Oooo Baby, Baby It's A Warped World
Today will go down in history as one of my most enjoyable summer days, ever. It all began with a 9:30 AM wake-up and a 10:45 departure from my condo, on foot. I decided just to walk to Reliant, which was a great move because the Warped Tour tents were set up near the Texans practice facility, which is hella far from the light rail stop. Arriving slightly after 11:00, I found a tent selling tickets and got mine for $31.50. The gates weren't open yet, so I sat down on the curb (in the shade) and watched a bunch of 14 year-old guys take cans of soda from the free handout cart, shake them up, and spike them on the pavement at each other's feet. As the cans exploded and sprayed everyone in that area of the line, an all-out soda fight ensued. At least one girl was observed to get covered in sticky soda, prior to a very long and hot day. A rent-a-cop with a megaphone eventually drove by in his motorized wheelchair, but by then the fight had cooled off (and he probably wouldn't have been able to do anything anyway). Gates opened around quarter to noon, and I was among the first several dozen people into the venue. By "venue," I refer to the massive, sprawling Main Street parking lot that was filled with at least 4 dozen tents, at least 5 stages, a ramp for skate boarding, 2 batting cages, 1 speed pitch, and a row of food vendors. Ladies and gentleman, this is the Warped Tour.
Since none of the bands had begun playing yet, I did a brisk walk up and down the line of tents, before they became crowded with little kids. Each of the 58 bands had a tent, each major punk record label had a tent, various non-profit groups had tents (Tsunami Relief, T-Shirts for Cancer Research), and the corporate world was overzealously represented: everyone from Vans to Trojan to Myspace.com to Play Station 2 had a tent as well. My favorite tent, though, was the Reverse Day Care tent for parents. It was air conditioned and offered free ear plugs to parents accompanying their kids to the show (of which I saw many). All of the bands have "merch guys (or girls)" who work their merchandise tents all day. However, most bands either schedule an appearance at their tent throughout the day to greet fans and sign merchandise or they just show up unannounced to chill and sell stuff. Only the knowledgeable punk can tell if the tattooed and pierced weirdo at the merch booth is a roadie loser or the base player in New Hit Band. Many a time I have kicked myself when I realize -- too late of course -- that the tubby guy selling t-shirts was actually the drummer/bassist/whatever in the band. Not today, though. I saw 3 of the guys from Plain White T's sitting in their merch booth, some sleeping and some just spaced out on lawn chairs. I also saw the bass player of No Use For A Name manning his booth. It must be really boring for the 23.5 hours of every day when your band is NOT up on stage. I've always wondered what the bands do to pass the time; it seems that some of them don't do much.
I approached this year's tour with a care-free, seize-the-moment attitude. There is a good chance that this will be my last Warped Tour for awhile, so this was like my last hurrah. I wanted to have a great time and go all out. I think that's exactly what happened. Here's a play-by-play account of bands that I watched and weird shit that went down:
12:15 PM -- MxPx hits 1 of the 2 main stages. Looking like the seasoned veterans they are (tattoos covering their arms and necks), they ripped through 30 minutes of solid punk rock. They are a great "wake up band" for starting off the day. They also led off in 2003 when I saw the Tour in New Jersey. I got pretty close to the stage and knew most of the words to everything they played. The song "Responsibility" was dedicated to everyone who skipped work to attend the show.
12:45 PM -- Left Alone begins on the second main stage immediately after MxPx's last guitar chord fades into oblivion. A relatively new band to Epitaph, this Los Angeles-based group has an array of street punk songs as well as a groovy ska side (lots of punk bands play both punk and ska). Their lead singer was decked out in a jean jacket and lots of metal trimmings and chokers and reminded me a lot of Duane Peters of the U.S. Bombs. Highlight of the set was a song called "Kill All The Emo Kids," which was accompanied by verbal instructions to "beat up all the emo kids here in the front row." This was the first of multiple references to hurting emo kids that would be made throughout the day. ("Emo" is short for "emotional" and was a trendy wave of slower, more lyrical punk that peaked a few years ago with bands like The Get Up Kids and Jimmy Eat World.)
