Warped Tour Survival Tips: For the Ladies Edition

    Okay, girls, let's be real about this: we have a whole other set of needs and issues than our guy friends when it comes to being out all day in the summer. Warped Tour is no exception. So, in light of that obvious issue, here are some of the best tips I've found online, plus a few of my own. For more Warped Tour tips, check out my earlier post. 

• Don't wear a skirt/dress. I get wanting to look cute, but it's not worth it. For one thing, if you're anything above a size 6, your thighs will chafe and we all know that's no fun. Second, if you get tossed/end up crowd surfing/trip/any of the myriad of things that could happen, about 7,000 of your closest friends will get a good look at your underwear.
• Don't wear a white/pastel t-shirt without a tank under it. Four words: Surprise wet t-shirt contest. Enough said.
• If mother nature visits the day before stay hydrated! (For all the grossed out guys: the title says "Ladies" for a reason.) It's even more important in that situation than it would be normally because your body is shedding more fluid than normal.
• If you're pregnant the best advice if you want to go to Warped (keeping in mind that I've never been pregnant) would be to invest the extra money in a VIP ticket. It includes access to air conditioned tents which I can only imagine would be a huge help. Also, avoid mosh pits and dense crowds like the plague, I feel like the reasons are obvious.
• If you're wearing a swimsuit top that ties at the neck double knot it! There will always be some pervy jerk who will try to see your boobs. It's rude, it's classless, but idiots are a fact of life.
• Take your guy into the pit with you. If you're going in the pit, you should be prepared to get hit, but there are situations where you might need some muscle to back you up if someone passes the line from moshing to just being rude.
• Don't wear excessive jewelry. This means rings, long necklaces, tons of bracelents, a lanyard, etc. You could lose them, necklaces could get yanked off, and it's just more weight to carry on an already insanely hot day. Also keep in mind that many venues don't allow studded belts or spiked bracelets for safety reasons.
• Bring a hair tie/ponytail holder/head band. No matter the length of your hair, it will probably stick to your face or neck, and we all know how badly that sucks. If you want to be really extra awesome, bring a couple spare hair ties for those ladies who may have forgotten.
• DO NOT wear flip flops or sandals. That is, unless you like getting your feet stomped on and having your shoes broken; in that case, go right ahead.
• Bring Handy Wipes or a small travel container of baby wipes. You'll get hot and sweaty, and unless you like smelling like a van full of construction workers, you're going to want something to at least clean up a little.
• Bring a plastic baggie with: bobby pins for your bangs and/or the little wispy hairs at the nape of your neck, a mini deodorant, the aforementioned hair ties, a chap stick.
• Last but NOT least, don't wear tons of make up. All that's going to happen is that you'll sweat it off and look worse than you would have had you just gone natural.

Well, ladies, enjoy and have a great Warped Tour!

Summer Show Survival

(Reposted from my other blog.)   

    Hey everyone! So, Vans Warped Tour kicks off this Saturday and I can't wait to go again with my friend Be! We had such an incredible time last year and this year one of our favorite bands, The Used, is going to be playing, so it's going to be incredible. While the summer touring season has already kicked off, we're finally getting to the point where summer is in full swing, so I just wanted to take a few minutes to share some tips and suggestions to keep you rocking out all summer long!

