Two weeks ago I made my four hour drive from my home to Cleveland, Ohio. I had already covered the Toronto date a week before but I decided it would be nice to take a short road trip down to Cleveland for another day of Warped Tour.
I met up with my friend Emma who is from Cleveland. I've known her for the past five or so years but we met each other for the first time that day. It was so surreal getting to meet someone you've known for such a long time. We watched a few bands together before splitting off. She went to go watch Real Friends and I went to go see Stray From The Path. The stage set up was a little odd for the Cleveland date. The Monster stage was all the way on the other side of the venue. So I showed up part way into their set and watched from side stage. Stray From The Path always seems to be able to get their audience energized. They are a band that I always enjoy watching live.
I walked back across the venue to the Electric Soul Stage and I made it in time to see We The Kings. Charles Trippy who is the bassist of We The Kings is one of my biggest inspirations. No matter what life throws at him he always stays positive. Before joining the band he was a YouTuber who uploaded daily videos for the past five or so years, and still continues to do so.
After checking out We The Kings I headed over to see the guys in Every Time I Die on the Monster Stage. They are one of my favourite bands to see live and to take photos for. The amount of energy they pack into their set is absolutely insane. Half way through their set I noticed my friend Joel Pilotte taking photos on the other side of the stage. I headed around and surprised him before heading over to the FOH to watch the rest of show. It seems as if it's a regular occurrence for Andy Williams of ETID to play in the middle of the pit on the last song of their set, which was 'No Son of Mine'.
Joel was telling me about a band called Plague Vendor after finishing up with ETID. He had taken photos for them for the past few weeks and said they were a band I needed to check out. He was right. They were nothing like any other band on Warped Tour this year. I wasn't ready for it. They completely blew me away.
I met up with Emma again finding out that she had to leave early. We spent our time watching a few bands and catching up before she departed. Just before the final group of bands were about to go on I walked her out of the venue. I wish I could have spent more time with her that day but I enjoyed the time we had together. We said our goodbyes and I made my way to the amphitheatre to watch Volumes play the last show of the day.
I finished off my roll of photos while I was watching Volumes. Once I reached my 24th frame I wound back the film and opened up my camera to find it was actually a roll of Kodak 400 Colour film. I thought I had put a roll of Ilford HP5 in my film camera months ago. I didn't have any use for it up until this day in Cleveland. At first I was quite upset because I was ready to develop my favourite kind of film but this turned into a pleasant surprise because I love how these photos turned out. I had an amazing time that day in Cleveland and I can say that it is one I will never forget.