Home Town: The City of Newps

Genre: Alternative with tings of Hardcore and Butt metal? I don’t know anymore.

Influences: A wide variety: Pearl Jam to NIN, In Flames to Third Eye Blind, Snapcase to Jimmy Eat World, Incubus to Jazz June.

Dream Show: A dream show for us would be one of each of our favorite bands. So I will have to say: Led Zeppelin (with Bonham), Incubus, Paul Gilbert (with Mr. Big or Racer X), IN Flames and probably Pearl Jam. And I’ll add another band Sigur Ros since I, Chris, I made this list :)

Scenes from Boston, VA and NC. Photos and words by Erin Caruso

Boston, MA
What a big day it was in Boston! I was so excited to be back home and see the friends that I’ve missed since I’ve been out on the road. I was hoping for a little sunshine, but we wound up with a day full of rain. Fortunately, music fans in Boston will stop at nothing to see the bands they love. I decided to spend my day watching Boston bands. Therefore I Am drew a huge crowd, who all seemed to know every word and weren’t afraid to scream them back at the band. It was so exciting to watch! I was also thrilled, and a little sad to watch Vanna play their last show with frontman, Chris Preece. The amphitheatre was jam packed for their set, so much so that the security guards literally had to use their legs to hold up the barricades. It was a little scary and exciting all at the same time.

I also made sure to catch Big D and the Kids Table play. It was the last day for two of their backup singers and the first day for the two new ones, so I couldn’t miss it.

Virginia Beach, VA
I was so excited about the Virginia Beach show because I got to hang out with my friend Adam. He plays in a band called Story of the Year and just so happened to be staying in a town nearby working on a new record.

Earlier in the day I watched I Set My Friends On Fire. I can’t believe so much noise comes out of just three dudes. I have no idea what the singer/screamer was saying, but the kids in the crowd seemed to know. I also watched Senses Fail play to a packed crowd.

Charlotte, NC
It was pretty busy in Charlotte. The highlight of the day for me was happening backstage. Katie from Keep A Breast was casting the torsos of a few lucky ladies on the Warped Tour, including Sierra from Versa Emerge, Tiffany the Pit Reporter and tattoo artist, Nicole. I even got to participate a little bit by finishing a few edges on the casts. — Erin Caruso

Photo gallery from the Great Lakes states and beyond. Photos: Beau Roulette

It's hot and muggy, it's raining and 25,000 people are here in Chicago to watch their favorite bands play on the Hurley Stage. The Warped Tour keeps marching on this summer, like a high-speed locomotive that never loses steam. For this update, Hurley's Greg Teal and Beau Roulette hopped on board for a weekend whirlwind through Detroit, the Windy City and Minneapolis. This is what they saw.

Photo gallery from the Big East

Camden, NJ
Camden, NJ was a bit of a hectic day. I did a lot of running around in an effort to coordinate another band-on-band video interview. I was worried it was going to be a bust, but I managed to snag Brian and Alex from Therefore I Am and Dave and Omar from Hit The Lights. It was an interesting interview for sure! I’m going to work on some editing and see what I can come up with for all of you. Silly boys.

We had a surprise rainstorm toward the end of the day, which resulted in the last mainstage band playing on the Hurley.com stage. That band was 3OH!3, who spent their first Warped Tour on that very same stage just last year. Man, they’ve really come a long way! A bunch of tour people packed on the stage to hang out and watch the show, and the audience was huge and super enthusiastic. Not a bad way to end the day.

Long Island, NY
Vanna joined the tour today for the first of three shows. I was excited to see them, as I’m friends with a few of the guys, and they’re all friends with the Therefore I Am kids. Needless to say, it was fun to have a few people to zip around and watch bands with. Also in attendance were a few of the world-famous Teletubbies. Did you know that Teletubbies can throw down in a mosh pit?

Oceanport, NJ
Today was a rather nice day. We were at a new venue that Warped hasn’t been to in years past, so I wasn’t sure what to expect in terms of layout and where the Hurley Zone would be and all of the stages, but it was perfectly manageable and the weather was actually quite pleasant. It was also a day full of birthdays. Baptiste, the lovely French boy who works for Keep A Breast turned 21 today. I also discovered that the twins in Monty Are I had a birthday today.

I spent a good part of the day bopping around checking out bands. I made it a point to check out a band I’d never seen before, and decided that band would be the Architects. There’s been a buzz about them, so I thought I should see it with my own eyes and I must say, I really enjoyed the set. Straight up dirty rock and roll. I definitely recommend checking them out.— Erin Caruso

For a live stream of select shows, free downloads and more stories, go to www.hurley.com/warpedtour.