By Gabriella Moses
I CAME HOME Tuesday night smelling like secondhand smoke and sweaty cologne, and with a migraine - the lingering reminders of Vans Warped Tour '08. Left with only a Facebook album of memories, I let the grime sit on me for a bit before I washed off the day's remnants. For all those Warped musicians and vendors, though, it all begins again the next day.
After five years of attending Warped, I've often wondered what it would be like to spend a summer on the road with rock 'n' roll as your destination. Yes, it would be expensive given the exorbitant cost of gas, but it would also be exhilarating. Sure, the whole living-in-a-stuffy-van-with-four-other-people-and-going-days-without-a-shower thing is hard to swallow for a lot of people, but it'd be a dream come true for me.
Tuesday I found a possible niche in the Warped Tour caboodle. The event is the perfect opportunity to push your views on the impressionable youth "trapped" in their oppressive suburban lifestyles. From the moment you walk into the Verizon Wireless Virginia Beach Ampthitheater, voter-registration forms are shoved in your face, and PETA stickers are stuck on your clothes.
Then there was Truth. The organization operates out of a bright orange truck blasting jams and promoting an antismoking message with odd games for free T-shirts, bandanas and bags. Ironically, at Warped Tour, you come home smelling musty from secondhand smoke, Truth is a necessary cause.
You may be familiar with their anti-drug commercials, "The Sunny Side of Truth." They are lively, with song, dance and cartoon characters. My sister and I often catch ourselves singing their "It Must Have Been A Typo" song because it's so darn catchy. Of course, the song's message is set against tobacco companies and their lethal marketing.
I've always found their work corny, but clever, and now that I've found out Truth is based in New York City I might just get involved next year. These days I think everyone needs to find a good cause, something to be passionate about, or nothing's going to change. So maybe in a year or two you'll see me at the Truth truck blasting some jams, giving out swag and fighting the good fight.
Gabriella Moses, a 2008 graduate of Bishop Sullivan Catholic High School in Virginia Beach and rising freshman at New York University, gam55555@msn.com
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