Photos by MINDY ROSS/Daily Bruin Senior Staff Tim
Armstrong, frontman for veteran punk band Rancid, leans
over the enthusiastic crowd during the group’s set at Vans Warped
Tour at the L.A. Sports Arena on Friday. The band cut its set short
after a fan was injured to avoid further problems. Click Here to See More
Pictures from the Vans Warped Tour.
By Mary Williams
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
A hot sun, an exhausting nine hours on their feet, a disgusting
amount of trash on the ground, and still the thousands of punk rock
fans came to Friday’s Vans Warped Tour and stuck it out until
the end.
Their reward was an impressive lineup that consisted of 62 bands
on six stages and an assortment of extreme sports athletes.
The Warped Tour made its annual stop in Los Angeles this year
with some of the best bands in punk rock. But as good as the
performances were, it was the crowd that made the show exciting
with its almost boundless energy.
The concert started at noon but didn’t really get going
until about an hour later. One of the first bands to perform was
the mainstream rock group Alien Ant Farm. Its performance was
unremarkable, except for the bizarre on-stage antics of bassist Tye
Zamora, who stuck his tongue out at the audience and made weird
faces while playing.
Following Alien Ant Farm was the punk band AFI, which closed the
show the day before in Ventura. The band kept its audience moving
and, in most cases, singing along with its songs. A solid set
brought out the most energy the audience exhibited with all the
earlier acts.
Wisecracking punk band Guttermouth gave an energetic performance
to an enthused crowd of about 200 people on the Volcom Side Stage.
The audience was small compared to that of the main-stage acts, due
to the fact that it was a long and crowded walk from the main
stages.
Guttermouth demonstrated its fan-friendly attitude (always a
plus) as it got rid of the line of security and allowed audience
members on stage.
Rapper Kool Keith added diversity to the show with his
performance on the main stage. As the sole hip-hop act in a punk
rock show, his set was distinctly out of place but a testament to
the crossover appeal of hip-hop today. Many members of the audience
were able to chime in at the chorus and, after the first few songs,
most heads were bobbing and some fists were pounding in the
air.
There was something strange, however, about a New York hip-hop
artist playing to a crowd of half-enthused Southern California kids
with mohawks. As good as it was, his time on stage seemed like an
interjection rather than a part of the concert.
The Bouncing Souls, one of the better punk bands not played on
the radio, won over the crowd with its entertaining, upbeat set of
pop-punk songs. Singer Greg Attonito is a charismatic performer and
the group had a lot of anxious fans in the audience.
Pennywise, as expected, caused the most uproar in the crowd. The
mainstay of punk commanded the audience’s respect and
attention with its powerful lineup of both old and new songs.
Always good performers, Pennywise didn’t disappoint its
fans.
 ANGIE LEVINE Although its music doesn’t fit into the punk
genre, the band 311, fronted by Nick Hexum, riled
up the crowd with its energetic set. Click Here to See More
Pictures from the Vans Warped Tour. As the concert progressed,
dehydrated and sweaty fans pushed through crowds and trash to get
from one stage to another. With vendors selling out of water and no
break in the action, it is amazing that the audience kept bouncing,
moshing and crowd surfing with as much energy as they
displayed.
But bounce they did and when New Found Glory took the stage, the
group was greeted with an eager audience. Its set of commercially
viable pop-punk songs and the crowd’s reception showed that
this band has commercial hit potential, along the same lines as
Blink-182. What the band lacks in originality of sound it
makes up for in catchy tunes.
Not everyone was pleased with New Found Glory, however. When its
set ran long, members of an enormous crowd waiting for
Rancid’s entrance expressed their displeasure at the delay.
Gathered in front of the stage where the band would begin as soon
as New Found Glory finished, over a hundred fans held their middle
fingers in the air in the direction of the lingering group and
began chanting “Rancid.”
When Rancid did take the stage, its members began encouraging
the audience to form a “crazy pit from that tent to the
Yoohoo sign,” gesturing to an area wider than the
stage. When a pit of a satisfactory size formed, the group
resumed playing.
The pit never did reach the Yoohoo sign, but it did leave
someone injured. When the band was informed of this, it stopped
playing and announced that in punk rock, people should take care of
each other. This declaration was met with loud cheering and
applause, unlike the announcement that followed ““ that the
band would cut its set short rather than risk any more
injuries.
The move was responsible and brave, risking the crowd’s
disappointment following the high expectations it had for the set.
Rancid encouraged its fans to have a good time, but in the end, it
wisely put the safety of the audience first.
While Pennywise caused the most turmoil in the audience, 311 got
the most people jumping. A strong performance full of popular songs
sucked the last of the energy from the crowd. A final spike of
liveliness came when the group played their hit “Down,”
and even the audience members standing far from the stage got into
the action.
Fenix TX, who closed the show, gave an anticlimactic
performance. The band failed to get most of the beleaguered crowd
moving, and in the end a few small mosh pits were the only sign of
activity.
At the end of a long day, it may have been the bands and
athletes who held the spotlight, but the real spirit of the Vans
Warped Tour was found in the fans, who didn’t let the demands
of nine hours of non-stop music keep them from expressing their
love for the loud, fast-paced, nonsensical noise of punk rock.