After being brutally sunburnt on Friday, I begrudgingly hopped out of bed for day two of Vans Warped Tour in Long Beach. Day one had me more immersed in Warped Tour culture than day two, by design. I meandered around the grounds as much as my little legs could take me. I watched skateboarding tricks (including ones by Tony Hawk?!?!) and downed several Ghost Energy drinks. A stagehand friend kept running me the goods from backstage, and by “the goods,” I mean setlists and picks. Existing in this role, as both documentarian and fangirl, brings unique perks. This was especially true for day two, as anyone who knows me knows that I will go to great lengths to get the best view possible for Cobra Starship. I could have tried front of house or sidestage, but I wanted to do this the good old-fashioned way—at the barricade.

Insane? Probably.
Worth it? DEFINITELY.

I did have a few stops to make before hunkering down, though. I started my day catching All Hype’s set at the mainstage. I had never heard of them before, so it was exceptionally cool discovering new music on both days of Warped Tour. Fans of the original scene would love All Hype. Their music and aesthetic choices blend nicely. They earned their place on the Warped Tour lineup. I love the idea of allowing emerging bands to shine on huge stages. That’s how the scene thrived 20 years ago; though technology makes it a bit different, we can still have that phenomenon today. This was proven throughout my time at Warped Tour. I was amazed at all the cool things my peers were doing, whether I learned more about them in interviews backstage or from observing on-stage performances.

That said, my afternoon goals were to catch my friends Honey Revenge. I’ve been meandering about their shows for the past 3 years, after meeting Donny at a music video shoot in Los Angeles. The first time I saw them was at the original location of The Shed, performing to about 35 people, myself included. Now, they packed the mainstage of Vans Warped Tour in an early afternoon slot, like it was easy to do so. I had met a girl next to me who came from Canada to see Honey Revenge at Warped Tour. Despite some early technical difficulties during their set, Devin Papadol and Donny Lloyd handled them like pros. Fans who traveled from miles further than I did left incredibly impressed…even after being asked if they were impressed…during the song “Are You Impressed?”

Fever 333 was on after Honey Revenge. Of course, I was already familiar with the legacy group; their impact on the scene should be studied at this point. However, what surprised me was that the ethos of the group hasn’t wavered. If anything, they have doubled down on their stance. The production team was very strict during the two-day festival, famously shutting down Boys Like Girls during “The Great Escape” due to time crunches. Still, Fever 333 vocalist Jason Aalon Butler took every opportunity to talk about real shit while they transitioned between each song. He discussed what’s happening in Palestine, aggressive misogyny towards women, and the discrimination against the Latinx community in America right now. He earned so much of my respect that day due to his moral standing alone. It’s refreshing to see when a band walks the walk they talk.

I caught Bowling For Soup in passing, and was secretly hoping I’d have time for their set. I heard their music for the first time on Radio Disney, before they signed on to do the Phineas and Ferb theme. I can remember it like it was yesterday, when “1985” played in my mom’s car on our way to my musical theatre rehearsal. Truthfully, I think Disney Channel was responsible for indoctrinating my entire generation into the pop-punk game. I really just wanted to hear the theme song, but was pleased to have gotten Rick Rolled by the band while I waited, and do a call-and-response “Perry the Platypus” moment. Moreover, I was surprised that I knew every single song that Bowling For Soup played. The only thing I was left to wonder was: are we bowling for soup…or???

Thankfully, I did carve out some time to catch our Graveboy Records friends Noelle Sucks and Grave Secrets at the Pike Stage. Grave Secrets pulled a huge crowd and a giant mosh pit. It was awesome to see fans so engaged with them, but admittedly, there was so much dust by the tiny stages. Every time the mosh pit kicked off, I’d know because I inhaled their vibes in the form of beachy sand. Perhaps Anakin Skywalker was right. Gripes aside, it was refreshing to see so many people take time out of their festival day to make their way to these stages. I’m not sure I would have even known they were there if I didn’t have friends on the lineup. Though, it was all worth it to hear Noelle Sucks play “Sick Little Star,” which has been stuck in my head since I reviewed it for GSM.

There were plenty of legacy groups on the lineup for Sunday. I caught Anberlin, Saosin, and Atmosphere—all completely different vibes, mind you. That’s the beauty of Warped Tour. Purists will also act as history revisionists, insisting that a certain genre dominated the event. The eclectic hodgepodge is what made it magical. While I wasn’t the biggest fan of Atmosphere, I respected his core messaging. His music wasn’t for me, but he taught me a lot through his wise interludes. Of course, Aneberlin and Saosin are always a treat, but I had just seen the same Saosin set in December, so Aneberlin stood out the most of the three. I also caught Of Mice & Men, Asking Alexandria, and Chiodos. Chiodos’ current set is not as bad as people say it is online. I enjoyed it. Asking Alexandria felt repetitive and not what you’d expect from them. Of Mice & Men were the most fun of the three.

However, my most surprising favorite of the day was Yung Gravy. I was familiar with his work thanks to his TikTok fame. What surprised me was the realization that the persona was not a caricature. Some of it probably is, as is true with most performance artists. With Yung Gravy, it seems to be mostly molded from his lived personality traits, making him endearing to watch live. The women swooning beside me were very valid. I had been a skeptic previously, but thoroughly enjoyed his set from start to end, and was sad to see it finished. He passed out roses to women in the crowd when his set closed out. While I pouted a little about not getting one, the gesture alone was cool to witness. I joked with nearby audience members about coating theirs in resin—like the Olivia Rodrigo Crumbl cookie…

Finally!

The moment I had been waiting for!

This was my fifth ( F I V E ) Cobra Starship set. I was wearing their merch that day. I am extremely annoying about loving this band. In the same breath, I will also tell them to their faces when something doesn’t hit the way they intended it to. That’s real love, after all. I was nervous this would be a 3Oh!3 situation, where their live set would be the same as the festival rounds they just made in 2024. Thankfully, I was sorely mistaken. From the jump, Cobra Starship presented an entirely different show. Gabe Saporta acted as a cult leader, and I knew right then the opening song would be “The Church Of Hot Addiction.” That’s one of those fan-favorite deep cuts that you never expect to actually make the set. They started off on an incredibly high note and kept that going all the way through, finding time to include a fan as the fill-in for Travie McCoy in “Snakes On A Plane.”

What was most impressive, though, was Gabe Saporta’s revelation that he had been grieving throughout the performance. You never would have guessed. He kept his energy high, yet earnest. It would have been more obvious if he were sulking or otherwise unfocused, but he wasn’t. I would argue that this was my favorite Cobra Starship performance to date thanks to the person Saporta was on that stage. The version of him that Warped Tour audiences saw is the closest to “the real thing” most in the crowd would ever get. You weren’t just seeing a frontman; you were seeing a person, real, messy, and emotional. Yet, somehow, composed, charismatic, and inspirational—just perhaps not in the way I imagined him to be when I was 12 watching Cobra Cams or 19 bothering him on Twitter to look at my band.

Instead, the real deal is…real.

Sometimes, those snapshots of people remain unchanged in your brain even as they’re over a decade older than when you met.

Others simply evolve as they add depth.

I am happy to report having experienced the latter.

Long live Warped Tour.

Video provided by Vans Warped Tour