VANS Warped Tour – 2nd Report – at Home Depot Center – Carson, CA

The first city to host the 16th Annual Vans Warped Tour was the city of Carson, a change from the usual start in Pomona. Nonetheless, hundreds of people from all scenes came out to the Home Depot Center as early as 9AM with anxiety, excitement, and hope that none of the bands they wanted to see were scheduled at the same time. After doors opened and everyone was rigorously searched from head to toe, swarms of people ran to the band line-up, which included the bands, what time they were scheduled to play, and the stage they would be performing on. After scanning the line-up, I knew I would mostly remain at the Legends stage where most of the old school Punk bands were set to play.

According to the piece of cardboard that was the Legends stage line-up, Agent Orange would be performing at 2PM. With an hour and a half to kill, my party and I grabbed a quick lunch and checked out the dozens of merchandise and activist booths scattered throughout the area. After signing a few petitions and posing for pictures with the Oompa Loompa in the Wonka Candy booth, we saw Metal Mike of the Angry Samoans walking around announcing that his band would perform instead of Agent Orange.

Although it was a disappointment to hear that Agent Orange dropped, the Angry Samoans proved to be an excellent substitute. As always, the band provided the crowd with a fun and easygoing manner that's always welcomed at a Punk show. Within the thirty minute set, they managed to squeeze in crowd pleasers such as "Lights Out", "Homosexual", "The Todd Killings", "Gas Chamber", "They Saved Hitler's Cock", and of course "Carson Girls" because the show was located in Carson. The Angry Samoans drew a large pit full of energy, especially when "Time Has Come Today" and "Ballad of Jerry Curlan" was performed. They ended their set with "My Old Man's a Fatso" and proved to be a great start for the day.

The next band scheduled on the Legends stage was the Dickies at 3PM, however, when 3PM rolled around they were no where to be seen. After fifteen minutes of Punks sitting on the ground and chatting about the festivities going on, it was clear that they would not be performing. We saw this as an opportunity to relax before the truly legendary band, Swingin Utters, took the stage at 4PM. Arguably one of the best bands to hail from San Francisco and known for being the torchbearers of modern American working class street Punk, the Swingin Utters opened with "Windspitting", "Nowhere Fast", and "Pills and Smoke". The passion and intensity of vocalist Johnny Peebuck's stage presence was well-noted within the crowd, as the pit grew larger with each song. The Utters showed the audience their expert grasp on melody and tunefulness by playing songs such as, "Don't Ask Why", "Lepers, Thieves, and Whores", "As You Start Leaving", and "Five Lessons Learned". At one point during the set bassist Spike Slawson, who also does vocals for the band Me First and the Gimme Gimmes, was granted permission to sing and won over the crowd with his melodic voice. Swingin Utters finished off their set with "Jackie Jab", "Petty Wage", and one of their most popular songs, "Next in Line". In the short amount of time that they had, the group provided fans with a stellar set that left them satisfied the entire day.

Briefly leaving the Legends stage, I ventured over to the main stage, or the Teggart stage, to see the Bouncing Souls perform at 4:55PM. Understandably, the Souls had drawn the biggest crowd I'd see thus far, attracting fans of all ages and from all scenes. Once Greg, Pete, Brian, and Michael emerged from backstage and began playing, the crowd roared with enthusiasm and immediately began a huge circle pit. The Bouncing Souls also seemed to defeat the challenge of picking and choosing what songs to perform and played favorites such as "Private Radio", "Say Anything", "That Song", "Hopeless Romantic", "Argyle", and "Manthem". It was obvious that the band was as excited as the fans were, with Greg coming close to the crowd and pointing the microphone towards the audience; this act alone created more of a fun environment and added vigor to the already eager crowd. The Souls added variety by playing new songs such as "Gasoline", catchy tracks such as "Sing Along Forever", and a calmer song, "Night on Earth"; they also played the aggressive classic "East Coast Fuck You!", which had the roughest pit with everyone throwing their middle fingers in the air and chanting the chorus. The last few songs also happened to be the most popular among the fans, with "Kids and Heroes", "True Believers" and for the finale, "Lean on Sheena". Greg thanked everyone on behalf of the band and they quickly dispersed, still leaving us with out of breath with bruises and in some cases, covered in blood.

