Van’s Warped Tour 2012
August 4th—White River Amphitheatre in Auburn, WA
Van’s Warped Tour has been one of the must-see music events since its beginning in 1995. Each year, tour founder Kevin Lyman and his crew bring a varied group of bands together to tour and play music all across the United States. I was able to attend both the Seattle and Portland dates of the tour this year, and during my two days there my love for some bands was solidified even more, but at the same time I also found some new bands I enjoy.
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After volunteering with Hopeless Records to earn my ticket (big thanks to them for that), I had a little free time to check out the venue and figure out my schedule before doors opened. If you’ve ever been to Warped you know that one of the first things that you need to do is find the inflatable schedule and decide what bands you want to see. After planning our day my friends and I headed towards the Kevin Says stage for the first set of our day—I Call Fives.
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In my opinion I Call Fives released one of the best pop-punk albums of recent years with their self-titled, full-length début (released July this year). Playing a mix of songs from their new album as well as some older songs, I Call Fives gave their all during their set—and it caught on. As they took the stage, only about 15 people were there to see them, but by the end of their set the crowd had at least tripled, and everyone was clearly enjoying themselves.
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After IC5 had finished their set, we wandered around for a bit and caught part of sets by Oh No Fiasco (dancey indie-rock), Alabaster (local Seattle band—Paramore-esque), and We The Kings. I really liked We The Kings’ first and second albums, but I haven’t really enjoyed their recent releases. However, I have to say that they sounded spot-on live, and they know how to control their crowd.
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The next full set we caught was We Are The In Crowd on the Tilly’s stage. The entire band was excellent—they sounded great, they had a great stage presence, and the setlist was a perfect mix of old and new songs. Even though the crowd was pretty calm, everyone seemed to be having a great time, especially the band. Immediately after WATIC’s set ended I ran over to the Monster stage so that I could get a good spot for Mayday Parade—and while waiting for Mayday Parade I caught the last couple songs of Title Fight.
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Even though I really like Mayday Parade’s music, I had never seen them before. Everyone had said that they are incredible live, so I was looking forward to seeing them for the first time and to see another good set; I was not disappointed. They sounded amazing, and their stage presence was outstanding. The energy and passion onstage was contagious and the entire crowd caught on quickly.
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After Mayday Parade, I headed back over to the Tilly’s stage to catch the first song from I Fight Dragons—they put on an extremely fun show, and I decided that if I had time I’d check them out again tomorrow. On my way from their set to the Kevin Says stage, I caught a song by Skinny Lister—an English folk band. Back at Kevin Says, I got a spot in the front for Tonight Alive.
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Tonight Alive, hailing from Australia, were one of my favorite sets of the day. Again, the musicianship and stage presence made this a set worth seeing. Playing a set made up of mostly the singles, as well as their cover of Mumford And Sons’ “Little Lion Man”, Tonight Alive made the most of the small crowd they had and played their hearts out.
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After Tonight Alive ended, I had an hour free, so I walked around and caught little bits of various sets, listed below:
- Blessthefall—Listened to “Promised Ones” and then moved on. They sounded pretty good.
- Every Time I Die—Had heard a lot of praise for them, so listened to one of their songs. Not my kind of music, left after one song.
- Cherri Bomb—Not familiar with them at all, but was surprised to walk past their set and see four high school girls on stage. Sounded very solid, and I plan on checking out their album.
- A Loss For Words (acoustic)—AL4W was one of the bands I had really wanted to see, but because of conflicts I missed their electric set and most of their acoustic set. I did however catch them playing “Pirouette” (my favorite song by them) and “So Contagious” (an Acceptance cover). Sounded very good—Matty’s voice is extremely good.
- Chasing Vegas—Caught a few songs by this local Seattle band on the Digitech acoustic stage. They sounded really good, so I picked up their album later. They played a cover of Maroon 5’s “Payphone”, and the harmonies they did sounded sweet.
- Larry & His Flask—Walked past as they played on the Digitech stage. This folk group is really talented and was fun to watch for a few minutes.
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After my break of just wandering the venue, I made my way back to the Kia Rio stage in the amphitheatre. On my way back, I caught a bit of sets by Sick of Sarah and Fireworks, who both sounded pretty solid—especially Fireworks—but I didn’t stick around long. I found a seat in the amphitheatre just as All Time Low kicked off their set. While some of the banter dragged on and was slightly annoying, All Time Low puts on a great show and sounds great—I definitely enjoyed watching them from a distance while relaxing. I had to leave a few minutes early from their set so that I could make it across the venue in time for one of the bands I was anticipating the most: Yellowcard.
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I got to the Kia Soul stage a moment before Yellowcard began, and managed to get on one side of the stage at the barricade. Everything I had been told about Yellowcard’s live show was true, as they played through a combination of very new songs and older cuts. Every member of the band is a fantastic musician, and you could tell they were really enjoying themselves. The sound was excellent, and watching them play was a blast. Despite a pretty sleepy crowd, the band did their best and tried to get as many people as active as possible—especially violinist and hype-man Sean Mackin, who wowed the crowd by doing a back flip during one of the songs.
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My destination after Yellowcard was back to the amphitheatre for Breathe Carolina, but I stopped by the Tilly’s stage and caught Man Overboard closing their set with “Montrose”—which is one of my favorite songs by them. After that, I stopped by the Ernie Ball stage and checked out the first half of the set by Paris’ Chunk! No, Captain Chunk!. Leading up the tour I had heard a lot of praise for their live show and their set, so I decided to see what they were like. Even though their music isn’t my style, I gained a lot of respect for them after seeing their show. Finally, I made it back to Kia Rio for the middle of Breathe Carolina’s set; they have great energy and stage presence, but their music doesn’t do a lot for me. I left their set as they began so that I could make it back over to Kia Soul in time for Taking Back Sunday.
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Taking Back Sunday are some of the heroes of the modern music scene—screamo, pop-punk, and alternative rock all look up to them for inspiration. It was great to hear some of their classic songs as well as a few newer songs, and the band was great. Vocalist Adam Lazzara’s vocal performance was iffy, but he more than made up for it in bravado and stage presence. To make this performance even cooler, Dan O’Connor of Four Year Strong, Keith Buckley of Every Time I Die, and Geoff Rickly of Thursday (who are now broken up) contributed their vocals to various songs in place of John Nolan.
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On our way back to the amphitheatre for Pierce The Veil, who closed the show that night, we walked past the House of Marley stage and heard a bit of Mod Sun’s set. It was alright for a rap artist, but nothing I was interested in hearing more of. Once back at Kia Rio, we found a good seat and watched as Pierce The Veil played their “mexi-core” songs to a large audience. The band put on a great show and sounded awesome—to the point that I was impressed enough to pick up their new CD. Over all, it was a great way to relax and close the night out.
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So, the night at White River Amphitheatre for the 2012 Van’s Warped Tour ended. It was a long day, filled with a lot of great music and time with friends. One of the best things about Saturday was that even though I had missed some of the bands I was looking forward to seeing because of conflicts (A Loss For Words and New Found Glory) I still had another day to try to see them. Expect a review of the Portland Warped Tour date to be up soon.
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SUMMARY:
Top 5 Sets: Yellowcard, We Are The In Crowd, Tonight Alive, I Call Fives, Mayday Parade
Biggest Surprises: Chunk! No, Captain Chunk!, I Fight Dragons
Bands I Had To Miss: A Loss For Words, Transit, New Found Glory
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If you went to Warped, what date did you go to? And what bands did you see? What bands blew you away, and what ones were disappointing to see? Leave a comment in the replies with your thoughts!
