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Show: Van’s Warped Tour
Venue: Susquehanah Bank Center, Camden, NJ
Date: 7/25/2008
Reviewer: Lynn Malpass
Photograper: Lynn Malpass

Site: vanswarpedtour.com

On a hot, sunny Friday in July I got to experience my first ever Van’s Warped Tour. Stared in 1995 as an “extreme” music and skate tour, Warped has quickly become a summer tradition featuring the best bands to be heard, as well as a place to have all kinds of fun including shopping, skating and BMX demonstrations and band meet-and-greets. As many as 100 bands have been featured each year and though it’s always seemed like a fun-filled day, until this year, I had never actually attended one. What a mistake that was, is all I can say! I don’t think I’ll miss one again as I ended up having the best time enjoying favorite bands galore and talking music with so many people, I already can’t wait for Warped 2009! Though I went to seek out the lesser-knowns and the not-so-mainstream bands, I have to say it was a great experience and I can’t wait to do it again!

Unfortunately my day did start on a bad note, having missed From First to Last opening the main stage getting held up at the Press tent – I have been missing their shows now for two years simply due to bad timing – but the rest of day was perfect. A fan of the more obscure and less-heard of bands myself, I started my actual day seeing Beat Union, a punk band from the UK that simply floored me. Nice start to an amazing day. Beat Union, who I’d never heard of until receiving the press release from the band’s tour agent, are the epitome of 80′s punk rock. They were a breath of fresh air with their Clash-esque style and Costello-ish sound. This is a band that I can say nothing bad about. They put on a great set and I thoroughly enjoyed them, especially for the fact that they brought to the tour a lost style that fans today are really missing out on. A child of the 80′s myself, Beat Union is definitely one of the bands on Warped this year that I recommend everyone pay attention to if you’d like to get a taste of something off the mainstream path, with definite roots to real Brit-punk, something that’s so sorely missed in today’s music scene.

Next, I checked out a band called Automatic Loveletter, a band that’s been gaining a lot of popularity this year. Fronted by the beautiful and talented, 22-year-old Juliet Simms, the band hails out of Tampa, Florida and while they have been considered to be a “scene” band, Ms. Simm’s vocal talents and the band’s style set them a bit apart from the rest. They’re not groundbreaking by any means, but Simm’s amazing stage presence and her hypnotizing voice really take this band far. The crowd, though it was an early set, seemed to really enjoy them as well. I could see some of these songs making their way to pop stations and even easy-listening stations, but they weren’t boring, and at least have their own “stamp” in the crowd of popular bands today. Simm’s voice is powerful and she could very well on her way to becoming one of the better female singers of the era.

After Automatic Loveletter, I checked out a Hip-Hop duo called Shwayze who were… pretty good. This is a stretch for me. Generally, Hip-Hop/Rap and Country are the two styles of music that I can’t tolerate, but after seeing these guys on MySpace I added them to my list of “Must Sees” since they piqued my interest. Alright, still not my favorite style of music, but I will say Shwayze was worth checking out. They drew a pretty decent crowd for it being early in the day, too. What I liked best about their music is the different styles that had been incorporated into their songs – rap, hip-hop, disco, rock, scratching, it was all there. Likable songs about having fun rather than popping caps in anyone’s ass, Shwayze and his partner Cisco were attractive, fun and put on a fun set of catchy tunes that had everyone dancing. Definitely not disappointed. Fun, easygoing tunes for having fun in the sun or driving on the boulevard.

I have heard a lot about the Sheffield band Bring Me The Horizon, another UK band having an amazing year, so of course I wanted to check them out. I’m a fan of metal of all styles, though I have to say sometimes screamo is a little too much for me. So while I did not necessarily appreciate that part of this band’s songs, I was generally impressed overall. The band, as a whole, are really young, just barely in their 20′s, and the presence these guys had going portrays a solid, steady metal band who can really put out. BMTH had the biggest crowd of the morning as lead singer Oli Sykes belted out screams to them, leaning off the stage and over the barrier, and it’s pretty obvious this band has some rabid fans already. Energetic set, head banging crowd, I think this band will make their mark in the metal scene. Personally I’d be thrilled to see a few lesser-violent songs from them as their melodies and beats were top notch, but I won’t hold my breath. If you’re into death metal and screamo though, they’re definitely your cup of tea.

My first band outside, I checked out Anberlin and seeing the crowd they had drawn, it really made me smile. I had found out about this band a year prior and none of the people I talk with really knew them. But I loved them. I had also seen them over the winter on tour opening for some other bands and thought I enjoyed their set thoroughly, I felt they did not get the reception they deserved. At Warped, and maybe with more exposure under their belts, I was very happy to see Anberlin getting an enthusiastic “full house”. This is a band that in my opinion has the most promise, the most talent, of any of the newer bands to reach the scene these last few years. Great drumming which stands out, unique sound combining the best of the scene with the best of some more classic, 80′s-style rock, Anberlin is definitely a band for someone who is looking for something a little more. Meaningful lyrics about life, lessons and happiness, and lead singer Stephen Christian’s amazing stage presence all combined for a superb showing that I would not have missed and made sure to watch their entire set. After the show, too, these guys are personable, friendly and just so thankful to their fans, I vote that Anberlin be Warped Band of The Year, if there even was such a thing. If you haven’t seen them before or heard their music, you definitely need to catch them on Warped or wherever you can.

