Youth N Asia Warped Tour 2004 review

[Youth N Asia 0]

http://forums.thesmartmarks.com/index.php?showtopic=38421 Click for last year's recap.

 

Warped Tour yesterday at the Pontiac Silverdome parking lot. Went with by brother and another friend. Asshole brother said he was picking me up at 7:30am to get breakfast...but he changed his mind and decided not to get up till 9.

 

11:00AM

Gates open and them emo kids flood in by the thousands. I went to the area where they tell the bands time first. And Audio Karate started at 11:15am, so I only had time to jot a few names down before their set.

 

Audio Karate, 11:15AM

Volcom stage, one of the smaller ones. Not many turned out, but I very good set, although I didn't know any of their newer songs. The Nintendo song got a good pop. I recognized about half of them and the people there seemed to like them.

MY SCORE: 7.5 out of 10

 

Next band I wanted to see started at noon, so with half hour sets that doesn't give you much time to move back and forth...not to mention that I had an unreliable watch.

 

Sugarcult, noon

Great set. They got in their singles: Stuck in America, Pretty Girl, Memory, and closed with Bouncing off the Walls. Very fun set, tons of energy. And people seemed to know all of the words. Flip flops flew to the stage, I have no idea why people still wear those here. A little bit of bumping and jumping, but not a ton.

MY SCORE: 9 out of 10

 

And this is when I would break off from my brother and not see him again for a while.

 

Next band I wanted to see wasn't on for another hour, so I killed time walking around. Saw a very bad wrestling match with Tyson Price, Chuck Wagon, a guy dressed like Doink (minus the paint), and another asshole. Went to the Alternative Press tent to renew my subscription for $5.

 

Hey, there's a Vandals tent, and they weren't listed on the site as being there...good times.

 

Caught a couple songs from Billy Talent at 12:45PM, they were decient enough, but I left early to get a jump on Taking Back Sunday.

 

Taking Back Sunday, 1:30PM

I should have known this was going to be trouble when I got a space kinda far from the stage, and within just a couple of seconds there were hundreds more behind me. And right before the band started, there was a stampede and somehow I was within 20 rows from the front, and within another few seconds I was pretty much within 10 rows. I have no idea how that happened. And on top fo that there was almost a fight over people trying to mudge even closer. As soon as the band started everyone mashed, not moshed, MASHED. It was just constant pressing and knocking over into each other. I never went down, but I had to help a shitload of people up. The band stopped about 30 seconds into their first song to tell people to settle down and help people up.

 

Band resumed and it was more of the same. It was like an oven with everyone pressed inside. And my crotch was so pressed into the guy in front of me I felt like I had a boyfriend...but then again so was the guy behind me, so I guess I had two. And any second you got to breather, more people were going down that you had to help back up, and there were endless crowdsurfers going overhead so as you couldn't even get a second to yourself.

 

By this time they had done 3 songs and they stopped again. I figured I was looking for a way out, luckly (me for) a girl has twisted her ankle up badly and needed a way out. I carried her out on my back and the emo kids parted ways like the red sea. Others used that as a chance to form a line behind me and bail. I carried her to a friend who helped her the rest of the way.

 

I watched the rest of the set from the way back. Good set and all, but the whole experience was just shit and I just don't think anyone near the front got much out of it. The songs were good but there just wasn't any fun to be had.

MY SCORE: 7 out of 10

 

Time to run over to the Vandals set. Stopping to get an overpriced lemonaid along the way.

 

The Vandals, 2:00PM

I was about midpack for the Vandals, but the crowd wasn't near as bad. Great Great set and funny as shit. They even took a cheap shot at Good Charlotte, which is always okay with me. They played Ape Drape, My Girlfriend's Dead, It's a Fact, Oi to the World, and others. End song had guitar player Warren doing a song about feeling good which was more for comedy than anything else...and good comedy.

MY SCORE: 10 out of 10

 

They almost got me for a $3 Gatoraid, but the girl working the stand would beg for a dollar tip saying they made "almost nothing" on the drinks. And while most would tip she would pretty much stick the buck in her jar anyway. I didn't like that and passed. Plus I don't believe in tips for someone who does that little.

 

No bands I wanted to see for a while. Did some more walking, but I didn't like any merch this year. I wanted to pick up a good hat but just didn't like any of them. Browsed some overpriced cds for a while, nothing I wanted that I didn't already have.

 

Caught a few songs from Bouncing Souls and The Casulties, didn't really care for either.

 

New Found Glory, 3:30PM

I didn't have much interest in seeing them. but I was tired of walking around doing nothing. Anyway, decient set. Although way too much "this is off our new album" and that pont's made even more clear when he tries to get the crowd to sing along and the people just don't know the words.

MY SCORE: 6.5 out of 10

 

Next I went to the Volcom stage for Fall out Boy, who's popularaty was very underestimated by the Warped promoters. I was near the front and by the time the band stared they had packed their little area full, and people out of the area were barging to get in.