The next band on the agenda was GBH, meaning I was back at the Legends stage. GBH seemed to have less people than the Bouncing Souls however, for some Punks this band was the very reason they attended in the first place, thus expressed much more excitement through their actions and chants; others had seen them perform at the Henry Fonda in Hollywood a week prior and needed more of a GBH fix . Undoubtedly, the infamous Punk legends had the largest and most combative pit I witnessed at the Warped Tour, especially during songs such as "Give Me Fire", "I am the Hunted", "City Baby's Revenge", and "Big Women".

The band shared songs off their latest album, which included the title track "Perfume and Piss". With every snarl of Colin Abrahall, the crowd grew into a huge fury of chaos chock full of pugnacity, the atmosphere that GBH thrives off of. The Punk veterans closed with the song "Generals" and exited off the stage to the sound of adoring fans wanting more GBH.

With GBH being my last band on the Legends stage, I hurried over to the Kevin Says stage, where the ska bands had been performing. All the ska bands and Rude kids were celebrating the 20th anniversary of ska music, by skanking to covers of acclaimed and ground-breaking ska bands and with special merchandise. At 7PM, a group from Riverside called Knock Out took the stage and although very few people came to listen to their set, they proved to be nothing less than amazing. They opened with "Same Old Thing" and a very small pit of about four people. However, as they played songs such as "Another Wasted Night", "Fade Away", and "Questions", the audience appeared more in touch with the music, whether it was by skanking or simply by bobbing their heads and tapping their feet. Knock Out interacted with the crowd in a laid back and humorous manner, and even dedicated a song to "the biggest slut who walked the earth: Paris Hilton" and sang "One Night in Paris". Because it was a celebration of ska legends, the band was asked to play a Sublime cover; the notion was greatly received by the fans when they played the intro to "Date Rape" and immediately more and more people jumped in to dance. However, they switched gears and instead of playing "Date Rape" they covered "DJs", which was still a Sublime track and pleased the crowd. After more interactions, Knock Out performed their own song "Moving On", and decided to "get the Punks moving"; for the last song they did a cover of Operation Ivy's "Sound System", causing almost everyone, Rude kid or not, to jump in and skank. The joviality and amiable nature of Knock Out proved to be a great lead in for the next and last band of my night, Big D and the Kids Table.

It was an incredibly tough choice to make- see the Adolescents at the Legends stage, or stay at Kevin Says stage and watch Big D and the Kids Table. I went with the latter knowing that the Boston natives were only playing this Warped Tour date, and would not come back to California for awhile. At 8PM, Rude kids, Punks, and more gathered to see the third-wave ska band and five minutes later, Big D and the Kids Table surfaced onto the stage along with the Doped Up Dollies (the backup female vocalists present on the band's newest album Fluent in Stroll) and got the crowd moving and dancing with "My Girlfriend's on Drugs". The upbeat band also performed the optimistic fan-favorite, "Shining On" and had everyone singing along and skanking their hearts out--perfectly emboding the essence of the ska nature. Big D also provided a great mixture of older and newer songs within their set, including "Noise Complaint" off their 2007 album Strictly Rude and "L.A.X", which comes from the album How it Goes; "Noise Complaint" had everyone with their fists in the air chanting the lyrics the entire time and "L.A.X" held the largest pit that night with the audience locking arms, dancing, and fumbling the spoken word portion for five minutes straight. Big D and the Kids Table bid their farewells and exited the stage, but left all the sweaty Rude kids and Punks hugging, laughing, and talking about the near perfect set Big D granted us fans with.

After Big D and the Kids Table my Warped Tour experience officially ended, even though some scream-o and hardcore were still about to perform after. As the sun was almost done setting, people were walking towards the exit of the venue, linking arms and putting heads on each others shoulders. Carson showed that they have the potential to honor the first stop of the Warped Tour just as well as the city of Pomona; even though we were slightly sunburned, sweaty, starving, and just plain exhausted from a long day, it was well worth giving up a day of sleeping in. Be sure to check out the Warped Tour in the nearest city to you, or come to the final stop of the 2010 tour, Pomona. The atmosphere and bands are subject to change, but its sure to provide a superb experience for everyone.

 

-Sarah K.-
Big Wheel Music Scene Reporter

More photos of the show can be seen HERE
 
              See the other report of the 2010 Warped Tour at Carson HERE

 

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