Show Review

Vans Warped Tour was never a favorite part of my summer and I always questioned why I continually went back to endure the torture. With the scorching summer sun beating down on the black top you are forced to share with what seems like a million other sweaty and sunburned kids, it’s safe to say it isn’t worth jumping for joy- but this year the kids of central Jersey got lucky. The weather was beautiful- not too hot, and enough clouds to keep you shaded. I ended up getting there late and missing two bands I wanted to see, but with Alkaline Trio having already started their set when I walked in to the park, there wasn’t time for sulking.

Now I’ve never really been into Alkaline Trio, for no particular reason, but they really showed what they were made of with their live set. I was glad my first set of the day was from a band as experienced as Alkaline Trio is. They kept the decent sized crowd’s attention by rocking out for their full set and playing songs that their fans wanted to hear.

I then went over to catch a glimpse of the My American Heart set. I was very impressed by these guys. They played on a really tiny stage but made the best of it. Their songs are catchy and fun to move to. Lead singer Larry Soliman has a great voice and they all have great stage presence. And me being such a tambourine fan- I loved when Soliman picked one up and banged it around a little during one of their songs.

Next I headed over to see A Static Lullaby, who I’m also not a terribly huge fan of, but there wasn’t much else I wanted to see and I wanted to take some pictures of these guys because I knew other people dug em’. They weren’t anything to brag about and they just didn’t have it together. Front man Joe Brown showed off his vocal abilities which happened to sound great live, but the instruments just didn’t seem to flow well.

Finally I was off to see a band that always makes me squeal with excitement- New Found Glory. NFG was one of the first bands I ever listened to and forever I’ve admired them for staying true to their sound and not faltering when the rest of the music scene tends to roll with the trends. They took to the stage and the crowd went wild. I’ve never seen these guys give anything less than 110% on stage. They rolled through hits such as “Hit or Miss” and “Understatement.” All the members jumped and paraded around the stage with high levels of energy and showing the crowd they still had it. They will always be the kings of Warped Tour in my book.

Then I was off to see another favorite of mine- Paramore. They came out on to the #13 stage to a massive and enthusiastic crowd and immediately opened up with “Misery Business.” These guys sound amazing live and Hayley’s vocals take it to another level. She’s got one powerful voice. They played some new songs off their new album “Riot!” and got the crowd going. It boggles me that people still refuse to give it up to these guys and say they don’t kick ass. Maybe it’s because adorable lead singer Hayley has more power, charisma and talent in her tiny body than half the bands on Warped Tour combined.

The Starting Line played right after Paramore on the #13 stage and I must admit I wasn’t incredibly excited. Personally, I think this band has been falling a little short from the good ol’ days of playing songs off one of the greatest albums ever made, “Say It Like You Mean It.” It’s been hard for me to fall in love with the very different sounding new stuff. Lead singer Kenny took to the stage in a tiny girlish tank top and immediately got into playing. They played songs off their new album “Direction” and one or two oldies such as “Up & Go.” It was a decent set list and I at least have to give it up to them for always putting on a steady live performance.

I headed over to the Hot Topic stage to check out a band I would highly recommend giving a listen to- The High Court. These guys were really great live and put on a highly energetic performance on such a little stage. They drew in quite a few listeners and I think by next year they’ll move up to a bigger stage. They were lots of fun to watch and I’m glad I finally got to seem them live.

After that, I went over to the Hurley.com stage to check out Big D and the Kids Table. I was never really into the whole ska thing but these guys were awesome. If I were to give any ska band a chance, it would definitely be them. They sounded awesome live and the horn instruments were so fun to listen to. They were extremely fun to watch and I’d give them another listen anytime.

The next and last band I caught was Circa Survive on the #13 stage. I’m actually scared to say what I really feel about this band considering I think I’m the only one in the world who feels this way- I do not like these guys. There I said it! Anthony Green’s voice is nothing close to godly like all you Circa stalkers make it out to be, ESPECIALLY live. It drives me crazy when people are constantly ranting about this guy’s voice when I can easily list 10 other lead singers that can show this guy a thing or two. In all respect, their musical abilities are not to be ignored. The music sounded great and flowed nicely. I went up to snap a few shots of the guys and saw that Green is quite the looker, so if he ever wanted to take me out and bat those baby blues my way, I’d be all for it- just don’t sing please.

If you’d like to see photos from the show, please go here: http://s199.photobucket.com/albums/aa150/creynier/

review by Christina Reynier