• SUNSCREEN SUNSCREEN SUNSCREEN!!! I cannot emphasize this enough! Even if you have darker skin or tan naturally, sun exposure still puts you at risk for skin cancer -and wrinkles, ew!- especially if you have/had more than 3 serious sunburns before your 18th birthday (I have 5 before my 15th, so I'm especially careful). So if you want to still get some color but you don't want cancer, get yourself some SPF 15 and reapply every 2 hours. Spray sunscreens are great if you don't want to spend 15 minutes putting on the lotion kind.
• Okay, this one is kind of a no-brainer, but make sure to hydrate! It gets hot, especially at tours like Warped where you might be outside from 11am until 9 at night. If you eat a good, balanced breakfast food isn't really so important (unless you're diabetic, hyperglycemic, etc. Know your limits and adjust accordingly.) but water is extremely important. I used a CamelBak last year, which is basically a  small backpack which holds a pouch full of water. Warped has these awesome filtered water refilling stations for your bottles/Camelbaks and most venues will also have water fountains you can use. If you notice that you've stopped sweating at a normal rate, or (not to get too graphic) you haven't used to restroom in a couple of hours, STOP WHAT YOU ARE DOING AND HYDRATE! Free tip: put ice in your water to keep your core body temperature down.
• Dress for comfort! This is Warped Tour, not fashion week. You're going to get sweaty, you're going to get dirty, and if you wear black skinny jeans and a black t-shirt, you're probably going to be miserable. Dark colors absorb heat faster, so light colored breathable clothing is best. Remember, natural fibers (like cotton) breathe best. And if you're glued to wearing one particular t-shirt, but want something lighter, you could try using this tutorial to turn it into a racer-back tank top, as seen in one of my earlier blog posts.
• Comfortable shoes are key to your feet and legs not hating you the next day! I observed last year tons of people wearing TOMS or Chuck Taylors ( I wore my grey TOMS), but wear shoes that you know you can stand up in for a long time with minimal discomfort. Personally, this year I'll be wearing Vegan Feed 12 TOMS Classics. Do not, I repeat, DO NOT wear flip flops/sandals. They will break, your toes will get stepped on, and it will hurt.
• Pack a snack! Warped Tour allows you to bring a homemade snack into the venue in case you do get hungry. They have food available for sale there, but it's crazy expensive. Bring some homemade granola, trail mix, or whatever your favorite snack is. Try to bring something high in protein to give you energy to keep going throughout the whole day. Free tip: Meat isn't the only thing full of protein! Try a snack with peanut butter or other nuts. Homemade fruit leather is also a good snack, though it doesn't provide the energy boost that protein rich snacks do.
• Bring sunglasses, just not your favorite pair! Protecting your eyes from the sun is important, but your shades may get lost or broken. Should that happen, many booths in the venue have sunglasses for sale for pretty cheap ($5-$15).
• Bring cash for merch and food. Not all venues will have an ATM, so I suggest bringing at least $100 cash, and keep it in the FRONT pocket of your jeans.
• Bring a drawstring backpack to hold your sunscreen, snack, water bottle, all of the cool stuff you will buy, and all of the awesome free stuff people will give you!
• Ziplock baggies are perfect for keeping your cell phone/camera/etc dry in your bag in case you should get soaked for one reason or another.
• If you go in the pit, you will get pushed/shoved/hit so if you're a kid or that's something you can't handle, it's best to hang out in the back.
• Most venues (All venues for Warped) do not allow DSLRs or other professional grade photography equipment. You can bring a disposable or a point-and-shoot to record all of your awesome show memories.
• Charge your phone the night before, and have a place for your friends to meet in case you get lost or left.
• Don't wear tons of makeup! I wore eye shadow last year, not even a lot, and I sweated it into my eyes in the middle of a huge pit, and let me tell you, that stuff BURNS. Free tip: DO bring chap stick. Just do it.
• Do/see as much as you can! Warped and other summer shows are an incredible experience, and there is so much so do, so much to see, so many new people to meet. Throw yourself into the experience. Be safe, have fun, and make memories you'll never forget.

Free Fun Stuff for Poor Audiophiles

    Okay, okay. For one, I know that it’s been a shamefully long time since I posted here. If you’re in it for my life updates and witty cynicism, check out my other blog Adventuring As An Artist, which I update vastly more frequently. If you just actually care about my taste in music, hang in there. I have way more time to blog during the summer since I have regular work hours this summer. Yay!

    Anyway, on to what I’m actually here to blog about: As I mentioned, I have a job this summer, but even now, I don’t have oodles of expendable income to blow on, say, new music. I’m in college, and I’m an art major so I’m pretty much double broke. The preceding facts generally result in me seeking out free ways to find new music as often as possible. As such, I have compiled a list of bangin ways to get/listen to/discover new, awesome music. Here you have it:

• Pandora Everyone knows about Pandora. If you don't, here's the quick rundown: Pandora allows you to create "stations" based on a certain style of music. It could be influenced by anything from a whole genre (Pop-Punk) to one band (Bowling For Soup) to one song (Shut Up and Smile). Pandora then takes information from the music you already like, and plays a whole bunch of music with similar qualities.
• Spotify Spotify is actually software you download on to your computer, and it's basically iTunes' better, prettier, 'roided-up cousin. If you have an internet connection, Spotify allows you to stream basically any music you can think of. A European-based company, when Spotify first became available in the United States it was by invitation only (every hipster's dream) but I'm pretty sure anyone can get it now. If not, I'm sure one of your friends who is cooler than you can shoot you an invite.
• Turntable Remember back in middle school when you would go over to your friend's house to listen to her Britney Spears CDs and make up cool dance routines? No? Just me? Okay, anyway, turntable is basically that, except nobody can see how bad your dancing sucks. Turntable allows you to listen to music together over the internet. Fun, no?
• Last.fm To be perfectly honest, I have no idea what Last.fm does, but it's related to music, it's free, and I've heard of a lot of people using it, so it can't suck too hard. But the same could be said for Facebook Chat, so....
• The iTunes free music section The link actually goes to the site where you download iTunes, but as most Mac/iPod/iPhone/iPad/iMsickofthis user knows, there's a section of the iTunes store where they offer a few various songs for free every week. Sometimes there's nothing good, sometimes you stumble upon something cool, and sometimes they have something free from one of your favorites. It's worth a shot.
• Come&Live Come&Live is a website that offers free downloads of Christian music, but this is not your Mom's Christian music. They have everything from metal to pop to spoken word poetry (Levi the Poet, anyone?). You have the option of downloading for free, no guilt, donating, or "paying with a tweet" basically just helping to spread the word. Even if you're not a Christian, it's seriously worth checking out.
• TheSixtyOne Okay, gather my little hipsters, because you're gonna love this one. TheSixtyOne is a website that lets you listen to mostly unheard artists and "heart" what you like. You get more hearts to hand out based on achievements that you unlock by exploring new music. OR you can just listen, whatever. Nobody's judging you and your overpriced coffee, pretentious literature, and thrifted skinny jeans. (On the downside, pretty sure I just described myself.)
• I have saved the best for last: Pocket Hipster This little gem of an app, lauded as "the coolest music app ever... but you’ve probably never heard of it." and oh so sweetly free, this is an iPhone/iPod touch/iPad app that recommends music based on what's loaded on your iDevice of choice. Plus it's witty, cynical, and just insulting enough to be funny.

