just about died. I saw Good Charlotte last year, and now Simple Plan, those were two of my four favorite bands when I was in middle school. It was pretty amazing to see the first bands that got me more into pop punk/pop rock music!

We left before their last song to beat the rush, and left for home. We stopped off for food and junk on the way home, because I hadn't eaten anything all day. I don't really ever eat at festivals. I think it started because I didn't have money to eat at them, so now I just don't. I just don't get hungry often, haha.

All in all, it was an EXCELLENT day! It was such much better than I expected. The only sets I had been looking forward to were MC Lars, Patent Pending, and Sick Of Sarah, but I ended up having a total blast! I can't believe I shot ten bands and I'm really in love with some of my shots. I'm most proud of my MC Lars, Patent Pending, and Miss May I photos the most. I linked to all the galleries through out this write up and will be adding a few more photos here and there over the next week or two.