Warped Tour Review
Sometimes choices are easy to make. For instance, when faced with the decision between a bean burrito with no onions and a bean burrito with onions, it is simple – I go with the one without onions, because I despise onions. However, when deciding between a bean burrito, a fajita burrito, a beef soft taco, a spicy chicken burrito, or cheese enchiladas, choosing becomes a tad bit harder. Vans Warped Tour would definitely fall under this category. 70 plus rock, pop, metal, hardcore, emo bands, split between eight stages, all playing at one location for a 12 hour period, impossible to see every performance, requires some decision making skills.
Heavy rain was on the forecast on July 2nd, but the Vans Warped Tour at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater in Selma TX went on. The schedule online said that events started at 1:00 pm, but arriving when I did, I found that the music really starts as soon as the gates open at 11:00 am. First for the day, Amber Pacific and Plain White T’s played almost simultaneously on two different stages. I chose Plain White T’s, because I am more familiar with their music. They definitely woke me up. Live, Plain White T’s sound way better than on CD and they were more energetic than their mellow, pop songs would have me believe. The whole group was all over the stage and had already attracted a large audience, inducing a surprising response from the crowd, considering how early it was in the event. There were plenty of girls singing along.
Next on my list was Man Alive, who were mighty hard to find, as they played on the smaller Hot Topic/Kevin Says stage. I got there a little early and got a front row seat, which at that stage was just like partying with the band, since it was just a wooden platform level with the audience. It was surprising to see these fellows in Selma, Texas, having traveled all the way from Jerusalem, Israel to be on the Warped Tour. More surprising though, was, while there weren’t many in the audience, the ones that were all sang along and knew Man Alive’s lyrics. I admit I hadn’t heard much of Man Alive’s tunes at that point, but they definitely gained a new fan that day. They had me shaking my hips with their pop-infused punk, consisting of much gang vocals, great guitar riffs, and even a metal breakdown at the end of a song where lead vocalist Jamie Hilsden started growling. This was followed by guitarist David Shkedi asking the crowd the rhetorical question, “Who says there can’t be a metal part in a pop song?”
I purchased Man Alive’s CD on the way to see Saosin at the Hurley stage, back where Plain White T’s played. One of my friends said he came to Warped Tour just to hear these guys, and that, coupled with the sizes of the crowd at the stage, produced plenty of hype surrounding this performance. Good thing Saosin lived up to it. Their set was probably the second best I witnessed all day. The audience got moving to the soaring vocals of Cove Reber, who occasionally broke out into screaming, getting the swarming bodies moving even more. The band’s passion was evident as most of the time the band had their eyes closed and were all over the stage, still aware of each other and their surroundings, and how the other members would scream along with Reber. It was amazing.
I stuck around to hear Emery play in the late afternoon, becoming part of the perpetual crowd that seemed to be at the Hurley stage, with its line-up boasting many talented bands. Emery is an amazing band and they held on to their reputation with the show they put on. I was looking forward to costumes as they occasionally perform in, but such was not the case. There were a few things I noticed though: it seemed something was wrong with the microphone or sound system because Toby Morrell’s vocals sounded odd and it seemed that he sang and the screamer screamed at the wrong parts in songs. Other than that, they rocked, they swung from the bars supporting the stage, and I found myself singing along with the rest of the crowd.
Towards the end of the night it was clear which band nearly all the attendants were there to see: Underoath. They began their set by thanking the massive audience who packed the main amphitheater stage for voting for them to have an extended set length. Everybody cheered and they began. Now, I have seen Underoath live before, but seeing them performing their new, heavier stuff off Define the Great Line (with a few songs from the previous recording) was utterly jaw dropping. They may not close their eyes like previous bands I have mentioned, but with their eyes open one can truly see the fierceness and drive these guys all have. Plus keyboardist Christopher Dudley’s motions are enough to fire anyone up. The only thing that dampened the show was while Underoath stopped playing because someone in the front of the crowd got injured, the minority there to see NOFX, who played after Underoath, started chanting and shot lead vocalist Spencer Chamberlain the bird. He handled it maturely, telling the NOFX fans he stilled loved them. They finished up their set – screaming, growling, riffing, and breaking down- somehow getting the jam-packed floor crowd moving and moshing. The resounding cheer Chamberlain received when he stated that Underoath stood before the audience in the name of Jesus Christ made me smile. It was a wonderful closing to a wonderful day.
Review and photos by Rand Renfrow
© 2006 HM Magazine. All rights reserved.
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Comments
How about the Anomoly next year???
Nice review Rand! Maybe one day you can slip me into one of your reviews.
RAND YOU ARE AMAZING
nice intro! i really like the black and white pic of the guy from emery, it was one of my faves.
WT was good... Underoath's new stuff sounds great live... maylene absolutely owned... as cities burned weren't too bad either...
but the undying tour was better...
I like the nice little part about Saosin, nice job overall.
What about MXPX!?!?
What about MXPX!?!?
[bleep] underoath. Spencer got kicked out of the band for doing drugs. Sounds like a hypocritical band to me
"You better watch out cause I'm gonna say ____ !"
Whatever happened to Warped being a punk festival, or even remotely punk? They did have the Buzzcocks this year, though. Late 70's punk. You didn't see them? Anyway, I'm definitely gonna check out Man Alive.
I caught the Warped Tour (with my 18yr old son & my 13yr old daughter & 3 of her friends) at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles Calif , I thought the diversity of bands was very cool, however I really was blown away by the mighty "Helmet". Loud-n-ultra tight! Also Joan Jett was very cool as well! Silverstein & Senses Fail were also highlights for me (as well as my kids) day!Looking forward to next year!
dude rand you are cool, good review, ill see you round school, you need to write a review about the throwdown, zao, evergreen terrace, and maylene and the sons of disaster show we went to
