For 20 years, Kevin Lyman and his crew at Vans have been giving the masses the best reason each summer to blow off work for a day and hit the tarmac for a long day of punk, ska, metal, hardcore, rap, dub, pop and everything in between.
The Warped Tour has always been a fresh mix of old and new and this year’s 50-act strong edition was no different as the likes of veterans Yellowcard, Less Than Jake and Bowling for Soup played alongside current punk/metal favorites Falling In Reverse, Parkway Drive, The Story So Far and chart-toppers Of Mice and Men. As always, there was no shortage of variety sprinkled in, including EDM DJs, rappers, singer-songwriters, and electropop acts.
Boston’s own Bad Rabbits, already Warped Tour vets, made their presence felt early, getting the hipsters and skate kids to uncross their arms and shake their asses on the floor of the pavilion with a half-hour set of their finest nu soul. Vocalist Fredua “Dua” Boakye and guitarists Salim Akram and Santiago Araujo took cues from Morris Day & the Time and Sly & the Family Stone, incorporating smooth synchronized dance moves into their funky mix of R & B, rock and soul. They even threw in a couple slow jams and a 90s medley while Boakye got the crowd moving by creating a Soul Train-style dance line, circle pits and a vintage “wall of death” crowd clash.
Pop punk vets Yellowcard showed why they’ve had staying power, mixing classics with newer material that equally had the masses pogoing, crowd surfing and singing along. “Awakening” from their 2012 album, Southern Air, had as much energy and melody as older favorites “Ocean Ave.” and “Only One.”
For anyone who wonders what’s happened to all the intriguing rockstars, look no further than Falling In Reverse’s Ronnie Radke. People love or hate this guy. He’s controversial (he served two years in a Nevada prison for his role in a fatal shooting and drug violations) and plays a polarizing style that many punk, hardcore, and metal purists detest yet is so undeniably hook-laden that it’s impossible to ignore.
Radke had one of the day’s biggest crowds enraptured as he maniacally paced the stage, spewing the gargantuan hooks to “The Drug in Me is You,” “I’m Not a Vampire,” and “Bad Girls Club.” Hate him all you want but the guy can sing, his band has chops and yes, he can even rap his ass off. One of the enduring moments from the set came when a wheelchair-bound kid with a mohawk was hoisted high above the crowd and was carried to the stage.
On the heavier side of things, Chicago’s Born of Osiris, who last played the Xfinity Center on the Mayhem festival last summer, took full advantage of their half-hour set, blaring through a tight set of their electronica-fueled death metal. Thrashy guitars mixed with blast beats, thunderous bass and pulsing laptop-driven synths on “Divergency” and “Machine.” Definitely one of the heaviest bands of the day.
Aussie metalcore favorites Parkway Drive also can pummel with the best of them and had the crowd chanting along to their anthems, including the soaring “Carrion” and “Home is for the Heartless.”
Another highlight was UK-bred indie-tronica DJ Nicola Bear, who brought some Ibiza flavor to the Beatport stage with an eclectic set of dub, techno and hip-hop, dropping everything from the Beastie Boys and Dr. Dre to Lil’ Jon. The Beatport stage was a mini-rave/dance party all day.
Denver’s Breathe Carolina, much like fellow Warped vets 3OH!3, mix EDM, rock and post-punk into a bouncy, pop-laced gumbo and were a fitting ending to the marathon festival. With the sun setting over the scorched, exhausted teenager-strewn asphalt, the band tossed out a pair of humungous beach balls that ratcheted up the party vibe. Vocalist David Schmitt took to an inflatable boat for another of the day’s most memorable crowd surfing moments before the band dropped it’s biggest hit, “Blackout.”
And with that, another Warped was in the books. Here’s to 20 more years.
