Posted July 29, 2018 by Kailey Howell Concert Reviews & Galleries

The Final Vans Warped Tour – Detroit

Vans Warped Tour
Meadow Brooke Amphitheatre – Rochester Hills – 7.20.18
Photographers: Kailey Howell and Alexis Backus*

It was bittersweet as Meadow Brook Amphitheatre hosted what would be Detroit’s last stop on the full cross country run of Vans Warped Tour. The date had sold out weeks in advance, leaving the crowd highly anticipated for the long day of sets.

The gates opened and fans quickly flooded the venue, catching one of the many opening bands such as Tonight Alive, Sharptooth, Makeout or Detroit’s own A War Within.

This is one of the first years in a while that it was not a sweltering 90+ degrees. However, as the clouds rolled in the rain did cause minor delays for the main stages. Unfortunately, the local stage that was to feature bands such as Our Vices, Torchbearer and Scapegoat was permanently shut down due to weather. This proved to be a fault on the tour’s end, as the sun quickly came back out.

“For us, Warped Tour was an awesome experience. Despite not getting to play, we still had an amazing time and got to experience all of Warped for it was. We were thankful to be able to say we were still part of the last full country Warped Tour.” said Brandon Murdoch of Torchbearer.

“Although cliche sounding, Warped was that one day of the year where you were free from everything going on in the world and could just run around a huge parking lot watching your favorite bands with your friends.” said Jon Rechsteiner, “Being in a band who always aspired to play I am very grateful we got the opportunity this year as well as last despite the rain.”

Caleb Shomo of Beartooth gave a heartfelt speech about the importance of Warped, and thanked Kevin Lyman for the opportunities it presented bands and fans.

The Detroit date featured a handful of bands that were not on the entire cross country run such as Silverstein, Capstan, Bowling for Soup, and Four Year Strong.

The Full Sail Stage also featured local talent from Boys of Fall, For We Are Many, Vegas Lights and Southpaw.

The line up this year featured a blend of genres, from pop icons 3OH!3 to pop punk legends Simple Plan to some of the heaviest of bands like Kublai Khan.

Below, check out Resurget Magazine’s most diverse photo gallery to date, featuring over 20 bands that performed at Detroit’s Warped Tour.

Information on the final stretch of dates of the tour can be found here.

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