How I Found Myself at Warped Tour 2016

Let's rewind to a few ago in the awkward high school days. I had braces and was primping my side bangs to be juuuust right to meet Justin Bieber at a Jingle Ball concert. Never in a million years did I see myself in the middle of a moshing crowd at Warped Tour. But that's just where I ended up yesterday and I had the time of my life.

Ever since I can remember, I've loved all the pop stars - N*Sync, Jesse McCartney, Bieber. Yet in 6th grade, I discovered Green Day. My dad bought me "American Idiot" as long as I promised I'd stay away from drugs and not turn into a gothic weirdo. I continued to obsess over all the pretty boys, but behind the scenes, my love for heavier music (and tattooed men) grew stronger.

Over the years, I discovered bands like All Time Low and We the Kings, and felt more at home with music than I ever did before. About a year ago, some friends introduced me to Sleeping With Sirens and Pierce the Veil, and I instantly related to songs like "Go Go Go" and "King for a Day." History was made when I randomly clicked on a YouTube video of a song called "The Drug in Me Is You."

Falling in Reverse? Ronnie who? Oh, I like his voice. Bad Girls Club? OH this is catchy......

Summer of 2015 was consumed by the task of finding a post-grad job, all the while watching FIR videos in between cover letters. "F*** the Rest" soon became my life anthem - "and I know in my heart if you reach for the stars, all the things that you dream will indeed get you far" - and surprisingly, I learned a lot about life from Ronnie Radke, like how you can get your life together and make dreams happen no matter what you've been through and where you're coming from.

Fast forward one year, and Ronnie's picture is proudly hanging in my cubicle (much to the concern of my middle-aged coworkers) at my first big girl job. Still just as inspired by him as 12 months ago, I knew I had to attend Vans Warped Tour this year when I saw that FIR would be there. After some planning, my friends and I decided that we would adventure from Philly to Long Island, NY to go.

After almost 3 hours driving, my 1st official NJ bagel, and only getting slightly lost once, we arrived. I knew the day was going to be different and exciting just from the line to get in, with some guy selling sunglasses so fans wouldn't get "face f**ked" by the sun.

We immediately found the giant wall schedule to plan our day and figure out when/where each band was performing. Ronnie wouldn't be on until 5PM so there was plenty of time to work around that.

Kellin Quinn - Sleeping With Sirens

Throughout the day, I got to see We The Kings, Against The Current, and another of my top bands, Sleeping With Sirens. SWS was my 1st experience of the day dodging crowd surfers and enduring screaming fans. I'm used to One Direction and Bieber fans, but this was a whole new level. One girl next to me was SCREAMING at the top of her lungs how much of a "sexy beast" Kellin Quinn is. And while I completely agree with her, the ear drums of everyone around her begged to differ. Though when he sang "Go Go Go," I may just have been louder than her.

Around 1PM, we heard that Falling in Reverse was doing a photo op at their tent at 1:30PM. That's all I needed to hear. My friends and I booked it to the tent, only to find out you needed some sort of minuscule red ticket to meet them. We were kind of bummed, but decided to hang around. Even if we couldn't get a picture with Ronnie, we could get some sick shots of him from two feet away, which is exactly what we did.

I think my love for him grew even more yesterday. While waiting in line, I see Ronnie flying through the parking lot on a bicycle. He stops by the fence near his tent (he was on the other side), gets off the bike, then spends a solid few minutes looking completely lost, trying to figure out how to get through the fence with said bike. Finally he gives up and rides away, leaving the poor guy at the merch table to let us know he'll be "fashionably late".....get it??

Ronnie Radke - Falling in Reverse

About 10 minutes later, Ronnie arrives, and I got some amazing pictures of him in between meeting those lucky fans with the stupid red tickets. All the while, my friends and I are still in line, hoping against hope that we can just float through and meet him anyway. Sadly with about 3 people in front of us, the time for the meet and greet was over and Ronnie was out. But I couldn't even be mad...just look at him!!

Even though FIR wasn't performing until 5PM, we were at the stage and ready to go by 4PM, We stood in the back while Yellowcard performed, and the second they were done their set, we powered though the crowd, almost making it to the front barrier.

Despite getting kicked about 20 times and aching shoulders from lifting crowd surfers, I had the time of my life watching Ronnie. He is one of the best live performers I've ever seen, and being that close was an extra bonus. He sang all FIR's hits, including "Alone," "Rolling Stone" (and yes, I belted out the rap part), "Bad Girls Club," and "The Drug in Me is You."

By 5:30PM, I was ready for an Advil and shower, but was so content with life. I saw in person the guy who I'd been listening to non-stop for the past year, and who had inspired me during a pretty difficult and confusing time. Warped Tour wouldn't have been the same without Falling in Reverse, but even if they're not there next year, I'd do it all over again.

Ronnie Radke at Vans Warped Tour - Nikon Theater at Jones Beach
(and a security guard who was not having anymore of the crowd's sh*t)