Images: Warped Tour feat. The Wonder Years, The Story So Far, The Aquabats & more June 28, 2013 at the Silverton Casino

The Vegas stop of the Warped Tour landed at the Silverton Casino parking lot this year, and almost immediately I preferred this set up to previous years’ parking lots. That’s right. I’ve become a parking lot connoisseur. When it comes to these outdoor music festivals (of which there are more and more by the hour) a long, hot wait in line is expected and accepted. But on Friday I spent somewhere between two and three seconds waiting to get through the metal detectors and ticket-rippers. If anything, I probably held up the line behind me by reaching for my wallet to pay the lady.

I spent most of my time at the Monster Energy Stage, with bands like Upon A Burning Body and Attila inciting the widest pits of the day. In near 120 degree temperatures, it was a bit odd to see the UABB front man in a 3-piece suit, but they somehow managed not to pass out onstage, and I enjoyed their energetic set. Attila got the crowd going and beach balls flying with songs from their latest record About That Life. One of the pleasant surprises for me was Silverstein. Probably the least metal band on the Monster Stage, they had one of the fullest, most engaged crowds.

Water stations, Gatorade vendors and sprinkler spots were in high demand throughout the duration of the day, but the hottest point of the concert came around 3 p.m., when The Wonder Years absolutely killed it in front of a huge, sweaty crowd. I can’t imagine a better way to kick things off than “Passing Through A Screen Door,” and the sheer number of people bellowing out that first line is proof enough. After TWY, I stumbled upon fun sets by both Motion City Soundtrack (got to hear “Everything Is Alright”!) and Man Overboard. I’d written about how much I wanted to see Motion City and I definitely wasn’t the only one. The crowd was thick during their set, and they didn’t disappoint. Man Overboard, after the obligatory reminder for everyone to drink a ton of water to, ya know, not die, played a solid set of their own. Successfully mixing some new Heart Attack tracks with classics like “World Favorite” and “Montrose,” I, along with plenty of other concertgoers, walked away satisfied.

An exciting Chiodos set and a nostalgia-inducing performance from The Early November filled the lazy gap between Man Overboard and The Story So Far, who were cruelly scheduled for 7:30 p.m., when the majority of the crowd had either left to seek shade and air conditioning or passed out from lack of both. Nevertheless, all the kids who were there went crazy as soon as “Roam” came over the speakers, and it was a huge party from then on. Their set included hits like “All Wrong” and “Things I Can’t Change,” and my only gripe, which is the same complaint I have about almost every other band, is that they didn’t play anything off of their landmark EP While You Were Sleeping.

Pure Noise youngsters Handguns closed out our 10-hour day in the sun with an energetic set full of jams everyone knew from Don’t Bite Your Tongue and newer gems from their latest record Angst. Admittedly, the crowd looked to be on their last legs and burned all over, but you’d never tell by the gusto Handguns displayed the entire time. It was a great way to end such a fun and exhausting day.

– Felipe Garcia

Photos by Emily Matview | https://www.flickr.com/photos/holdfastnow/

and Hunter Wallace | https://www.flickr.com/photos/hunter_wallace/

Emily’s Stray Observations:

• With these short Warped set times, I think playing two cover songs is overkill, but since the Ataris went with Replacements’ “Can’t Hardly Wait” (along with the set standard Don Henley cover) I will let it slide.
• The Aquabats never fail to impress. This time they brought out Warped Roadies star Kenny Leath – decked out in full cadet regalia – and had him stab a poor pool floatie to death.
• Poor Citizen. The pop punkers were scheduled to play at the same time as The Wonder Years and Stick to Your Guns and as such, had far too small a crowd.
• It’s pretty awesome to see how big The Wonder Years’ audience has become since their stint on Warped 2011. It’s well deserved, and I think the fact that there was a guy crowdsurfing in his wheelchair during their set says all that needs to be said about fan dedication to this band.
• Where was everyone during The Swellers? Those guys always kill it live and deserved a bigger crowd that day.
• I’ve had scheduling conflicts the last few times Forever Came Calling came to town so it was great to hear some songs from last year’s excellent Contender live and even better seeing the small but respectable crowd singing along.
• Acoustic tent – Unfortunately, I missed two acts I was really looking forward to – Allison Weiss and The American Scene’s Matthew Vincent. Fortunately, my reason for missing them was mostly because the tent was so full, which is awesome for the artists. The acts I did see – particularly Austin Lucas and Billy the Kid, were fantastic. Lucas played a special set picked by TheCore. frontman Sal Giordano, who has booked for, played with and housed the folk punk musician in the past. Lucas also announced that he signed to New West Records that day – the label that’s released music from the likes of Drive-By Truckers and Dwight Yoakam. Hopefully that means more people will hear his music soon.
• Thanks Chris Duggan and Austin Jeffers for recommending The Chariot. Their intense live show left me eager to see more from them.
• Real Friends lived up to their name by having frontman Dan Lambton come down and introduce himself to everyone watching from the barrier.
• Finally shot Bid D and the Kids Table frontman David McWane wearing a shirt other than his standard “Republicans are insane” one.
• This was my first time seeing Letlive. and I don’t know how vocalist Jason Butler manages to maintain that kind of energy – rolling on the stage floor screaming and leaping into the pit to share vocal duties with the fans. It was a very impressive set.
• One of our Twitter followers recommended UK punk rockers Strawberry Blondes and by chance I happened upon them while I was going between stages. I’m glad I did, since they were one of the most traditional punk bands on the bill. The experience reminded me a lot of when I caught Sharks at Warped 2011 in the sense that they didn’t quite fit in with everyone else around them but still put on a killer set.
• Apparently over 200 people ended up being treated at the first aid tents for heat exhaustion and over 30 ended up in the hospital. With temperatures reaching close to 120 (and likely hotter on the Silverton blacktop) I’m not surprised, but it still bums me out. I would love it if Warped could be held in a cooler spot again, going back to Desert Breeze Park or ideally, back inside the Thomas and Mack so bands and fans won’t have to deal with such extreme temperatures.