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Warped Tour 2002
The Tweeter Center, Tinley Park, IL
7/27/2002
Reviewer: Andrew
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Okay, so I'll admit that most of the bands on this year's Warped Tour didn't really pull me in, but this show is always a good time for me, so I knew I had to go. Plus, the Punkrocks.net stage brought in some much needed integrity (for me), with bands like Every Time I Die, Skycamefalling, Park, and Further Seems Forever. Most of my day was spent in front of this stage, where there was no line of arrogant security guards and huge crowds of kids that feel the need to show off how punk they are by dressing in ugly garments.
If some of the bands on this year's tour interest you, read on, and if they are available, we have some nice pictures from the show.
Upon first walking into the venue (the Tweeter Center in Tinley Park, Illinois), we were blasted by the loud and angry sounds of the Unseen, who were playing on the largest of side stages. The venue was set up similarly to that of the past year, with two main stages on the far left end of the venue, and smaller stages spread throughout the large remainder. In most cases, the stages were in groups of two, and it seemed that the two stages had their acts together, as they were able to alternate sets very quickly and without disrupting the flow of events.
Back to the music, though. After seeing a couple of Unseen songs, we decided to find the day's full listing of stage times, when I Andrew pointed out to me that a band was already playing the Punkrocks.net stage. I didn't waste any time and bolted to the stage, and instantly realized that Skycamefalling was tearing it up. I arrived just in time to hear the vocalist say that it was their last song, and I was pissed, but happy to have caught them at all. The song I heard was ultra-tight and Skycamefalling didn't miss a note, and I was able to talk to a couple of the band members / merch-dude after the show. Nice boys in that band.
Skycamefalling Pictures:
Vocalist / Guitarist rock out
Guitarist / Singer unleashes some melody
After Skycamefalling's single song I got to hear, it was time to do some chillaxin' / walking, and in that time I caught some songs from various bands, before heading back to the Punkrocks.net stage to see some more bands. While waiting to see Park and Further Seems Forever, I was able to see Hope, a primarily punk band from Canada. These guys were actually quite good, and even had a song that was 'a little bit metal.' That tune was obviously my favorite of their set, but the guitars were very clean and the vocals were well-done. Nothing that blew my out of my sweat-dampened shoes, but an entertaining set, none-the-less.
Further Seems Forever was the next band that I can recall seeing, and their show was quite good. These guys drew the biggest crowd of the day for the Punkrocks.net stage, extending well into the Drive-Thru fans' path (the Drive-Thru stage was just a little ways from Punkrocks.net). Having only heard Further Seems Forever with Chris Carraba (and never enjoyed his voice with this music), I was pleasantly surprised with the new vocalist (and the ex-vocalist of Affinity). The addition of some screaming made things more interesting, and not having to think about Dashboard Confessional all the time was very nice. The band played some new songs for us, which, to me, sounded better than the old material. The guys weren't all too into the show, but the vocalist helped get the crowd going by sharing the microphone and moving around quite a bit.
Further Seems Forever Pictures:
This guy can sing
He can scream, too
The next band (or maybe they were before Further Seems Forever.. I don't remember), was Park. I had already caught Park one other time last spring in Minneapolis, and this setting was just completely different. My past Park show took place on a dreary, cold, winter evening, but this time around it was a sunny, hot summer afternoon. Park stayed about the same, though, only with a different guitarist than the last time. Most, if not all, of their songs were taken from their impressive full-length, "No Signal." The crowd was of a decent size and the band sounded tight as usual, but there wasn't too much movement in the crowd. Park has a really relaxed feeling on stage, and that slowness really does transfer into the crowd. Though not terribly energetic, the band was still, once again, enjoyable.
Park Pictures:
Vocalist / Guitarist
Unfortunately, I missed Finch's set, but having already seen them in what was a much better atmosphere, I decided to take the opportunity to see some action from Death By Stereo. The Death was playing on the Volcom stage, and immediately after arriving I could feel some definite energy from the band. Vocalist Efrem was look a bit dirty as usual, and his energy was in full-force. The crowd was definitely enjoying their music and getting into it, as was the band. They played a good mix of songs from their killer "Day Of The Death" and "If Looks Could Kill, I'd Watch You Die," including "No Shirt, No Shoes, No Salvation," "If Looks Could Kill, I'd Watch You Die," and "Lookin' Out For #1." I missed some of the set to run straight back to the Punkrocks.net stage, but Death By Stereo really excited me and made me want to break out their albums once again. Oh, and the band members are growing mustaches, and they are pretty proud of them. My Death By Stereo pictures didn't turn out thanks to bad lighting.
Finch Pictures (so I didn't write about them, shush, they are good):
A sweet shot of the vocalist and guitarist
Other guitar player
Background screams are unleashed
So after a short jog back to the Punkrocks.net stage, I approached the stage just as Every Time I Die were gearing up to begin playing. I was so excited and talked to another hardcore geek for a little while, and finally the band broke into some music. We actually had some hardcore dancers going at it during the band's set, scaring most of the kids away (and creating a huge hole in the crowd), while a couple rows of people and I stayed up front and screamed along with Keith. The boys rocked us with such songs as "Emergency Broadcast Syndrome," "Jimmy Tango's Method," "The Logic Of Crocodiles," as well as an older tune which I hadn't heard, and a new song. Every Time I Die packed a ton of energy, and they just had an awesome stage presence. The purple mohawked guitar player appeared to love the plentiful mosh portions of the songs, while the other guitarist showed off his technicality and large muscles. The vocals were kind of hard to hear a good portion of the time, but that didn't stop the crowd in any way. Seeing Every Time I Die unexpectedly made my day, and this was the most enjoyable set of the tour for me.
Every Time I Die Pictures:
Vocalist Keith belts 'em out
Bassist rocks out
Guitarist is huge
Right after Every Time I Die finished I headed back to the stage near the entrance (and once again by that fucking Motorola tent -- die) to catch about 20 minutes of Boy Sets Fire. They sounded really nice live, and as I arrived were ripping through "Twelve Step Hammer Program" off of "After The Eulogy." The band members were really getting into the music, especially the vocalist, who sounded really good live. Boy Sets Fire also played songs off of their older albums, such as "Cringe" from "The Day The Sun Went Out," but the majority of their songs were from "After The Eulogy." The most surprising aspect of their set was the new material that they played, which sounded much heavier than anything else that they have put out. One of their new songs (which you can now stream on-line), titled "Release The Dogs" is downright intense, and even allows the vocalist to throw in some mean growls. An increased heaviness was very unexpected for me, but it is very welcome to me. The vocalist even made a point of saying that while most bands tone the music down over time, Boy Sets Fire is only becoming more angry with what happens in this world, and their music will continue to reflect that. They may be growing older, but the music is becoming more intense, and I love it.
That basically ends the list of bands that I paid much attention to, but I did sit on the ground many, many yards away from one of the main stages while Alkaline Trio played. They sounded good, but the distance between the band and Adam and I really messed with things sometimes, and we couldn't see them from the ground. There are so many people on the big stages that working your my way to the front was not worth it. NOFX, Bad Religion, and Alkaline Trio were the only bands that kept me near the main stages, but I was still really far away. Oh, Bad Religion's drummer rules.
I'll let you all go with some other various pictures that Andrew #2 took.
Matt Skiba of Alkaline Trio
Dan of Alkaline Trio
Justin Sane of Anti-Flag
It was a good day. NOFX was funny. Bad Religion sounded good (that about covers the post-Boy Sets Fire time). I bought lots of stuff.
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