2008 Vans Warped Tour Part 1 – [Live Review]

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Thursday, 03 July 2008

This is part one of a three-part series on the 2008 Vans Warped Tour. Part two can be found here and part three is coming soon.

The punk rock purist in me really wanted to hate the Vans Warped Tour. Back in my youth, an all-day punk rock fest in San Francisco meant a show at The Farm, with bands like Discharge, G.B.H, Dayglo Abortions, D.R.I., Attitude Adjustment and countless others. Oftentimes there was no merch table to buy t-shirts at these shows, let alone a tent where you could buy an $80 pair of shoes. No seven-dollar beers either. Just a total stripped down concert with bunch of punk and metal bands playing some kick-ass music on one stage to a bunch of rowdy, drunken and dangerous punks. It was punk rock the way punk rock was supposed to be. But realizing that both the times and the music have changed since the Stone Age, I decided to check out this year’s installment of the Vans Warped Tour, and I must say that I totally embraced it. As I took in the whole experience I realized putting together this tour is no easy task, and that Kevin Lyman, Vans and everyone else involved have done a pretty remarkable job bringing this traveling punk-rock circus to cities all over the world.

Standing in front of the giant schedule board with the start times of well over forty bands, I felt like a kid in a candy store. Here I was with my camera in one hand and an all-access pass strapped to the other, trying to figure out how the hell I was going check out and take pictures of all the bands that I came to see today. As I did the math in my head, and took into consideration that it was well over 90 degrees outside and was only going to get warmer, I decided that it was gonna be damn near impossible, and rather than run from stage to stage every half hour or just play it safe and hang out at the two main stages all day, I was going to spend the day casually strolling through the entire festival, taking in as much as possible, all at my own leisure. And with a few unscheduled stops at the beer garden, my plan seemed to work out just fine.

The first band I decided to check out was Allura, who were playing on the Kevin Says stage. Hailing from Los Angeles, this five-piece had kind of a metalcore sound, but with very melodic (in a good way) vocals and thrashy guitars. Think of a cross between The Black Dahlia Murder and Death By Stereo. Although metalcore usually isn't my thing, there is something very unique about Allura's sound, and I was totally digging them. It looks like they are playing the entire Warped Tour, so I am definitely looking forward to seeing them again when they return to the Bay Area in August.

After Allura's set I thought it was about time I made it over to one of the main stages to see who was playing next, and I was pretty stoked to find out that So. Cal's The Bronx were just about to hit the stage. Sounding like a cross between Black Flag and The Stooges with some thrash guitars thrown in, The Bronx delivered a pretty rocking thirty-minute set that, in spite of the now 93-degree temperature, had the crowd pushing toward the front of the stage. Vocalist Matt Caughthran was all over the stage and a bit reminiscent of a young Henry Rollins while guitarists Joby Ford and Ken Horne provided the riffage. This was straight up, no frills hardcore-inspired punk at it's finest, and I thought they were a perfect band to be put on this tour.

Although I had only seen two bands at this point I decided it was time for a beer. As I headed over to the beer garden I became totally amazed at just how much "stuff" there was for sale. It seemed that just about every band had some sort of tent set up, and that I couldn't walk more than 50 feet without walking into a mini Vans store (which was totally okay by me because it gave me a chance to check out the new Iron Maiden Piece Of Mind high tops that I will be purchasing shortly). And although some people may say all this "merch" for sale smacks of commercialism, I say kudos to Vans for giving the kids a chance to buy CD's, t-shirts, shoes or whatever else they could find. It only made me wish that there were more events like this when I was a kid.

After a quick couple of beers (after all, it was really hot outside) I happen to walk by the Hurley Music stage just as The Lordz had started to wrap up their set. Now normally I am really not into hip-hop at all, but I have always been a bit intrigued by this band, so I figured I’d have an open mind for a change and check them out. Observing the band as they commanded both the stage and the audience, I was quickly reminded of another band from New York, punk legends Agnostic Front. Although the two bands music could not be further apart, the attitude and the "vibe" were very similar. Unfortunately their set ended just as I was getting into them. Luckily, however, they will be playing the entire tour, so I will definitely be back to catch their entire set.