Although Van’s Warped Tour is a great way to connect with people and bands that you listen to, there are some safety tips you need to know to survive a day at Warped Tour.

Warped Tour was first created by Kevin Lyman in 1994. He got the idea while working on several skateboarding shows and decided to combine music and extreme sports in one event. As many as 100 bands have been featured on one Warped show. Bands play 30-45 minute sets on about ten stages that are set up in parking lots or fields around a venue. Over fifty bands will be on the 2012 tour starting June 16^th- August 5^th and will be traveling all over America and to a few shows in Canada. The first set starts at 11:00 A.M. and the last set is at 9:00 P.M. which makes for a long but fun day.

With so many bands and so little time between sets it gets overwhelming trying to keep track of who is playing where and when. Bring a notepad with you and find where the sets and times are posted near the entrance of the venue. Write down who you want to see, find where and when they are playing so that you are organized, on time, and don’t miss anything. 

Seeing the bands that you want to see may seem like the most important thing to you at the time, but there are much more important things that you have to be aware of. Warped Tour is famous for their stories of fans and band member’s getting heat stroke and being extremely dehydrated to the point where they have medics at the venue. To avoid these things make sure you drink PLENTY of water and dress according to the weather, shorts and t-shirts are usually highly recommended. They hand water out at the venue so if you forget water don’t worry. Their water also comes in a cold can, like a soda and they have people with water guns at every stage spraying the crowd. 

Another very important tip is to wear tons of sunscreen. Too many kids get sun poisoning at Warped because they forget to put it on or keep applying it throughout the day. Keep sunscreen on you at all times and make sure the people you are with are also using sunscreen. You won’t regret it.

One of the main attractions of Warped Tour is not only the bands, but the mosh-pits that are created by the fans during sets. These are basically when a ton of people run in a giant circle head-banging, throwing fists, screaming, and just acting wild while their favorite song plays in the background. Although these can be very fun and stress relieving, they can also get violent when you aren’t paying attention. Here are some unwritten rules about moshing:

1. Falling- Lift the person who fell and make sure they are not hurt. You must pick up a falling mosher at all times.
2. Hitting- It’s not a fight! If you hurt someone it is etiquette to maybe shake their hand or pat their shoulder. Any friendly gesture or apology will do. Chances are they will forgive you.
3. Pulling People Out- When you are standing around a pit and you see someone trying to get out of the pit do whatever you can to help them by either going out and getting them yourself or telling someone else to help if you can’t handle it.
4. The Cordone- If someone is seriously hurt, try to protect them by forming a circle around the injured person until help can get there. 

        “The first time I was ever in a mosh-pit was at a Bring Me the Horizon concert and the guy standing next to me got an elbow to the nose. Three other guys standing around him helped him get out of the pit and then went back to moshing when he was safe,” says Ipswich local, Will Beauvais who will be attending Warped Tour this summer.

“It’s really cool that there is a sense of community at these concerts because everyone has each others backs, even though you are strangers,” says Amberlie Tejada, a student at Ipswich High. “Music is such a big part of my life and Warped Tour is such a great thing for bands that are just starting to get recognized. Just, don’t forget your sunscreen.”