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The Easiest Concert in the World to get into for Free

Story and photos by Brooke Geery

Have you ever been at a show of your favorite band, rocking out so hard in the pit that you know they must see you, when you notice someone on stage with a photo pass looking dreadfully disinterested? You wonder, why do they get to be on stage, they probably don’t even like Blink 182 (or Eminem or Pennywise or Lit, whatever), and you, are their biggest fan. It’s just not fair.

So you may wonder how the aforementioned people got on stage. They must work for affluent publications, right? Not exactly, as the Warped Tour, which happens to be the event in question, might just be the easiest tour to scam free and backstage passes to. Even though I personally had no intentions to cover the event for any real publication (believe it or not, Yo Beat doesn’t count, with little more effort than finding the press office, I was presented with a photo pass, which allowed me full access to everything the Warped Tour had to offer, including getting to stand on stage, hang out around the tour busses and have the best short-cut to the snack bar. You’re probably wondering how you can get a pass too, so try this:

1. At the ticket window, make a fuss, saying you work for Transworld and that you should be on the list. It’s possible that they will let you right in and direct you to press office. If not, you may have to buy a ticket, but it will be a small price to pay when

When you're as famous and massivley popular as the Vandals, people will take pictures of you sticking your butt in the drummers face. Cool.

you’re hanging out backstage with The Black Eyes Peas.

2. Once you’re inside, go to the press office and request a photo pass. If you act like you know what you’re doing and have a camera (disposable works fine), you should get one no questions asked. If not, be

prepared to drop a name of someone important in the industry. Magazine mastheads provide a list of possible candidates.

3. Now stick you pass to your shirt, and take advantage of all it allows you. Make sure to stand on stage during one of the most popular bands and act disinterested. Now you will be the one making everyone jealous.

The Show

This year I got to check out the Warped Tour in the heart of everything that is cool, San Diego, California. Rather than the usual August tour dates that I’m so privileged to attend, I got to go June 30th. I almost thought that this would make a difference, but it turns out that punk bands sound the same, whether they’re bored of playing or not.

Due to the fact that the tour line up hasn’t changed in the three years I’ve been going, I only had the desire to see about four of the bands there. The first band I decided was worthy or my time was the Black Eyed Peas. Now, I don’t really understand why the Warped Tour includes so many rap bands these days, but I guess after a steady diet of High School punk, it’s almost refreshing. I felt pretty white on stage with the Black Eyed Peas, and for this reason I decided that standing there with my arms crossed was much less embarrassing that trying to dance. They were pretty entertaining, and they seemed to have someone new to bring on stage with for every song.

Next I checked out The Vandals. They won me over when they started their set with a song from "Grease". As if that wasn’t good enough, they made lots of jokes about breast size and masturbation. I really like how un-original punk bands are. Their set went on for awhile, all the girls crushed against the fence seemed to know the words. Then they ended with "So Long, Farewell" from "The Sound of Music," which was pretty much the highlight of my day.

Next was my favorite band, Leatherface (See: Leatherface or The Most Underrated Band There).

My fine view of Blink 182.

Now it was all about Blink 182. Even though I’ve seen them what seems like 100 times, I still thought it would be pretty cool to check them out from the backstage view. Here’s the catch, because of their massive popularity, the big black dudes in security t-shirts wouldn’t let anyone back stage. It was then that I realized that Blink 182 has become way too popular to be cool. I would have turned around and left, but the desire to squeeze through thousands of sweaty frat boys was not with me. Rather, I stood behind a bunch of people who were much taller than me and watched them sing along. Blink played their whole hits catalog (What’s my Age, Again?, Dammit, and Carousel), and convinced many of the girls in the audience to show them their tits.

At this point I was more than ready to go. Three years worth of Warped Tours, I’ve never made it through a whole show. Although leaving would mean I’d miss out on Ice Cube, Pennywise and Eminem, it was a sacrifice I was willing to make. I did, on my way out, however, catch Zebrahead, who announced they had run out of songs and would begin to take requests. Thank god Butt Rockers still exist in the punk scene, and soon they were playing Poison and GNR’s "Sweet Child O’ Mine."

I guess I should mention the skateboarding. Steve Cabelerro was there, as well as everyone’s favorite rollerskater Brian Wainwright and some kid with one leg. Don’t get me wrong, I’m still super impressed by good skateboarders, but I can only watch so much vert skating, so I didn’t spend much time by the skate session.

That was my day. This year’s Warped Tour was unbelievably average, not bad, but trust me, I didn’t jump on the chance to see it two days later in Los Angeles.