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Punkers, jocks, freaks, and posers were packed into the Warped Tour corral like tatted, pierced, and mohawked sardines under a scorching McDonald’s heat lamp. If it weren’t for the music, this would have been an utterly miserable day. Sunburned, exhausted, and starving from the long day under the sun, a few performances made up for the pain I was in for the rest of the week. I’ll do a quick run through of the ups and downs of this crazy day:

WHAT WAS COOL...

Rancid

I’d never seen Rancid live before and I had high expectations, especially after they decided to get grimy on their latest record instead of recording their fifth straight Clash album. Like Joe Strummer and company back in the late 70’s, Rancid’s first two album’s were kick-ass, ska-laced, punk rock joyrides (Rancid and Let’s Go, The Clash and Give ‘Em Enough Rope). Next up for both bands was a more accessible recording with international influences (…And Out Come the Wolves and London Calling). Then both The Clash and Rancid went ultra-multicultural and made albums that were so different from their earlier work that they lost some of their core punk audience (Sandinista! and Life Won’t Wait). The Clash’s next album was Combat Rock, a beautiful but way-the-hell-out-there piece of art-punk that streamlined their experimentation on Sandinista! But Rancid never made their Combat Rock. Instead they got raw. They went back to the gutter and produced an album that was harder and less accessible than even their first album. The new self-titled Rancid album is fast, loud and pissed-off, but it maintains the socially conscious lyrics that have been standard to every Rancid recording since their debut.

Live, the band rocked hard and wisely chose to stick with their harder-edged songs. The teenage wasteland of insta-punkers brought up on Carson-Daly-pop-punk probably would not have responded well to Rancid’s more multicultural material. Everyone knew the lyrics and sang along to the group’s more popular tunes. Rancid seemed happy to be playing in their hometown and put on a great show. The band was tight and bassist Matt Freeman’s complex and relentless bass lines set the stage for the dueling vocals of Lars and Tim. This band was definitely the biggest highlight of the day.

AFI

This band has gone through more radical style changes than any other contemporary punk band. They started off as traditional, bratty punks poking fun at jocks and other run of the mill punk rock targets. Then Davey Havoc and company made a very successful transition to melodic hardcore. Then they got really nuts. Their latest incarnation is a volatile mixture of The Cure’s melancholy broodings, Def Leppard’s mullet-loving anthems, and The Misfits’ goth horror punk. And the kids love it! I had no idea how many people are into this band. I saw almost as many kids singing to AFI’s lyrics as to Rancid’s.

Probably the biggest reason people love AFI is their live show. From the initial chant of "Through our bleeding, we are one!" until Davey’s final scream, the band is intense and amazing. Definitely check ‘em out if you haven’t yet.

Bouncing Souls

The 80’s live on in the music of the Bouncing Souls. Like a John Hughes movie, the Souls fill their lyrics with self-deprecating humor and ironic silliness. They are one of my personal live faves mostly because of their singer Greg Attonito. While many other punk singers do their best to pose like Johnny Rotten or Ian MacKaye, Attonito has a style all his own. Imagine Dean Martin or Frank Sinatra singing punk anthems and you’ll get the picture. Their show at the Warped Tour was fantastic as usual.

WHAT WAS LAME...

Target Logos

The Singer for Juliana Theory

I had heard their songs on the No Friends videos and was looking forward to their show. I’m not a big emo fan, but I can tolerate it in small chunks. But this guy reminded me of why I don’t really like the genre in the first place. He loves himself way too much to be singing sad songs. I’ve got to admit, the rest of the band was pretty good and I even kind of dug their whole 70’s look. But their singer absolutely ruined it for me. I won’t be able to watch those videos again without thinking of this dude grinning and squinting and looking like a damn fool.