Warped Tour - does it help the small bands?

[BigD]

Ok, I was at the Cincinnati Warped Tour a while back. Here was the scenario that presented itself. At 1:30 Thrice was playing on one main stage. At 2:00 Simple Plan was playing on the other main stage. And there was 2 bands scheduled at the Volcom stage and the Maurice stage. I cant remember who. Anyways, Letter Kills was playing at the Kevin stage at 1:45. So my friend and I caught the first 5 songs of Thrice's set and went over to the Kevin stage(if you can call it a stage) to see Letter Kills. There was like 25 of us at most, watching Letter Kills' set under this small ass tent with shitty audio equipment output. My question is this though. Is it really worth it for small bands like Letter Kills to do the Warped thing, where they arent going to be able to draw many fans away from Thrice and Simple Plan's sets, or would it have been better for them to hit the road and opened for Brand New or the Movielife or someone else who played clubs over these past few months. At these clubs their would have been more people paying attention to their set than at Warped. What do you think?

[MaybeOneDay]

of course it is good for smaller bands to play it, regardless of the size of crowd a band gets its still a great experience to play the warped tour.

[wadejunkie]

its better for bands to open up on smaller tours. youre forced to listen to them unless you show up late. most of the time though, people just stand and watch you unless youre just really really awesome

[SnowintheSummer]

Originally posted by wadejunkie
its better for bands to open up on smaller tours. youre forced to listen to them unless you show up late. most of the time though, people just stand and watch you unless youre just really really awesome

i think so too

[Clarett'sGreyGoose]

i think the small stages at Warped only draw people who are genuinely interested in the band. Like this year, I don't care who's on the main stage, unless its MFATGG, Thrice or Rancid, i'm going to see a couple bands when they're on the smaller stages.

[HIPVTENTSL]

Playswithfire, i love the avatar, dogma is the best movie ever

[ms y o o n]

i think its both good and bad
good for the experiance! i mean you get to play warped... so many bands would love to do that.
and but then they dont get as much people watching, so they dont get known as well. there are good and bad things about it.

[richter915]

ya warped definitely helps smaller bands. They get in touch with bigger bands, after their sets they spread news about their own band. A lot of street team members for small bands help out too. it's good.

[Absolute Mest]

Originally posted by richter915
ya warped definitely helps smaller bands. They get in touch with bigger bands, after their sets they spread news about their own band. A lot of street team members for small bands help out too. it's good.

i sort of agree with that in that the smaller bands get to know the bigger bands and gain 'connections', which may lead them to tour with the bigger bands. but when you're touring on your own, people will stand there and listen and will most likely not leave during your performance. so it's both good and bad. I'd go with warped though. experience is always better to me.

[Frodo]

i think opening for bands would be better. like you said some local band isnt going to tear people away from the big ones they go to warped to see. opening bands usually get the whole crowd that comes to see the headlining band.

[proeuthanasia]

Originally posted by coheed&cambria
i think opening for bands would be better. like you said some local band isnt going to tear people away from the big ones they go to warped to see. opening bands usually get the whole crowd that comes to see the headlining band.

i agree. a local band here called epd opened for 2bucks short (which aren't all that great to inform you all) and they also won some contest to play at warped. at the 2bucks show the friend i brought along (she's into r&b, hip hop, pop...and i'm always ready and willing to convert) thought the lead vocalist for epd was, quote unquote, "really hot". after laughing my ass off, i introduced her to the guy. they hit it off, exchanged numbers, and a month or so later they're getting pretty serious. anyway..back to my point..the guy, crosby, told my friend that they definitely felt more comfortable and got more attention playing at the 2bucks show at the small WOW hall than they did playing in front of thousands at wt. so there's a firsthand example for you.