1:15 PM -- The Transplants rip it up. This was the first "big" band of the day. Travis Barker (Blink-182's drummer) and Tim Armstrong (Rancid's guitarist and vocalist) are the founding members of this group. I'd never heard their music before, but I knew it was laced with hip-hop beats and record scratches in the background. Their singer, a portly guy nicknamed "Skinhead Rob," was regrettably losing his voice, but the band still kicked serious ass. They had a huge yet catchy sound, and I found myself tapping my toes and pumping my fist and middle finger in the air on multiple occasions. Tim's pants nearly fell off, as they were riding mid-butt cheek the entire set and he jumped up and down repeatedly. Skinhead Rob was wearing a gigantic t-shirt that reached his knees (hip-hop style), reminding me of my own big t-shirt days. :) Best quote of the show: "This next song is called ____. We need your help on this one. It's really easy: as soon as we start playing, just turn to the mother fucker standing next to you and push them to the ground!"
1:45 PM -- The Starting Line takes over and draws a large emo crowd whose average age was pushing 12. That's OK, because I doubt anyone in the band can legally purchase or consume alcohol. I watched for 10 minutes, then purchased a Powerade for $3.75. While the band was still playing, I wandered back to the stage that The Transplants had just vacated and watched the Dropkick Murphys set up.
2:15 PM -- The Dropkicks enter the stage to chants of "Let's Go Murphys!" I was 2 rows of people from the front right of the stage; it was a perfect view. The Murphys always encourage fans to make DKM flags, and they hand out flag poles before the set so the devoted fans can wave their homemade creations. The flags today kinda sucked, except for a huge Texas flag on which the phrase "Don't Mess With The Dropkick Murphys" was added in green paint. The Murphys tore it up, as usual. They played "Amazing Grace," which is a live show rarity, as well as some of their very oldest and very newest. A fan was invited onstage to sing the entire lead vocals for "Barroom Hero" unaccompanied and uncued, and he did an amazing job (nearly as good as Al Barr himself!). During the song "The Guantlet," I caught site of a hardcore, shirtless, mid-20s looking dude in the very front row. He was clearly hammered, and as the anthem-style chorus wailed "Stand up and fight, and I'll stand up with you, We shall succeed" he kept putting both middle fingers in the face of the security guards (They were literally face to face, since the guy was in the front row. They were only separated by a fence the height of a bike rack.) The fan continued egging them on each time the chorus came 'round, until the head of security grabbed the guy and gave him a good scolding. It was hilarious! It was around this time that I saw a different guy who had one of those punker earrings (I think it's called a "spacer"?) that grosely stretches the earring hole so you can actually see through it. This was the largest spacer I had ever seen (I could see daylight the size of a quarter through the lobe of his ear). He looked well suited for some African tribe. As per usual, hardcore fans were invited onstage for the last song (Skinhead on the MBTA). Kids just climbed over the fence and hopped onstage, much to the security guards' chagrin. After the show, as the roadies were tossing the used guitar picks into the dispersing crowd, one fell at my feet and I snagged it. I now have my first ever guitar pick souvenir -- from Murphy's guitarist James Lynch, no less!
2:45 PM -- Strung Out, a Fat Wreck Chord band who I have enjoyed for at least 6 years, took to the stage and proceeded to suck ass. The tight guitar, vocals, and drumming from their studio albums deteriorated live. I could have predicted as much due to the speed and complexity of their songs, and it was sad that such a melodic studio band could sound so shitty and different live. I gave up after 2 songs.
3:30 PM -- I venture away from the 2 main stages to catch the Plain White T's at the Hurley Stage. I really liked them when Jordana and I saw them in a barn in Spring, Texas. This time around, their sound lacked power compared to all the heavy hitters I was enjoying. The songs were just too boring. Perhaps I was just having an anti-emo day, but they sounded really emo. I left their stage after 15 minutes to get a good position for The Matches, who were coming on at 4:00 somewhere else.
