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The Vans Warped Tour 2002
The Starting Line stirs up the
dust during Warped '02.
Performers: Various Artists
Where: The Tweeter Center
When: Friday, August 9th, 2002
12:00 PM
Eighty-some bands,
8 stages, countless vendors and, above all else, blazing heat beating down on
the barely legal masses. Yes indeed boys and girls, it was that time once
again…the punk rock circus was in town!
The Vans Warped Tour rolled into the Tweeter Center in
Camden, NJ August 9th to reaffirm its spot atop the
Punk/Hardcore/Power-Pop/Emo, etc, etc, etc, throne. And, to tell you the truth,
after catching a glimpse of the bands listed on the lineup sheet, I wondered to
myself why there were so many retreads. The immense list included
Bad Religion,
NOFX,
The Mighty Mighty Bosstones,
No Use for a Name,
Reel Big Fish,
Lagwagon and many more
repeat performers. It turns out that tour organizer Kevin Lyman wanted this
year’s bill to be a who’s who of Warped Tours from years past. “When putting
the bill together, I started looking at it like comfort food…it’s like the
comfort Warped; it’s all the bands that you’ve really grown to love on the Vans
Warped Tour,” said Lyman.
Thankfully, there were still numerous new artists to
check out on the various other stages strewn throughout the Tweeter Center
parking lot. Provo, Utah’s
The Used got the show off to a frenetic start, mixing melodic harmonies with
crunching rants, courtesy of lead singer Bert McCracken. The next two hours saw
four bands take the stage outside with relatively the same sound and agenda (Guttermouth,
Lagwagon, MXPX and No Use for a Name). Inside the Tweeter Center, however,
Iceland’s Beastie Boys-esque
Quarashi proved to be the day’s only real alternative to the assembly line
of veteran punks and suburban malcontents.
The security personnel had an easy go of it up until
this point, but the response of the screaming teens to
New Found Glory’s
energetic set changed all that. Barricades had to be readjusted, crying,
claustrophobic pit-goers needed to be pulled from the roiling masses, and
halfway through their radio-staple “My Friends Over You,” the band needed to
stop the set to break up a fight.
The day’s arguably best bands, both musically and
creatively, followed New Found Glory in rapid succession. Dicky Barrett
professed his love of Philly and named it “one of the best rock cities around”
during the Mighty Mighty Bosstones’ tight set, that included old favorites (“The
Impression That I Get” and “Hope I Never Lose My Wallet), along with songs from
the new album, Jackknife to a Swan.
Thursday’s
Smiths-meets-the-Deftones sound fueled songs about car crashes and cultural
acceptance, bringing some emotional levity to the heretofore upbeat,
happy-go-lucky show. The New Jersey-based quintet’s set featured the hit song
“Understanding in a Car Crash” and “Paris in Flames,” along with a new track
that will be on their new album to be released this coming spring.
UK-based goth punks
The Damned schooled
wide-eyed fans, most of whom probably hadn’t been born at the band’s inception,
with fast-paced, tongue-in-cheek classics such as “Wait for the Blackout” and
“New Rose.” Thesaurus rock pioneers Bad Religion followed with a tight,
politically charged set, pulling songs from their 20+ years in the punk rock
scene. Fans (myself included…will these guys ever quit?) sang along, note for
note, to “20th Century Digital Boy,” “Do What You Want,” “Generator”
and many others.
Chicago’s
Alkaline Trio offered
a set of their poppy, lyrically brilliant songs to a crowd that seemed to be
getting beaten down by the day’s glaring sun and oppressive heat. Capping the
physically draining day, veteran punk satirists NOFX proceeded to instigate a
full scale water bottle war, which finally ended with lead singer Fat Mike
urging the crowd to “stop or we can’t play.” NOFX ended their set with their
ode to our President: “Idiot Son of an Asshole.” Ah yes, another year, another
Vans Warped Tour…nothing like some good ol’ comfort food.
-Wade
Peters
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concert:
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