Vans Warped Tour In Pomona, California: Pouring Emotions

It was all about striking the right balance at his year's Vans Warped Tour in Pomona, California. With a heavy helping of highly political bands as well as acts offering old-fashioned entertainment, the summer event still seems to epitomize American freedom and creativity. This equilibrium is probably one of the reasons why the tour has maintained its wide appeal and attracted such a large number of musical acts to Warped Tour, which marked its 12th year in 2006.

With 10 different stages, over 100 bands performing, and numerous consumer and political booths at the nine-hour event, concertgoers barely have time to fit all of it in their day's schedule. The layout can still be a bit overwhelming if all you've got is the central wall showing the bands' showtimes as your main resource. But for the most part, people quickly learned how to navigate the grounds, with many making it a point to arrive early enough for a coveted stage-side (or mosh pit) spot.

Early on, one got the distinct impression that President Bush may be one of the main reasons why some bands drew the largest crowds. Thanks to the Commander-In-Chief's pursuit of Iraq, anti-establishment bands were given a surge of energy - which was very evident at Warped Tour this year. While some punk-like characteristics are heard in many of the Warped Tour bands, there was one act in Pomona that truly epitomized the genre. As one of the first performers of the day, The Casualties immediately attracted a large audience with the larger-than-life multi-colored spiked hair sported by vocalist Jorge and guitarist Jake (no last names provided). The New York City-based band supplied the right kind of venom into the early audience with their politically driven "The Unknown Soldier" and tribute to the Ramones, "Blitzkrieg Bop."

The anti-Bush sentiment was also very apparent in the performance from Anti-Flag, a band that drew one of the largest crowds of the day. With the band's extremely vocal stance on Iraq in songs like "A Trillion Dollars," Anti-Flag did not shy away from making their feelings known about the president and the shaky state of the world today. It was extremely obvious that the band connected with many of the kids, given that anyone who did not arrive at the start of the set could barely get a space to stand.

One of the tour's musical strong points came from a band that was not even from the top names on the roster. With a sound based on dual-guitar, straightforward rock approach, Valient Thorr presented the most melodically tight and driving sounds of the tour. Comprised of five men with impressively long beards, Valient Thorr may have not been the top draw, but nods of approval came from multiple audience members. Hearing a perfectly harmonized dual guitar solo (executed flawlessly by Eidan Thorr and Odinn Thorr) may be something you'd more likely hear at Ozzfest, but the band's anti-Bush stance made them extremely relevant. And hearing a little something different from punk or emo was absolutely refreshing.

Helmet, a band known for the 1990's platinum-selling album Meantime, sounded as impressive as ever at its Pomona performance. Vocalist/guitarist Page Hamilton whipped out several inspired guitar riffs with body-shaking distortion that proved why his band was such an influence in the metal and post-hardcore scene. Unfortunately, the band did not attract as big as crowds as expected. This is not to say that there weren't plenty of appreciate fans enjoying the band, which introduced the crowd to the present-day Helmet sound (Hamilton is the only remaining original member) with renditions of "Birth Defect" and "I Know."

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of this year's Warped Tour was that a few "old school" bands actually felt new again. Two acts that saw their peaks during the mid-nineties sounded fresher than ever - more so than some of the younger bands. The Living End and Less Than Jake accomplished this task by sticking true to their sounds. During the nineties they blended in with their respect punkabilly and ska genres, but this year they were among a small group that sounded like nobody else on the roster.

Less Than Jake used to be one of hundreds of ska groups at the Warped Tour, but this year the band's horns were a godsend among a series of screamo bands. While the band did not necessarily put on the most solid show of the whole pack, they did offer a nice escape with a horn section that sounded tight and vibrant on songs like "Johnny Quest (Thinks We're Sellouts)."

 

The Living End put on the best set of the day, largely in part to the band's stellar musicianship. In comparison to some of the younger bands that don't venture far from rhythmic playing, guitarist Chris Cheney, double bassist Scott Owen, and drummer Andy Strachan offered a tight set of old and new sets, highlighted by impressive solos from Cheney and Owen's trademark jumping-off-of-the-double-bass. Of course, the biggest reaction from the audience came when "Prisoner of Society" was played. If you were looking to see a mosh pit to end all mosh pits, then The Living End audience supplied it. Even security had to be brought in when a mysterious burning substance emanated from the swirling smoke emitted from the pit. Through it all, the band kept on playing and the crowd just moshed more and more - fire or no fire.

