Jake and I headed to Warped Tour after stopping for tacos at Maria Bonita, a taco shop near my parents house on Orange and Melrose. If you're in Chula Vista, it's just one offramp before Cricket Wireless and it's delicious. We parked at the venue and got our VIP and photo passes.
The first thing to do at any Warped Tour is to check the board, because the lineup isn't decided until the day of the show.
For the rest of this post, click 'keep on reading'
The first band we checked out was MIA. They were kinda boring, to be honest. Not enough rage for me or something. Maybe it was just too early in the day.
MIA
We wandered over and saw Pierce the Veil and they had a huge hometown crowd and the kids ate em up.
Pierce The Veil
We decided to see what access our wristbands got us, so we went to the main backstage area where the catering was. We had a couple complimentary Hansen's sodas then wandered back to the main festival area.
VIP/band catering menu board
There were band signings all day and I was surprised how many kids would wait in line when there were so many bands playing.
Autograph Line
We went to the backstage area behind the two main stages, then I went up for photos during Rise Against. I really enjoyed their set. I have a feeling they played Jason's basement back in the day, but I can't be sure. So many bands passed through there. I went to the shows but didn't really follow the straight edge scene. They gave a shout to Che Cafe which was pretty rad.
Rise Against
I ran into Sandra and she told me not to miss GBH, so we watched from onstage, then I went around the front to take pictures, then met back up onstage with Jake for the rest of the set. I liked them a lot. "Who in the crowd is over 40? Come on, be proud to be old. If you don't get old, you die."
GBH
We hung out with Jake's friend Sam, who was playing in FEAR, and then I took some pics of Against Me! who were good, but again, I could've used more angst there based on their recordings.
Against Me! (Setlist)
I didn't think I'd really care about Reel Big Fish, because I'd seen them so many times back when I was hanging with the Goldfinger guys, but they still put on a great show, and they did a really cool cover of Enter Sandman. "We just wrote that." They were really entertaining and the trumpet player loved posing for pictures.
Reel Big Fish
We wandered over to see Sam play in FEAR and there was a nice little circle pit going on for them. Lots of songs about Beer. Then More Beer. The Rise Against guys were in the crowd, as was Mike Watt. While I was taking pictures, Schwayze walked by and had a little group of about 25 tweens chasing them. I left midway through the set to get back to the mainstages in hopes of catching the Vandals, passing Katy Perry's bus.
FEAR
Mike Watt & Katy Perry's Bus
I was torn between waiting in line to be onstage or to jockey up front before their set to take pics, and opted on the latter. They were hands down my favorite set of the day, and though I didn't get to talk to Joe Escalante, I was happy to see him onstage again.
The Vandals
We were pretty much done and ready to leave after The Vandals, but I thought I should take advantage of the photo pass and snap some shots of Angels and Airwaves. The sun was quickly setting so all the photogs were using flash, which I tried to use to my advantage, but I had to keep switching my settings. I don't have anything to say about the band except that Tom is clearly his own brand and there will always be kids who love him, no matter what he does. The photo pit was full, I almost got Tom's shoe in my face about three times, and there was a line of about 20 security behind us to catch all the girls who were getting passed over the crowd.
Angels & Airwaves
After the three song photo limit, we were done and took the back way home, stopping for dinner at a Hawaiian BBQ place in National City. I would've loved to catch the CityBeat party at Basic and the Swim Party/Calico Horse show at the Casbah, but I had to work on Friday and I knew it was going to be pretty hectic. Instead, I was in bed by 10 pm. Huge thanks to O for hooking me up. Last year I went to Warped and while it was fun, the bands weren't really my speed with all the Emo and Screamo, but this year it seemed back to it's punkier roots and I really was impressed with the bands that I saw. Not a bad way to spend a day off of work.
4 comments:
how do you get your hands on photo passes... i still can't figure it out.
Not sure if that was an insult or you are looking for a contact, but my friend hooks me up every year.
that wasn't an insult... i've been trying to get photo passes for milwaukee's tour date but i never get replies back.
Hmm...wish I knew someone that could help ya. I usually only find out if I get one the week of the show.
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