I'm perfectly willing to admit that there are certain things I write about every single year:
The year-end national and local events-and-trends roundup.
The year-end top-10 CD list.
My yearly apology for for-getting to preview the eminently worthwhile opening events of the BONK Festival of New Music.
And the annual Warped Tour preview.
For those of you who've become completely untethered from what might or might not be the leading edge of youth-oriented popular culture, let's briefly recap: The Vans Warped Tour spends each summer stirring punk music, mainstream music masquerading as punk music, soft-focus liberal politics, extreme sports and canny target-marketing into a sort of pseudo-edgy gumbo on wheels.
I delight in disparaging Warped every year for some of its more conspicuously Hot Topic-friendly acts, for its hopelessly conflicted mix of D.I.Y. counterculture and big business, for the price of its bottled water, and for the enthusiasm with which its young patrons accept what is obviously an immeasurably watered-down and co-opted take on iconoclasm.
This year, however, in the interest of not alienating those readers of the Planet's A&E section whose musical tastes might creepily mirror the coverage of Alternative Press, I'm laying off. No politically tainted rants about "indie vs. major labels." No bitching about the lack of an even semi-well-known hip-hop act. No words on the encroachment of metalcore and screamo. Hell, I won't even bag repeatedly on the presence of Texan one-hit wonders Bowling for Soup, who suck with such fervor it's a wonder whole markets haven't asphyxiated in the tour's wake from lack of oxygen.
Instead, I offer only the following interesting set of facts regarding this summer's installment of the Warped Tour. You may already know some of these things, though I'm guessing that most of them — including the actual lineup for the St. Pete stop — you don't. In any case, like the man said, forewarned is forearmed.
Enjoy.
Oh, and bring some fucking sunscreen. Your tats are starting to look like shit.
This is Warped's 10th Year
Enterprises that don't depend on a certain hipness quotient, like OzzFest or the common cold, might well go on successfully forever. But when it comes to trendier fare, a decade is a hell of a long time. Despite its shortcomings, Warped is to be congratulated for not only surviving, but for flourishing. Incidentally, the actual 10th Anniversary shindig takes place at the tour's Aug. 20 Boston date, and features a bevy of great bands not featured anywhere else on the jaunt.
There Really is More Going On than Music
And hawking extreme-lifestyle accessories, for that matter. Socially conscious label Sub City will once again be promoting their Take Action Tour (which pimps, among other things, suicide prevention hotline The National Hopeline Network) with a heavy presence. And in a sort of backhanded compliment, there's an area devoted exclusively to the females called The Girlz Garage, which the Warped website says features "the latest fashion, music, DJs, sports, makeup, etc." Fancy.
There's Also More Music Going On than You Realize
Take a stroll around "The Compound," and you'll find various bands not billed anywhere in the literature touting various tents. Aligning oneself with a company who's renting a space for the tour has long been an ingenious way for bands not playing Warped to play Warped; just ask Irish Car Bomb, a punk 'n' roll act whose national profile was raised substantially by subverting the main stages a few Warped Tours back.
Warped has Long Supported Local Rock
It's been a tradition for musical instrument and accessory company Ernie Ball to feature hometown acts from every tour stop on its stage — said acts having won some sort of online submission-and-voting competition — and this year is no different. Bay area acts Truly Sunday (emo), RudeSquad (ska-punk), Soulfound (aggro modern-rock) and Suburban Tragedy (loud, snotty power-pop) will all perform over the course of the day, doubtlessly to more than a few music fans who never avail themselves of an all-local bill at one of our fine area venues.
Overall, it Still Provides More than Enough Bang for the Buck
If you can handle the sun, the show's length, the wallet depletion, and more than a few bands for whom the term "mediocre" translates into high compliment, this year's version, like most of the ones before it, will pay off. Hell, given the low ticket price, all it takes is three great sets by well-loved or even semi-obscure (hint: do not miss Rise Against) all-ages headliners to make the day a success. The odds say that'll definitely happen, and that you'll probably stumble away with a new up-and-coming favorite, as well.
Contact Scott Harrell at 813-739-4856, or by e-mail at scott.harrell@weeklyplanet.com.
This article appears in Jul 29 – Aug 4, 2004.
