Warped Tour 2014

Most stages included a no moshing
posting with a brief explanation why

After all of these years, I finally made it to Warped!  There were a few things that surprised me about the day as a whole.  The first of these was that, officially, Warped Tour has a no moshing or crowd surfing rule.  After some brief thoughts, it's probably for legal reasons that they do this since no one really seemed to be enforcing it.  Another was that there were garbage cans placed where crowds of people were going to stand.  Seriously, no one wants to stand next to a garbage can full of garbage and watch a band.  More severely, no one wants to get their head dunked into a garbage can when the moshing inevitably starts.  However, what probably frustrated me the most about my first trip to Warped was that schedules cost $2 to purchase.  This would be one thing if they posted schedules online and expected you to print them out to save money on paper.  However, they don't announce the schedule until the morning of!  Sure, $2 isn't a lot.  But the idea of having to spend $2 for the most bland schedule I have ever seen is ridiculous.  The schedule is on an 8 1/2 by 11 sheet of paper, printed in black and white, has a map of the layout that's hardly legible, and, most annoyingly, the schedule is not set on a grid to easily see when certain bands will play at the same time.  Not $2 well spent but $2 you'll basically have to spend.

With all of that aside, I still generally had a fun time since I got to see some really cool bands play.  Let's break it down.

Lionize

Lionize is an alternative rock band.  The way I'm describing them is kind of boring but they really weren't that exciting.  If you're a huge fan of the genre, this is a good show.  Otherwise, you might start to doze off.  They sounded good for what they were but people certainly weren't moshing or crowd surfing.  All in all, I probably wouldn't see them again but they may be worth a shot if you're into bluesy rock and alternative.

To Trust a Liar

To Trust a Liar were a battle of the bands winner that barely made it on the tour.  Based on their apparel, you would suspect a Weezer cover band or something.  But To Trust a Liar, to my surprise, was actually a metalcore band.  They were on the heavy side too, dancing the fine line between metalcore and deathcore.  I haven't really checked them out beyond the one song I heard them play which did sound particularly good.  With their Facebook page at 15,000 likes strong, clearly someone is listening to them.

https://www.facebook.com/TOTRUSTALIAR

Beartooth

Beartooth were another band that I caught for one song.  They were mostly unmemorable.  However, I only caught them for one song so it's not really fair of me to say that I didn't like them.  Perhaps I will check more of their stuff out later on.

Parkway Drive

For a band that's pretty prevalent in the metalcore scene, I'm surprised that they played so early on in the day.  An 11:45am (if I recall) start time was rather surprising.  What else can I say about Parkway Drive other than they bring a ton of energy to a show.  For 11:45am, mosh pits were starting all over the place and they got a decently sized circle pit going.  I even saw a bunch of kids huddle up, put their hands in the center like a little league baseball team, and push out to form a mosh pit.  I can't say that I've ever seen someone attempt that before.

I was very impressed by their live show.  Even if you don't like metalcore, if you like mosh pits, this is a band that you cannot miss.

4 Year Strong

If you like loud guitars, screamo, and beards, this band is for you!  All I can think is metalcore ZZ Top when I think of 4 Year Strong.  They sound pretty good as well.  As far as personal preference, I think I enjoyed Parkway Drive's set a little more.  However, if I were you, I would make a decent effort to see 4 Year Strong if you happen to be at a festival with the band scheduled to play.

Motionless in White

The first thing you will notice is the straight up goth look of the band.  The aesthetic is done very well and meshes with the music as a good visual supplement.  Most notably, the bass player was wearing a Los Angeles Kings hockey sweater with the name "Ghost" on the back.  Never would I have thought that wearing a hockey sweater with goth makeup on would actually look good but it worked here.

More relevantly, the band sounded very good as a metal band and even reminded me of a darker Nine Inch Nails, at times.  I don't really know a ton about them beyond what I saw at Warped so I'm not sure how their live show stands up to their studio recordings but they sounded good here and, based on what I saw at this show, I am sure that I will check out more of their music in the near future.

We the Kings

While waiting for Yellowcard to come on, I was listening to We the Kings a stage over.  Their sound seemed very polished but also a bit lack-luster most of the time.  However, when they played their last song, I recognized it immediately as the song "Check Yes Juliet."  Pretty good song if you haven't heard it already.  However, I wouldn't go out of the way to see We the Kings in concert unless if you're really into the band.

