Locals booked for Warped Tour

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Courtesy Photo Press photos of Goodbye Utah

Courtesy Photo Press photos of Goodbye Utah

Joseph Pratt

[email protected]

Teenagers across the county rush home to watch Warped Tour, go online to check out band setlists, and plan trips years in advance to catch the concerts, which stands as one of the largest and most engaging concert tours for rock of all sub-genres.

A band from Chesapeake, known as Goodbye Utah, will be joining in the rock event when it hits Cincinnati this summer. The group has two major ties to the area and a history of performing at local events.

Lead singer Nicholous Thomas, who is from Wheelersburg, said that he can remember going to Warped Tour events since he was 13 and watching every band play.

“I remember going to these concerts when I was 13 and watching all the bands hit the stage and always wanting to be up there with them,” Thomas said. “Now we are going to be one of the bands up on stage and it just feels so crazy, but a good crazy.”

Also in the band is South Webster native Abraham Bentley, who plays bass.

Like Warped Tour, the band itself is composed of different flavors of talent. Thomas said that the band members all love rock, but range from preferences of modern core, 90’s grunge, and 80’s bands.

“We are all pretty dedicated to the craft,” Thomas said. “We all agree that we want to be involved in music; music is is our place, and we don’t do too much outside of music. We feel like our place in the world is to make music that reflects the people around us.”

Goodbye Utah is composed of young adults who formed the band when they were still in high school.

“Members of the band came up with the name Goodbye Utah because we were 16 at the time and about to enter the real world and become adults,” Thomas explained. “Members joked that you never really hear of anything happening in Utah and nothing ever bad comes of it. We see Goodbye Utah as another meaning to goodbye to the innocence of childhood, because we have grown out of it and have entered the adult world, where things can go wrong.”

The opportunity to perform during Warped Tour was awarded to Goodbye Utah after they won the online Ernie Ball Battle of the Bands.

Bands from all over competed online to win the spot in Warped Tour by showing support through social media and having success stories that back up the bands.

“They look at all the likes, shares, and comments that bands get, but they also calculate real-life factors into the mix to come up with a buzz rating,” Thomas explained. “Buzz ratings go as high as 100 percent and we were sitting at 98 percent and won.”

The band not only won the Ernie Ball Battle of the Bands, but they also won the Invasion concert and competition held in Portsmouth last year. They have also toured throughout the midwest.

The band dropped its first record last year and are currently recording a new EP with Saud Hamed of Columbus.

“We are absolutely 100 percent stoked,” Thomas said. “We all agree it is our highlight to date. We want to thank all of our fans who helped us reach this feat and we hope to make even more people fans of our music, because we are here to rock and that isn’t going to change.”

Goodbye Utah will be playing at Cincinnati’s Warped Tour concert on July 16. The time hasn’t been decided, but will be between 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. More information on the band can be found on their Facebook page, with links to their music. More information on Warped Tour, such as location of events and prices, can be found on their website, www.vanswarpedtour.com

Reach Joseph Pratt at 740-353-3101, ext. 1932, or by Twitter @JosephPratt03.

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