warped tour 2004
Ahh Warped Tour. That time of year when the sounds of birds and bees and all sorts of fun summer things can be heard. It is a time when the sounds of many bands converge and form a car wreck of goodness that is loud and fun. This years theme was a simple one, Ten Years of Warped Tour. I think this years was one of the best in that time. Although it started off with the car waiting of doom on the LOONG line to get in (where subsequently we blew past the fools and took an easy alternate route Ha! suckers) But once we made it things picked up rather quickly. After a quick tour of all that was warped tour we settled at the Maurice stage just in time to catch Billy Talent. I thought they were pretty good and although they aren't my favorite band they did do a pretty good job. I think they would be better in a small venue. I must admit though, that the dudes voice becomes ten times more annoying live. Which is kind of painful. Next was The Vandals. A quaint little band. The Vandals don't come around often, so if you haven't seen them and the actually come to a town near (or far from) you go see them. Warren Fitzgerald alone will be worth the price of admission. (or make you wish you had stayed home and got a lobotomy to banish him and everything associated with him from your mind) Case in point Warren's crotch solo on guitar. I will admit it was amazing... but.. I am still horrified by it and I don't think I will every admit that actually happened. *shudder* I am not one who usually moshes. For various reason I usually just sit back and watch the band. But everyonce in a while a song will get me goin and i have to move. When And Now We Dance Came on I bulldozed everyone in front of me (Hoss and Boston) Into the pit. It was Glorious. After the Vandals we had to race across the world to the other side of the venue to see The Bouncing Souls. They were AWESOME!!! They were probably my second favorite band there (and only because of personal bias). They even managed to make a wimpy half-hour set super awesome, and if you haven't seen them then you are definitely missing out. After the Bouncing Souls we wandered around a bit. We saw more of the sites, rested a bit and checked out a few bands that weren't on the main stage. We saw Wilhelm Scream, and River City Rebels. Wilhelm Scream wasn't bad. There songs seemed to be a bit the same but they were generally enjoyable. River City Rebels were also good. They were better than Wilhelm Scream, but hey are also a different kind of band. I do suggest checking both bands out though. Next was Anti-Flag. Now I love Anti-Flag and have seen them a few times in my day, but I can honestly say I wasn't giving Anti-Flag my all. I was really trying to push my way through the crowd to get up front for Tiger Army. However, I did enjoy Anti-Flag a lot. They were awesome as usual. Thy did play a lot off their new album though, which isn't a bad thing. I suggest going to see Anti-Flag on their own. For some reason I just can't get into them as much when they are on Warped Tour... except for the first time I saw them... crap, I just made myself explode with that contradiction.... anyway, just go see Anti-Flag and listen to them whenever you can, THEY ROCK! Next was the long wait for Tiger Army. The most anticipated part of my Warped Tour experience. No doubt the were totally awesome. Every bit as good as I had anticipated. If you haven't heard them or see them live then go do it, you won't be disappointed, and if you are I will come burn down your house. We winded down the evening with a bit of The (International) Noise Conspiracy. We unfortunately missed a little bit of their set because they came on right after Tiger Army and we had to race for our lives through a Jungle of New Found Glory or Good Charlotte or... well a bunch of people who like crappy bands to get there. But in the end it was good. I got a little bit of dancin in. Dennis Lyxzen is a god and if you haven't heard T(I)NC then you should also go hear them, but more importantly you should listen to Refused., hehe. We capped out the tour with some Flogging Molly. Impressive as always. This years tour turned out to be one of the best, despite speculation from others who shall remain unnamed. If you did miss it, FOR SHAME. If not then you know of its glory.
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