Warped Tour 2004

 Warped Tour 2004

Tyler McHenry documents a day of walking back and forth at punk rock's traveling festival

Brett Gurewitz performs onstage with Bad Religion

After missing out on Millencolin in 1997, I knew it would be important to arrive at the fairgrounds before the noon start time of Warped Tour 2004. My veteran instinct led us to cut to the front of the line, wiping out the two hour wait which could have been fatal.

Gone are the days of the two stage setup; this musical circus brings seven stages with bands playing on any of four stages at any given time. The sets are even shorter now as each band--including the headliners--is allocated thirty minutes to perform their trick. Considering the doors opened at noon, I found it odd that Red West took the stage at 11:30.

The schedule looked pretty good for my tastes, the only major scheduling conflict was that Motion City Soundtrack played at 4:15, while The Alkaline Trio started at 3:30 and Bad Religion was slated to begin at 4:00. Thinking that the first big band didn't hit the stage until 12:45, I made my way around the venue. Arriving at the Volcom stage, a familiar voice rang in my ear. Pulley was already rocking out. Looking up at the schedule, it read Pulley 1:30. As I caught the last three songs of their set, I realized that I was one of the few onlookers who even knew who Pulley was. Scott Radinski belted out one of the great Epitaph classics "Cashed In," to end the set and I was a freshman in college all over again.

Rise Against seemed to have a large following, and looked to be one of the favorites on this year's tour. Ripping through their set with "Blood, Red, White, Blue," and "Like the Angel," Rise Against pleased the punk and the hardcorist alike. Making my way across the park, Story of the Year was ending their set with the radio hits. A lackluster performance was epitomized by the comment, "We are here to have fun, not fight. Godsmack is not here today, people." SOTY is the stereotypical band that kids listen to for about a year and then drop.

The show was still in its early stages, and the people kept filing in like the punk rock sheep they are. Back to the east side, Thursday was really getting the crowd going. They were playing really tight and sounded excellent. Impressive tracks included, "Understanding in a Car Crash," and "Autobiography of a Nation." Leaving their set a little early, I headed over to see the beloved Bouncing Souls. The band looked the same, except that Greg now has long hair with red patches scattered around his head. Warming up the crowd with "Ole'," the Souls seemed to be excited to be back in SLC. They followed that up with "Say Anything," "Hopeless Romantic," and "The Ballad of Johnny X." After busting out into "Kate is Great," the punk rocker in me couldn't hold back and I entered the circle pit. The Bouncing Souls continued to rock like it was 1998 all over again. The fun continued with "That Song," "Anchors Aweigh," and "True Believers." The set ended with a surprising rendition of "Night on Earth." The Bouncing Souls again proved that they are kings of the live performance.

Greg leads Bouncing Souls fans in a punk rock sing along

Another trek across the fairgrounds led me to the presence of Yellowcard. I had never seen them live, but was quite impressed. As expected, they had drawn the majority of the festival's crowd. Busting out all the hits, both soft and hard, the band mixed it up well and didn't disappoint.

As NOFX began their set, it was time to sit down and rest [EDITOR'S NOTE: NOFX and Rancid are bands that no matter how many times we've them, we've never watched their set]. Warped Tour provided a great sprinkler area to cool off in this year. A refreshing break from the warm sun was all I needed to gain my second wind. One of the major themes of this year's tour was an Anti-Bush sentiment. Almost all of the bands made known their disagreement with Bush's policy and direction during this time of conflict. NOFX even finished their set with a rousing number called, "Idiot Son of an Asshole," which is all about our current president. To nobody's surprise, Anti-Flag played some songs dedicated to the man in charge as well. At this point in the day, I decided to browse each band's tent and merchandise, which led me to miss out on Coheed and Cambria. This was okay because I had to get myself into perfecting listening position for The Alkaline Trio. Rumor has it that the Trio do not perform their best on the Warped Tour, and now I can attest to this. Coming out to play "We've Had Enough," the Trio said very little during their set. They were also playing with a mysterious fourth member. Alternating singers after each song, they continued with "Maybe I'll Catch Fire," the new song "Warbrain," and "Emma." Some of the tracks ending the performance included, "My Friend Peter," "Nose Over Tail," and "This Could be Love." Their performance was pretty poor and lacked a lot of energy. Sprinting away disappointed, I knew Greg Graffin and Co. were going to make things better.

Bad Religion started off with the new stuff by playing, "Sinister Rouge." To make things even nicer, Brett Gurewitz had joined his friends today. From then on, the band didn't stop playing. "Atomic Garden," "Supersonic," "American Jesus," "Infected," and "You" left all of us wanting more. Two more new songs followed "Let Them Eat War," and "God's Love." Graffin made an unnecessary comment about the Mormon garment as the set rolled forward. "Recipe for Hate," "21st Century Digital Boy," and "Sorrow" concluded another stellar performance by the ageless ones. Knowing that this would most likely be the last time seeing the legends, I cherished this moment.

The sun and the heat were finally taking their toll on my body. I knew I had to persevere. Senses Fail were already halfway through their set, but they were rivaling Bad Religion. Looks like Vagrant records have found themselves another gem. Stopping by the Epitaph tent, I realized something very upsetting to the stomach--Motion City Soundtrack had in fact played at 2:15 and not 4:15 as first posted at the entry. Knowing that during this time I was just resting made me upset because I was really hoping to see them. The newest problem with Warped Tour is that it has become too big. Wanting to see everything, and not being able to, is quite frustrating.

Hoping to avoid New Found Glory as much as possible, I waited patiently at one of the smaller stages for Hidden in Plain View. This was a bold move on my part, but it paid great dividends. HIPV were one of the top acts of the day. I'd be happy to support them on their next visit to the Lake town. Apparently on the other side, Flogging Molly was entertaining everybody with their Irish jigs and drinking songs as well. I really don't think I missed out.

The day was coming to a close as we prepared to see Taking Back Sunday. Right before they come out, the rain started to come down. TBS proved to be strong as well, as the music rang true through the downpour. It was one of those times that you'd like to see a full set from a band, rather than the 30 minute tease which is offered at the yearly festival. As the rain began to fall harder, it was time to go home. Few people would stick around to watch The Vandals this day.