If you know anything rock, you know the Vans Warped Tour. Since 1995 the Vans Warped Tour has been the biggest touring punk rock music festival, hosting as many as 100 bands per show. Tens of thousands of music lovers show up for this event year after year and congregate approximately 10 different stages.
It's been a long ride since 1995. What started as a punk rock and ska tour, now features mostly pop punk and alternative rock. This change is disappointing to Warped Tour Veterans, but good news for corporate sponsors and popular media.
The New York show was this past Saturday, August 5th, and I could be found leaning against the barricade, front row, during the Bouncing Souls set. The Warped Tour is a bittersweet experience, hard to describe. You arrive with the intention of catching all of your favorite bands, and then you realize how nearly impossible it is. There's a blowup billboard with the lineup and schedule, and the chances of your selected bands not having conflicting set times are very slim.
Band favoritism aside, it's blatantly apparent how forced advertisements and commercial corporations overshadow the original and long-forgotten mission of the Warped Tour --pure music. Now, you have to have Cingular Wireless to cut lines or get updates via text messaging. You've been standing in blistering heat for hours and guess what? You have to pay four dollars for a bottle of Aquafina or Gatorade. "Scene" kids lurk by the myspace tent, a website that has defined their entire lifestyle and robbed them of any fiber of originality left in their bone.
After checking out the blow-up lineup, I went to watch The Academy Is perform. They played their classic "Slow Down" followed by a cover of Gnarl's Barkley's "Crazy," which had all their fans confused as to whether they should be shocked and upset, or just dance along to William Beckett's crooning.
Not five minutes into the set, the first mosh pit of the day was full under way, and I witnessed a kid kick-flip and land on his head (on concrete, mind you). He passed out and was carried away, beady eyes and all, by two nearby male fans. You gotta love them emo kids, they'll watch you break your neck in the pit but they'll wisk you away and take care of you immediately (and maybe even shed a tear or two). Had this been Ozzfest, that guy would've been mercilessly trampled.
Article comments
1 - author sucks
hi. your punk. so is the warped tour.
fuck your god fuck your religion fuck jesus fuck the warped tour and fuck you posers. only good bands on the tour are buzzcocks, germs (not even the real band anymore w/o darby (r.i.p.), against me and nofx. warped tour is as commercial as fucking christmas now. and stop confuse the shit that passes off as punk today with the true 80's punk/emo.
2 - author sucks
oh and if you know anything rock you know that the warped tour is a piece of shit show filled with a bunch of 15 yr old losers who probably couldnt even tell you who the bad brains or DK were let alone leftover crack, crucifucks, reagan youth and Millions of Dead Cops.
3 - "Author"
wow. way to be an ignorant stereotype. i feel sorry for you and what you think is such a righteous "battle".
P.S. next time don't waste your time trying to school a vet. I'm no 15 year old and I'm no name-dropping "poseur" who needs to curse to justify myself.
THANKS FOR READING =)
4 - lovett
id just like to say...
i ersonally like nofx they are a great band even if they do offend christians but if you looed at other music of theirs they also critisize government such as president bush himself ect
also rise against being my favourite band are great...you said that they are screamo or to a certain extent, and i have to say they are not really that screamo if you listened to more than a few tracks you would realise that they are not screamo they are more rock/punk with a slight bit of screaming in it, if you want to hear screaming then go listen to bands such as soil!
however you are right in your reply before you do not need to curse and scream to justify yourself, and i am a 15 year old who trys to enjoy all the rock music they can get (for the person above)
at the end of the day each to themselves but thnx for the report tis nice to read others than the mainstream reports given by the official concert providers
5 - xinsanity
Actually just because ur 15 doesn't mean u dnt have great taste in music.
Leftover crack happens to be me nd my friends fav. Band.
We go to all of their shows.
And yes I know they aren't allowed to play in the city (n.y), but guess what. THEY STILL DO
U just have to know the right place to go to.
6 - stevie
WHT D F S D WARP TOOR
7 - joe armstrong
I love Jesus. You need to burn in hell "Author Sucks"