Warped Tour 2006
The Vans Warped Tour’s distractive groundwork appropriately compliments the chaotic DIY punk lifestyle. Upon entrance a convoy of tents bearing the names of various sponsors lead the way to a mirage of music, vendors, games, and fans sporting Sid Vicious, meticulously styled, colorful mohawks. This, the second stop of a 49 city trek across the country resides here, in Columbus, Ohio.
The eight stages scattered throughout Germain Amphitheater house the music of every explored musical genre in existence. The feature of indie label bands is abundant—from Fat Wreck and Fueled by Ramen to Vagrant and Victory. Kevin Lyman’s eleventh year run of the Warped Tour features nine hours of back to back music with 78 bands traveling in over 120 tour buses, motor homes and vans that crawl across the United States covering over 17,000 miles. On the side, Lyman co-owns an indie record label and also organizes the Taste Of Chaos Tour every Fall.
In reference to the atmosphere, Mike Carden, The Academy Is bass player, told me “it’s like being in a carnival; it’s a great life, just different. Everyday is exactly the same. I wake up, find our set time, play the show, do interviews and autographs, then eat dinner.” Carden said a difficult part of the tour is keeping clean. “Yea, we have to like share three showers between hundreds of people! It’s been five days for me so far!” After noticing the location of the showers near the press area, Carden commented, “yea, I’ll probably hit those real soon!”
Less Than Jake’s sax player Peter “JR” Wasilewski told me “you ought to see it here at eight in the morning! Everyone’s walking around like a bunch of fucking zombies trying to find things! It’s fully a summer camp.” Idle time is unacceptable at Warped. While walking around (oblivious of the fact that well-kept-hidden-inside pallid visages would soon be erased by the antipathetic, inescapable fireball casting rays of intolerable heat from above) fans can read posters plastered throughout the venue, sit and rest at the myspace tent, pick up condoms at the Trojan canopy, meet random Warped performers, play video games or fosse ball, receive a makeover with face paint, and have the opportunity to skateboard.
What about a set list? Nobody was predictably handed a schedule–instead an enormous blow up balloon posted band names, stage names, and set times. Fans were provided sheets of paper with empty spots to fill in their favorite acts to catch for the day. The two main stages (The Jack-N-The Box and Teddy Bear) are housed atop a parking lot, formerly known as Germain VIP Parking. These stages carry the majority of attention considering veteran performances by Less Than Jake, Buzzcocks, Helmet, NOFX, Joan Jett, and Bouncing Souls. The same stages also share the likes of new wave metal punk core acts including: Anti-Flag, Senses Fail, Motion City Soundtrack, From First To Last and Underoath.
Smaller Warped stages feature newbies such as rap trio Gym Class Heroes, AFI affiliated Aiden, Listed M.I.A., and Amber Pacific. The Academy Is’ Carden said “small stages act as an incubator toward reaching the main stage. There is lots of good stuff on the Hurley and Ernie Ball Stages.”
The possibility of witnessing every act is 0/78, but we were able to catch some between interviews. From First To Last, fresh off tour with Hawthorne Heights and Fall Out Boy,is more appropriate for Ozzfest—all members wearing black with matching body paint. Former Limp Bizkit bassist Wes Boreland pranced around in his black underwear while throwing out killer note for note clarity. Eighteen-year-old lead singer Sonny Moore recently battled internet rumors about being dead and committing suicide, but his stage presence proved him very much alive.
The 15 years and running Less Than Jake threw out a mix of ska and punk off their classic Pezcore and current album, In With The Out Crowd. JR commented about their long lasting success: “I’m shocked everyday that kids still come to look at us and play. They always expect to hear ‘Johnny Quest’ and ‘(All My Best Friends Are) Metal.Heads!’” It’s the Johnny Cash rule man—no matter what, he always closed with ‘Reign of Fire,’ people expected that. We get some major shit sometimes for not playing ‘Quest’ or ‘Metal!’”
Buzzcocks and Bouncing Souls represented the closest form of true old school punk pulling it off CBGB’s style. Buzzcocks hit the stage with “Ever Fallen In Love” and hits off A Different Kind of Tension from 1979 as well as their current release, Flat-Pack Philosophy. The endurance of this late Sex Pistols era band was hallucinatory. The Manchester band burnt down the house with a Mod-like anarchist style to share with adoring fans. Bouncing Souls’ lead Greg Attonito sported a blue business tie with an untucked casual shirt. The band threw out fast-paced hardcore songs from The Good, The Bad, and The Argyle, their self-titled album, and mixed in some current tracks off The Gold Record released 6/6/06.
New York City’s Helmet launched hits from Strap It On and last year’s Size Matters. Helmet blew the crowd away as Page Hamilton’s vocals reverberated in unison with thick plucks from his heavy hitting pink guitar. When Joan Jett and The Black Hearts took stage everyone piled in front to watch the 46-year-old Runaways punkstress sing “I don’t give a fuck about my reputation!” Jett, the first female to launch her own record label, also hit up “Cherry Bomb,” and closed with “I Love Rock and Roll.”
Illinois’ The Academy Is, fresh from sharing the stage with Fall Out Boy, Panic! At The Disco, and Hellogoodbye, pleased fans with their smoldering combo of punk, rock, and pop. William Beckett’s confident vocals can tease the mind with more quality sound than produced from a car stereo. Bass player Mike Carden joined with Beckett in 2002 after their individual rival bands split up. Carden told me they plan to release a new album following the Warped Tour in early 2007. “It’s real hard writing on the road, but right now we’re working on writing. We’re ready to do something new.”
Highly energized Motion City Soundtrack played Warped with the distinct moog synthesizer aligned with a catchy, rhythmic, fun, danceable, head bopping beat! Motion City’s animated stage presence exceeded the barricade. Bass player/backing vocalist Matt Taylor told me he recently watched Nine Inch Nails perform and “that show changed me forever. It was a cathartic experience, and I admire those shows as a performer practicing.”
Lead singer Justin Pierre, sporting finger-in-the-socket hair, told me he can’t believe how artists like “Superchunk [can jump] up and down and [manage] to maintain note for note. They act as role models. Them and Flaming Lips. But, I still need more practice,” laughed Pierre. Pieere’s advice to local bands starting out: “Play as much as you can. Leave your jobs, go on tour! Try it and keep doing it. Go ‘till your broke then come back home, find a new job, make money, and do it again and again. A lot of luck is involved.” Motion City just released a deluxe edition of Commit This To Memory on Epitaph Records.
The Warped Tour is not about success, it’s about fans who attend consistently, every year. JR from Less Than Jake told us, “When I was younger, I thought it (success) was to sell tons of records. But, that’s not it. Real success is being able to do what you want to do, no matter how much money you make, and see kids still come to our shows. Kid’s get jaded, but they know they can always count on music.”
Written By Neil Shumate, Out Of The Blue Publications
