12:15 AM Taxi
12:45 Set Your Goals
1:00 Interview with Bryce of The Rocket Summer
2:00 Reel Big Fish
2:15 Riverboat Gamblers
2:20 Interview with Ace of I Can Make A Mess
2:45 Artist Vs. Poet
3:00 Everclear // Mayday Parade
3:15 The Rocket Summer
3:50 Alkaline Trio
4:30 Interview with Art of Everclear
5:00 Interview with Mayday Parade
5:15 Fake Problems
5:40 Anti-Flag
5:45 I Can Make a Mess Like Nobody’s Business
6:30 Dropkick Murphys
6:45 Alesana
7:00 Agent Orange
7:– Lost Cause
7:15 You Me At Six
7:15 Never Shout Never
For Warped Tour Twenty Ten, friend and photographer Dave Endicott made out way up to Pomona Fairplex in Pomona, CA to be greeted with an already-hot day as usual. We knew the drill—go to the blow up schedule, decide on the bands to see, and then check in at the press tent for interviews.
After we had gotten our bearings and planned our schedule for the day, Dave and I wandered around, trying to kill some time before Set Your Goals played at 12:45. We caught a few minutes of a band called AM Taxi who, as Dave puts it, “didn’t suck,” so we snagged a few photos of them playing a song called “The Mistake.”
Set Your Goals by David Endicott
We headed over to the Altek stage and made it a few minutes before Set Your Goals was scheduled to start. Already there was a huge crowd, definitely larger than the last two years they’ve been a part of the tour, and the fans were excited for this punk-leaning pop-punk trio. A booming voice in true boxing-ring style blasted over the PA, “And the love child of Liza Minelli, rocky Set Your Goals!” They started with “Gaia Bleeds (Make Way For Man)” and followed with “The Fallen…” Although they were ready to roar and shredding as always, somehow the “punk kid” in them shined through—the weird kid that sat in the back of class and dreamed of following in the footsteps of their heroes in Rancid. Only, these guys are “livin’ the dream” The last song they called what I thought was “This May Never Happen” (is it new?) and we jetted back to the press tent for an interview with Bryce of The Rocket Summer.
Reel Big Fish by Stephanie Spear
Reel Big Fish must be the only band in history to start their Warped Tour set early. As far as I know, the band was scheduled to start at 2:00, but at five-till we were still looking for the right stage and heard “Everything Sucks” blaring with brass section ablaze. “Thanks for watching Reel Big Fish” says lead singer and they begin to walk off stage. The crowd looked around shocked and a few boos could be heard. The band hadn’t even made it off the stage before they turned back around. “They said we have time to do one more song.” Those pranksters! “I Want Your Girlfriend to Be My Girlfriend Too” was their “encore” and they proceeded to thank the crowd again, only to come back “Okay, they said we can do one more.” They played nothing but favorites—“Your Guts (I Hate ‘Em), “She Has A Girlfriend Now” with great girl guest vocals, “Suburban Rhythm” and a ton of other greats. Being the first time I’d seen RBF live and them having been one of the first bands I heard that was not being played on the radio (yeah, that was a long time ago), I was absolutely impressed!
Dave and I split ways—him to capture Riverboat Gamblers, Artist Vs. Poet and Everclear and me Mayday Parade and The Rocket Summer. On my way to Mayday Parade’s set, I passed a girl playing an acoustic show in the Altec Live tent. Becca was drawing in a crowd little by little and whether it was because she was a grungy girl wearing a leopard negligee or because she was rocking the acoustic guitar with powerful vocals, I’m not sure, but I liked it.
I made it to the Mayday Parade stage with time to spare, but the stage was running a bit behind schedule. After waiting ten minutes, I decided to cut my losses and make sure I was in time for The Rocket Summer.