4:00 PM -- The Matches open with "Shoot Me In The Smile," an awesome song. I hung around long enough to hear my 2 favorites, "Chain Me Free" and "Borderline Creep." I only had 15 minutes to get my Matches fix, because I wanted to get back to the main stage for No Use For A Name at 4:15. However, I hung around long enough to witness the artsy lead singer toss a can (yes, can) of water into the crowd. He thought he was doing us a favor by providing a free drink (hey, in theory it would have saved someone $3.50) but no one was prepared for it and it wound up hitting a kid in the head. The singer was apologetic and made sure the guy was OK before continuing.
4:15 PM -- I enjoy the first "old school" band of the day, No Use For A Name. Formed when I was in the early years of middle school, these San Francisco punkers have owned the scene for quite some time. They drew the largest crowd of the day so far, and put on a rockin' good show. They were really pleased with the energy of the crowd, despite the 95 degree heat. Tony Sly (lead singer) photographed the crowd to post on their webpage. You can see it (or one like it) here: http://www.nouse4aname.com/ When introducing the song "Justified Black Eye", they joked that they were one of the only bands today who really mean it when they say "this is an old school song"; the song was written in 1995 (when many of today's attendees were no doubt still in diapers).
4:45 PM -- I eat a frozen lemonade thingie and skip My Chemical Romance, which was swamped by teenie boppers and goths.
5:15 PM -- The headliners (at least in my opinion) burst onstage with a bold and refined sound that only The Offspring can carry. They sounded 10 times better than any other band. Their lyrics were clear and intelligible, and their guitars were played with the expertise of a radio-friendly band. This was my 4th time seeing Offspring live, and I was expecting to hear the same old songs, especially since they just releasted a Greatest Hits album this week. However, the set list was designed to be a bit more "punk" than usual in honor of the Warped Tour and its punkier fans: they played "Something to Believe In" off Smash, which I've never heard live before. They also played "Walla Walla," another live rarity. During the closing number ("Self Esteem"), an aberrant crowd surfer came flying in from behind me and kicked my "neighbor," a huge, sweaty, shirtless Mexican guy, right in the head. The guy was knocked out cold and fell to the pavement motionless. Along with the people around me, I stared at the guy in a dumbfounded, surreal way. Here was my favorite band playing their hit song to a packed house at Warped Tour, and I'm staring down at a motionless fat kid. I grabbed him under the arm pit and helped lift him as he was coming to. His sunglasses were broken and a bunch of dirt and cigarette butts were stuck to his sweaty back. He looked like shit as he stumbled away. I shook my head in disbelief and went back to bouncing up and down like a pogo stick. When Offspring finished, I split the joint even though another 2 hours of music remained. The only band still worth seeing, in my opinion, was the All-American Rejects, but I didn't want to wait another hour in the hot afternoon sun. I walked home and have chilled out ever since.
The End
Music of the Moment: "It's Tragic" by No Use For A Name
Since none of the bands had begun playing yet, I did a brisk walk up and down the line of tents, before they became crowded with little kids. Each of the 58 bands had a tent, each major punk record label had a tent, various non-profit groups had tents (Tsunami Relief, T-Shirts for Cancer Research), and the corporate world was overzealously represented: everyone from Vans to Trojan to Myspace.com to Play Station 2 had a tent as well. My favorite tent, though, was the Reverse Day Care tent for parents. It was air conditioned and offered free ear plugs to parents accompanying their kids to the show (of which I saw many). All of the bands have "merch guys (or girls)" who work their merchandise tents all day. However, most bands either schedule an appearance at their tent throughout the day to greet fans and sign merchandise or they just show up unannounced to chill and sell stuff. Only the knowledgeable punk can tell if the tattooed and pierced weirdo at the merch booth is a roadie loser or the base player in New Hit Band. Many a time I have kicked myself when I realize -- too late of course -- that the tubby guy selling t-shirts was actually the drummer/bassist/whatever in the band. Not today, though. I saw 3 of the guys from Plain White T's sitting in their merch booth, some sleeping and some just spaced out on lawn chairs. I also saw the bass player of No Use For A Name manning his booth. It must be really boring for the 23.5 hours of every day when your band is NOT up on stage. I've always wondered what the bands do to pass the time; it seems that some of them don't do much.
