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In this music memorabilia post, Greg tells more about Warped Tour in his own words.

So this is a set list of the bands playing on each stage through the day. This is still in the flip phone era, at least for me, so I had for previous concerts printed out set lists to have for the day. (I know I got one signed by Reggie and the Full Effect and Submersed from the Lunatic Luau.)

This is for Warped Tour 2006. I remember going up to a building/vendor spot for the venue, I'm guessing to ask the people a question (due to only getting bits and pieces of my memory). I am pretty sure was it was older ladies, and whether I asked a question or just happened to be there, I saw the list and yoink, my map for the day.

4 of the stages I had seen bands from (their other shows/not Warped Tour related). I'd assume I've seen bands from most every stage from previous Warped Tours.

Race the Sun I saw headlined the Charlotte County Da Basement show his daughter put on. Found that out when the singer of the opening act (my best friend from high school) and I are on the way to the show. He didn't know where, and we lost the follow car, so we get pulled over in his dad's huge diesel truck with all the gear, apparently going 45 in a 25 since the speed shifted twice in small distance.

So, typical cop stuff, and when my friend got to the “going to a show at _____” part, he goes “_____ is _____’s daughter”. Ended up with a warning since the speeds shifted down from 45, and the cop gave us a police escort (no lights of course) to the house. Pretty cool to see the band there, then, at Warped Tour! Same with another Warped Tour with Brand New Disaster. Great band that I met with my friend’s band (TCS 20) at a basement show, then found at Warped Tour.

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“Are you sane and/or afraid? Do you wish there was a way to express your reasonableness and/or dread in a large public gathering of likeminded citizens? Well now there is and/or is.”

That’s from the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear, an event held in Washington, DC, on the day before Halloween in 2010. You can guess it—Greg was there, and this is another post inspired by an item from his box of memorabilia.*

The event featured Jon Stewart (quote: “Take it down a notch for America.”) and Stephen Colbert (quote: “Now is the time for all good men to freak out for freedom!”). Greg wasn’t a regular watcher of either but the rally seemed interesting enough to check out.

The turnout was huge (about 215,000 people according to CBS). The National Mall was packed. You can see monuments, galleries, the Capitol, and the White House in some of the pictures.

Some people had signs or costumes, which were fun to spot.

There were a bunch of guests, musical and otherwise. Greg couldn’t remember specifically who, but he notes there was a lot of variety. Even R2D2! At one point he thought to himself, “It would be funny if the next person that came out was Ozzy Osbourne.” Bizarrely enough, Ozzy himself showed up immediately after!

Colbert was in character and had a whole thing going on where he was hiding in (and emerged from) a bunker under the stage. While Stewart gave out Medals of Reasonableness, Colbert gave out Medals of Fear.

One segment Greg recalled involved the Mythbusters doing an experiment with the crowd’s participation! It was totally unexpected and awesome to be able to participate in a real myth-busting.

*The souvenir towel is his. The other photos are from some great Flickr albums from people who were there, check them out for tons more funny signs, guest speakers/acts, and costumes!

Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear (Album, 239 items)

Other photo credits: x x x x x

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Continuing Greg’s memorabilia stories with more music, today I chose four colorful flyers from consecutive years of an event from the then-called 102.1 The X in Richmond. The first is smaller than the others and has more bands squeezed into a somewhat larger timeframe. The event is named for the Chili Cook-Off happening not far from the stage area, and sure enough a couple dozen contestants are listed on each flyer, some with amusing team names.

The first flyer (yellow-orange) is for the 22nd Annual in 2005, but Greg was at at least one earlier one, maybe 2003 or ‘04. He saw Hoobastank, who isn’t on any of these flyers.

23rd Annual (blue flyer, 2006) includes Shinedown. The lead singer stage dove at this show, and due to where Greg was in the crowd he ended up face-to-face with the guy, catching his chest.

24th Annual (pink flyer, 2007) was the first one Greg could legally drink at. He found a free beer ticket on the ground. Then another and another… seven in all. Greg remembers seeing Flyleaf. Their lead singer is so petite, Greg thought she might be someone’s kid as the band took the stage. But despite her smaller frame she can make some powerful sounds!

The 25th Annual (green flyer, 2008) brings a few memories to Greg’s mind. He had a broken wrist that year, but was still spending some time moshing. That was fun but understandably he ended up leaving early. He headed to the car which was parked behind the stage (a chain-link fence bordered the stage/event area). Greg spotted Theory of a Deadman (who he didn’t get to see play) and they signed his cast through the fence!

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Baby deer watching you for 30 seconds

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Two baby deer watching you for 90 seconds

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Baby deer crosses your path

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Zoom & enhance

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We are Greg and Annie. You may have seen us around trying to spread some good vibes into the world. It’s a hard life but we try to add value in everything we do. To anyone who gives us a follow, we’d like to offer some cool and unique posts. Greg wants to start by sharing about his collection of concert and event memorabilia—a different item every post, chosen by me (Annie). I’m really excited because I love watching people talk about things that they have loved.

Today, I chose a little spiral-bound booklet for the first object. It’s covered in doodles and cutouts in the kind of collage I would have made back in 2006. It’s an unofficial guide to Vans Warped Tour ‘06, sponsored by Circuit City (with a coupon for CDs in the back!)

Greg pored over the book front, back, and at random spots inside, trying to conjure his specific memory of this Warped Tour. (The helpful page labeled “Write it down, punk! (Or you might forget it!)” is peacefully blank.)

He’s been to so many music events in the past, and his memory isn’t always that great for recalling things that long past. But I see his eyes and face get more animated as the names and images in the book start adding up.

It was August 9, at Virginia Beach, VA. This was the last time in 4 years Greg would attend Warped Tour, and unlike usual, he was collecting some freebie souvenirs (like this booklet). (In fact, he ended up with two goodie bags of free schlock by accident.)

One of the bands on the cover, Aiden, has autographed their featured page inside. They answered the last interview question, “The best thing about the internet is:”, with “MySpace, duh!”

Another band’s page has autographs, too: The Sleeping. Suddenly Greg is connected to the past as a specific memory comes through. “We got to go back and get high and hang out,” he says. “Well, no, back where the tour buses were…” He says the band hadn’t found any weed locally but Greg’s friend was able to supply.

(Later in completely unrelated circumstances, Greg ran into someone who knew The Sleeping or someone in it. Greg showed them a picture circa this era, and they remarked on the striking lack of tattoos on the lead singer back then.)

The last page, “autographs”, has a mysterious note only. Greg thinks it may be from when he got something else signed, but he might not have that thing anymore, as he likes to give things away. His intonation says that it isn’t the object that’s important but the experience of having lived things. The memory might be partial but the excitement and enjoyment are still tucked away in there. I can’t wait to see more of this in the next coming days.

More personally, Greg pulls a photo from an album to include in this post. It’s from 2004’s Warped Tour. “Mud Wrestling_0012”. Weirdly, the mud wrestling doesn’t pull my attention as much as the crowd walking past, because seeing them transports me to 2006 as surely as seeing old-model cars in photos from decades gone by.

Greg adds this note: “Do not mud wrestle at any event unless it is the end of the event. You will regret it. We had to wash off in the runoff from the water fountains. Safe, but not sanitary. We both lost: there were no winners that day.” He adds that a friend saw this mud wrestling match on Fuse!

Feel free to share your memories and photos from Warped Tour 2006 too! We’d love to compare memories and stories from all perspectives.

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