The Ghost Inside to Miss Final Vans Warped Tour, But Salute the Festival’s History
The Ghost Inside's Jonathan Vigil recently posted about the difficulty he has going to shows and knowing that he's not yet able to be up onstage performing. The band was involved in a horrific 2015 bus crash that has left all of the members facing significant physical challenges and recovery time and they have still yet to take the stage together... though not for a lack of desire. With the hope of a return, Warped Tour founder Kevin Lyman announced in 2016 that he was leaving a spot open for the band in 2017. Unfortunately they were unable to take part, and sadly, with Warped entering its final year, the band will miss out on 2018 as well.
In a series of tweets, the band shared their disappointment, but did salute the festival which held such fond memories for them. The posts read as follows:
Update: the final Warped Tour summer lineup was announced today and we won’t be a part of it. Lots of you might be disappointed and we are too but we aren’t quite fit for the stage yet. BUT. The lineup is stacked. So many of our friends, bands we’ve toured with, bands we listen to. @KevinLyman is sending it off in style. We couldn’t thank him enough in a hundred summers for the opportunity to be a part of two warped tours. The ultimate honor of our career so far was having the opportunity to represent @epitaphrecords on the main stage of Warped ‘14. Far beyond the wildest dreams of a little hardcore band from SoCal.
In his recent comments, Vigil, who had yet another surgery last September on his ankle that limited his mobility but rectified some of the pain he was experiencing, discussed his dismay about the state of the band's career.
"It’s hard to know what we were and what we could be," said Vigil. "I admit, I don’t go to shows as often as I should. As often as I want to. As often as I need to. But there’s a reason for it. It stings me. It hurts me. It’s bittersweet being here. I feel cheated. I feel wronged. I feel obsolete. Seeing a band play and knowing we had it. Knowing what we had. I had it. Watching a band play with a feeling of jealousy that I shouldn’t have but just can’t shake. It eats at me. I think to myself, 'I did everything I could. I was that kid in the crowd singing along, aspiring to be up there. I worked hard and I did it. I got there. Like everyone else up there did. So how come they get to run around onstage when I won’t ever be able to run again? I can’t even walk on my own.'"
The Ghost Inside played the 2012 and 2014 editions of Vans Warped Tour during their run. In 2012, they were promoting the Get What You Give album, while 2014 found them supporting Dear Youth.