I approached this year's tour with a care-free, seize-the-moment attitude. There is a good chance that this will be my last Warped Tour for awhile, so this was like my last hurrah. I wanted to have a great time and go all out. I think that's exactly what happened. Here's a play-by-play account of bands that I watched and weird shit that went down:
12:15 PM -- MxPx hits 1 of the 2 main stages. Looking like the seasoned veterans they are (tattoos covering their arms and necks), they ripped through 30 minutes of solid punk rock. They are a great "wake up band" for starting off the day. They also led off in 2003 when I saw the Tour in New Jersey. I got pretty close to the stage and knew most of the words to everything they played. The song "Responsibility" was dedicated to everyone who skipped work to attend the show.
12:45 PM -- Left Alone begins on the second main stage immediately after MxPx's last guitar chord fades into oblivion. A relatively new band to Epitaph, this Los Angeles-based group has an array of street punk songs as well as a groovy ska side (lots of punk bands play both punk and ska). Their lead singer was decked out in a jean jacket and lots of metal trimmings and chokers and reminded me a lot of Duane Peters of the U.S. Bombs. Highlight of the set was a song called "Kill All The Emo Kids," which was accompanied by verbal instructions to "beat up all the emo kids here in the front row." This was the first of multiple references to hurting emo kids that would be made throughout the day. ("Emo" is short for "emotional" and was a trendy wave of slower, more lyrical punk that peaked a few years ago with bands like The Get Up Kids and Jimmy Eat World.)
1:15 PM -- The Transplants rip it up. This was the first "big" band of the day. Travis Barker (Blink-182's drummer) and Tim Armstrong (Rancid's guitarist and vocalist) are the founding members of this group. I'd never heard their music before, but I knew it was laced with hip-hop beats and record scratches in the background. Their singer, a portly guy nicknamed "Skinhead Rob," was regrettably losing his voice, but the band still kicked serious ass. They had a huge yet catchy sound, and I found myself tapping my toes and pumping my fist and middle finger in the air on multiple occasions. Tim's pants nearly fell off, as they were riding mid-butt cheek the entire set and he jumped up and down repeatedly. Skinhead Rob was wearing a gigantic t-shirt that reached his knees (hip-hop style), reminding me of my own big t-shirt days. :) Best quote of the show: "This next song is called ____. We need your help on this one. It's really easy: as soon as we start playing, just turn to the mother fucker standing next to you and push them to the ground!"
1:45 PM -- The Starting Line takes over and draws a large emo crowd whose average age was pushing 12. That's OK, because I doubt anyone in the band can legally purchase or consume alcohol. I watched for 10 minutes, then purchased a Powerade for $3.75. While the band was still playing, I wandered back to the stage that The Transplants had just vacated and watched the Dropkick Murphys set up.
2:15 PM -- The Dropkicks enter the stage to chants of "Let's Go Murphys!" I was 2 rows of people from the front right of the stage; it was a perfect view. The Murphys always encourage fans to make DKM flags, and they hand out flag poles before the set so the devoted fans can wave their homemade creations. The flags today kinda sucked, except for a huge Texas flag on which the phrase "Don't Mess With The Dropkick Murphys" was added in green paint. The Murphys tore it up, as usual. They played "Amazing Grace," which is a live show rarity, as well as some of their very oldest and very newest. A fan was invited onstage to sing the entire lead vocals for "Barroom Hero" unaccompanied and uncued, and he did an amazing job (nearly as good as Al Barr himself!). During the song "The Guantlet," I caught site of a hardcore, shirtless, mid-20s looking dude in the very front row. He was clearly hammered, and as the anthem-style chorus wailed "Stand up and fight, and I'll stand up with you, We shall succeed" he kept putting both middle fingers in the face of the security guards (They were literally face to face, since the guy was in the front row. They were only separated by a fence the height of a bike rack.) The fan continued egging them on each time the chorus came 'round, until the head of security grabbed the guy and gave him a good scolding. It was hilarious! It was around this time that I saw a different guy who had one of those punker earrings (I think it's called a "spacer"?) that grosely stretches the earring hole so you can actually see through it. This was the largest spacer I had ever seen (I could see daylight the size of a quarter through the lobe of his ear). He looked well suited for some African tribe. As per usual, hardcore fans were invited onstage for the last song (Skinhead on the MBTA). Kids just climbed over the fence and hopped onstage, much to the security guards' chagrin. After the show, as the roadies were tossing the used guitar picks into the dispersing crowd, one fell at my feet and I snagged it. I now have my first ever guitar pick souvenir -- from Murphy's guitarist James Lynch, no less!
