11:15 The Academy Is…
12:05 We the Kings
–Interviews with All Time Low, Forever the Sickest Kids, and The Academy Is… available on our iTunes Podcast–
3:15 ORESKABAND
3:55 Forever the Sickest Kids
4:20 All Time Low
5:45 Relient K
6:45 Say Anything
7:00 Four Year Strong
7:15 Katy Perry
7:45 Angeles and Airwaves
8:15 Gym Class Heroes
We managed to arrive just in time to check in at the press tent, sign up for interviews, and make it back over to main stages to catch The Academy Is… go on first thing in the morning. They opened with “Neighbors” to an unusually mellow and stagnant crowd. The played some classics—”Slow Down” and “Classifieds”—mixed in with their new singles released this past Tuesday on Fast Times at Barrington High—”Summer Hair” and “About a Girl.” These new summer anthems were perfect for getting started a long hot day at Warped Tour.
We the Kings were the next act of (moderate) interest and we sauntered over there to catch a few pictures and a few songs. They sounded like Boys Like Girls with more elementary lyrics and less catchy hooks. “Cause if you jump I will jump too. We will fall together from the building’s ledge never looking back at what we’ve done. we’ll say it was love cause I would die for you” is cliché emo through and through. As we walked away, we heard Travis Clark, lead vocals, tell the crowd to “spread the love” about their new album. So if you consider the album “love” you have Travis’ permission to share it.
Back over in the press tent, we waited around for our interviews. They all went amazing and we ended up getting even more than we hoped for – All Time Low followed by Forever the Sickest Kids and The Academy Is… with Charlotte Sometimes later on in the day. You can listen to all of these interviews on iTunes – Addicted to Shows Podcast .
After a couple of hours in the press tent, skipping way too many good sets, we caught ORESKABAND’s set. They’re an all-girl ska band from Japan and they RULE! Aside from them being adorable and bursting with anime-like bubbly excitement, they kick ass as a very legit group of musicians. They shouted for us to sing along (which was a little hard since I think most of us don’t know Japanese) but the oo’s and ahh’s were definite sing-along, skank-along material and they put on an altogether fun set.
Forever the Sickest Kid’s set was almost as good as their set at Warped Tour in Pomona—full of dancing, moshing, and sweatiness. Their music really has this great energy and fun about it that it’s impossible not to get excited about it. Songs like single “Whoa Oh!” and “She’s a Lady” got the entire crowd moving and a constant launch of crowd surfers. I can’t possibly give the Kids more praise than I already have in previous reviews so I’ll quit while I’m ahead. LOVE.
The closer we got to the Hurley stage, the more dense the crowd got until we finally reached the staging area overflowing with kids—the ones farther out were observant, the ones closer in ready to get their effin’ dance on! Some of the younger more novice kiddos weren’t quite prepared for what was about to go down – lots of people falling, crowd surfers falling through, and people upset about losing sandals (please don’t wear sandals to a show). All Time Low’s set was fun, energetic, and definitely dance-worthy. There was a dancy, sweaty mix out there on that black top with even a little bit of circle-pit action which is great to see at Warped Tour. They played Poppin’ Champagne (without the bleeping. Take that, MTV!), Six Feet Under The Stars and the rest of their fun, sing-along teenage anthems. Fun, sweaty times.
Heading over to the main stages, we were up front and ready for Relient K. Where were all the die-hards? I only saw people mouthing (not even singing) along for a few of the more recent releases. But the crowd was in no way a reflection of their performance. Matt gracefully floated between the piano and his guitar amidst xylophone-littered pop rock melodies with fantastic harmonies.
