By Mariko Obrero
Daily Bruin Contributor
Heat and exhaustion were expected at the all-day summer festival
of punk rock and skateboarding, but the exorbitant prices made the
Warped Tour seem more focused on business than fun.
This year’s concert filled the Arrowhead Pond’s
parking lot in Anaheim with bustling pre-teens and teenagers on
Thursday, June 29. With that in mind, the $10 parking and other
expenses should have been more controlled.
Ticket prices averaged $25 and bottled water was priced at
$3.50. This, along with the countless promotional dot.com booths
contradicted the punk dogma of anti-corporation, dampening the
atmosphere.
Each band’s set lasted 30 minutes and scheduling was
closely monitored.
But it was during this short amount of time that the bands
brought out the best in their fans by thanking them and letting
them fill in their lyrics as the sets progressed. There were
moments when getting kicked in the head actually became tolerable
because fans were so happy to see the much anticipated acts.
Good Riddance, TSOL, Lunachicks, and Snapcase played the early
part of the festival which began at noon. Stages one and two, the
main stages, were located adjacent to one another, but stage three
was set up closer to the entrance causing a few inconveniences when
trying to get back and forth between the performances.
At 2:30 p.m., The Suicide Machines assumed stage one and energy
levels increased driven by its positive skacore and power riff
style.
Local Anaheim based Massengil showed up to play an unannounced
side set, bringing back old school hardcore punk which the band
played years ago while skating when the venue used to be a trailer
park.
The group was thoughtful enough to pass out food and water at no
cost to dehydrated fans. Additionally, a couple of large tents with
water misters were set up on the grounds to remedy the heat.
Flogging Molly played its bagpipe influenced punk tunes and
introduced NOFX to the largest crowd of the day. The band assumed
the stage in typical NOFX style with plastic bottles being thrown
onstage and El Hefe and Fat Mike cracking jokes. Its set started
with the slow and melodic intro of “Together on the
Sand” which erupted into a chaotic mess of crowd surfers and
mosh pits.
Fans sang the entirety of the short tune “Murder the
Government” and demanded an encore at the conclusion of the
band’s performance. The crowd, however, was disappointed
because the schedule operated like clockwork, precluding any
impromptu musical tangents.
On the third stage, the politically conscious Anti-Flag greeted
the crowd with a message of unity. The band encouraged everyone to
take care of one another through positive anti-racism and anti-war
sentiments, expressed in songs such as “Got the
Numbers” and “You’ve Got to Die for the
Government.”
At 6p.m., Weezer brought fans back to the classics with
“Undone-the Sweater Song” and “Buddy
Holly.” The crowd’s presence and support for the band
set the tone for the remainder of the evening.
Pop punk favorite MxPx took the stage performing the bass driven
hit “Chick Magnet,” “Cold and Alone,” and
“Responsibility.”
Things got out of hand at 7 o’clock when legendary Green
Day graced the stage with “Longview,” “Hitching a
Ride,” “Basket Case,” and “When I Come
Around.” To add to the madness, during a cover of Operation
Ivy’s “Knowledge,” a fan was invited onstage to
play Billy Joe Armstrong’s guitar.
Masses of people filled the venue in hopes of getting as close
to the band as possible. The forceful crowd ended up knocking over
side baracades, but fortunately no injuries resulted.
Reggae artists Long Beach Dub Allstars followed soon after,
calming the crowd with “Rosarito,” “My Own
Life,” and the Sublime tune, “April 29,
1992.”
The rap metal outfit Papa Roach earned the privilege of closing
the show at 8 o’clock even though other bands on the bill had
longer standing careers.
Even though the bands delivered a sundry of musical flavors, the
predominating taste left by the lineup, prices, and venue set up
were purely indicative of the fact that this year’s Warped
Tour was more a business deal than a music festival.