2:45 PM -- Strung Out, a Fat Wreck Chord band who I have enjoyed for at least 6 years, took to the stage and proceeded to suck ass. The tight guitar, vocals, and drumming from their studio albums deteriorated live. I could have predicted as much due to the speed and complexity of their songs, and it was sad that such a melodic studio band could sound so shitty and different live. I gave up after 2 songs.
3:30 PM -- I venture away from the 2 main stages to catch the Plain White T's at the Hurley Stage. I really liked them when Jordana and I saw them in a barn in Spring, Texas. This time around, their sound lacked power compared to all the heavy hitters I was enjoying. The songs were just too boring. Perhaps I was just having an anti-emo day, but they sounded really emo. I left their stage after 15 minutes to get a good position for The Matches, who were coming on at 4:00 somewhere else.
4:00 PM -- The Matches open with "Shoot Me In The Smile," an awesome song. I hung around long enough to hear my 2 favorites, "Chain Me Free" and "Borderline Creep." I only had 15 minutes to get my Matches fix, because I wanted to get back to the main stage for No Use For A Name at 4:15. However, I hung around long enough to witness the artsy lead singer toss a can (yes, can) of water into the crowd. He thought he was doing us a favor by providing a free drink (hey, in theory it would have saved someone $3.50) but no one was prepared for it and it wound up hitting a kid in the head. The singer was apologetic and made sure the guy was OK before continuing.
4:15 PM -- I enjoy the first "old school" band of the day, No Use For A Name. Formed when I was in the early years of middle school, these San Francisco punkers have owned the scene for quite some time. They drew the largest crowd of the day so far, and put on a rockin' good show. They were really pleased with the energy of the crowd, despite the 95 degree heat. Tony Sly (lead singer) photographed the crowd to post on their webpage. You can see it (or one like it) here: http://www.nouse4aname.com/ When introducing the song "Justified Black Eye", they joked that they were one of the only bands today who really mean it when they say "this is an old school song"; the song was written in 1995 (when many of today's attendees were no doubt still in diapers).
4:45 PM -- I eat a frozen lemonade thingie and skip My Chemical Romance, which was swamped by teenie boppers and goths.
5:15 PM -- The headliners (at least in my opinion) burst onstage with a bold and refined sound that only The Offspring can carry. They sounded 10 times better than any other band. Their lyrics were clear and intelligible, and their guitars were played with the expertise of a radio-friendly band. This was my 4th time seeing Offspring live, and I was expecting to hear the same old songs, especially since they just releasted a Greatest Hits album this week. However, the set list was designed to be a bit more "punk" than usual in honor of the Warped Tour and its punkier fans: they played "Something to Believe In" off Smash, which I've never heard live before. They also played "Walla Walla," another live rarity. During the closing number ("Self Esteem"), an aberrant crowd surfer came flying in from behind me and kicked my "neighbor," a huge, sweaty, shirtless Mexican guy, right in the head. The guy was knocked out cold and fell to the pavement motionless. Along with the people around me, I stared at the guy in a dumbfounded, surreal way. Here was my favorite band playing their hit song to a packed house at Warped Tour, and I'm staring down at a motionless fat kid. I grabbed him under the arm pit and helped lift him as he was coming to. His sunglasses were broken and a bunch of dirt and cigarette butts were stuck to his sweaty back. He looked like shit as he stumbled away. I shook my head in disbelief and went back to bouncing up and down like a pogo stick. When Offspring finished, I split the joint even though another 2 hours of music remained. The only band still worth seeing, in my opinion, was the All-American Rejects, but I didn't want to wait another hour in the hot afternoon sun. I walked home and have chilled out ever since.
The End
Music of the Moment: "It's Tragic" by No Use For A Name
posted by Yours Truly at 8:17 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home