warped 08, ventura
so i went to the warped tour on sunday in ventura. and hooboy am i glad i chose ventura over pomona. it was the hottest weekend of the year, so instead of experiencing 100+ temps, we got a break and enjoyed the blissfully mild mid-70s on the coast.
it started at noon, but we didn't get there until after 2pm. much to my surprise and supreme disappointment, cobra starship and gym class heroes had already played. WHAT THE CRAP, WHY SO EARLY GUYS? i... did not expect that. at all. the only thing that kept me from really being upset was the fact that i'm going to see them this weekend in vegas.
the other surprising thing? the academy is... was performing last. um... isn't that when the headlining band would play? this would be my confused face. clearly i don't have a grasp on their popularity outside of the interwebs, bc... what?
not needing to rush off for cobra or gch, we grabbed some lunch, a nice spot of grass, listened to... someone, and then got up to walk around the venue a bit, check out the merch booths, etc. like you do.
and lo, the academy is... just happened to be signing at their booth when we walked by. \o/
hi sisky.
hi william.
we eventually made it back over to the main stage to check out story of the year.
i know nothing of them, but they were pretty good. most impressive was the way they tossed their guitars across the stage and lept off the amps (as partially seen above). i don't really remember their music, but they were entertaining. would watch again.
then we walked around some more and found ourselves next to the teeny tiny stage off in a corner. this band is apparently called the audition.
they too were pretty good. the lead singer was a bit of a tool, though. he kept calling the audience 'weak' and getting on our case for not singing along. dude. you're on the teeny tiny stage. i don't even know who you are. just be glad you have an audience, k? the attitude would have normally set my feet in motion, but i was utterly captivated by their little bassist - the dude up there in the white tee with the epic fro. :D he was tiny and adorable, all smiles and would occasionally mouth the words to the songs, even though he was nowhere near a microphone. i kept wishing that he was the frontman instead. i could really get behind that. wikipedia tells me that his name is joe lussa and he actually started the band with his friend, the drummer. apparently they're from chicago and have played gigs with TAI. hmm. interesting.
while watching the audition, i snagged a photo of the three of us, like i do.
me, teenboy #1, and teenboy #2. (my friend victor had to bail at the last minute, he forgot about his daughter's birthday dinner - um, whoops?) the tickets were a high school graduation/birthday present for teenboy #1 - the one wearing the chucks. the one who also wore that stripey sweater last year, for those playing along. yeah. anyhow, #2 is his younger brother (their family is essentially part of our family - i've known them both since they were zygotes). pretty sure this was their first concert experience. i... think they liked it?? whatever, i had a good time.
we then stumbled upon another little stage and a name on the sign out front immediately caught my attention.
4:10-4:35 the Remus Lupins
are you fucking kidding me?! there's a band called the remus fucking lupins? and they're playing right now?
you can't really tell from the picture, but they're wearing gryffindor ties and... oh my god, their songs are all about harry fucking potter! :DDDDDD this is probably such old news in the hp fandom, but i was so not prepared for this. needless to say, i bought a cd and a tshirt that says MAKE LOVE NOT HORCRUXES. \o/
after more walking around it was time once again to cop a squat.
this line that we're looking at was the tail end of the cobra starship signing line. holy moly, it was crazy. those kids sat there for a good hour at least, i'd say.
then it was pretty much band after band for the rest of the day. suffered through some band named fear (srsly, ow my ears) before enjoying reel big fish. they were fun and entertaining - always a good time. :D
i was really excited when i saw that angels and airwaves was going to be playing. i didn't really know their music, but tom delonge (the lead singer) was always my favorite member of blink 182, so... yay, his new band.
except... i wasn't all that impressed. they weren't bad, just... no spark. not much of a connection with his fellow band-mates. he seemed really grateful to be there on that stage, and incredibly grateful that we were out in there in the audience, which was sweet, but... it almost came off as desperate or needy. i don't know. i got the aging rock-star vibe and it kind of bummed me out. they probably weren't as bad as i'm making it sound, but it just felt like four random guys on stage playing songs, and not a band - it was missing that organic, inherent feeling of best friends making music and rocking out together. i missed blink.
and last up was the academy is...
ahahaha, all my photos of them suck big giant balls. :D william does NOT STOP MOVING around that stage, which is great performance-wise, but my poor camera cannot even deal with his awesome.
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the first thing i actually noticed when they came on-stage was the tall man in white standing in the back (off to left, in sunglasses). HELLO, RYLAND. and i'm pretty certain that's vicky-t next to him in black. ryland got on the phone about half-way through, though, and then left. sadfacers.
holy moly, rather large audience for TAI that i totally would not have expected. and william is a little dynamo on stage, really. the rest of the band (except for butcher, who was pretty awesome on drums), just kind of stood there and played, kind of bland. i don't know. again with the slight disappointment. but it's not like TAI is my favorite, i like them well enough, but the lyrics (imo) get a little cliche and cheeseball. but honestly? with william on stage i COULDN'T CARE LESS about all that. because watching his skinny buck twenty ass moving and shaking around that stage, working the crowd and flirting up a storm, omg GIMME HANDS. i'm so easy, but i don't fucking care. the boy was hot.
