Vans Warped Tour in Atlanta

It’s 7:20 a.m. Eastern time and there are three teenagers fast asleep in the room upstairs here at the Holiday Inn Express in Douglasville, Ga. In a few hours, they will rocking, rolling, moshing and head banging to the music at the Vans Warped Tour stop in Atlanta. This is the third year for me to make this trip along with my daughter, Samantha, and her friend Kaylee Watson. Joining us for the first time is their friend Joseph Nichols.

We got here about 11 p.m. ET after leaving Saltillo about 5 p.m., and that includes driving through a nasty thunderstorm when we entered Georgia. It was so bad I had to pull over on an exit and wait five minutes before continuing.

Warped is an all-day festival of music, extreme sports and merchandise. In addition to 58 bands performing on various stages throughout the Hi-Fi Buys property, there will be a makeshift skateboard park and vendor tents promoting everything from T-shirts to animal rights. In the past we’ve seen bands like My Chemical Romance, The Academy Is …, Underoath, and one of my favorites from my younger days, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts. The photos posted in the slide show are from last year’s event.

Some of the “name” bands performing today include Hawthorne Heights, Cute Is What We Aim For, The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus and Yellowcard. Hey, aren’t you impressed someone like me, a child of the 8-Track Generation, actually knows something about these young bands? I know they’re not anything like my favorite band, Rush, or other favorite classic rockers like the Allman Brothers, Led Zeppelin or the Rolling Stones, but it’s good to hear the new sounds and understand what kids are listening to these days.

The kids already have looked at the band lineup and plotted out which ones to see. I’m especially curious about a band with a very familiar name: Pepper.

If today is like our previous two Warped visits, we’ll have a great time. I’ve heard the weather forecast for Atlanta today, and it’s good news: High of 89 (not the usual Hotlanta heat) with a chance for rain. If it rains, it will be the first time for it to happen in our three visits here.

I may not be able to post anything the during show, but I’ll have a notepad handy and take notes throughout the day for a complete wrap up with photos.

Now it’s time to go wake up those kids and get ’em ready for the show.