Story and Photos By: Chris Martinez(Sacramento Live Performance Columnist)
Warped Tour Week With Chris Martinez - Part 3 - All Time Low
It’s 8PM Friday night. Most of the merch booths are closed and some of the bands have left the grounds. It’s getting dark and the big crowd that hugs the main stage is getting restless. All Time Low’s crew is setting up and checking the microphones, guitars and drums. The lights dim and in that instant, the crowd goes from worn and weary to awake and prepared. All Time Low comes out and rips into “Weightless,” Alex points the microphone to crowd and they begin to shout the lyrics and the set begins.
The rest of their set is non-stop jokes and anecdotes in between songs shared between Alex Gaskarth (Rhythm Guitar/Vocals) and Jack Barakat (Lead Guitar) about how Alex was attacked by a lynx, not a cat, but a lynx. All Time Low’s set is filled with fan favorites from “Six Feet Under The Stars” to “Damned If I Do Ya’, Damned If I Don’t.” It may be late but the crowd doesn’t care.
All Time Low is the last band of the night on Warped Tour’s stop in Sacramento, CA and they really saved the best for last. So much energy and passion is thrown around the stage. Zack Merrick (Bass) is seen jumping across the stage, on the drums, and off the stage the drums rest one, while Jack is climbing his amp cab. Rian Dawson (Drums) is pounding the drums as Alex is dancing and rocking out.
All Time low have the biggest crowd of the evening, and towards the middle of the set, Alex asks the crowd to part way down the middle. He rants on about Chiodos, who played the stage just before they got on, and how he was going to challenge Chiodos’ Wall of Death. There is now a pathway down the middle of the crowd, Alex counts them off with “1, 2, 3, GO!” and the band immediately plays “Lost in Stereo” as the crowd rushes toward each other in their Wall of Death. It was quite the sight.
This is All Time Low’s fourth year playing the Vans Warped Tour and the fans love it; they’ve got the crowd to prove it. All Time Low had an amazing performance for the last band on the bill for the night and went out with a bang. Their last song on the set was their biggest hit to date, “Dear Maria, Count Me In.”Throughout the songs, the entire crowd gave it their all and sang louder than one could imagine. Towards the break of the song, All Time Low decided to do something a little different. Aaron Gillespie of Underoath took over Rian’s position on drums, and All Time Low’s guitar techs took over Alex and Jack’s guitars while Alex sang and Jack scaled his amp and pounded the crash cymbal with a drumstick as Aaron played along.
The crowd was happy and cheering and it was a great way to end their set as well as the night.
Click here to see all of Chris' Warped Tour photos.