    Well, that's what I have for you. Let me know in the comments if you know of any other cool sites/apps/software for music discovery. I would love to check it out!

Until next time, Love, Tea, and Rock&Roll,

Larra

You're Next!

    No, I'm not making threats against my readers... My friends in central Illinois based metal band, Oblivion Oasis, embarked this week on their very first self-book tour, the You're Next Tour. 

    Based out of the Arthur/Tuscola, IL area, Oblivion Oasis is Dylan Chupp vocals, Austin Yoder bass/vocals, Daniel Ledbetter guitar, and Tyler Gudenrath drums. The group is quoted as drawing inspiration and influence from "anything and everything." 

    Whether these guys are rocking your mohawk in a church basement or Amishstock rock festival, they are sure to make a scene you'll never forget and keeps fans coming back for more. If you're in the South Carolina/North Carolina/Tennessee area, be sure to check them out on You're Next Tour here:

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=193188817393949

    Or check them out August 27th at Amishstock rock festival in Arthur, IL, and make sure to visit their facebook page at: 

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Oblivion-Oasis/24302279966?sk=wall

Until next time,

Art, Love, Rock & Roll,

Larra

A Different Kind of Playlist

There’s a building in the business district of Shelbyville, IL. When you drive past it looks like any other building with bass pumping to hard that it rattles the glass in the front windows: welcome to Poor Man’s Playlist. Upon entering the building you are greeted with neon walls and a sign proclaiming “mosh at your own risk.”

The venue hosted its first concert on July 9^th 2011: a bold choice which competed with the Tinley Park, IL date for Vans Warped Tour, as well as the EP release show of Champaign-Urbana’s The Wisdom We Gain (formerly Dropped For a Funeral). The opening featured bands from as near as Shelbyville and as far as Columbus, OH.

As a reviewer I feel inclined to mention that air conditioning would have been welcome, and the bands took the stage late, but as shows go, it wasn’t the worst. I am excited to see where this up-and-coming venue heads in the future, and how they will build a name for themselves in an ever-struggling music industry.

Good luck, Poor Man’s Playlist, hope to see you soon!

We Are Warped

Myself and Belinda watching August Burns Red-the first show of the day.

Okay, to begin this post, you should know that I’ve been waiting since I was in 7^th grade for the summer I could finally go to Warped Tour, and this summer on July 7^th, at 19 years old, I joined the freshman class of the Vans Warped Tour and had the time of my life. I saw 13 bands play, was in the middle of tons thrashing crowds and mosh pits, threw many elbows, lifted countless crowd surfers, ran a lap around some merch tents with Joe Ragosta (of Patent Pending) and a bunch of fellow Patent Pending fans, agreed to do a “favor” for the AP guy and ended up handing out 80+ Warped Programs, I was on my feet for ten hours, I came home exhausted, sunburned, thrilled, and already pumped for Warped 2012. I saw some of my favorite bands and got introduced to a few new ones.

At Warped you are tossed into the throes of one collective, pulsing organism. You are skin on skin on teeshirt on body paint with 10,000 of your best friends. People will hold your drink or help you with sunscreen; shout out a question and someone will answer. When you start to fall in a mosh pit, there is someone behind you who will push you back up. Schedules, sunscreen, and memories are all shared. By lunchtime you’ve sweated all your makeup off, you’re dripping on the pavement, and you’ve lost any semblance of being “put together,” but you don’t care and neither does anyone else. Everyone at Warped is friends because everyone has one thing in common: we all live and breathe music.

By the time I got home from I was sunburned, exhausted, and so so happy. Basically, Warped Tour, I’ll see you next year.

Several thousand of my new friends.

Any Other Heart

“I’ve been this awful shade of lonely since your reasons left the room…” sings Go Radio front man Jason Lancaster in the band’s “Any Other Heart” from their March 2011 album Lucky Street. The ballad takes on deep and tragic meaning as it is explained by Lancaster in an interview with Last.fm in which he tells the heart breaking story of his father’s death and subsequent betrayal on the part of his step-mother. Lancaster describes “Any Other Heart” as being about the “enormous hatred” he feels surrounding that deceit and dishonesty. A powerful track referencing betrayal, regret, and wanting, “Any Other Heart” breathes like a passionate, accessible anthem for anyone who has ever been hurt, disappointed, or stabbed in the proverbial back.

Be sure to catch Go Radio on Vans Warped Tour this summer and check out Lucky Street for yourself on iTunes or at your favorite music store.