so that was it. that was warped. i'm off to vegas tomorrow night to finally see cobra and gym class, and then tai once more. YAYS.
it started at noon, but we didn't get there until after 2pm. much to my surprise and supreme disappointment, cobra starship and gym class heroes had already played. WHAT THE CRAP, WHY SO EARLY GUYS? i... did not expect that. at all. the only thing that kept me from really being upset was the fact that i'm going to see them this weekend in vegas.
the other surprising thing? the academy is... was performing last. um... isn't that when the headlining band would play? this would be my confused face. clearly i don't have a grasp on their popularity outside of the interwebs, bc... what?
not needing to rush off for cobra or gch, we grabbed some lunch, a nice spot of grass, listened to... someone, and then got up to walk around the venue a bit, check out the merch booths, etc. like you do.
and lo, the academy is... just happened to be signing at their booth when we walked by. \o/
hi sisky.
hi william.
we eventually made it back over to the main stage to check out story of the year.
i know nothing of them, but they were pretty good. most impressive was the way they tossed their guitars across the stage and lept off the amps (as partially seen above). i don't really remember their music, but they were entertaining. would watch again.
then we walked around some more and found ourselves next to the teeny tiny stage off in a corner. this band is apparently called the audition.
they too were pretty good. the lead singer was a bit of a tool, though. he kept calling the audience 'weak' and getting on our case for not singing along. dude. you're on the teeny tiny stage. i don't even know who you are. just be glad you have an audience, k? the attitude would have normally set my feet in motion, but i was utterly captivated by their little bassist - the dude up there in the white tee with the epic fro. :D he was tiny and adorable, all smiles and would occasionally mouth the words to the songs, even though he was nowhere near a microphone. i kept wishing that he was the frontman instead. i could really get behind that. wikipedia tells me that his name is joe lussa and he actually started the band with his friend, the drummer. apparently they're from chicago and have played gigs with TAI. hmm. interesting.
while watching the audition, i snagged a photo of the three of us, like i do.
me, teenboy #1, and teenboy #2. (my friend victor had to bail at the last minute, he forgot about his daughter's birthday dinner - um, whoops?) the tickets were a high school graduation/birthday present for teenboy #1 - the one wearing the chucks. the one who also wore that stripey sweater last year, for those playing along. yeah. anyhow, #2 is his younger brother (their family is essentially part of our family - i've known them both since they were zygotes). pretty sure this was their first concert experience. i... think they liked it?? whatever, i had a good time.
we then stumbled upon another little stage and a name on the sign out front immediately caught my attention.
4:10-4:35 the Remus Lupins
are you fucking kidding me?! there's a band called the remus fucking lupins? and they're playing right now?
you can't really tell from the picture, but they're wearing gryffindor ties and... oh my god, their songs are all about harry fucking potter! :DDDDDD this is probably such old news in the hp fandom, but i was so not prepared for this. needless to say, i bought a cd and a tshirt that says MAKE LOVE NOT HORCRUXES. \o/
after more walking around it was time once again to cop a squat.
this line that we're looking at was the tail end of the cobra starship signing line. holy moly, it was crazy. those kids sat there for a good hour at least, i'd say.
then it was pretty much band after band for the rest of the day. suffered through some band named fear (srsly, ow my ears) before enjoying reel big fish. they were fun and entertaining - always a good time. :D
i was really excited when i saw that angels and airwaves was going to be playing. i didn't really know their music, but tom delonge (the lead singer) was always my favorite member of blink 182, so... yay, his new band.
except... i wasn't all that impressed. they weren't bad, just... no spark. not much of a connection with his fellow band-mates. he seemed really grateful to be there on that stage, and incredibly grateful that we were out in there in the audience, which was sweet, but... it almost came off as desperate or needy. i don't know. i got the aging rock-star vibe and it kind of bummed me out. they probably weren't as bad as i'm making it sound, but it just felt like four random guys on stage playing songs, and not a band - it was missing that organic, inherent feeling of best friends making music and rocking out together. i missed blink.
and last up was the academy is...
ahahaha, all my photos of them suck big giant balls. :D william does NOT STOP MOVING around that stage, which is great performance-wise, but my poor camera cannot even deal with his awesome.
">
the first thing i actually noticed when they came on-stage was the tall man in white standing in the back (off to left, in sunglasses). HELLO, RYLAND. and i'm pretty certain that's vicky-t next to him in black. ryland got on the phone about half-way through, though, and then left. sadfacers.
holy moly, rather large audience for TAI that i totally would not have expected. and william is a little dynamo on stage, really. the rest of the band (except for butcher, who was pretty awesome on drums), just kind of stood there and played, kind of bland. i don't know. again with the slight disappointment. but it's not like TAI is my favorite, i like them well enough, but the lyrics (imo) get a little cliche and cheeseball. but honestly? with william on stage i COULDN'T CARE LESS about all that. because watching his skinny buck twenty ass moving and shaking around that stage, working the crowd and flirting up a storm, omg GIMME HANDS. i'm so easy, but i don't fucking care. the boy was hot.
so that was it. that was warped. i'm off to vegas tomorrow night to finally see cobra and gym class, and then tai once more. YAYS.