On Sunday, I attended the British edition of Vans Warped Tour. There were not many bands I wanted to see - the emo kid in me just wanted to have a sing along to Moose Blood, and the metalcore lover I am was looking forward to celebrating her tenth In Hearts Wake gig.

(Off Rock Sound's website)

It was hardly an event. There are always unhappy people about festival line ups, but in UK Warped Tour's case, there were more unsatisfied gig-goers than satisfied ones. It was obvious from day one that it wouldn't sell a great amount of tickets. In my opinion, it had something to do with the demographic of the bands in relation to the fact that the event was held on a Sunday (read : very young people and a festival the day before they have to go back to school) on top of a fairly disappointing line up. And I was not mistaken : it was so much easier to navigate around Alexandra Palace last Sunday than it had been during the two previous editions of Warped Tour. Not once was I scared of missing out on a band due to venue capacity. The biggest line of the day was the one to the upstairs toilets.

Days before Warped Tour, the British press (namely Kerrang! and Rock Sound, its leading forces when it comes to alternative genres) started publishing articles about why the general public should attend and bands to watch once we were there. Nothing shocking here - we get the same articles before every festival in the world. Download, Slam Dunk, Reading & Leeds, you name it, the post exists.


My problem with those posts was their content. On Rock Sound's website, you can find one entitled "Here's why you should go to Warped Tour UK this weekend".
Reason number four is "Because Attila. Just Attila."
Reason number six is "Because Memphis May Fire are waving the flag for metalcore. Expect bouncing. Lots of bouncing."


Attila are widely known for their questionable lyrical content and Memphis May Fire's frontman, Matty Mullins, is notorious for slut-shaming and sexualising teenagers whilst using religion to justify himself.


I have never listened to Attila. Before I knew who they were, I could have, and then I came across this enlightening article published on Vice a while ago, and it compiles all the reasons why I would never listen to Attila. Why would I want to listen to a band whose lyrics are sexist ("You have a bitch with big tits so here's a dick you can suck. Just fuckin' pull 'em out. Tits tits tits tits tits" - I legtimately feel embarrassed for the band having to type those words) or homophobic ("So who's the faggot now?")? Each to their own taste, but mine doesn't lie with offensive people who do not even realise how offensive they are.


I had written a tumblr post about how dangerous I thought Matty Mullins' views were a couple of years ago, following an interview he had done for Alternative Press. The only thing this post had earned me was a bunch of angry Memphis May Fire fans calling me "uneducated", and then, very recently, he has repeated what he has said in this interview as an apology for that one time when, on Warped Tour 2013, he called out girls who dress "slutty" and then tweeted "Today on stage I reminded girls that they don't need to dress slutty to get attention from REAL men".
In 2015, he claimed he had chosen the wrong words before saying in a Christian podcast : "You can dress however you want and I'm not going to treat you any differently. Jesus loves you anyway. But I guess I come at it from a different perspective because I've been married for nine years now, and I look at my wife and how special she is to me and our intimate relationship and how specific that is to us, so when you think of people offering that part of themselves up to the world before they have a chance to offer it up to one person for the rest of your life, I have a heart for that ; to tell people that they don't need to do that ; that it can be different ; that it can be beautiful ; it can be special and individual to them."
Once again, each to their own taste, but mine doesn't lie with someone who sexualises teenagers and fails at realising that the way you dress and whatever it is that you want to do with your body has no influence whatsoever on the way you see yourself and value your sexuality.


On top of repeatedly promoting those two bands, during the weekend, Rock Sound has published a piece called "9 photos of Metro Station shaking it at Warped UK". If there is anything as offensive as what goes on with Attila and Matty Mullins with this lot, I am not aware of it, but they did something on Sunday that did bother me a lot - they asked people to buy merch if they wanted to meet them. Imagine already paying £50 for a festival ticket and wanting to meet your favourite band. But no! You have no shot at such a thing if you do not spend more money on them. Anyone who knows me knows how against paid meet and greets I am, but Rou Reynolds from Enter Shikari expresses my views better than I know how to myself. Just know that I am a hundred percent against paid meet and greets - we are all human beings, why should we pay to be in the presence of one another?


In the meantime, there are a lot of bands that did not get any attention from the music press this Sunday.
I get why Black Veil Brides and Asking Alexandria were mentioned quite a lot. None of them really are my cup of tea - I know a very limited amount of songs but have no problem with either whatsoever. I have seen Asking Alexandria twice (three times including Warped UK) and I don't think they are as bad as people make them out to be. Also, the attention drawn to them was, in my opinion, justified, because they are touring the UK for the first time after changing singers, a move that, we all know, is crucial in a band's life.

What about Roam, who put out a brilliant new single recently and are one of the finest pop punk bands the UK has to offer? As the alternative community gets excited about Sum 41's come back, why is the press giving so little attention to a band that could well become the British answer to the Canadian outfit? Why not celebrate such a hard-working and down to Earth group of twenty one year olds?


What about Moose Blood, whose debut album I'll Keep You In Mind From Time To Time has opened them the doors of Warped Tour last summer and granted them general praise from, pretty much, everyone? On Sunday, they were the band who drew one of the most impressive crowds when there was, virtually, no one roaming around Alexandra Palace. Why isn't that being celebrated?


What about In Hearts Wake, who are also waving the flag for metalcore whilst dealing with important and interesting subjects we probably should educate today's youth about? On stage, vocalist Jake Taylor praises tolerance and reminds us of the importance of equally sharing the Earth we inhabit. Why isn't that being celebrated?


What about Chunk! No, Captain Chunk!? Just like Moose Blood, they have drawn an impressive crowd at Warped Tour UK and go from strength to strength, from successful tour to successful tour? Why isn't that being celebrated?


This is just a very small selection of bands I have watched myself. I don't doubt there are other bands that have drawn good crowds and produced fantastic live performances during a festival that was, sadly, shabby at best. My question is, why aren't these bands the ones being celebrated by the music press? Why are the ones who get the headlines the ones who are sexist, homophobic or make their fans pay to meet them?


I don't doubt money must be involved in the process, somewhere, but shouldn't music press represent a moral compass, considering the audience they cater to? Most of the people who read magazines such as Kerrang! and Rock Sound are obviously, very young, and still in the process of being educated about the world around them. Whilst they get to keep in touch with their favourite bands, cover their bedroom walls with posters and discover the recording process or touring secrets of the artists they like, wouldn't it be great if they were reminded that homophobia and sexism should not have a place in today's music industry?


When you consider that, no later than today, every single music magazine has reported the news of Whirr being kicked out of their record label for transphobic tweets against punk outfit G.L.O.S.S., it seems quite impossible to understand that the same magazines give so much attention and press coverage to bands and people whose artistic content and general behaviour are just as awful. Why not treat everyone the same way? Being transphobic and being homophobic is equally as bad, guys. One isn't worse than the other.


Whilst these magazines do quite well at reporting info and catering to what teenagers want (posters and the likes), I think they should, also, offer some sort of moral compass. I'm not saying call everyone a name. I'm saying, dear magazines, please think twice about what and who you put between your pages and on your websites. If a band has misogynistic or homophobic lyrics, don't include them in your publication and do not give them any attention.


The year is 2015. It's time we stop celebrating people who offend vulnerable communities on a regular basis, and it's time we celebrate the ones who are humble, hard-working and praise good values. It's about time.