Hello people,
So winter has finally begun here in the UK. I woke up to an icy fridge freezer of a bedroom and could see my own breath and considering I'm meant to have the warmest bedroom in the house, that is saying something.
Time is seriously going by so quickly and I didn't even realise it had been a month (A MONTH.) since I last posted or updated you lot. My apologies friends.
I didn't really know what to post since Ive been short on creating new posts lately (you know that school life doe) but I found an abundance of post- warped tour photos I had taken and thought this is a perfect opportunity to just shove them somewhere on the internet and maybe share some tips that could also be helpful?
Im sorry if 1. you have no idea what Warped Tour is (and if you don't, well, you should go and check it out here), 2. If you know what it is and its just not your thing (in that case, just stay tuned for other posts in the future). um that's all really I have to say about that xD
But personally I am very into this type of, lets call it 'scene' if you will- I like my bands (and merch obviously), I like my concerts and I like my rock/metal music stuff. So as you can see Warped Tour is a haven for me.
This year was my first Warped Tour experience and I have to say it was SO MUCH FUN. Im pretty sure also this is only one of the very few times Warped has come to the UK since its usually pretty full on in America. What mainly swayed my decision to go was the fact that ASKING ALEXANDRIA where headlining along with Black Veil Brides who I am also a fan of. But AA are like my ultimate go to band that I have always wanted to see.
The event in the UK was held at Alexandra Palace which is an amazing venue for concerts *coughs* going to see Bring me the Horizon there next weekend *coughs*
Its huge but not too huge if you catch ma drift? like, big enough for everything needed to be there but not too big that you can't see bands performing on the stage even if your near the back- so as you can see, pretty good scenario.
Of course, this survival guide if for the Brits going to Warped Tour since its different to that in America, and also I do not know if Warped is always going to be held at Alexandra Palace but I don't see why they would change that.
SO LETS BEGIN~
WHAT TO DO/ WHAT NOT TO DO (disclaimer* this is coming from personal experience and things I noticed)
1. EAT BREAKFAST
I know I know, its always said right? but seriously when you are out standing on your feet all day, the last thing you want is to feel drained in energy or get a huge sugar craving half through your favourite band playing (therefore not letting you rock out to your fullest potential). Make sure its not something high in carbs or sugar, otherwise YOU WILL slump. Toast, cereal, porridge with fruit and PROTEIN will keep you satisfied.
2. GET THERE EARLY IF YOU WANT TO GET IN EARLY
Again, another obvious point. If you wait in line early, you get in first. Depends though if you want to wait in line for about 4-5 hours to get in. At the end of the day your going to have to end up waiting in line for ages to get in anyway. Warped doors opened at 2pm and me and my friend got to the venue at about 12pm and there was already a queue that was not too long but we thought we would stick about till later to see if it went down. IT DID NOT GO DOWN because they take a long time issuing people inside, so if you want to get in early- get there early but know you will be waiting a long time either way.
3. HOW TO SAVE ON PENNIES
If you want to save on some money so you can buy all the merch, I would recommend either eating lunch before you go in or at least take some food or snacks in with you. It wasn't a problem for us since my friend had brought snacks and there was even a couple in front of us who brought a hiking bag with a full loaf of bread (and from what I remember, they seemed to get in just fine). Also, bringing your own food will save you ALOT of waiting around in queues since all the food stalls had massive queues (especially the pizza stand).
4. DRINK PLENTY OF WATER
Literally, probably more important than food (sorta). Officials outside the venue were checking bags and I thought we would have to throw away our bottles but they were just checking up for alcohol (btw don't try to smuggle that in- won't go down well). So bring a bottle or bottles of water so you can keep hydrated and so you don't pass out. Please don't pass out. not good. Of course again, you can buy it but it will be overpriced.
5. BEATING THE QUEUES
Wherever you go, your going to have to queue. There's not way around it. But how to handle them is something else.
MEET UPS-
Warped is known for allowing fans to meet with their idols which is an amazing opportunity but you will have to accept that the queuing will not be a fast process. I waited in line for 2-3 hours to meet AA only to find (10 minutes away from meeting them) that they had to leave for rehearsal. I do not want that to happen to any fan, its crushing *cries*
We got in the line relatively early (but obviously not early enough), so if you can stand in line 2-3 hours before the actual signing your chances will be pretty high.
