The music coursed through me like my own blood. As I passed each of the gigantic, perfectly aligned stages, each with their own huge crowds, everyone jumping, screaming, losing their minds, I felt my entire body vibrate with every bang of the drums and every strum of the gorgeous guitars.

As I started to get into the beat, strumming my air guitar and head banging, I heard the voices. First the lead singers, then the background singers, and then the crowds beautiful voices following perfectly in sync. It hadn’t quite hit me until that moment…I was really at Vans Warped Tour. The different types of people passing me by were not strangers, not enemies…they were my friends, my family.

Music was the one thing that brought me closer to not only other people, but to myself as well. In the mosh pits, the people weren’t crazy nut jobs pushing people around out of hate; it was out of love and enjoyment. Crowd surfing, man I wish I would’ve done it, but I was mesmerized.

I elbowed and pushed my way to the front row just in time to see my favorite band: Of Mice & Men. I’ve been listening to them for three or more years, and with each year I hoped and dreamed of meeting them, or even just seeing them once in person, now the long awaited moment. I couldn’t believe that I was actually seeing them live, realizing that “Holy s***, they’re real people, and they’re just as good in person as they are on the Internet.”

I will never forget the moment I made eye contact with the lead singer, Austin Carlile. He was singing a song called “Bones Exposed”, and he looked me right in my eyes and smiled. My heart melted like chocolate on a bright sunny day. After they played, the drummer, Valentino Ortega, threw drumsticks out to the crowd, and one of the people I went there with caught it and gave it to me. My eyes started to water, my heart started beating, and I was in shock. It is my most prized possession.

I also got to meet one of my favorite bands, Falling In Reverse. There was a tent selling their merchandise, and they had an outstanding deal, something like: “buy a pair of shorts for $20, and you can come back in a couple of hours to meet the band and get the shorts signed by them”. They had a few rules, such as: no photos, keep the line moving (because there were a ton of people in line) and no videos.

Whether or not I got to see EVERY band I wanted to, I had an absolutely magnificent time. Despite falling asleep uncomfortably in a car, Warped Tour was one of the best times of my life, and I’m really hoping I can go back for the following years, and have just as good of a time, although nothing can beat my almost-perfect first Warped Tour experience.