Vans Warped Tour ‘08
Saturday July 19, 2008
The Flat At Arrow Hall (Mississauga, ON)


The fact that Warped Tour wasn’t going to be in Barrie this year was bad enough, add in a less than stellar lineup (more suited to emo fans than actual punk fans for the most part) and the move from Downsview Park to Arrow Hall due to lack of ticket sales and it just felt like this year’s Warped was going to be a bust. Well, as soon as I saw the line circling around Arrow Hall’s parking lot things started looking way up. The venue’s parking lot actually worked for the festival and had one huge thing going for it, when it rained, there would be no mud to deal with like what happened to the previous week’s Edgefest.

The great thing about Warped Tour is that you never know who’s playing at what time until you get there, so we got there for doors giving us some time to figure out the schedule and go to the one of the main stages in time to see The Academy Is… Whether or not you’re a fan of the band’s emo-pop-rock, there’s no denying frontman William Beckett’s ability to work the crowd of teenage girls (he eventually popped up onstage for Cobra Starship and Jacks Mannequin cameos as well). Starting to look more manly onstage more each year, Beckett has the style and vocal skills, to absolutely captivate the audience. Older songs like “Attention,” “The Phrase That Pays,” “Checkmarks,” and “We’ve Got A Big Mess On Our Hands” went over huge as sing-along’s. The few new songs the band played got a massive response. I’d like to tell you more about the actual band, but to be totally honest, Beckett stole the show.

The second The Academy Is…finished their set, their Fueled By Ramen labelmates, Cobra Starship started playing on the second mainstage only a few feet away. Kicking their set off with “The City Is At War” the lead single off of their recent album, ¡Viva La Cobra!, Gabe Saporta and co. blew it up. Apparently the A&R reps at Fueled By Ramen have a thing for charismatic frontmen because Saporta did everything from tell jokes, to (nearly) choreographed dancing to pole dancing and all in the first 3 songs. To quote a friend, Gabe is quite simply ‘The Shit.’ The band had the audience participation going during “Church Of Hot Addiction,” and brought out William Beckett and Gym Class Heroes’ Travis McCoy for “Bring It (Snakes On A Plane).” If you want an entertaining concert, this is the band for you.

Sick City were next up on the Ernie Ball stage and the Winnipeg band put on a good set as usual. With a good size crowd for the smallest stage on the tour the band opened their set with “Antoinette,” the opening track off their album, Nightlife. “Islands” and “Killing Ourselves To Feel,” drew in some new fans and showed off the band’s indescribable sound. Though I couldn’t stay for the whole set (I was reluctantly convinced to head over to see Against Me!), Sick City is a band I’d love to see more of. Bassist T.J. Stevenson is such a star onstage, it’s worth it just to see what he’ll do.

Though I said it was with reluctance that I went over to see Against Me! it wasn’t because I don’t like them, I do, it was because I wanted to see the rest of Sick City’s set. The second Against Me! hit the stage, I was extremely happy I went over. Opening with “Piss And Vinegar,” Against Me! just completely lives up to their hype, something that really can’t be said for most buzz bands. Tom Gabel and Co. blasted their through a set filled mainly with songs off of their extremely popular major label debut, New Wave. “White People For Peace,” “Stop,” and “Thrash Unreal,” all sounded as good as on CD if not better live. Even “Borne On The Airwaves,” sounded fantastic with guitarist James Bowman taking on Tegan Quin’s parts. Just amazing, there’s really not much more to say.

Reel Big Fish hit the stage with a cover of Metallica’s “Enter Sandman,” much to everyone’s delight. A Metallica song with trombone, it just doesn’t get much better than that. But that wasn’t the only cover; the ever popular ska band did a unique version of Phil Collins’ “Another Day In Paradise,” as well as their most famous cover “Take On Me.” The fan favourite original songs weren’t forgotten as “Sell Out” was a massive sing along and “The FU Song,” “Beer” and “Suburban Rhythm” were all there to entertain. It’s a good thing that they’re coming back in the fall with Less Than Jake because RBF have so many songs that everyone loves that they could’ve played all day long.

The Saint Alvia Cartel are one of the most perfect bands for a summer festival because their music gives off almost a summery punk sound. “Karma Kill Me Again,” “Business As Usual” and recent single “Blonde Kryptonite” all sounded good on an open stage and new songs “Between The Lines” and “Roll With It,” went over well. But it was their first single “I Don’t Wanna Wait Forever” that proved they deserve to be more well known and on a bigger stage and that they have the potential to pull it off.

Gym Class Heroes are by far one of the most well known bands on this year’s Warped Tour and it was completely evident by the size of the crowd in front of the stage. Travis McCoy is also one of the most entertaining frontmen to watch. Between the banter between him and the audience and his almost elastic face there’s always some kind of humour underlying even the most serious of lyrics. Opening the set with “Clothes Off,” he could’ve just stood there not saying a word and someone would’ve cheered but with the introduction of the band’s new single “Peace Sign/Index Down,” (the recorded version includes Busta Rhymes) there was a complete sense of audience interaction with the song’s chorus put up your peace sign, put your index down. “Viva La White Girl” included a little flirting with the girls in the audience with a sly mention of McCoy’s girlfriend and tour mate Katy Perry. Old songs like “Papercuts” and “Simple Livin’” made an appearance in a medley and just made everyone in attendance wish the September 9th release date of The Quilt come faster.

With Gym Class Heroes came the hard rain that made everyone run for cover. Bands like The Creepshow and Protest The Hero were troopers and played with no regard to getting wet. As PTH hit the stage about three-quarters of the way through the day the rain was coming in down and sheets and actually hurt when it hit you. We left, but a good chunk of people stayed to catch the last bands of the day. How PTH managed to play a single note on a tiny stage full of people in the pouring rain with no one getting electrocuted is beyond me, but it just goes to show that when it comes to Warped Tour, the words ‘the show will go on rain or shine’ really mean something. Hopefully next year will be just as good as this was. And hopefully the weather will cooperate.

- Alyssa Caplin

For more pics of Warped Tour, click here...