Totally contrary to their normal rock genre, they busted out Kanye’s “Good Life” followed by their “The Best Thing.” Off their new The Bird and the B-Sides (with 13 new and 13 old songs) they played “The Scene and the Herd” which sounded more Mhmm than Five Score. Matt sang, “I see you magically got this song for free… Doesn’t bother me. I’m gonna sing what I want. It might not be what you want to hear.” which seems appropriate because Relient K has always done exactly what they wanted to, from the contemplative Five Score to the playful “Sadie Hawkins” which they played next (although Matt admits to be sick of it, it’s still a crowd favorite). They segued their silliness into a song about The Office and then got a little more serious with “Who I Am Hates Who I’ve Been” and promotion of the charity Blood, Water, Mission. They ended with “I Need You” – heavy and buck! Haha.
We stuck around to try to split the next half hour between Say Anything and Four Year Strong but Rise Against made Say Anything start late and I was only able to see one of Say Anything’s songs – “Alive With the Glory of Love.” They had good energy, great vocals and a crisp sound that drew a huge crowd. Fans had sat there through the last 4 sets just to get a good spot for them. Dedication, and for a good reason.
Hustling over to Four Year Strong, I caught the set mid-first-song. This set… FANTASTIC. They have the fun and energy of Forever the Sickest Kids and the heaviness of Set Your Goals creating this fun, dancey, head-banging, moshing monster. There isn’t enough praise I can give Four Year Strong. And their straddling between hardcore and powerpop-rock allows them to appeal to just about anyone – you WILL like them.
They played my favorites off their album Rise or Dye Trying – “Prepare To Be Digitally Manipulated,” “Catastrophe,” “Abandon Ship Or Abandon All Hope,” and “Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Hell.” Listen. Now.
Katy Perry was on the stage just to the left and we caught a few of her songs. While I have to admit a guilty pleasure for the beat of “I Kissed a Girl” and her music is pretty great to play at a party, having to stand and watch Katy shake her booty around the stage was only mildly entertaining and probably more suitable for a male audience. I caught “One of the Boys,” “If You Can Afford Me,” and “Hot n’ Cold.” Impatient for cherry chap stick and “Ur So Gay” I decided to find our M.I.A. photographer.
Unable to find Catharine, I ended up shooting Angels and Airwaves with my camera. Being up front and center for Tom Delong & band was really incredible. Him and former band Blink-182 probably influenced over half the bands on Warped Tour 2008. Their sound is so epic and inspiring. The fans were so into it they were practically climbing over the barricade in hypnotized enthusiasm. While this (not really that) new direction for Tom is exciting, it can be a little strange for all us Blink fans to see Tom so serious. Just for us, Tom threw in a “fuck, shit, poo poo, pee pee” for us before submerging into a personal favorite “It Hurts” and closing the set with the single off their first release “The Adventure.”
Gym Class Heroes closed out the night, walking on stage to “End of the Road” which is pretty appropriate – the last act on the last date of Warped Tour. A little sad… but they picked up the mood immediately with the obvious crowd-pleaser “Clothes Off” which brought on dancing and singing along. Travis announced that their the successor to As Cruel As School Children is called The Quill and will be released September 9th.
Off their new album they played a song with a chorus “Put up your peace sign, put your index down” and then their School Children slow jam “Viva la White Girl.” To introduce their new fans to their excellent first release The Papercut Chronicles, they played a medley of “Simple Livin’” and “Taxi Cab” (my favorite). Stealing a note out of Relient K’s book (or maybe the other way around) they busted out an amazingly clean rendition of metal band Lamb of God’s “Laid to Rest.” They closed out the night, and the Warped Tour, with “Cupid’s Chokehold” with Katy Perry, Forever the Sickest Kids, and a female bunny costume on stage with them.
2008 Warped Tour finished in Los Angeles after another long summer out on the road. Some bands we got to see for a second time and some picked up somewhere in the middle and helped close it off. Some bands we missed completely (sorry about that). But this year was great and it was awesome to be able to see some new favorites on the stage for the first time. If you guys don’t take anything else from this, I hope that you listen to our interviews and listen to FOUR YEAR STRONG.
There are a ton more photos on myspace.com/addictedtoshows including other bands not included: Cobra Starship and Ludo. Check them out!
Stay Saavy,
Steph@A2S
Photos by Catharine Acurso
