Punk bands rock at Warped Tour

By Michelle V. Gonzales
Daily Bruin Contributor
[email protected]

An overabundance of music, a lack of venue organization, the
smell of beer and sweat, and the quick growing pile of garbage are
some of the most consistent aspects of the annual Warped Tour.

The tour didn’t disappoint when it arrived at the Los
Angeles Coliseum July 10 and 11. Vans Shoe Company hosts the annual
festival, which included several stages, vendor booths and extreme
athletes.

Due to the Coliseum’s awkward set-up, fans rushed from one
stage to another, crowding narrow pathways, frustrating both
security and the festival attendees. Adding to the mess were the
innumerable vendors who provided free flyers, handouts and CDs,
most of which patrons quickly tossed into garbage cans or onto the
floor.

The two main stages alternated musical acts, with few minutes
between sets. This setup allowed fans to hear a different band play
every thirty minutes, but also caused many to miss their favorite
bands or hear new ones.

Playing on the third Vans stage, opposite the two main ones, was
New Jersey’s Thursday, an emotionally charged rock band, who
gave a powerful performance. The melodic riffs and screaming vocals
fueled the fans, who responded energetically to the band. Even
though Thursday did not play near the vicinity of the main stage,
it managed to draw in dedicated fans and make some new ones.

Record label Drive Thru Records sponsored a stage, which
featured performances by bands Allister, Home Grown, The Starting
Line, Finch, Rx Bandits and others. Unique to Los Angeles was the
Mean Street stage, sponsored by the Southern California music
magazine of the same name. It hosted a punk/hip-hop stage featuring
underground hip-hop acts like L.A. Symphony and Anticon.

Though attendees had easy access to this stage, the head count
was lower in front of these acts, showing most of the
attendees’ goals on seeing their favorite bands.

Other stages included a Punkrocks.net stage that featured
Yellowcard and The Used, a Criterion Records stage with a one-day
guest appearance by The Ataris, and a stage sponsored by clothing
company Volcom.

New to the Warped tour this year were tents that featured
independent filmmaking, reverse day care for parents, locker
check-ins, and an exhibit titled “Warped are they now?”
which displayed articles on past Warped artists.

Toward the end, attendees appeared to be tired, as the festival
lasted from noon until sundown.

The biggest highlight came from memorable performances by Bad
Religion. As the band closed the night, fans roared with excitement
to hear songs from albums like “Stranger Than Fiction”
and the more melodic and accessible songs from its most recent
release, “The Process of Belief.”

Familiar to the Warped stages was NOFX, which gave fans its
usual goofy jokes and songs from a long list of albums. A huge
crowd filled the floor, despite the band’s separation from
radio play and music videos made for mainstream television.

A surprise performance from A.F.I. also added excitement.

The festival’s mainly punk repertoire included crunching
guitar chords coming from mainstream, indie and surprise acts, all
the way down to the general apathy festival organizers had for the
fans who attended.