In a Warped State of Mind

Earlier today I took the kids with me to Guitar Center to pick up a new stand that hopefully, my son won't be able to destroy.  While there my five year old daughter got upset with me for not buying her a new guitar that she fell in love with.  This has me thinking about her love of music and our trip to the Warped Tour almost two weeks ago in Scranton, PA. 

I am probably considered to old to be attending punk and metal music festivals but it was OK because between me and Caelyn, our average age was twenty two and a half.

While I didn't see everyone there, I do believe she was the youngest one attending.  I did see a handful of kids in the nine and ten year old range but no one came close to being as young and as small as Caelyn was.

I have to admit, I was a little nervous that maybe I had pushed my daughter a little too far this time.  She was excited to go. For weeks she had been demanding this band or that band be put on "the list" of bands she wanted to see as I played music for her. So I wasn't worried about her enjoying the music. That wasn't even an issue.

At the Skullcandy Stage for Pour Habit

I was worried because this event would be far larger, louder, hotter, more crowded, and rougher than anything she has been to before. And she is only five. Spending ten hours in the sun surrounded by sea of people can make anyone cranky, much less someone who hasn't even been to first grade.

As it turns out, my fears were totally without basis. Much like Punk Island a month or so ago, Caelyn was perfectly at ease with the noise and chaos. More than that, she thrived in it. The only conflict we had was when I wouldn't bring to the edge of a particularly rough mosh pit. She saw no reason for there to be anyone between us and it. I did and had to explain to her that I kept a couple of people between us and the pit because her getting kicked in the head would hurt.

Chaos for The Devil Wears Prada

There is no kiddie section at the Warped Tour. There are no bounce houses or areas geared toward small children. It's music, merchandise and food. Those are your options. And we hit all of those in abundance.

In no particular order we saw all or part of the sets of the following bands: Pour Habit, Set Your Goals, Woe, is Me, Go Radio, Moving Mountains, The Ready Set, The Expendables, MC Lars with Weerd Science, A Day to Remember, Paramore, Asking Alexandria and The Devil Wears Prada.

We also took home a lot of free and inexpensive Cd's, posters, stickers and some shirts. Caelyn was hitting every merchandise tent she could find and many them were giving her free stuff. She loves it when people give her things.

Caelyn's top three must see bands were Paramore, MC Lars and The Devil Wears Prada. Fortunately, there were no time conflicts so we got see all three of them. However, our experience with MC Lars was the best. Not only did Caelyn get to meet him on a couple of occasions during the day, he spent time talking with her and taking pictures. He even signed her hat writing on it that she was a rock star and drawing a picture. It now has become one of her prized possessions.

With MC Lars

Up Front for his show. She did get acknowledged from the Stage

We arrived that morning as the gates were opening at 11 am. As they day was ending around 9 pm, I still had one amped up kid.  She eventually fell asleep on the drive back to our friend's house where we were staying. Her mother and brother were awake when we arrived and as Caelyn started to recount the days events, she just got more excited.  Eventually, she went to bed but it took a long time.  When she finally did pass out, she slept the sleep of the exhausted and happy.  We both did.