Warped Tour has never just been just a music festival. Growing up, Warped Tour was a symbol. One of hope, freedom, and emotional connection. Every summer we looked forward to getting out of our summer routines, away from our parents, away from the anxiousness that comes with being \u201cdifferent\u201d, or being surrounded by those that didn\u2019t quite understand us. At Warped Tour we got to connect with artists that we loved, we got to discover new artists that soon became part of our regular rotation, we met friends that would last a lifetime, and we made memories that (being millennials now) we\u2019ve since passed on to our kids. This festival has held a special place for all of us, and this past weekend in Long Beach was no different!<\/p>\n
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For one blistering, humid weekend in Long Beach, nearly 180,000 people gathered under a relentless California sun. The air was thick, the pavement radiated heat, and by every logical measure we should have all been miserable. But that was far from what I witness. Instead, we danced. We screamed until our voices disappeared. We hugged strangers. We cried during songs that carried us through the darkest chapters of our lives. We came together because that\u2019s what this scene has always done best. Watching artists like Sleeping with Sirens, Let live., JILUKA, Hot Milk, Mayday Parade, Simple Plan, All Time Low, Papa Roach, and Amigo the Devil remind thousands of us why we fell in love with alternative music in the first place was something I\u2019ll never forget. Every set felt like a celebration, each set tucked into its own little bubble where it felt like that band was the only one playing that day. In that moment, whatever band was on stage was all that mattered.<\/p>\n
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This year was especially surreal for me. I had the privilege of photographing and interviewing some of the very artists whose music helped shape me into the person I am today. Standing behind my camera instead of in the crowd, creating portraits and conversations I\u2019ll treasure forever, was one of those moments that makes you stop and appreciate just how strange and beautiful this twisted life can be.<\/p>\n
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Each and every band this year brought an energy that was unmatched to anything I\u2019ve seen before. The artists were truly happy to be there. Everyone graced that stage with smiles and an electricity that is still humming through my bones as I wrote this. When I am silent, I can still hear some of these artists words echoing through my mind. Messages of love, togetherness, community, compassion, understanding, and above all, empathy.<\/p>\n
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I\u2019ve always believed this community is different. It doesn\u2019t matter where you came from, what you look like, who you love, how you dress, or whether you\u2019re covered in tattoos, wearing fishnets, battle jackets, eyeliner, band tees, or all of the above. Here, you\u2019re welcomed with open arms. You\u2019re encouraged to be unapologetically yourself. The only thing this scene has never had room for is hate. Bigotry, racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, and intolerance have no place here. This community was built by outsiders who refused to let anyone else feel alone. It exists because generation after generation we chose empathy over exclusion. Deep down I feel as if this is why it has endured for the last 30 years, and why it continues to mean so much to so many people today<\/p>\n
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As I wandered through the festival, what stood out most wasn\u2019t just the incredible performances or the endless sea of black band shirts in the middle of July. It was the people. Which to me is what these festivals are all about: The smiles. The kindness. The strangers helping each other. Friends reuniting after years apart. Parents bringing their kids to experience the music that once saved them. Teenagers discovering the bands that may very well carry them through the hardest years of their lives. Everywhere you looked, there was love.<\/p>\n
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I\u2019ve said it before, and I\u2019ll say it for the rest of my life: this scene saved me\u2026on more than one occasion. When I felt lost, it gave me purpose. When I felt isolated, it gave me a family. When I needed somewhere to belong, it welcomed me without asking me to change who I was. That is something I will never be able to repay, although I will try my best through my words and my photos until I no longer am able to.<\/p>\n
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So, thank you to every artist, every fan, every crew member, every volunteer, every photographer, every security guard, every vendor, and every single person who helped make Warped Tour feel like home again for so many of us, and made a home for so many new people looking for their place. To everyone who stood in that unbearable heat with smiles on their faces and songs in their hearts: thank you for reminding me why I fell in love with this world in the first place.<\/p>\n
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So here we are\u2026the festival might be over but we left those grounds with so much more than what we walked in with. We left with new friends, new memories, and a renewed sense of hope that maybe the world isn\u2019t as bad as it seems, as long as we have each other.<\/p>\n
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Before I go, I\u2019d like to dedicate this article to you, to us\u2026<\/p>\n
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Here\u2019s to the weird kids.<\/p>\n
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The loud kids.<\/p>\n
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The broken kids.<\/p>\n
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The hopeful kids.<\/p>\n
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The ones who finally found their people.<\/p>\n
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We are the forever Warped Tour Kids.<\/p>\n
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I\u2019ll see you in the pit.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Warped Tour has never just been just a music festival. Growing up, Warped Tour was a symbol. One…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":423274,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[131,133,132],"class_list":["post-423273","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-long-beach","tag-long-beach","tag-long-beach-headlines","tag-long-beach-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/423273","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=423273"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/423273\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/423274"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=423273"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=423273"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=423273"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}