Sam and Ryan’s Magical Van’s Warped Tour Experience!

Ryan and I at Warped Tour 2011

Last year I attended Van’s Warped Tour with Ryan, and it was a lot of fun. I enjoyed the freedom and versatility of a festival type concert, and it was great being able to roam around listening to bands that I loved, and new bands I had never heard of before.

I think one of the major things Vans focused on when planning out Warped Tour 2011 was making sure they did not stick to one genre of music. Instead they had a huge assortment of different bands and artists performing for a wide range of different audiences.

One of my favorite stops was actually at the Earnie Ball stage. This stage featured local bands who were taking their shot at becoming rockstars. I heard a lot of incredible talent and was amazed at the young ages of some of the bands.

On the main stages I saw Asking Alexandria, Black Veil Brides, A Day to Remember, Simple Plan, 30h!3, and many other great bands. Although I did get to see some of my all time favorite bands last year, there still were a few bands I wished were there. Unfortunately neither Paramore or Falling in wReverse played at the Ventura, California Warped Tour stop even though they had other slots at different stops on the tour.

I am very excited for next year’s Warped Tour. There are a few headliners I am really looking forward to seeing such as Mayday Parade, Sleeping with Sirens, Senses Fail and many more. Although I am sure that the shows will be amazing, I still feel like a few key bands are missing such as All Time Low or Escape The Fate. I know that these bands are big enough to sell out their own shows, but it would be nice if Warped Tour attempted to incorporate more Bands in this year.’

Overall I think Warped Tour is a great way for fans to get to see a lot of their favorite bands at one concert and to also experience new and upcoming bands they may have never heard of.

So tell me about your Warped Tour experiences if you have ever been before? If not, let me know if you plan on going next year!

Chronicle Movie Review

Beyondhollywood.com

A few weekends back I went and saw the movie Chronicles. I was very exited to see this movie and had been looking forward to its release sense late last year. From the trailer the movie seemed very appealing. It looked like it had a strong plot that was not to predictable, and I really enjoyed how the movie put special powers into the hands of normal teenagers who had no intention of being super heroes.

Although I went to the movies with high expectations, I was greatly disappointed. The main problem I found with the movie was its use of the “handheld camera” effect. This was done to add the feel of the movie being a real documentation of the events that occurred from the perspective of the main character, and eventual villain “Andrew Detmer”. Although this idea adds an interesting twist to the movie and helps bring a strong sense of realism to the film, in many instances it took away from the actual experience of the film. the final fight scene had to be shot from an array of different camera angles, ranging from police car cameras to news station helicopter cameras and even store security cameras. It was hard to follow the fight and to make out which character was which and this prevented me from enjoying the baddassery of the fight scene.

The ending was a bit of a cop out as well. Although I will not spoil it here, I felt like they built up the movie with a strong plot and then tore it down with a very sloppy ending. I would not necasarilly recomend this movie, but I still did enjoy it. The acting was descent and, until the ending, the plot was strong. the movie had its funny moments and it did a good job of exploring the consequences of putting unlimited power in the hands of a teenager.