Florida teens donning mohawks, gauge earrings and irreverent graphic tees bumrushed their local concert venues at the top of the morning hoping to be the first to rock out to their favorite punk, metalcore and ska bands - many of whom profess Christ and deep convictions about social justice - at Vans Warped Tour on July 24-26.

From Orlando's Central Fairgrounds to West Palm Beach's Cruzan Amphitheatre then St. Petersburg's Vinoy Park, the annual rock and extreme sports festival sponsored by skate shoe company - Vans - featured a mobile skatepark, band merchandise tents, pockets of marijuana smokers, non-profit tents and 10 stages with bands ranging the gamut of rock music.

Tour favorites like pop punk bands All Time Low and The Bouncing Souls as well as hardcore band Escape The Fate were met with the slow-groove, reggae rock sounds of Boston band Westbound Train in this ultra-diverse year of this, the 15^th run.

But, what may surprise individuals not so closely attached to the evolution of the Warped Tour is the wealthy representation of Christian bands at the concerts.

Both Christian metalcore bands The Devil Wears Prada and Underoath played in all the Florida cities, including the town adjacent to where Underoath calls home - Tampa.

"We used to get a lot of criticism before, but not so much now since we established ourselves," said Smith. "I don't see it as an oxymoron. Our music's heavy and we're Christians, so we call it metal. I don't have a better way to describe it."

And, many fans have been confused about what Ohio boys AttackAttack! mean when they sing in Bro Ashley's Here:

"Everybody in the band besides me is a Christian," said Andrew. "While we don't claim to be a Christian band, Johnny wrote the lyrics and it's about his life and what he's experienced."

While critics in and outside the church have vocalized their reservations concerning the heavy, guitar riffs and screaming vocals of the genre, Smith claims he and his bandmates hardly see their presence at the Warped Tour as odd.

And, from the hundreds of kids who flooded the mainstage in West Palm Beach and moshed to the death in St. Petersburg, their following more than embraces their spiritually-centered lyrics as long as they are coupled with their grunged-down, authentically metal style.

Bands who have espoused special social causes were also in full force on the tour.

Causes like To Write Love on Her Arms (TWLOHA), which is a non-profit organization aiming to present hope and find help for people struggling with problems such as depression, addiction, self-injury, and suicide, were present.

Based in Central Florida, To Write Love on Her Arms seeks to connect people to treatment centers, websites, books, support groups, and other resources.

Their graphic tees are worn by countless bands on stage to encourage their fans that they're not alone in the struggle.

"We have a lot of friends in the Warped Tour world who wear our shirts on stage like Underoath, Bayside, Sing it Loud…"said Chris Youngblood, road manager of TWLOHA. "Skylit Drive did a whole video for us from their last album. It's truly a great honor to get such great feedback from the artists."

While Youngblood headed up his tent, Miami-based social cause Music Rocks Ya Soul mobilized teens to sign their petition to combat misogyny and violence in popular music at the Take Action! tent in West Palm Beach and St. Petersburg.

"That certainly is a great cause that people should know about," said Lauren Ranzino, Executive Director of The Love Alliance, a non-profit organization that aims to take social justice beyond a trend by working to integrate justice into who an individual is rather than something he or she is involved with for a short time. "There's actually a band right now that people are trying to get off the Warped Tour because they sing about having sex with 14-year-old girls."