Concert Review: the Vans Warped Tour 2009
What with the weather and everything yesterday morning, I wasn't too sure as to whether or not Warped Tour 2009 would be worth attending. The idea of standing in the middle of an amphitheater parking lot all day during a torrential downpour isn't exactly my idea of a perfect summer day.
However, by the time I hit Tonganoxie on my way out from Lawrence, the sun had begun to peek out and was shining full force by the time I'd made it through the gate and in front of the Hurley stage, where England's Gallows were one of the first bands of the day. They were also vocally against playing at that hour, with singer Frank Carter stating "no band should have to to play at 11:15 in the fucking morning. Excuse me if I vomit on you." He then dry-heaved a couple of times. Still, the band hopped off the stage two songs into their set to play the remainder with only their drummer on stage. Their fast, angry hardcore certainly got the day going on an energetic note, if not a positive one.
Nick Spacek Gallows
Nick Spacek 3OH!3
Positivity was the arena of 3OH!3, however. Their crowd was insane. There's always one band one Warped Tour that has a rabid fanbase, the likes of which every other act ought to be jealous of and covet. 3OH!3 is quite possibly that band. As son as the bass issued out the speakers and caught me in the chest, I was smacked from behind with the roar of the audience. Sean Foreman and Nathaniel Motte brought it, whatever it might be. The band could be considered pop, hip-hop, kind-of punk, kind of rock ... really, it's fairly hard to categorize 3OH!3. Suffice it to say, you can fucking shake your ass to it all day long, and it's fun as hell.
Bands like 3OH!3 and Brokencyde, among others, have probably led to what amazed me about this year's tour: it was almost an even, 50/50 mix between males and females. It's quite probably as a result of the higher number of bands that mix in things like electronica, pop, and hip-hop that girls can feel like they're not in the middle of a chugga-chugga mosh fest. Mohawks were at a minimum, with more bikini tops and flip-flops, by far.
Nick Spacek Chiodos
That's not to say there weren't any moshy chugga-chugga bands. Chiodos played to a big crowd. They had breakdowns and riffage to spare and were the second act to call for a "huge fuckin' circle pit." (First dibs went to Gallows.) Chiodos is textbook screamo -- breakdowns, one guy screaming, another crooning. It wasn't breaking any new ground, and I'd be hard pressed to figure out which band they were among their similar sounding brethren on Equal Vision.
Then again, Westbound Train wasn't breaking new ground, either, but their brand of soul-ska went down far more smoothly than anything else thus far. Much like the Pietasters and Aggrolites before them, this ska band knows how to get the kids up and dancing. I saw a dude in full-on suit pants and vest skanking like it was air-conditioned, rather than under the blazing sun in front of the Sandstone main stage. Westbound Train also presented a mini history lesson during their set, covering Ben E. King's "Stand By Me," which segued into Sam Cooke's "Cupid." That dovetailed nicely with the appearance of Mr. Angelo Moore, who gusted with the band on a performance of Otis Redding's "Mr. Pitiful." It was interesting, because Moore had played in the exact same spot nearly a year ago with the Aggrolites on last year's tour.
Nick Spacek Westbound Train
Up next on the very same stage was another ska band. This time, it was Boston's Big D & the Kids Table. Now, I only got to hear two songs from Dave McWane and company. I'm not happy about this, but their set started ten minutes before Bad Religion's, and the chances of Big D coming back through are much more likely than Bad Religion. I can state the band sounded stellar, and the addition of the Dollies as back-up singers gives the band some melodic depth, as well as a much cooler stage presence, not unlike a Motown soul revue.
Nick Spacek Big D & the Kids Table
Now -- Bad Religion. I wasn't expecting great things. A classic band, with nearly 30 years of material, at Warped Tour? I'd seen this before, and was expecting the same old, same old: band plays a smattering of hits, a bunch of recent stuff they're more familiar with, strains to hit the notes and fails to move around with any sort of energy.