The Rocket Summer by David Endicott
As always, Bryce of The Rocket Summer put on a great show, opening the set with my favorite track off the new album Of Men And Angeles and also the You Gotta Believe EP– “Hills and Valleys.” An absolutely heartfelt yet upbeat song, the crowd sang it back to him as if it’d become their own anthem. He followed it with “Do You Feel” and then was inspired by the scenery to “create a song” performing his one-man-song via looping. It’s impressive to say the least—building a song by creating a drum track and adding keyboard, bass, and then playing a guitar solo. To those who hadn’t seen this several times already, it most certainly inspire awe. After he played one of my favorite songs “Brat Pack,” I regrettably had to move on to make it to the other side of the fairgrounds to see Alkaline Trio.
On my way, I did catch a song of Mayday Parade—black cat. Which inspired me fore a few of my interview questions for Mayday Parade.
Alkaline Trio by David Endicott
Then Alkaline trio, which I would probably consider one of my favorite bands, performed well, but their set was a bit disappointing. From the majority of their set that I watched, they didn’t play any of my favorites. I’m sure that long-time fans loved that they rocked some oldies like “My Friend Peter” and “Armageddon,” but I didn’t hear any of the essentials like “Radio” or anything at all from Crimson. Opening with “Armageddon,” they followed it with “Dine, Dine My Darling” for “every time I dine” said Dan Andriano. “Calling All Skeletons” was giving guitarist some awful feedback that would have made some rock stars livid, but he worked with it and kept the song going. “The American Scream” from their newest album This Addiction was the last song I heard of their set, which they dedicated to “our friends at Epitaph Records.” It’s good to hear that some bands are happy with their label.
Then we snagged Ace of I Can Make A Mess Like Nobody’s Business from his merch tent and asked him a couple of questions…
With some time to kill, Dave and I wandered over to Fake Problems, catching a few photos of another band on the way. While I was a little worried about Fake Problems after hearing a short preview the night before, I was pleasantly surprised. I suppose I shouldn’t expect any less from a Side One Dummy band. They were busting out some great Americana rock, but it lacked the normal clichés. They played a new song “5-6-7-8” from their upcoming album Real Ghosts Caught on Tape (Sept 21 release) which had some familiar riffs, but I couldn’t place them.
Dave and I parted ways again so he could capture Anti-Flag whose set he said was “insane” and they were “fucking awesome.”
I Can Make A Mess Like Nobody's Business by Steph
Ace Enders, having played in The Early November and as Ace Enders and a Million Different People, is back playing under the nom de plume I Can Make A Mess Like Nobody’s Business, a band name that seemed to be omnipresent among music lovers back in 2004. After playing two older songs, he performed a new song called “Old Man………………………”, which started slow and wandering and then had a great pick up into an upbeat track. The next song, “The Best Happiness That Money Can Buy” went out to “people who have a little feeling that never lets you stop.” He seemed so genuinely grateful for us just listening and “helping him achieve his dreams” and it was incredibly moving. It was hard at that moment not to be in love. His closing track was a big surprise—a partially-acoustic version of The Early November’s “Ever So Sweet.” And it was.
Immediately after, on the adjacent stage, an announcer said to the crowd something to the effect of “she’s had a long day so show her some love” and out came a skinny blonde who looked like she didn’t give a shit. Whether it was part of the act or she really was having a rough day I have no idea, but no one was being allowed in the press pit for her set (perhaps to avoid any dark circles or red eyes being caught on camera?). This band, I discovered, was The Pretty Reckless. Taylor Momsen’s band. Unless you read celebrity blogs or watch teenage dramas, this name probably doesn’t mean much to you, but she’s an actress on The CW’s Gossip Girl. She opened with a track called “Light Me Up” but she didn’t sound any too pleased about being herself. During a break in the song she told the crowd, “If you’ve got anything to smoke, light it up, I don’t care what it is” and she continued to sing the chorus, “Light me up when I’m down.” Despite her I’m-over-this attitude (or maybe because of it) the crowd seemed pretty enthralled with this girl rock à-la Joan Jett.