Yellowcard

Although Yellowcard wasn't as good as they were at Riot Fest last year, they still put on a good show in the thirty minute time slot allotted.  The only major complaint I have about Yellowcard's set was the fact that they played no songs from the Lights and Sounds album.  This was very surprising and disappointing but I could still mostly overlook it since the show was solid.

I would recommend catching Yellowcard if you had the chance to see them.

The Devil Wears Prada

Unlike Yellowcard, The Devil Wears Prada sounded much better than they did at Riot Fest last year.  Though I'm not much of a Devil Wears Prada fan, I'm starting to wonder if there was a sound booth issue at Riot Fest when it came to this band.

Less Than Jake

In my opinion, Less Than Jake stole the day.  Their live show was fantastic!  Less Than Jake certainly knows how to get a crowd moving and involved in a show.  With t-shirt guns, toilet paper guns, and inflatable hammers with monkeys on them, the crowd was having a hell of a time.  They also played all of the songs you would expect them to play within a short 30 minute set.  They even fit in "The Last Ones Out of Liberty City" for those of you that enjoy Hello Rockview.  Less Than Jake will certainly leave you with nothing short of spectacular.   

Saves the Day

I managed to catch the last couple of songs of their set.  They generally sounded good and kept their fans interested.  They ended up finishing by covering Weezer's "El Scorcho," which I found a particularly interesting way to end a show.

I don't really know a ton about this band but they may be worth checking out if you're into alt rock.

Bayside

A stage over, Bayside overheard the way Saves the Day ended their set and decided to open theirs with a cover of Weezer's "My Name is Jonas."  I thought this was pretty neat of them to do and was certainly an attention grabber.  Other than that, Bayside's set was surprisingly unmemorable.  They went up there, played the songs, and were done.  It wasn't bad but I felt they could have done a bit more to turn it into a show instead of a recital.  It actually made me regret the decision to see them instead of going to see Teenage Bottle Rocket.

Teenage Bottle Rocket

Due to being at Bayside, I caught about half a song from Teenage Bottle Rocket's set.  Like I said, I wish I was there.  Next.

The Protomen

It's truly a grand concoction

I had never even heard of The Protomen before I saw them at Warped but they sure do know how to grab your attention.  They dress in bizarre costumes that I couldn't even begin to describe along with their very electronic sounding metal/pop...I guess.  Also notably, The Protomen had a small army on stage including three keyboard players, a keytar player, two guitars, drums, and bass.  Most of their music was okay but it wasn't really jiving with me due to its very bizarre nature.  However, they did do a fantastic cover of Iron Maiden's "The Trooper."  I was very impressed how flawless the guitars sounded during that song.

If I were you, I would probably check them out if I had the chance just on the account that you really won't see anything quite like this anywhere else.

Bowling For Soup

The last band we saw was Bowling For Soup which is about as fantastic as you think it would be.  Bowling For Soup's set is very funny like their songs and will make you laugh in between just about every song.  They played just about all of their popular singles with the blatant exception of "No Hablo Ingles."  Instead they decided to play a cover of "Stacy's Mom" further adding to the confusion that they wrote that song instead of Fountains of Wayne.

Bowling For Soup was probably my second favorite act of the day right behind Less Than Jake.  Really a great show that you probably don't want to miss.




Bowling For Soup wasn't the last band playing that day but my friend and I decided to opt out of seeing Breathe Carolina, Of Mice and Men, or Anberlin due to lack of interest.  Overall, I would definitely consider going to Warped Tour again as long as there were at least one or two bands worth seeing because there will probably be some other bands that will pleasantly surprising.  One other thing about Warped Tour that's probably worth mentioning is that throughout the day, bands will hang out at their respective merch tents giving you a pretty decent chance to meet them without any kind of VIP or backstage pass.  You will probably end up having to wait in a massive line in order to meet them but if you're missing one or two bands you don't really care about, I imagine that it would probably be worth it.

Anyways, that's my two cents on Warped Tour this year.  I would highly recommend going if there's even one band that you want to see as there are plenty of other metalcore and punk bands worth checking out.  For all of the bands you get to see in one day, it is well worth the money.