(By Brandy Cordova) The 2012 Vans Warped Tour made its stop here in Denver, Colorado on Saturday, June 17 at Sports Authority Field at Mile High. Temperatures were extremely high. Everywhere, people are sweating, faces were red from the heat, and what little shade there was, people were scrambling for it.

Despite all this, there was quite a crowd. Amongst a sea of people were a slew of vendors, band merchandise tables, information tables, beer and food booths, and other miscellaneous performers and artists.

Backstage in the VIP/Press area was no exception either. Though all was sheltered by the Colfax Avenue overpass, we were still affected by the heat. Our very own Groovey looked like half a lobster by the end of the day of interviews. “The VWT is always a marathon of way good times, awesome tunes and doing (hopefully amusing) video interviews,” said Groovey.  “So it was a 102 degrees, we completed 24 video interviews and my position didn’t change much in 7 hours.  By the end of the interviewing day no matter how much water I drank my lips just stuck to my teeth and the right side of my face needed some BBQ sauce because it was done! Overall another amazing VWT there’s nothing else like it!”

I myself ended up getting a real gnarly farmer’s tan; and I spent a lot of time in the shade running the video camera! When not behind the camera, I snuck out to check what bands I could.

The hit of the tour was Denver’s own Breathe Carolina. As they went on stage, I could see the crowd, literally running, towards the stage. I was not sure who was going on, so after we wrapped up the interview in process, I ventured out to see who was catching the crowd’s attention. It was a nice surprise to see a Denver band grabbing the attention they deserve.

Pics by Matthew Zinke of Matthewknowsphotos.

vanswarpedtour.com