Nick Spacek Bad Religion
Wrong, wrong, wrong. Greg Graffin, Mr. Brett, Greg Hetson, Brain Baker, Brooks Wackerman, and Jay Bentley can fucking out-play most of the bands on Warped. Yes, there were a few flubs here and there, but Graffin's voice sounds as good as, if not better than, the kid who belted out "World War III," and Greg Hetson did punk rock jumps like a man half his age. And the set list? Holy shit! "Do What You Want," "Generator" (with a little "Carry On Wayward Son" thrown in), and the last five songs were "Sorrow," "I Want to Conquer the World," "Infected," "American Jesus," and "Fuck Armageddon, This Is Hell." They played nearly a double set, and I don't think it bothered anyone at all.
Who could fucking follow that? I mean, really? The Bouncing Souls did -- and acquitted themselves nicely. Starting out with the classic "Here We Go" is definitely a good way to get folks up and moving. However, they did pretty much the same set that I saw them do at SXSW back in March, down to the acoustic country-punk version of the Misfits' "Hybrid Moments." I'm thrilled that they're coming back to play the Beaumont in November, but I hope we can get some less-played songs. Hearing something like "You're So Rad," even as sloppy and unrehearsed as it was, certainly sounded better than hearing "Lean On Sheena" again. I didn't like that song when Avoid One Thing did it, and I don't like it now.
Nick Spacek the Bouncing Souls
The Bouncing Souls and Bad Religion were two bands that I heard name-checked repeatedly by my friends that I ran into over the course of the afternoon. And, much like all of us, those bands' crowds skewed older. There were more 21-and-up folks in front of the stage than there were at any other point in the day.
Nick Spacek the Architects
Making a nice transition from one band to another was the fact that the Architects' Keenan Nichols played with the Souls on "True Believers." 15 minutes later, that band took the stage themselves on the other side of the parking lot. Announcing the band as "The Architects. We're from here. Like I don't know 3/4 of you all -- by name," Brandon Phillips set the tone for the band's set. It was a local affair, and the band dug into their bag of tricks to pull out more than just the highlights from The Hard Way and Vice. That's not to say that the rockers off those records weren't featured. KC got "Pills," "Knowing Is Half the Bottle," "Daddy Wore Black," and "Bastards at the Gate," but we also got ourselves something a little bit special. Not only did Keenan tell everyone that they were "real motherfuckers" for wearing black T-shirts instead of the "Boy Wonder shit," Brandon said, "this one's for my hometown!" and the first riffs of AC/DC's "Sin City" kicked into gear. Nice.
After the local boys finished up with "Don't Call It A Ghetto," I bounced around before Less Than Jake took the main stage. I caught the last two songs of Underoath's set. In marked contrast to the anti-church symbols of Bad Religion on the same stage two hours prior (to say nothing of the T-shirts they were hawking with two nuns making out), frontman Spencer Chamberlain informed the crowd that they did what they did in "the name of our Lord, Jesus Christ," and got a HUGE cheer.
Less Than Jake was the last band that I caught, and they did things up properly. Coming out to the strains of the Star Wars theme, and then playing it themselves, the band then launched into "Last One Out of Liberty City," followed closely by "Automatic" and "Johnny Quest Thinks We're Sellouts." Now, Less Than Jake is a band that thrives in a live setting. Given the chance to be smartasses, the ska-punkers will, trading quips with the audience like Roger and Chris are stand-up comics rather than guitar and bass player. Case in point: "You can flip me off all you want. You ever had your ass kicked by a 35-year-old man?" Set high point? It would either be the 30-second "Anchor" from Short Music For Short People or -- and I'm dead serious here -- "Free Credit Report.com." Yes, the commercial jingle. It's fucking catchy.
Nick Spacek Less Than Jake
Nick Spacek Nobody'd kissed them. Seriously.
Now, when it's all said and done with Warped, I usually walk away with a few things I've learned. This year: bands, when forced to play to new audiences every day who are unfamiliar with their material, and doing so with just under 30 minutes, will either do well, or fucking fail. There is very little middle ground. It either hones your chops or wears you down as a musician, and you bitch like the band that I could hear all the way to the parking lot. Also, I need to start bringing a sandwich or something, because the food lines are long, for overpriced stuff, and I had to leave at 6:30 so as to not pass out from low blood sugar.
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