Dropkick Murphys by Steph
While I can’t say I’m an avid listener of the Dropkick Murphys, what I can say is that I know that they rock and kick ass. Before they came on stage, they played a beautiful female Irish ballad and then pounced on stage with attitude. They tore up the set and while it was a clusterfuck in the photo pit trying to shoot their raw awesomeness and although I couldn’t tell you any names of the tracks they played, the performance was fantastic and so full of raw energy they could have gone for round two.
Dave headed off to cover Agent Orange (“They were showing their age. Great band, but they seemed tired.”) Lost Cause, and You Me at Six (“Girls must be all over them for their Australian accents”).
I meandered to the “pop side of the venue” for my last two bands of the day.
I have heard Alesana’s name before, mostly from the two Punk Goes… tracks they’ve done—“What Goes Around” on Punk Goes Pop Vol. 2 and “Apology” on Punk Goes Acoustic 2. I suppose from those associations, I had a bit of a misconception about the band, but nonetheless, their screamo dominated the Glamour Kills stage. Clad in almost entirely, if not exclusively black, these dudes were guitar-licking, screaming, and throwing themselves into the crowd as if their lives depended on it.
In the photo pit of the AP stage before the next set, a fellow photographer whispered to me that some of the girls in the already-sardine-packed crowd were crying at the site of NeverShoutNever’s Christopher Ingle. While this boy’s music is the most adorable thing since teddy bears and his wide-eyed doe-y face and bush of hair makes
NeverShoutNever by Steph
him seem like the southern-bread apple pie boy that he is, the tattoos on his hands and the cigarette he lit while coming on stage made him look like the boy your mama warned you about. Appealing to all the girls who love a bad boy with a sweet side (what girl doesn’t?), this potty-mouthed hooligan opened with “Love Is Our Weapon” as he tucked his lit cigarette into his guitar neck. The harmonica around his neck only added to his lovability and before he played one of my favorites, he explained that it was about having a crush on a rock n’ roll girl with tattoos. “Trouble” is, by my account, a dangerous song, condoning the addition to a crush that is probably bad for all involved. He then performed the optimistic “BigCityDreams” and then caught the crowd off-guard when before breaking into “What Is Love” he asked the crowd to raise their hands if their parents were divorced. By his account, he seems to have come from a pretty typically shitty family situation and he shouted, “I hope our kids are happy as fucking fuck!” “I Love You 5” he said was about when he “loved a girl five times. But it took me five times to realize she was not my girl.” About Christopher Ingle of NeverShoutNever (or Never Shout Never) all I can say is that a wounded bad boy with a sweet side and a guitar makes for a very excitable girl following.
The whole day was much more of a success than I expected. Lots of running back and forth but Dave and I were able to see a great range of bands who all performed great sets. Seems as though Warped Tour still has some life in it, even if the crowd and bands have changed a bit from the original tour in 1995.
New Found Glory, still going strong after nine years, commanded the stage and riled up the crowd as they took us from 2009 to 2000 and back. Didn’t know time travel was possible? Try watching New Found Glory play “Dressed to Kill” and “Hit or Miss” as the entire venue sings along. They played some of the most memorable high school anthems like Sticks and Stones’ “My Friends Over You” and Catalyst’s “All Downhill from Here.” Then the more sentimental songs from Coming Home like “Oxygen” and an acoustic performance of “Too Good to Be.” To bring us up to date, they jammed out some of their newest soon-to-be anthems from their March release Not Without a Fight like “Right Where We Left Off” and “Truckstop Blues.” A guy in the front row was singing along with his middle finger in the air and vocalist Jordan pointed out, “how 2009 of him” but really this is the sentiment that Not Without a Fight provokes—attitude and passion. Before the night closed, the band made sure to let the crowd know that all the bands on the tour are sincere. They’re “not doing it to sell a tshirt.” And I think this is what made the show so great. Honest rock and roll is the best and only kind there is.
