All 5 of my senses were immediately assaulted upon entering The Vans Warped Tour 2004 in beautiful Sacramento Ca. I had to make my way through a crowd of hot, sweaty young bodies scantily dressed in that new flavor of punk. I call it Punk with money or Upper-class Punk. I noticed that Mohawks and double hawks etc are becoming “IN” again, but man have the colors gotten CREATIVE! I could smell smoke and alcohol in abundance. There was music coming from all angles. There was an energy emulating from the crowd of exuberant people that got me excited and I just new this was one of those days you remember forever! Great Music, A Fat Buzz, and beautiful women all around! I love my job!

I must point out right away that if you have never been to The Vans Warped Tour that it can be a little overwhelming. With over 100 bands playing on 10 stages in 10 hours or so with overzealous sweaty teenagers rushing from one stage to another in an attempt to secure their spot to see the next band on their list of bands to see. In between the stages there are 100’s of booths and tents set up, such as the Volcom tent, Epitaph tent, a tent for each one of the bands playing on The Warped Tour and a ton of vendors selling everything from sunglasses to new clothing lines. Meet and greets with bands like Taking Back Sunday and New Found Glory could be found in some of the tents while the newest and coolest body jewelry in yet another tent…… And you might even be fortunate or unlucky enough to take a listen to the new band begging you to listen by walkman to their demo tape in the next booth…… 

The only problem I have found is that you sometimes have to choose between two bands that you REALLY want to see that are playing at the same time. This year proved no different with bands like The Bouncing Souls and The Matches playing at the same time on two different stages. (We had more than one reviewer here today thanks to VOLCOM and MSO so we got to photograph and review both bands.) 

Kevin and I made our way to the Volcom Stage where we met the rest of the California Bands Team, Daniel who did the ADD and MELEE reviews you’ll read. We analyzed the schedule and formulated a plan of attack. We headed to the Teal Stage to check out a band called 

TAKING BACK SUNDAY:

Adam Lazzara – lead vocals
Fred Mascherino – guitar, vocals
Eddie Reyes – guitar
Mark O’Connell – drums
Matt Rubano – bass

With their second Warped Tour appearance and landing a song on this summers blockbuster sequel Spiderman 2, Taking Back Sunday is a band that’s getting noticed. They are an In your Face, Upbeat Punk Rock band with great back up vocals and a stage performance way beyond their years. They have a ton of energy and a great live performance that left me ready for more. They were formed in 2001 and faced a lineup change in 2003 that many thought would end their career but as far as I can tell, that speed bump never even slowed them down.

Taking Back Sunday loves to interact with the crowd. At one point lead singer Adam Lazzara flexed his biceps while saying “you will never have guns like these Dave” talking about a friend of his who had started working out recently. And then preceded to tell everyone to check out a certain R Kelly in the tent behind us, as he was the most attractive man he had ever met! IF we are into that he added. They ended the set with a faster song that most of the packed crowd was singing in perfect unison to called Cute without the E off of their first album. And I got to say, that song made me a fan! Their highly anticipated 11-song album titled “Where You Want to Be” was released on July 27 on Victory Records. 




The next band on our agenda was Volcoms newest addition:

ANOTHER DAMN DISAPPOINTMENT aka A.D.D. 

Josh Thompson: Vocals
Casey Marsullo: Base
Ross Stanley: Lead Guitar
Wess the Pest: Drums

So we headed over to the Volcom stage to catch this must see act. On the way over to the Volcom stage I took some time to do a little people watching. Mohawks and dreads, Skate shorts and skirts, Nike jogging shoes and Docs, bleached white and died black, blue, green, yellow, orange and piercings and tats in every place you can imagine! The typical age was between 14 and 24. What surprised me the most was the diversity of the crowd. It wasn’t all Punks and Skaters like it was when I was a kid, but a little bit of everything. Punk Rock went and got cool. AND I cant believe how many hot chicks were at this show! When I was Punk in the 80’s, no offense but if we wanted a hot chick, we usually had to steal them from the football team! LOL. Anyways, Back to event