 

Fall Out Boy, 4:15PM

Lots of energy, lots of fun, good songs. The crowd loved them and they played off it great. BUT, 3 songs in they had to shut down the set. One of their big speakers was ready to tip over and fall into the crowd. Most people were pissed cause they showed up for this instead of Yellowcard. This would have gotten a good score had they done a whole set or most of a set.

NO SCORE

 

And this is where the show ends for me. Found my brother again. I told him not to wear blue jeans, but he did. So by this time of the day he was chaffed like a mofo and could barely walk. And my other friend was ready to go. I still wanted to see Bad Religion and Story of the Year. So they made it clear they wanted out...and I had no ride otherwise, so I left early.

 

And on the way out while the friend was looking for the care my brother and I ran into Fred from Taking Back Sunday and bullshittied for a few minutes. Mostly about how bad the crowd was at their set. He said they weren't expecting near that many people.

 

So my Wapred Tour ended 4 goddamn hours early this year, BAH! Anyway, still a fun day, but I enjoyed last year more.

[Red Baron 0]

Emo kids don't know how to put on a good concert.

[B. Brian Brunzell 0]

YNA, you should have hitchhiked home or stolen a car because DAMMIT, you missed some QUALITY entertainment to say the very least.

 

Lars Frederickson & The Bastards came on the main stage, AKA the Brian Stage at 5:00 and SHREDDED the fucking place. It was 30 minutes of straight-up loud, abrasive, in your face punk rock. No frills, no cutesy sing alongs, just balls to the wall loudness. **** 1/4

 

At 5:30, I hit the Uproar stage to see my brother's band Inept play. They started just as Lars was ending and didn't have a big crowd at first. Once they really got into their set and Anthony (the vocalist) started the real crowd interaction, the crowd started showing up, and they even got a nice little pit going. I had never seen them play live due to my move from Chicago to Wheeling West BAH GAWD~! Virginia, so I chilled pretty far back so I could hear everything. They were very tight and sounded great. They made friends with Good Charlotte and the vocalist from Story of the Year backstage, and after the show they sold nearly $200 in cd's. Now I'm not going to be biased, but they put on a **** show. ****

 

I stuck around the Uproar Stage to see Boys Night Out, and they were pretty good live. I was really impressed with their drummer. The vocalist wasn't bad either. And YNA, if you saw the guys outside before gates opened with the portable cd players asking folks to listen to their cd, that who you saw. *** 3/4

 

I had a half hour to chill before seeing Bad Religion, so I helped sell more cd's and made some small talk with my sister's incredibly hot and intelligent friend Sarah.

 

7:00 rolled around and it was time for Bad MOTHERFUCKING Religion. They did not disappoint at all. Their set was blistering, and the crowd was HUGE. No one was really standing around for this bad boy. Getting to see "Generator" and "I Want to Conquer the World" live was both unfuckingbelievable and creampantsworthy at the same time. No doubt about it, *****.

 

The day ended for me after Flogging Molly played at 8:00. Once again, they fucking OWNED. They started with "Drunken Lullabies" and followed it up with "Selfish Man", which was dedicated to George W. Bush. After that was "The Rebels of the Sacred Heart" which featured a funny bit about there being "no such thing as a good fucking Catholic." Then it was onto "Raise What's Left of the Flag", dedicated to Dave's father. A track off of the upcoming album was played next and I didn't get the name of the song, but it was great. It sounded like something from Swagger, which is always good. "Black Friday Rule" follwed, and right after they finished the song, a man was shot from a cannon while Dave added ejaculation jokes. "Salty Dog" was the closer, and what a choice closer it was. The whole crowd was still with them, dancing and crowd surfing and just having a grand ol' time. 'Bows were thrown, crowds were surfed, jigs were danced, including one by my dad. **** 3/4

 

Overall, I had a great time. I got to see some bands that I've always wanted to see as well as some new bands, and well, I saw The Vandals, and I hadn't listened to them since high school. Mostly though I was proud of my brother and his band. They won a contest from a website in Chicago, and after playing saturday afternoon, they drove to my folks hosue 6 hours away, got no sleep, drove to Pontiac at 5:00 in the morning and still managed to play a great gig. Way to go Lucas, I'm proud of you and the rest of the guys.

 

Oh yeah... the lead singer from Coheed & Cambria got clocked in the face with a camera during their first song and played the rest of the gig with a busted lip that bled like a Dusty blade job.

[Youth N Asia 0]

Had I known a smark was going to be there I might have hitches a ride. All left in the day I wanted to see was Bad Religion and Story of the Year. Next year come hell, high water, or little brothers bitchass attitudes I'll stay.

[the max 0]

I would have caught a cab.

 

Seeing Bad Religion would have been the perfect day once you factor in Lars and the Bastards and Flogging Molly,

[Corey_Lazarus 0]

Emo kids don't know how to put on a good concert.

Worth mentioning twice.

[Guest Nanks]

Did anyone see Crowned King???