FOOD-
Food queues are difficult to beat since people are always eating at some point or another, but there are times when they are at their lowest. Annoyingly, the food queues are low when a popular main band are playing but your in luck if your not too keen on that band since you can skip the food queues. Ultimately the food stalls will be busiest around the peak lunching and dinner hours- i.e. 12-3 pm and 6-8pm. One thing I did notice a lot was that the Ice cream Gelato stand never had a big queue...so if you can withstand ice cream all day that may come in handy for you.
FOOD & MEET UP TACTIC-
DILEMMA. Your hungry. like starving. But you are so far into a queue to meet the your favourite band or Youtuber and can't leave to get a pizza. WHAT TO DO.
If you are with a friend, bf or gf or whoever, but importantly if there are two of you TOGETHER in the queue- one stand in the queue and the other, go and get food. Bring it back and nom on pizza while you wait. Simple and yet smart am i right? your welcome.
TOILETS-
For us ladies, we can't do anything about the toilet queuing situation. The envy of guys zipping in and out of the toilets if very frustrating but thats just something we deal with haha
6. BRING CASH
There is a cash machine inside the venue near the merch room but again, you will have to queue. And maybe by that point your favourite shirt has been sold out. Tragedy, don't let that happen. Bring cash since it is easier to use inside the venue or get cash outside at a cash machine before going in.
7. EAT.
Food again. but its important and highly under appreciated when you are getting carried away (speaking from personal experience). Me and my friend were getting carried away with dancing and all the fangirling and our food body clock kinda got wacked outta shape (also because I made her stand in line with me for 2 hours to meet AA... she is a true friend)
We did at the end of the night feel a bit low in energy so it just shows that it is important to eat regularly when your hungry~
8. PICK UP A TIMETABLE
Very important if you don't want to miss your favourite bands- they hand them out before you head into the concert areas. They are free so you don't have to worry about change and they are card so you can just fold it up and pop it your bag for easy access. It also has a map showing which stage they are playing (since there are multiple stages).
Also make a mental timetable or maybe put a star next to the band you want to see. That way, you can plan where you are going, what time you have to be there and plan any food or toilet breaks around it. Optimum time planning skills.
9. BAGGAGE
There is a cloak room, and if you have a jacket or coat and a relatively small bag- I would recommend using it. The reason I didn't use the cloakroom was because I didn't want to run the risk of having to wait ages to get my coat and miss my train, but if thats not an issue for you then I would recommend. Especially since when your in the crowd, the last thing you want is to be even more sweaty or having it dangling in front of you.
10. EXPECT DELAY
If your more flexible with your route home, then this shouldn't be an issue. However, if you have a certain train or bus to catch that you can not miss, you may need to consider that you may miss some of the bands. We had to get a certain train home which meant we actually missed some of Asking Alexandria and Black Veil Brides since performances were about 30- 40 minutes late.
11. GETTING TO THE FRONT OF THE STAGE
The main stages- East & West. This means that the headliners and some of the more well known bands will perform on of these two stages.
Getting their early is again how to get to the front but its where you are at the front that helps too. Say you wanted to see one band perform on the West and then after that watch another on the East stage. To ensure being at the front of both, I would suggest being in the middle or on the outer side closer to the other stage. This means when band A on the West are finished, you can shuffle to the East stage to watch band B and still have a great place. This works vice versa.
12. HAVE FUN
Lastly, just have fun, talk to new people and rock out. The best thing about Warped is that you can discover new bands that you didn't know before. I am now in love with bands such as Never Shout Never, Young Guns and Ghost town because we listened to a bit of everything and discovered some truly amazing music. So even if your there to see a certain someone, don't forget about the others and give them a shot too!
And of course I brought merch- I literally now live in my AA top <3
So if you can make it to next year's Warped Tour event in London you should definitely come along! Its an incredible atmosphere and makes you feel like your part of this awesome community, you will see me there next year definitely so say hi if you see me haha ^0~
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