Vans Warped Tour is not your average concert. It’s a much-anticipated festival of music in which many students attend yearly.

“Warped Tour is different in so many ways. It’s huge, it’s outdoors, there are literally thousands of people everywhere, the bands make their performances really personal and they’re awesome at reaching out to the fans. Many of the bands have meet and greets, or they just walk around the grounds like normal people. There are tents everywhere full of stuff to buy or giving out free things or informing you about a cause. Also, you can see about 50 bands in one day as opposed to one to three like a normal concert. Warped Tour is such an exciting, bright, and energetic music fest,” Alyssa Graziani (11) said.

Warped Tour is planned so each band plays on one of seven stages. Fans can choose which bands they see throughout the day, with no limit.

“Warped Tour was so much fun. It’s like a normal concert on steroids. It was so hot out. There were so many people crammed next to each other. It’s really a great experience, plus some bands do personal signings so you can get to meet the members,” Lindsey Nevins (11) said.

Students who went to Warped Tour had to face many decisions of which bands to watch, as well as stifling heat.

“It was so hot out. I wanted gallons of water. Staying hydrated was so important, but not the easiest task. The lines for water refills were so long, that it was almost smarter to go to the bathroom and drink sink water. If you have a mini handheld fan, I’d suggest bringing it. You may look kind of dumb with it, but I wished I had one,” Nevins said.

Vans Warped Tour travels around the United States, with 41 shows altogether. The expectations and anticipation for 2013 are higher than ever.