Thousands rock out at Warped Tour

VANS WARPED TOUR, Utah State Fairpark, Aug. 8

The Vans Warped Tour is celebrating its 15th anniversary. And if the crowd at the Utah State Fairpark Saturday was any indication, the tour should continue to do well in Salt Lake City for another 15 years and then some.

The annual summer concert drew thousands of mostly middle school to college-aged people, many of them heavily pierced or tattooed, to the fairgrounds for a full day of punk, ska, emo electronica and pop music. About 70 bands played on seven stages from 11:15 a.m. until 9 p.m.

"This is the biggest crowd I think I've seen," said 20-year-old Warped fan Jason Williams, who has been to five previous tours. "This is the best (Warped Tour) of them all."

Williams said he liked the longer set times bands on the main stage were given this year.

He, along with his brother Casey, 17, and their friend Lauren Riggs, 17, drove to Salt Lake from St. George Friday night to see the tour, and planned to drive back to southern Utah right after it ended.

By 11 a.m., the streets around the fairgrounds were already full of kids being dropped off by their parents and cars looking for places to park. Heavy cloud cover and a breeze were a welcome relief from past years when temperatures at the not-so-shady Fairpark have soared over 100 degrees.

We The Kings got the Warped Tour started on the main stage with an energetic set that was well received by a good-sized early crowd.

"The best crowd we've had on the Warped Tour," announced front man Travis Clark.

The White Tie Affair on the SmartPunk Stage also delivered a fun, upbeat early set. Energetic lead singer Chris Wallace had the crowd dancing as the band mixed a cover from Lady Gaga in with their own songs like "Candle (Sick and Tired)."

"Mostly I came here for the music," said 18-year-old Jon George who drove from Ogden to see the tour.

George, who stood out in the crowd with his tall, red Mohawk, said he was there to see bands like NOFX and Streetlight Manifesto. When bands he didn't like were on stage, he said we walked around to one of the many merchandise tents set up between the stage and purchased some pins.