Photos: Warped Tour Comes To Town On One Of The Hottest Days Of The Year
By Mae Rice in Arts & Entertainment on Jul 25, 2016 2:32PM
On Saturday, Warped Tour—the '90s punk rock powerhouse that has became a distinctly regular house—took over Tinley Park's Hollywood Casino Amphitheater. Featuring big names, or at least known names, like Good Charlotte, Sum 41 and Yellowcard, the fest also happened to take place on one of the most unpleasantly hot days of the year. The heat index was roughly 100 in Chicagoland, the Tribune reported.
The heat made everything a little less punk, a little more sweat-soaked. Chicagoist photographer Tyler LaRiviere, who went to shoot the scene, reported that the big names' sets were by and large static and "meh," bogged down in the humidity. The one standout act, according to LaRiviere, was Mother Feather, led by frontwoman Ann Courtney. Warped Tour is the band's first national tour for their first album, Mother Feather (top singles: "Living, Breathing" and "Mother Feather), and in spite of the heat, they destroyed. You can see them in the gallery above, sporting beyond-statement eye makeup and incorporating plenty of literal neon feathers.
Mostly, though, the focus of the fest was staying hydrated—and LaRiviere reported it wasn't as easy as you'd think it would be at a Live Nation festival. Though the events staff was happy to crack a fire hydrant open or spray the crowd with a hose (pictured above), actual drinking water was $3 to $7, with free water stations few and far between.
Still, the crowd did its best to stay upbeat (and in the shade). LaRiviere even spotted a fake Trump hat that, delightfully, read "Make America Emo Again." Warped Tour is trying to do that, too—though in Chicagoland, at least, the weather wasn't quite on its side. Emo is more about crying in a curated way than it is about sweating uncontrollably.