ANOTHER DAMN DISAPPOINTMENT. 
This time around we had an amazing opportunity!! Weathering the scene over the years with ADD, Casey, Josh, John, and Ross, we’ve been witnesses to a ton of shows. This time was different; we took the stage with ADD along with a few cases and a sea of hardcore fans. I saw faces I’ve continued to encounter over the years. And here we were with Sacto’s own. Man the hard work to get here. Of course the guys rocked, when haven’t they!! You could witness how punk has come into fashion, as I gazed upon the crowd and saw the hardcore and the tiny bobbers all huddled as one. A part of me wanted to scream in anger and the rest knew that this is where it was all headed. Josh’s lyrical onslaught weaved dramatically through the sounds created by the band. A few hardcore fans even made there way to a microphone to add a little love to the songs. ADD has always seemed fan orientated, and devoted to what they believe. Ross shared a story with me of an incident a few nights before!! Seems that a few anarchist decided that burning a flag would be in order at an ADD show. NEGATIVE!!! Ross and Casey quickly went into action, Casey even going as far as urinating on the juvenile individuals….now that kids is PUNK ROCK!! And that’s what I love. The raw sounds and performance you witness when watching ADD. You have no choice but to become fixated on their actions. With there first major label release on Volcom, be prepared to witness the creation of the giant that is A.D.D!!!

MELEE
I also came across a band that is not necessarily the norm for the WARPED TOUR! The MSO people were ranting and raving about this California quintet know as Melee. Barely out of high school, and releasing their first album “Everyday Behavior” on Subcity/Hopeless Records, these boys took my vote for band of the day. I say they’re not the norm due to the fact that they were basically INDIE ROCK. As you venture the tour, you seem to only come across Punk, Pop Punk (yuck), and EMO (even yuckier), so it was refreshing and relaxing to witness the sounds of Chris Cron, Rick Sanberg, Ryan Malloy, and Michael Nader!! Their energetic power pop blended nicely with the mature depth of vocal harmonies the band uses. The addition of keys added to the energy the band portrayed, compelling to say the least!! The hardcores didn’t seem to care to much, but the fashionable ate it up. Melee’s album and shows are ones not to be missed…… www.meleerocks.com

THE VANDALS:

Now we move on to a band that is a legend all its own. A band that helped define what Punk Rock is today. A band that rebelled against authority and cried out against the government with songs like Anarchy Burger (hold the government), Pat Brown and Urban Struggle and they have always mixed in their own style of humor with songs like my girlfriends dead, Pirates life and I have an ape drape (Mullet). This band shares the Punk Rock Pedestal with Punk legends such as Circle Jerks, D.I., Social Distortion, T.S.O.L., Minor Threat, The Dickies, and so on…… I’m talking about The VANDALS Of course! Their 12th studio album “Hollywood Potato Chip” was released on June 29th through Kung Fu Records and I had the distinct pleasure to hear some of the new as well as old songs live at the Warped Tour. What do I think of them after nearly 20 years together? THE VANDALS ARE BACK!!! That’s what I think. They were full of energy and kicked ASS! Now this is a band that has been around. The line up has changed to protect the innocent, but the style and attitude as well as the type of songs they write and perform deliver exactly what you would come to expect from The Vandals. Stage dives, MOSH PITS and crowd surfing at its finest. This is Punk Rock how it’s suppose to be. They Mixed old school punk with a newer sound while adding quite a bit of comedy to their live performance. At one point, Warren took over lead vocals and sang a song about Mullets! He climbed up on top of the speakers on one side of the stage and back down to the other side. They sang a song off of their new album called “my neck my back” that sounded great live. If you like punk and haven’t experienced The Vandals yet, Its not to late! My only disappointment came when they didn’t play Urban Struggle or Anarchy Burger live. Maybe next time.

I have to say that one of the best bands at the Warped Tour this year was The Bouncing Souls. They aren’t from California so we wont spotlight them, but I will tell you this, they kick some serious @$$. With songs like “The Something Special, You can go check them out at www.Bouncingsouls.com