Frontman Tim McIlrath is amazing. He's kind of a small guy, but delivered such energy and precision to cater to one of the larger audiences of any set that day. The whole band was never off-step and kept their momentum going, which is phenomenal considering Detroit was toward the end of the tour and it was a bitch-ass hot, long day.

I now kind of love this band. The crowd went wild, and at one point I think I even saw McIlrath walk out into the audience (like, on top of them), but maybe it was a mirage. I couldn't see too well from where I was at, but in any case, go see Rise Against live. You won't be disappointed.

Against Me!: Weird how we kind of bopped right from Rise Against to Against Me!, but once again we find another great performance. I'm afraid these tight reviews are sounding a bit repetitive, but rest assured each set had its own wily way of charming me. Against Me! is another band that's pretty hardcore and manly, but not as brutish as Helmet. The men played with their shirts off (because that's how real men play the guitar), and had a cumulative vivid energy.

Their performance of "Losing Touch" was flawless, and the crowd appreciated it. The audience was a bit more diverse than Helmet's, too, and the vibe was lighter. It was very laid-back and comfortable, with a good beat, not pent-up "I want to kill you" frustration. Still, although I did totally fall for the entire set, it seemed to lag a bit toward the middle. I lost some interest at that point, but the tempo picked up later on in the performance and I was hooked again.

The Sounds: Aaron made me listen to some of the Sounds' songs on the way to Detroit, and I was kind of bewildered as to how they got on Warped Tour. They sound a bit New Wavish, and I couldn't see any sign of actual punk rock - more like dance, fun, party time music. But, it wasn't bad, just not what I would expect at Warped Tour.

In any case, the Swedes invaded the stage and jumped right into their performance; there were a couple of Sounds fanatics in the audience, but I think many just kind of wandered in and weren't ready for a lighter band.

Lead singer Maja Ivarsson seemed a bit overbearing, straddling the microphone and crouching, exposing her white, cotton underwear for all the world to see. She kind of scared me a bit, but the rest of the band was completely endearing. To finish out their set, guitarist Felix Rodriguez and synth player Jesper Anderberg performed a hypnotic, synchronized beat, absolutely captivating and a bit unexpected from this dance-type band. The set was pretty good; the crowd wasn't that into it, though. But, I will say that the Sounds had the best merchandise tent of the entire tour.