Vans Warped Tour at Darien Lake
A new summers day, in a different city, and yet one more year under the belt for the Vans Warped Tour at Darien Lake. This time around we checked out the stop in Buffalo and Rochester, NY at Darien Lake Performing Arts Centre on July 8th, 2014.
The Story So Far, was one of the earlier bands that played to set the mood of the day and what a great set it was! With songs off their new EP “Songs Of” as well as hits off their studio album “What You Don’t See.” They were a band that caught your ear as you first entered into the park and walked by the [main stage] Electric Soul Stage– Inside Amphitheater. With a great interactive crowd, you couldn’t help but stop and listen.
Right after that, we made our way over the hill, passing many merchandise tents where fans crowded around to buy their favorite band or artist merchandise and sometimes get the chance to meet them at the table. With so many tents to choose from, it was hard to keep walking past them to make it on time to see the next band.
But we did in fact make it over the hill to the Journey Stage and the Warheads Stage, which were side by side, so that we were able to see some personal favorites at a convenient distance. First on the list was ISSUES, who came out to a very loud and excited crowd awaiting them with open arms at the Journey Stage. These boys are easy to love, with their unique sound that brings metalcore, R&B and some great DJ- based breakdowns. Tyler Carter’s clean vocals pierced through the mic and the crowd went wild, following Michael Bohn’s mixture of unclean vocals getting the energy level completely hyped up.
The next few to hit the stage at Warheads Stage would be Cute Is What We Aim For, as well as The Maine, who we later had the chance to interview and get to know a little better. Both bands made their set a very personal one, by telling the crowd personal stories to help new fans understand them, and to say thank you to fans who have stood beside them throughout their careers. Both bands over all were a lot of fun and made their fans happy by playing old favourite’s such as Cute Is What We Aim For, “curse of curves,” and The Maine’s, “whoever she is,” what a great flashback that brings to your early teenage years.
Finally, making our way back to the Journey Stage to catch Secrets, and let me tell you readers that you had to be there to experience it yourself. What an amazing experience it was to see these boys rock out. Amazing vocals by both Aaron Melzer (unclean) and Richard Rogers (clean) as it started to rain during their set, the crowd instead of running to find shelter, became more intimate singing back every word to every song of “fragile figures.”
The rain indeed created a very muddy warped tour experience, as it did downpour on three different occasions through out the day. Though the bands that were able to keep the crowd enjoying their time while under shelter at the main stage [Electric soul stage- amphitheater] were The Summer Set, Devil Wears Prada, We The Kings and Four Years strong. All bands that had the crowd dancing and playing with beach balls helping them forget that they were covered in mud and smeared makeup.
The night came to an end with Less Than Jake blowing the audience away with their instrumental talents, bringing out a tenor saxophone and trombone. Followed up by Bowling For Soup cracking jokes through out the entire set, bringing a great sense of humor to their music, posing for pictures and performing in their swim suits (due to the rain).
Last but not least, the band to fill the main stage amphitheater from front to back row was Of Mice & Men, who joined the Vans Warped tour line up on this stop at Darien Lake. Their music was the perfect tone to end a fun filled day. Playing all the hits off their album “Restoring Force,” the crowd was singing, jumping, crowd surfing and attentive to every word Austin Carlile had to say.
[Review by Melissa Campo]
[Photograph by Melissa Campo & Stephanie Puccinelli]