While some of the highly anticipated bands did not perform at the Pomona show, namely AFI and Bullet For My Valentine, the show did have a classic set performed by Joan Jett and The Blackhearts. The group stuck to the favorites for the most part and gave audiences a solid performance with "I Love Rock N' Roll" and "I Hate Myself For Loving You." Jett's vocal growl has retained its power and the band's melodic-based rock tunes were palatable for most any concert attendee (and their parents).

The crowd was an affable one, with a generally easygoing feel. While the music was probably the biggest draw, some came just to get a taste of the whole Warped Tour experience. Concertgoers Claudia Garcia, 20, and Aperle Alvarez, 18, said while their favorite bands were Underoath and Shaunteclair, there was something even more appealing about Warped Tour. "There's just so much positive energy in the whole thing and the people are great," said Garcia.

It was indeed the energy from the people that seemed to really enhance any given band's performance. When you saw the audience give out as much energy from the band, which was the case with shows by The Casualties, Anti-Flag, and The Living End, you know that music is definitely making an impression in the world. Will the Warped Tour bands who spout political ideas resolve conflict in Iraq? Well, probably not. But watching the emotion that they're fueling in everyday Americans like they did at the Pomona show is pretty exceptional in itself.

Ultimate-Guitar.Com © 2006

During the next several weeks, UG will post interviews with the bands from this year's Warped Tour. Get ready for the exclusive chats with Senses Fail, Motion City Soundtrack, Vaux, Less Than Jake and The Living End!

You can find Mike Glita and Dan Trapp from Senses Fail sincerely discussing the band's new record, being played on the radio and the VWT itself tomorrow, Juy 11th, only on Ultimate-Guitar.com.

Comments

[pavel]

not too bad article im not a fan i guess of a lot of these bands.....1st

[krymson]

Sounds like fun

[Mr. Raw]

wooooo senses fail!

[zer0monkey]

hahaha yea..its "One Trillion Dollars". And that was a pretty good article. It looked at alot of the bands that were different at Warped Tour instead of the ones that always sound so similar

[zer0monkey]

craigboliver wrote:

"A" means a single one of something. you don't say "i have one hat". you say "i have a hat"

dumbass

He is not going with grammar he's talking about the actual name of the song

[llama_guitarist]

wow nothing about underoath i can't wait till warped comes here! SLC july 22! w00t!

[keverev]

i wanna go see protest the hero but im not here when they play around me

[selloutpunx]

i wonder how much the parents of the members of protest the hero paid to get them onto warped tour. after all, they bought them everything else.

[DeadMansCurve]

yeah!! go the living end!!!

[im not mental]

went to warped in san fran 3 days ago. it was awesome. anti-flag was definitely the best band there, followed by rise against and underoath. (i didn't get to see the casualties. )

Checked. No name-calling over correct songtitles, guys. Accidentally deleted one more than I should've. My bad.

[ghostmouse859]

I didn't see against me! on that list, but that is definitley A O K

[BassBeats098]

woo motion city, boo senses fail.

[cky9577]

I liked the article.. if any of you people can't see Warped Tour.. go out to you're local record store and buy Warped Tour 06' contimplation.. it's an alternative to seeing warped but you actually hear it.. 2 cd's under 10$.. come on thts like 55$ less then going!

[redrum58]

llama_guitarist wrote:

wow nothing about underoath i can't wait till warped comes here! SLC july 22! w00t!

dude im goin to the slc show too

[whocares09]

wow, thats a stroke of genious, someones a sellout just for being on the same label as someone else...
anyways, went to the warped tour in KC. it was kickass, i missed anti flag tho
but rise against, casualties and less than jake were the best by far

[adyingwish]

Checked.

And the reason they are called sellouts is because they have an anti-corporate anti-capitalist agenda yet are signed to, and make money for, one of the biggest record labels in the world. However this is not the topic of the article, so all comments bashing Anti-Flag as sellouts will probably be offed.

[FS Guitar]

yea sounds pretty good when you ignore the seemingly endless stream of screamo/emo/pop-punk bands. they really need to start a new punk tour, warped is pretty much dead.

[kelso12345]

its cool that bands can express their politoical views, but at the warped tour it seems like most of the bands are just ultra liberal.

[LPIndin]

llama_guitarist wrote:

wow nothing about underoath i can't wait till warped comes here! SLC july 22! w00t!

i know, underoath is probably the biggest band on the warped tour this year (besides AFI, ughh)

[Paul 2005]

Dang liberals, why don't we have a all conservative concert? I know that there are few bands that have even the slightest leanings toward conservative beliefs, but I really don't care for going to a concert to hear about why my beliefs and those who share my beliefs are wrong. I went to Warped Tour in Marysville, CA last year, and its was all of the same anti this and anti that as it is this year. I'll most likely never go to Warped Tour again.

