Warped Tour 2004 @ Randall’s Island, NYC
Live Reviews | Aug 7th, 2004
Date: August 7th 2004
Venue: Randall’s Island, NYC
The summer is almost over and that means two things for kids in New York; going back to school and the Vans Warped Tour. New York always gets the last leg of the tour so the concert is usually in August. Though this year, it has been a shitty summer but the day was surprisingly pleasant. This was the first year of Warped Tour that I actually wore long sleeve shirt and wasn’t sweating my balls off all day. Of course the dirt was still there.
The day started off with my brother and I traveling down to NYC in an hour (good time) and arrived at 10am. I brought down a huge pile of READ Magazines to hand out to the kiddies on line. But mainly I just wanted the issues to stop collecting dust in my room. Matt and I started handing them out in the parking lot because we figured kids don’t want hold them all day and gave away a couple. Then we walked a mile to the Warped Tour line and handed out the magazines within a minute. That was good because I didn’t want to hold them anymore.
People were screamin “GIMME!” and “Mr. Shakes, OH OH!” So that was kind of cool but about 30 percent of those magazines ended up on the ground when the line actually started moving. At this point, I didn’t know if press had to go in the gigantic line that stretched the whole length of the train bridge we stood under. Or we had to go up front in a small line and get our passes. Well we didn’t know there was another line until we stood on line for 45 minutes. During that time, I witnessed many crappy bands walking around and trying to sell their crap to people, kids sitting on top of their friend’s shoulders and singing, “lean on me.” That was actually pretty funny. It was getting close to 11am and the doors weren’t opening yet so the stupid morons waiting on line decided to throw water bottles. And then coke cans…and then fucking Snapple bottles. That’s when people started leaving the line with bloody heads and noses, including parents. That’s just what I want to encounter on a Saturday morning, looking out for Snapple bottles cracking me in the skull. Fucking imbeciles. This is why I don’t like to go to the Warped Tour anymore. Maybe I’m just getting too old. Or maybe the kids are just getting dumber.
We slowly got into the main area where the concert was being held and Lars Frederiksen of Rancid was playing with his sideband, The Bastards. I went into the photo pit and started snapping away. The other singer was spitting all over the place so I took a few pictures and got out of there. Getting spat on isn’t my idea of fun. There weren’t any bands I wanted to see until 1:30, so I walked around and bought some t-shirts. And I found the punk voter booth and registered to vote. I haven’t had a desire to vote until now (though I’m still kind of “eh” on the subject) but what the hell, I registered. I’ve been meaning to do it myself but I’ve been so lazy about doing it so I might as well have someone else send in the form for me. Plus the girl at the booth was cute so why not flirt with her a little bit and give her a READ Magazine. Anti-Flag came on stage and began their politically charged music and preaching. Though they put on a hell of a set though. They were jumping all over the place (probably for the cameras) and just getting into their songs. They had one of the more notable sets of the event. Some other bands like Sugarcult and New Found Glory played and they suck ass so I didn’t feel like taking pictures of them. So it was time to get some food. Oh boy, I love spending 12 bucks on a hot dog, cheeseburger and a soda. Plus 3 dollars for an ice cream later on. Fucking money-grubbing bastards man. If I wasn’t so hungry then, I probably would have took a dump on the food stand.
The next band I wanted to see was Tiger Army. I’ve become a huge Tiger Army fan since their third album got release recently. That album is just so good I can’t stop listening to it. Their sound has matured so much since their first album. They came out and played an intro (I believe “Ghost Tigers Rise”) and then went into “Nocturnal,” a song I’ve liked since Give Em the Boot Vol. 2. They played as many songs as they could, within the half hour they are given. Ones that I can remember were “Santa Clara Twilight” “Rose of the Devil’s Garden” and “Atomic.” They played some stuff from their first two releases as well. The problem with getting a photo pass is I usually get over to the other stage to get a good spot of taking pictures and miss out on the last half of the band’s set.
Let’s see, who was next. I don’t know but I’ll tell you what…Flogging Molly had the best set out of all the bands playing that day. When I see them live, I just get so pumped and riled up. Their music is all about having a good time and have fun and they certainly bring that to the table. It makes me want to dance and act like an idiot. I even saw some of the bouncers goofing off and jigging it up. Some of the tunes they played were the usual like “Salty Dog” “Selfish Man” “Drunken Lullabies” “Devil’s Dance Floor” plus some new tunes that sounded really well. If you haven’t seen Flogging Molly live yet, do yourself a favor and see them play in September. That’s when they start their tour in support of their new album “Within a Mile of Home.” I think Coheed and Cambria was the next band up or the one I remember. I’m not really a fan but my brother is, so we watched them. I like some of their faster stuff but for the longest time, I thought the singer was a chick. They started off their set with some boring songs, but eventually got into it. I was backstage, but I think one of the members of Bad Brains came out and was jamming with them. That’s kind of cool! After them or before them, International Noise Conspiracy was playing so I decided to take some pictures of them for some reason. I don’t like them but I was bored so. I can’t stand those fashion-Scandinavian bands and there messy black hair, and tight jeans. It just makes me want to vomit.
During the day, I was pretty much backstage, just enjoying not having to deal with stupid crowds and dust, so I sat down on the grass and listened to some bands. My brother said to me, hey I just saw Max Weinberg walking around. I said, “What the fuck is he doing here?” That’s pretty much what everyone said when we told everyone that he was there.
I managed to take a picture of him while he was talking to various people. I wanted to go and get my picture taken with him but didn’t want to hound him like everyone was doing. Oh well. The Vandals came on to play and were in their usual goofy mood. I guess some music was playing when they were. They were wondering why people weren’t paying attention to them. So they made a joke saying, “just because our songs are on the radio, we still got songs.” I love when smaller bands bash the stupid mainstream bands. The Vandals played some new stuff along with their usual songs like “It’s a Fact & “My Girlfriend’s Dead.” After them was the Bouncing Souls. They were going to be the last band I saw that day because I didn’t want to stay for over an hour to see Bad Religion. I’ve seen them a few times, so it was okay I missed them. Bouncing Souls played all right. Not as good as their other performances. Greg the singer seemed either out of it, or just drunk. I left after a few songs because I was extremely tired and didn’t feel like seeing NOFX because I can’t stand them. I ended up getting home around 7 and fell asleep at 8pm and didn’t wake up for another 12 hours. See what the Warped Tour does to you?
