At 9:00 am we started getting ready. 3 adults and 11 kids (14 year olds) were going to the concert/show/festival what ever you want to call it. Of course none of the kids or I gave any thought to bringing any water, sunscreen, sandwiches etc. Then again, when you think about it why would we, we were only going to be there for 10 hours and it was only supposed to be 95 degrees. Good thing Momma Musky was on top of things and put the cooler together while the boy and I were trying to figure out what bands we were going to see. Off we went with a warning from the wife the put on our sunscreen.....well at least one of use took her direction (thank god it was me).
We met the other two parents and the remaining seven kids and we made the hour drive to the concert facilities. The warped tour has a pretty decent set up. Two main stages, 4 sponsored stages and then about 5-6 small stages. The bands started playing at noon. The main stages would have a band play for 1/2 hour while the next band set up on the other stage. So it was pretty much non stop. Similar things were happening on the 4 sponsored stages and the small stages. In addition, each of the bands has a tent where you can meet them, get autographs etc.
We walked to the gate and were informed that you could only bring in opened water without the cap, so everything got left in the cooler in the car. I guess the organizers didn't want to miss out on everybody spending $3 for a water, $4 for a gatorade and $5 for a beer. It was 89 degrees and clear skies when we arrived.
Of course the kids ditched us old geezers immediatly with direction that they better answer their phones when we called. Much to our surprise they did, not that you could hear much. So me and the other dads decided to wander over and see a band called Greeley Estates. We didn't know much about them, but had heard the kids talk about them. Wow, they sucked ass. Screamers so we watched for two songs and headed back to the main stages.
I had told my boy and one of his buddies as we were driving up that they better pay attention to what was going on around them because I was going to slam them if I saw them. So as we were walking back to the main stage I saw the boy, ran up to him and leveled him. Hell it was supposed to be a punk rock festival.
Luckily for us old timers after about 2 hours of 90 degree heat, the wind shifted to come in off the lake and cool everything down.
It's been a while since I have been to a concert that had a lot of kids at it, but it was an interesting mix. You had the hardcore punkers with the mohawks, you had the straight laced kids, you had the kids that wanted to be punk but couldn't pull it off, the goths (who I'm sure hadn't seen the light of day in years) and then...the parents, most didn't seem to really enjoy themselves.
There were a few things that I saw (or didn't see) that surprised me during the day...
- Bands with horn sections, I wasn't expecting that. But a few bands had them. "Less than Jake" had a Sax and Trombone player, I guess they were SKA, whatever the hell that is.
- Bands with Harmonicas - yep there was one. They were on one of the really small stages and they sucked.
- Black people - I figured the punk scene was a white thing, but there were a few black kids. Although they weren't into the mosh pit or crowd surfing.
- Dope Smoking - didn't smell any dope during the whole show. That sort of surprised me. Actually didn't see any drugs and only a few really drunk people.
- Kids alone that couldn't have been over 10 years. Where the hell were the parents?
- No fights, 90 degrees, beer and a lot of people....but nobody really got out of hand. The worst that I saw happen was a security guy get hit in the face with a cell phone and a few kids get dropped crowd surfing.
I enjoyed most of the bands that I saw which included the following:
- Greeley Estates - sucked
- The Academy is - thought they were pretty good
- Less than Jake - enjoyed them
- The Casualties - couldn't stand them.
- Motion City Soundtrack - enjoyed them
- Senses Fail - They were pretty good, if you don't count their first song when the singer was way off key.
- Armor for Sleep - they were pretty good.
- Helmet - the heaviest band there (at least that I saw) I really enjoyed them. I am probably going to have to pick up some of their stuff.
- Joan Jett and the Blackhearts - at about 50 years old she was a riot. Her performance was great and she still looks pretty good in leather. Actually she and her band were the only leathered up bands there.
- Aiden - More on them later
- Rise Against - They had one of the biggest crowds
- NoFX - They closed the show and sucked ass. When they actually played they were pretty good, but spent most of there time talking about drinking, drugs and hookers.
Aiden had probably the best set out of any of the bands I saw. My boy is a big fan, really makes a parent feel good when you kid loves satan worshippers (or so it seemed). I had listened to a few of the boys CD's of these guys, so I wasn't expecting to enjoy it. They came out and kicked ass. The other two dads and I were shocked at how much we enjoyed them. I guess two of the guys in the band graduated from highschool last year. Maybe they were good because I set my expectations sufficiently low.
The absolute highlight of the day was while we were watching Rise Against. We took our position towards the back. We wanted no part of any potential mosh pit action. About half way through the show, I'm scanning the crowd and I see my boy crowd surfing. He made if from about 30-40 rows back all the way up to the front of the stage where he was helped down by security. It was an absolute riot. I couldn't get the camera out quick enough to get a picture. Dammit!!!!!!!!!
So we left at around 9:00 am and got home about 10:00 pm and now Sunday night my ears are still ringing. No kids were hurt, but they all had a few bruises from slam dancing and crowd surfing. They are already making plans for next year. Hopefully they will let me drive again.
