Saturday, July 24, 2010

Show Recap: Vans Warped Tour at Monmouth Raceway Park

Sixteen sweet years ago, a man named Kevin Lyman created the Vans Warped Tour, and changed punk music forever. Since its inception, Warped has been a proving ground for up-and-coming acts in the pop-punk/hardcore/emo scene, while giving the proven vets a chance to appeal to a younger crowd. This year's edition of the tour brought more than a few good acts, and more than a little heat was brought upon the wide-eyed youths that took the Garden State Parkway to the Monmouth Park Raceway on July 18th. That being said, here's a chronological recap of the day:

1:00 PM- We arrive to catch the majority of I See Stars' set. While they fall into this God awful "crunk-core" genre, I always thought that they were a band that had potential for at least a glimmer of creativity. However, the talent the young band (most of its members graduated from high school last year) displayed on its debut album 3D was squandered by a sub-par performance, which included a mediocre at best cover of The Outfield's "Your Love."

 2:15- Four Year Strong (Acoustic Set)
After studying the day's schedule, I made my way over to the Keep-A-Breast merch tent to catch Dan and Alan of Four Year Strong play a quick four-song acoustic set. All of the songs were re-done for their Enemy of the World: Special Edition, a Warped Tour exclusive, and all of the songs played sounded as crisp and energetic as the full-band versions of the songs. Both vocalists were on-point, and showed a great deal of emotion throughout the set.

2:45- Bring Me the Horizon- Making my way over to the main stage for the first time, I was able to catch British hardcore behemoths Bring Me the Horizon. The band have made a killing with scene girls in their short career, and their crowd consisted of said girls for the most part. However, in the sea of hairspray and neon shirts, there seemed to be a decently sized pit that remained large throughout the band's entire set. The band has never been my cup of tea, and their set did not win me over; all of the songs seemed to run together, and screamer Oli Sykes seemed out of breath and unable to fully articulate his lyrics amidst the hear. However, the band did produce a pretty cool moment, when Sykes brought his father out for the band's final song, and the father and son went into the crowd together.

3:50- Emarosa-
The Ernie Ball Battle of the Bands Stage was easily the smallest stage on the tour, and how up-and-coming scene stars Emarosa ended up there is still a mystery to me. However, the band didn't seem to mind at all, putting together an energetic set led by the unmistakable Jonny Craig. The former Dance Gavin Dance vocalist has arguably the best voice around, and he set out to prove that during "Heads or Tails? Real or Not," which was one of the best songs I heard all day.While the band sounded phenomenal, it would have been nice to see them play more songs from their recently-released self-titled full-length, as the band's set was  dominated by songs from it's debut release Relativity. Nevertheless, the band put together a great set in what felt like the peak of the day's humidity.

5:35- Motion City Soundtrack
After a long break between bands, Motion City Soundtrack took the stage for the last time on Warped. The band shocked the crowd early on in their set, playing the usual set-ender "The Future Freaks Me Out" after opener "Attractive Today." However, the band's setlist flowed nicely, spanning the band's illustrious career while still plugging their newest material, the stellar My Dinosaur Life, "Disappear" and "L.G. FUAD" were highlights of the set, though the band sounded great on each and every song they played. The band have also taken the initiative to help the world around them, plugging their "Give a Little Help" program during their set. Motion City have always been a band known for their stellar live show, and their closing set on Warped Tour 2010 certainly added to that reputation.

6:15- Set Your Goals-  After Motion City's set had ended, I made my way over to the Altec Lansing Stage (new to the tour in 2010) to catch up-and-coming pop-punk superstars Set Your Goals. After hearing "Gaia Bleeds (Make Way for Man)" on Madden NFL 2010, I was excited to see them bring the house down. However, I left their set feeling a little disppointed, as the band seemed lethargic and unmotivated onstage. Whether the heat had gotten to them or my expectations were set too high, the band failed to do it for me.

6:35- Every Time I Die
I left Set Your Goals' set early in order to catch the band who have become legends in hardcore, the Bufflo-based Every Time I Die, tear the stage a new one. I was drawn into the band by their blistering 2009 release New Junk Aesthetic, and was blown away by the band's performance. There was no band that played Warped this year that put on a more entertaining show that ETID. Whether it was frontman Keith Buckley's antics, his brother Jordan recklessly throwing his guitar across his body and his body across the stage, or Andy Williams's facial hair, the band won me over completely with their set. In a scene were breakdowns come a dime a dozen and deep v-necks and skinny jeans are considered standard protocol or a uniform, ETID let their music to the talking, or better yet, the shouting. It has dawned upon me as I write this that this is what Warped Tour is really about: the legends of the scene showing the new guys how big of shoes they have to fill, and knowing that they won't be filled. If you haven't heard Every Time I Die's blend of hardcore and metal, you may be missing out on hardcore's most beloved outlaws.

7:15- Four Year Strong (Full Band)
As I made my way back to the Altec Lansing Stage, I could hear the crowd screaming the chorus of "It Must Really Suck to be Four Year Strong Right Now" from a hundred yards away. With that, the day was ready to be ended on an epic note. Dan and Alan were now with the rest of their bearded bandmates this time, and the band brought the pain in an inspired, intense set. Focusing mostly on playing songs off Enemy of the World, the band still found time to fit in classics like "Bada Bing! Wit a Pipe!" and "Heroes Get Remembered,  Legends Never Die" as well. "Wasting Time (Eternal Summer)" was screamed back at the band like no other song I'd seen played all day, and "One Step at a Time" brought out the band's sensitive side while still giving the (many) moshers something to dance to. Four Year Strong have emerged as the leaders in the new pop-punk scene, and the way they brought the day to a close is yet another testament to that.

Though this year's Warped lineup was under a vast amount of scrutiny for having "fad bands" littered throughout the lineup (Breathe Carolina, Attack Attack! and Nevershoutnever! to name a few), it is still easy to tell that the tour is still the premiere event for music in the summer. There is simply no other tour that can combine so many different styles of music for so many different kinds of people to listen to, and so long as the bands who do it right (Every Time I Die, Motion City Soundtrack, and Four Year Strong, among others) are on the card, I'll be going until I feel too old (which may be in a year anyway).

Here's some more photos:
More from Four Year Strong's acoustic set.

Will Sowers, Emarosa

Jonny Craig, Emarosa, showing off the golden pipes.

Motion City Soundtrack frontman (and mad scientist) Justin Pierre

The Brothers Buckley (Jordan, left and Keith, right), Every Time I Die

Every Time I Die guitarist (and mustache enthusiast) Andy Williams

Every Time I Die's Keith Buckley using his mic for anything but singing.

Jordan Buckley, Every Time I Die, about to drop the hammer.

Dan O' Connor, Four Year Strong, saying hello to the fans.

No comments:

Post a Comment