When the 20th annual Vans Warped Tour kicked off Friday (June 13) in Houston, and fans who couldn’t wait until the cavalcade of punk, emo, metal, and hardcore rolled into their town, the concert was streamed live online all day. The stream of 30 bands spread out over five stages was like being everywhere at Warped all at once, and with almost none of the accompanying festival odors.
In case it wasn’t obvious how hot it was in Houston on Friday from the non-stop references from the stage, The Devil Wears Prada‘s Mike Hranica sweating straight through his short-sleeve button up painted a pretty vivid picture. Granted, he and the rest of the band were working on songs like “Assistant to the Regional Manager”, with its barely-controlled chaos and corrosive metal-core fury.
Boston’s Ice Nine Kills impressed with traumatic, melodic metal-core on songs like “The Fastest Way To A Girl’s Heart Is Through Her Ribcage,” but vocalist Spencer Charnas screaming Adele‘s “Someone Like You” from the top of the barricade stood out.
Also repping strong for Massachusetts were Worcester’s melodic hard core act Four Year Strong, who stirred up a big time singalong for their track “Wasting Time.” And aside from one of the ...
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