Warped Tour 2009 / Pomona Fairplex / 06.26.09
Another year, another Warped Tour. But unlike the past couple years, instead of just giving you a visual overview, I wanted to get you guys a first hand account of the show, so I got my good friend, Dan (over at mynameisfoxtrot), to come along and put words to the combination of crazy and awesome that is the Warped Tour:
It hasn't hit noon yet and the unforgiving sun is scorching the Pomona Fairplex. This is my first time at Warped tour, and I am amazed by the atmosphere. My fellow concert goers are covered in tattoos, sport punk rock hair, and wear a concoction of skinny jeans or shorts and no shirt or a bikini top. The Punk rebellion is in full force and I’m about to enter the gates.
I sit behind the steel fencing waiting for Underoath to come on stage. Lining the “moat” between the stage and fence was thick line of security. The head honcho, a Pacific Islander whose forearms were the size of large fire extinguishers, has no neck and is covered in tribal tattoos. I look out across the sea of people and see scores of rebellious high school kids. Thick clouds of THC rise above the crowd and the pungent smell of marijuana hangs in the air. Underoath isn’t up for another five minutes and the crowd is starting to get restless. A few fans offer up chants of “UNDER OATH, UNDER OATH” which quickly fades away. 
Objects are now hurtling through the air aimed for the stage. Half empty water bottles spew what I hope is water across the crowd. An empty wallet, then a shoe, and a hat all land about a foot from me. Out of the corner of my eye I see a water bottle cutting through the air. It pelts a young man in the shoulder who is standing about three feet away. The bottle falls over the fence and hits the ground with a thud. The bottle is frozen solid and I’m starting to question my own safety.
Underoath erupts on stage and I watch the steel fence behind me slide forward a few inches as the audience surges. Crowd surfers are popping up along the tops of the crowd which is now a borderline angry mob. Security takes point and catches the teenagers as they topple over the rail head first. I'm amazed that most of this behavior is fun and remarkably no one walks away hurt. Underoath put on a great show, and now I’m looking forward to check out what the rest of the Warped tour has to offer.
Next, we meet the guys from White Tie Affair who are all donning ear to ear grins. They all look very excited to be at the Warped Tour as this is one of their first big West Coast shows. I asked them about what we can expect from them in the near future. “We just shot a new video for a song called ‘Take It Home’ and we’re actually finishing it at the Ventura date [of the Warped Tour] so some of the fans can get in on that.” They are also working on a future album now, but there is no official date as to when we can expect to see that.
After catching a couple other bands' sets, like A Skylit Drive and The Ataris, we made our way up to the main stage to see Thrice. Dustin was walking around the back of the stage handing his roadie a full set of guitar pedals. As soon he was visible to the audience the crowd let loose with cheers and shouts of “Dustin, we love you!” Dustin flashed a big smile to the crowd. The full band took the stage a few minutes later and the crowd damn near exploded. Despite a small technical hiccup (Dustin had a bad cable), the set went off without a hitch. Their set included a good collection of songs off of some of their older albums as well as a sample from one of their new tracks off the much anticipated “Beggars” album.
After the set we had the privilege of speaking with Dustin and Teppei. I asked Teppei about the new album: “We just finished tracking it not long ago, and it is just being mixed right now. Hopefully it will be out in the fall.” I proceed to ask Dustin how he felt Beggars compared Thrice’s previous works: “I feel like the Alchemy Index is this sideways movement to something else and this [Beggars] is coming back to what maybe Vheissu would be without that [Alchemy]. But, I don’t think we get to that point without having taken this detour in a sense.” They both commented on how the new album is very driven and “raw” and there is no doubt in my mind this will be the answer to the awesomeness that was Vheissu.
All in all Warped Tour really was a lot of fun, and despite the rebellious atmosphere the fans had a blast and didn’t cause too much trouble. It has been awhile since I ventured into the Punk scene and it was really encouraging to see lots of fans and music that had all sprouted organically without any help from the “top 40 hits” radio stations. If the Warped tour is going to be in your area, be sure to pick up a ticket and hit the pit.
Thrice - Digital Sea
The White Tie Affair - Candle (Sick And Tired)
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