ION INDIE MAGAZINE August 2015, Volume 15 | Page 56

By Gary Carota
Crowd Photography by Gary Carota • Artist Images by Toria Lawson/Crazy Train All Aboard Toria Photography
www.facebook.com/pages/Gary-Carota-Images/1446109878980969
www.facebook.com/pages/Crazy-Train-All-Aboard-Toria-Photography/1624815414414796
On July 7, under a sun-soaked sky, and with temperatures near 95 degrees, the VANS WARPED TOUR rolled into Charlotte,
North Carolina, performing to nearly 30,000 people. While VWT is a hugely underrated festival tour, due to its usual lack of
"big name" headliners, it's an amazing production to see unfold in the early morning hours, well before the gates open for
the day. With over 70+ bands, performing on 9 stages this year and a staff of hundreds working behind the scenes putting it
all together, the tour itself is nothing short of impressive. And with so many talented, up and coming bands on the tour this
year, it was difficult at times throughout the day to decide where you wanted to be, and who you wanted to see.
Without question, the bands that stole the day and drew the largest audiences, were: ESCAPE THE FATE, JULIET SIMMS (see
the interview, also in this issue) ASKING ALEXANDRIA, BLACK VEIL BRIDES and MEMPHIS MAY FIRE. As ticket prices go, it's
an amazing value and opportunity to catch over 70 bands in just about every musical genre and visit over 100 vendor and
sponsor booths and avail yourself of tons of free giveaways. While the tour is now several weeks old, and is currently winding
its way along the East Coast, if you have the opportunity to check it out at a city near you, definitely do!

www.vanswarpedtour.com