Review: Warped Tour ’08

If you go over to Rock Star Photography, you can find pictures of my trip to Sandstone to see this year’s Warped Tour. It was hot and miserable, but I managed to keep myself hydrated and covered in sunscreen. For once, I came home sweaty, but not dehydrated or sunburnt.

It was pretty fantastic to see Reel Big Fish from behind the barricade – the first time I’ve ever been able to shoot them, and I got some great pictures. Actually, I managed to get decent shots of every band. Surprised myself, as well, because there were a couple bands I got convinced to shoot by friends that I ended up enjoying a lot.

Case in point – Story of the Year. Most famous for “Until the Day I Die,” I’d really not even considered seeing the band. However, being as how everyone I was with was shooting them, I figured it was worth a shot (pun unintended). They blew me away. I’m still not likely to run out and buy an album, but if they come through again, I wouldn’t turn my nose up at seeing them live. Fantastic amount of energy, a lead singer who acts more like a hardcore vocalist than the frontman of a pop-punk alt-rock act, and guitarists who fly around like the unholy union between ballet dancers and those monks who do kung-fu… I highly recommend checking them out.

Local rockers the Architects put in another stellar performance, and I got an interview with frontman Brandon Phillips. That actually ended up being the only interview that came out from the whole tour. My microcassette recorder is starting to show its age after ten years. I also could have prepared a little more.

Oh, and if you ever get the chance – see MC Chris. For one small man and a laptop, he had the best crowd of any act I saw all day. Kids weren’t there to be seen, or because he’s on the radio, or anything like that. They wanted to see MC Chris, and sing along, and have fun. It’s refreshing to know that people still see music to see music – not to be seen, get drunk, or say they were there.

Fun day – nothing special, but I walked away with some cheap records, a few new stickers, and wasn’t out too terribly much money. I’m starting to recognize fewer and fewer bands than I did when this whole thing started, but it’s nice to be surprised every now and then.

MC Chris mp3s at Battle of the Midwestern Housewives.