Vans
Warped Tour delivers summer fun to The Beach
By Mike Parker
Summer On-line Forty-Niner
Friday,
July 11, the Cal State Long Beach was transformed
into a spectacle of sights and sounds unmatched
by any previous event to take place on the
campus. The 2003 Vans Warped Tour, among
the largest and most respected annual tours
to take place in the country, brought not
only all the mayhem and uncontainable energy
of nearly 70 bands to the grass behind The
Pyramid, but succeeded on many levels for
CSULB, bringing in a sold-out crowd.
"The
Warped Tour paid (CSULB) a fee of $20,000
just to have it here," said Chance
Decker of Beach Pride. "50 cents of
each ticket went to scholarships, so with
a sold-out crowd, we brought in around $7,500
for that too."
With
an early curfew of 7 p.m. and an earlier-than-planned
starting time of 11 a.m., the tour was clearly
operating in accordance to regulations of
the nearby residential neighborhood. Consequently,
some confusion occurred when the show started,
given that the tickets stated it would begin
at noon.
Smaller
stage opening acts such as The Suicide Machines,
S.T.U.N., and Vendetta Red were only seen
by a small number of spectators, not only
because of the schedule revisions, but because
half the crowd was partying hard with Andrew
W.K.'s set at 11:30, and hardcore favorites
Poison the Well at noon.
"Everything's
being moved around too many times, and all
too late," said Tsunami Bomb bassist
Dominic.
However,
once the confusion was resolved, more spectators
began to creep toward the Brian Stage and
Teal Stage, where the day's biggest sets
and headliners played, the day exploded
with life, as if the scorching sun breaking
through the clouds breathed its very own
energy into the performers.
Following
East Coast hardcore dished out by Poison
the Well, The Ataris took the stage. Despite
the band's lively stage presence and witty
persona, attention soon shifted to Brian
Stage, where The Used was playing.
Vocalist
Bert McCracken bluntly began a 30 minute
set by loudly proclaiming, "What's
up Long Beach! We are The (expletive) Used!"
Following
that, the Utah four-piece exploded into
"Maybe Memories" and hit single
"The Taste of Ink," with McCracken
climbing on top of a giant amplifier and
diving headfirst into the crowd.
The
crowd then seemed to float toward the smaller
Volcom stage, where Vaux played their brand
of post-hardcore cacophony.
"It's
so great to be on this tour," said
Vaux frontman Quentin Smith before their
set. "We've made so many friends. This
is the best job ever."
Guitarist
Ryder agreed, who played despite a concussion
he suffered during the previous day's San
Diego show.
"We
haven't gotten much radio play or MTV exposure,
but that doesn't matter much to us. We're
just glad to be here," Ryder said.
The
hottest part of the day was soon to approach
- both climatically and musically. The temperature
surged to what felt like 110 degrees, just
in time for Sum 41 to bring over a sizeable
group of onlookers, many of them bikini-clad
women.
Dropkick
Murphys put on a full-force festive and
enjoyable set, donning kilts, bagpipes and
dancing Irish lasses, their crazy stage
antics and free-wheeling vibe left everyone
grinning from ear to ear.
Meanwhile,
Slick Shoes was attracting everyone else
who had the energy to walk to the Maurice
Stage. Their longtime blend of punk rhythms
and melodic vocals was a nice prelude to
the monstrosity that was about to come out
of the darkness on the Volcom Stage in 30
minutes: From Autumn to Ashes.
The
30 minute set was truly a testament to that
excitement. The Long Island-based From Autumn
to Ashes ripped through a it's set, closing
with the well-known nine-plus-minute epic,
"Short Stories with Tragic Endings."
A
wall of people, extending for a good 50
yards, became so thick that it was nearly
impossible to move or breathe. Pennywise
guitarist Fletcher noticed this and quickly
told everyone to "Take a step back
and let people live," just before they
dedicated their newest single, "F***
Authority," to the LAPD.
As
the burning sun slowly set, the temperature
lowered allowing people to breathe easier
and sweat less, the big names began to surface.
Poor scheduling once again forced fans to
decide between local genre-blurring acts
Avenged Sevenfold and Thrice; with the majority
opting for the latter.
Thrice,
due to their injured drummer, played a "hybrid"
set, half acoustic, half electric, which
turned out to be a highlight of the second
half of the show. Soaring through beautiful
acoustic versions of such tracks as "Identity
Crisis" and "Trust," the
Irvine-based four-piece sounded absolutely
fantastic, and firmly proved themselves
to be in the top echelon of musicians on
the tour. The electric set closed with a
mosh pit-inducing rendition of "To
Awake and Avenge the Dead," after which
the sky picked itself up off the ground
and dusted itself off. If there's a better
band on this tour than Thrice, they're being
awfully secretive about it.
By
the time punk headliners Rancid closed with
their hit "Timebomb," it was definitely
time for tour to come to a timely end. Styles
of punk, hardcore and metal have probably
never seen such an ingenious marriage, and
the Warped Tour will probably continue to
hold that crown on this side of the OzzFest.
Even if CSULB is ever fortunate enough to
host the tour in years to come, it would
be a monumental event if it could surpass
this year's tour.
"Seeing
how the show was such a success this year,
we're definitely going to look into having
on campus again next year," said Decker.
"We want to show everyone that this
is what the students want."
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