Description

Photographer: Lisa Johnson.
Your audio spirit guide to one of the summer’s biggest touring festivals, the Vans Warped Tour 2013 Compilation offers fans a bird’s-eye view of the show’s sprawling and eclectic lineup. A collection of some of the best and brightest bands working just above the underground, the two-disc set serves up a mix of punk, metal, emo, pop, hip-hop, and post-hardcore, highlighting just how far the festival has evolved since its inception. While the current lineup might not have a lot to offer fans of the Warped Tour’s early years, bands like the Wonder Years, Defeater, and the Swellers feel like they would have fit right in with some of the classic lineups with their driving, earnest sound and raw emotion, and easily show themselves to be some of the set’s strongest players. This compilation, however, isn’t here for old punks to shake their fists at the dance-pop leanings of bands like Goldhouse or Itch, but for the next generation to dive into, and for anyone looking to plan out their trip to the 2013 festival, or simply relive it down the road, it’s hard to beat this value-priced set. ~ Gregory Heaney