EVENT REVIEWS
Vans Warped Tour 08
The Vans Warped Tour slammed into Camden, NJ on July 25th bringing with it a power-punch of chaos that lasted from sun up to sundown. There were so many bands performing, I almost don’t even know where to begin! I have been to a lot of shows in my day, and I must start off by saying that Warped Tour was definitely one of the most unorganized tours I have ever attended. The way that Warped Tour operates is that there are several different stages set up around the venue and the set-times and line-ups for each stage change city by city, so no two line-ups end up being exactly the same. While it is a good idea for the sake of variety I felt that it led to a lot of unnecessary confusion and a lot of running around from one side of the venue to the other trying to be sure that you caught the acts you truly wanted to see. This leads me to my other issue with the show, the set-times tended to overlap one another, so staying to see a complete set from one band, led to you missing a good portion of another band you may have wanted to see that was playing on a different stage half-way across the venue. That being said, I can’t say that I had a truly horrible time at the show, in fact I enjoyed many of the bands that were performing and even discovered a few new bands that may be making their way to my iPod very soon.
I started out the day by checking out the band Everytime I Die who seemed to have a pretty good following. I can’t say I was completely into their sound, but they put on a solid set nevertheless. Next, we finangled our way through the crowd to get some pictures of We Are Kings and Ludo who were signing autographs at their respective tents. Lucky for us, they happened to be right across from one another! Props to Andrew Volpe, lead singer of Ludo , for remembering PCM and showing me some love! Speaking of the tents, I have to note that each band playing was represented by their own merchandise tent, which reminded me a bit of being trapped in some type of crazy emo campground where people were trying to sell merch around every bend. At least, all the acts large or small had some way of getting their name out there and the tents definitely helped them stand-out. After the photo session we moved on to see The AKA’s, Confide and Motionless In White. Nothing special to report, just run of the mill emo-bands soaking up their fifteen to twenty minutes of stage time.
After being outside in the sweltering heat for several hours, it was time to move inside and check out Human Abstract and ska/reggae band The Aggrolites. I have to say that I was quite impressed with The Aggrolites, while the matching red jumpsuits were a bit on the hokey side, their energy and enthusiasm was in overdrive and they had me bouncing along with their rhythms and rhymes throughout their entire set. If you are headed to the tour be sure to take the time to check them out! The next artist we caught was Katy Perry and I have to say she was adorable. Katy bounced on to the stage carrying a hot pink parasol and at one point during her set came out with a gigantic stuffed unicorn, enough said! While I am not sure how well the audience was reacting to Katy’s antics, I thought she was fantastic. Girl Power! Julie and I even caught Katy’s boyfriend, Gym Class Heroes lead singer Travis McCoy, loving watching his girl strut her stuff during her set from the side of the stage!
After the fluff that was Katy Perry’s performance we moved back outside and caught sets from rockers Anberlin and Norma Jean, both of whom put on a impressive performances. Norma Jean had more a hard rock vibe, so I was definitely digging their sound, but Anberlin’s stage presence and lyrical content made me stop and truly pay attention. They have got my vote as another must-see band if you are planning on attending any of the remaining dates of the tour. At this point I decided to go check out a few bands on the opposite side of the venue, in other words run as fast as I could and try not to miss anyone, and if I was starting to feel sluggish electro-dance-rock band Family Force Five really pulled me out of my slump. They were fantastic, with their upbeat rhythms and catchy hooks, they had the whole crowd up on their feet and dancing like crazy. I was pleasantly surprised, but just how much I enjoyed this band. Their album, Dance or Die will be in stores soon, so be sure to check them out, believe me you won’t know what hit you!