[recliner33]

Warped tour will suck when I go. I'm only going cause people want me to. However, Helmet is a good band and I should check out and see what this Valient Thorr band is all about

[touchof12string]

I love the warped tour, and i've been to about 5 of the last 8, but i gotta agree with Paul 2005. How can a concert have "positive energy" when it's anti-everything? Now I am going, oh hell yes. broken leg or not. But I would like to see one band, just one, stick up for bush and the establishment. That band would be "sell outs" and prob get booed of stage, but come on. Do any of you realize how bad the media has spun things. And don't get me wrong, I don't support bush, but just to see the other side represanted would be ummm.... honest, but that won't sell tickets.
Mean while, i can't wait to see joan jett and saves the day. peace~

[ibanez_player]

llama_guitarist wrote:

wow nothing about underoath i can't wait till warped comes here! SLC july 22! w00t!

hell yea im going to that one 2

[Clarkinator]

Paul 2005 shut up, if you dont like the politics the bands put on then don't go. If you want a conservative councert, go to yallapalooza and watch country. You'd be hard pressed to find a liberal there (I went two years ago, I can vouch. Had to go for a friends bday).
It is interesting how UG points out the decline in ska bands like Jake and the emergence of scremo/emo bands (if thats what you call em). I was just thinking about that the other day how big ska was a few years ago, and how it suddenly kinda died real quickly.
THe Living End are pretty solid too, in my opinion. There songs are real catchy.

[masterblaster]

Yeah, The Living End are awesome but they've moved away from a lot of that punkabilly sound which is a bit sad.

[recliner33]

touchof12string wrote:

I love the warped tour, and i've been to about 5 of the last 8, but i gotta agree with Paul 2005. How can a concert have "positive energy" when it's anti-everything? Now I am going, oh hell yes. broken leg or not. But I would like to see one band, just one, stick up for bush and the establishment. That band would be "sell outs" and prob get booed of stage, but come on. Do any of you realize how bad the media has spun things. And don't get me wrong, I don't support bush, but just to see the other side represanted would be ummm.... honest, but that won't sell tickets.
Mean while, i can't wait to see joan jett and saves the day. peace~

Yeah I don't like bush but it would be kinda cool to see a band that supports bush, it would be like the other side of the story. Everyone will be represented then....it will sort of be like a democracy, hahaha.
And besides, there must be lots of people who still like bush, cause he got in office not once, but twice.

[I_Dont_Know]

Mr. Raw wrote:

wooooo senses fail!

correction: boooo

FS Guitar wrote:

yea sounds pretty good when you ignore the seemingly endless stream of screamo/emo/pop-punk bands. they really need to start a new punk tour, warped is pretty much dead.

SO RIGHTTTT!!! we need something purely for punk like AFI... They've even said they don't wanna play punk/rock anymore, but at least they had less than jake and rise against etc...

Paul 2005 wrote:

Dang liberals, why don't we have a all conservative concert? I know that there are few bands that have even the slightest leanings toward conservative beliefs, but I really don't care for going to a concert to hear about why my beliefs and those who share my beliefs are wrong. I went to Warped Tour in Marysville, CA last year, and its was all of the same anti this and anti that as it is this year. I'll most likely never go to Warped Tour again.

It's a conspiracy!!! all these bands make music about anti bush this anti bush that!! and there audience is 14-15 year olds!! do they know anything?!?!?! so then these 14 year old kids act like they know what they'r etalking about!!! honestly, i think America knows better than a few punk rock bands going with teh flow

[Xiang]

it's great to see the living end finally cracking the US market. I'm 19 now, but I remember a wee lad in primary school hearing the tune 'prisoner of society' for the first time, and feeling a little beast rise inside of me that no other song had done before. Gone was pop music, in was all-guitar rock and roll.

Even just a few years back I remember a solitary review on the living end, and 90% of all replies being "Who are they?" and "are they any good?"

I guess we all know now

checked

[hippiekiller69]

warped tour has gotten out of its punk rock roots and is like fulll of a bunch of emo bands now that sux ass

[ed.gray]

yeh hippiekiller 69 is pretty correct, i wouldnt even call anti-flag punk, they're posers using georges regeme as a cover for how truly crap their music is

[zer0monkey]

What exactly are they posing as?

[buckethead101]

yeah joan jett and the blackhearts

[fender3592]

nothing about rise against in this artical =(

[shiznac]

why is underoath on this tour and taste of chaos last year most bands this year suck. anti flag rock everything else blows jkajkldsjfksjfbeerbeerbee
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fsjf death metal