REVIEW: Music extravaganza leaves Dallas warped

Warped Tour made its fourteenth visit to Dallas this year and was full of the requisite half-naked sweaty people, loud music and more bands than one can conceivably see on its six stages. The selection of bands wasn't terribly diverse - but that wasn't necessarily a bad thing.

After fighting through miles of traffic, and getting bad directions, I was sorely disappointed to hear that Warped Tour kicked off an hour earlier than scheduled. The only schedule that was up-to-date was by the Main Stage, which was nearly impossible to get to because of the masses of teenagers and merchandise tents crammed into the main concourse.

Cobra Starship on the Main Stage was one of the first sets I saw. I've always been a big fan of the band because of the energy of lead singer Gabe Saporta, who hit the nail on the head when he described their set as a "Cobra Starship Experience." Since they're relatively new to the music scene, the audience wasn't singing along to the majority of their set, but when Saporta broke into Bring It (Snakes on a Plane) the crowd went wild. There was jumping and singing and it was easily one of the most spirited performances on the tour.

Another high-strung performance, and one of my favorite acts of the day, was Gym Class Heroes on the Route 66 stage. Lead singer Travis McCoy had a hurt knee but that didn't prevent him from strutting his stuff. He more than made up for his limited mobility with his facial expressions. He sang fan favorites such as Clothes Off and for the old-school GCH fans, McCoy bust out with Papercuts off one of their earlier independent releases, The Papercut Chronicles. But neither of those were what stole the show. Just when it seemed that McCoy and his Heroes weren't going to save the day, a cover of Lamb of God's Laid to Rest blew me away.

Luckily, I didn't have to fight to get to my next destination after GCH. The Main Stage, where Jack's Mannequin was playing, was just right next door, so I sat back to watch Andrew McMahon, former front man of Something Corporate, put on a hell of a show.

McMahon's music stood out from most of the other bands on the tour. With his piano and beautiful voice, his music is more carefree - not what you'd expect to hear at a tour for mostly punk music. McMahon sang a few singles off their first album Everything in Transit which had most of the girls go wild, while holding up their cell phones to share the music. One of the best performances of the day was Dark Blue. McMahon had no problems interacting with the audience, and it was purely comical to watch him try to dance while playing the piano.

I love the set up of Warped Tour because there's so many bands, you're guaranteed to hear someone new. I discovered one band purely by accident when I went to the Hurley.com stage to sit in the shade of the amphitheater. David Warsop of the UK band Beat Union was on stage rocking out to the title track of their new CD, Disconnected, to which I instantly connected. There was something so charming about listening to a British band that actually sounds British. The songs were catchy and the band's energy was just amazing.

When their set was over I was rejuvenated enough to head out to catch the tail end of the Angels and Airwaves show. A&A is Blink-182 member Tom Delonge's new side project, and the bit of the show I caught was too far from Blink's signature sound for me to appreciate it.

But I only had to listen to a few minutes of that before the band I came to Warped Tour to see had a set on the Main Stage. Story of the Year is everything that I remember from my high school days. They played some of their cult favorites like Until the Day I Die, which was a major crowd pleaser. Lead singer Dan Marsala had the crowd jumping and singing right along with him. This was definitely one of the best bands on the tour because of their energy and enthusiasm. SOTY has some of those things that can't be taught: talent and stage presence. Their performance was easily the highlight of the day.

With 10 hours worth of music, six stages and an insane amount of bands to try and listen to, not to mention the frenzied concertgoers, Warped Tour was a madhouse. And I was very happy to be amongst the insanity.

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Interviews by Jay Embry  

David Warsop, Beat Union J: How did you break into the American market? DW: We come from a punk rock background and we believe in growing a fan base organically. A show at a time, making some new friends and some new fans. J: What are you doing after Warped Tour? DW: We're doing the Summer Sonic Festival in Japan, and our first single "Can't Stop the Radio" is soon to hit radios. J: What's the UK rock scene like right now? DW: I'd say that the rock music scene in the UK is strong right now, but it's highly saturated with American bands. Literally, I can count on one hand the number of big English bands right now. It's hard for bands in Britain right now. J: Is there anymore British punk? DW: These days, no so much

Dan Marsala, Story of the Year J: How's the tour so far? DM: I like it, other than the heat. But this is our fourth time doing it, so we knew what we were getting into. J: What are you guys going to be doing after Warped? DM: We're playing a two-month long international Taste of Chaos Tour. J: Why did you guys split from your long-time label, Maverick, for the new record? DM: Maverick folded. They folded into Warner Bros, who started picking up some of the Maverick artists. But in the process, us and Warner Bros decided to not go forth with this record. We started shopping the record around and Epitaph was one of the ones who was interested. It just seemed like the perfect label for us.