After Anberlin I took in a set from the infamous Bouncing Souls, one of the great 80′s punk bands of the era who still stand after 20 years of popularity and greatness. Though they continue to release music, I’d say the best part about their set was the audience and how into the band and the music they were. It was like a reunion, family members all out to see the hometown heroes (Bouncing Souls are from the New Jersey area after all), one giant party. The songs were fun, the crowd was cheering and happy, and there was this amazing vibe in the air that is what this band is all about. Crowd surfing galore, I witnessed the most amazing thing as the Souls played on, a wheelchair-bound fan being crowd-surfed to the barrier… and then his wheelchair being surfed up as well so that the security guards could set him back into it safely after his triumphant journey to the front of the stage. That, to me, summarized the set played by the Bouncing Souls better than anything else I could write about it! Amazing!

Back inside, my next set was watching another up-and-comer, Ludo. Again, I had heard a song or two on MySpace, as well as talked a bit about them with friends who knew the band, and found them to be interesting so I didn’t miss them. Recently signed by Island Records, they were simply entertaining! With a look reminiscent of something out of Happy Days, lead singer/guitarist Andrew Volpe really gives his all singing humorous tales of love gone wrong and life’s moments with a style all his own. Ludo’s sound is left of the “scene”, part rock band, part bar band, part Richard Cheese with the tongue-in-cheek attitude of some of their songs but it all comes together well to give us one really great result. Their songs were catchy and fun, and they were definitely a band that I would love to see again as I was thoroughly entertained through the whole set. Ludo performed their somewhat sarcastic tunes to a bouncing, rocking crowd that smiled along with them despite their left of the mainstream position as a band. If I had to judge one newcomer as the best on the tour, for me, it’s definitely Ludo. I even ran right over to their merch tent after seeing their set so I wouldn’t forget and picked up their CD, I loved their set so much.

To the outdoor stages once more, this time I caught a set by Angels and Airwaves, another band I have enjoyed for their uniqueness in a sea of copycats – yes, I know, some might laugh at that considering the band is fronted by former Blink 182 lead singer Tom Delonge, who seemed to have started an entire genre of copycat bands all his own – and I loved it. Also a fan of 30 Seconds to Mars I was particularly interested to see what bassist Matt Wachter – formerly with 30STM – would bring to the stage, and I thought the set was very good and very well received. I’ve never actually seen Delonge perform onstage, and have heard everything ranging from him being a musical genius to him being pretty talentless about him, but all in all, I really enjoyed his performance and his quirkiness. I’ve been a fan of the band’s music since they started releasing songs, again impressed by the way they’ve created a really different sound than everything else out there, and their live performance, while maybe lacking just a little bit because of the amount of synth and processing used on the record, was still breathtaking and inspiring. AVA’s vibe is truly that, and even out in the heat and without the benefit of all that added accompanyment, the feeling of their songs still came through. Another band that has gone and broken molds, so kudos to them and Delonge for breaking his own stereotype and coming up with something even more creative and pleasing.

In the afternoon I really got my exercise running from stage to stage, and back inside once again I had a chance to check out the Horror Pops. A punk/psychobilly band that’s been around for a little while, I was honestly surprised to see them on something like Warped Tour. But they were fabulous! I have seen guitarist Kim Nekroman perform before with his other band, The Nekromantix, and while that band is a bit more tongue-in-cheek than the Horror Pops, that same punk vibe showed through, though this time with his striped, hollow-body Gretsche and bassist/vocalist Patricia’s stand-up bass, which lends a really cool, rockabilly feel and classic 50′s vibe to the Horror Pops sound. They belted out amazing, fun tunes that had people dancing in the crowd, everyone bouncing on their feet, unable to stand still. Another very entertaining band to watch not only for their songs but for their look and presence as well in their gothabilly style. If you want to check out something different that you’re likely to get addicted to, don’t miss the Horror Pops when Warped comes to your town!

Then last but least, and I know I said I was looking more for the more unique bands and less for the “scene” bands, I had to see All Time Low who, despite their scene status, have become favorites of mine. Really, there is nothing to say about All Time Low that hasn’t been said by better and more well-known writers than myself so I will simply say this: Great fun, great band, great set and a great end to a really great day filled with the most amazing music. They’re a band who will tell you to your face they’re not in it to be the best, and only to have fun, and fun is what everyone definitely had. Drawing one of the biggest crowds of the evening, All Time Low played a fun set that drew Warped Tour to a close for us all and left us looking forward to next year, and maybe seeing them and some of these bands today, as well as a lot of new bands, again. I left the venue tired, sweaty and will my feet killing me but it was definitely a day I wouldn’t trade, and I hope you all get out to see the Van’s Warped Tour and support your favorite bands when it hits your town!