The 14th annual Warped Tour took place at the Utah State Fair Park on Saturday June 28th. How was it? Well... I will tell you! The day started off with Me, Matt, Paul and Torin heading out in Torin's brand new car. As we rocked out to Motion City Soundtrack the anticipation began to build. There were so many bands we wanted to see! We parked and got there a little before 11 in the morning. Doors opened at 11 and music started at 11:30. thank goodness the line went quickly. As we reached inside the fair park we came to the big schedule to see when the main event was. To our surprise it was at 11:30 so we took off to see the band we had to see no question about it. ANBERLIN!!!! They came out on time, dressed very classy. They started with the song Godspeed and the crowd was very energetic! They went on to play a bunch of fan favorites from A Day Late to Paperthin Hymn. They played a few from their Cities album and then closed with Dismantle Repair. If you have not seen or heard of this band, you should check them out soon, because the feeling I got at Warped Tour was that they are on the brink of being the next huge band.
After Anberlin we took a stroll around the park and looked at a few of the booths. We caught a few songs from Relient K. They played a classic song Sadie Hawkins Dance. Which seemed to please the crowd. We met up with our good friend Nate and the group he came with. After which we headed over to go see We The Kings. I have seen them before and like before they put on a good performance. They played alot of the more catchier songs off their self titled album. Then closed with the hit Check Yes Juliet. After We The Kings we got a real treat. A band called Jet Lag Gemini. This band fuses the sound of pop punk with classic rock. Its the only way I can describe it. They put on a great performance. A band that I would recommend to give a listen to. After Jet Lag Gemini we grabbed some lunch. While we ate we listened to a band that seemed to mix rap with techno and some rock elements but with none of the creativity that seems to come from this mixed genre. The band 3O!3... I think... I cant really remember. We then headed over to the myspace tent and caught the tail end of an acoustic performance of a band called Between The Trees. Another hidden gem at Warped Tour. After that we headed over to see a band called Forever The Sickest Kids. If you like pop punk or catchy music this band delivers. More importantly they really deliver live. They were very entertaining to watch and seemed to enjoy playing live.
The highlight of the day came at 4. Inside the Myspace tent, Anberlin played an acoustic set. And it was INCREDIBLE!! They started off with A Day Late and then played an amazing version of Inevitable. Then they talked a bit about the new album coming out September 30th. and played a new song called Breaking. The song literally blew me away. It was incredible. If the acoustic version was that good... how fantastic is the final version going to sound? They then played a few other songs like the Unwinding Cable car. And after the set the crowd was chanting one more song so loud. So they played on more. A girl missed their set earlier today and requested Paperthin Hymn. And so that is the song they ended with. The4 girl who requested it started to break down and cry. The song must have a deeper meaning for her. They then announced that they would be back in October. Needless to say, you know I will be there!!
We then headed over to see The Academy Is... I have always enjoyed seeing this band live and they opened the show with Attention and played some of their other hits. They treated the crowd with a new song which was awesome! The only downside to the show was the ridiculous amount of crowd surfers. Any one who has been to a show with me knows how much I hate crowd surfers. Well this time was no exception. a crowd surfer came crushing down on my neck and then grabbed me by the neck and tried to pull me down with him. In a frantic fury, I took my Gatorade bottle and smashed him in the face with it... yeah violence isn't the answer but I was frantic. My neck felt like it was being pulled down off of my body and the only reaction I had was to hit him to get him off of me. Well luckily I didn't get hurt. Shortly after we got out of the crowd to start heading for the next band... who happened to be Cobra Starship. They of course dressed like pop rockers from the 80's like they usually do. The coolest part of the set was when they played Snakes on a Plane... you know the cool theme song from the lame movie. Well the song features guest vocals from the lead singers of the Academy Is.. and Gym Class Heroes. And both bands were at Warped Tour so they both came on stage with them. It was awesome! There were other bands I would have liked to seen like Say Anything and Gym Class Heroes but my neck was sore and the rest of the group was getting to their end. So we called it a day and headed for classic concert tradition... The Pie pizzeria. And of course ordered the usual... Cheese Pull Aparts under the name Biff. All in all it was a very good day. Warped Tour as usual was a blast... and for the second year in a row... no band can hold a candle to Anberlin and their phenomenal performance!
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Coldplay: Viva La Vida
I have heard it all too many times... Do you know how I know youre gay? Becasue you like Coldplay. It was one of those lines from the 40 Year Old Virgin that was so overused when I mentioned I liked the band. So funny... Yeah not really. When you consider the previous three albums by Coldplay... Parachutes, A Rush of Blood to The Head, and X&Y. Their fourth cd is titled... Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends.
The first track on this album entitled Life in Technicolor catches your attention right away with its spanish inspired guitar track and virtually no vocals. The song starts to pick up with a haunting drum beat, almost like a tribal beat. The cd only picks up and gains momentum from here. Cemeteries Of London has a classic Coldplay feel. One of my favorite tracks however is Lover In Japan/Reign Of Love. The song starts to soar from the start where Chris Martins vocals nail every emotion that the song tries to portray. The best part of the song is where you think its over and you think a new song starts but you realize its the same song and the second half of the song devles into the softer side of the idea. I would have to say the standout track off of the album is the title track Viva La Vida. This song uses amazing violin riffs and a catchy tune. You may recognize this song off of the itunes commercials. Its absolutely incredible and shows what a band can do by thinking outside their usual formula. After this is the first single entitled Violet Hill. Its a solid song about relating love to a cold winter.. or so I think. Sometimes it takes me a bit to find the meaning behind the song. And the cd finishes strong with the second half of the title track Death and All His Friends. My only complaint about the album is that it was 10 tracks long. Although you do get every bit of what you pay for.
I cant say enough about this cd. Its different from what Coldplay has done in the past. Its more raw and electric. Dont go into this cd thinking that Coldplay has completely changed... because they havent. They seemed to have drawn some influences from Indie rockers like Arcade Fire and The Stars. The album has a darker tune then the previous three and definetly worth a listen if you have ears. And no this album wont make you gay nor will their previos three cds.
Bottom Line: Solid CD and high contender for album of the year!
Grade: A
The first track on this album entitled Life in Technicolor catches your attention right away with its spanish inspired guitar track and virtually no vocals. The song starts to pick up with a haunting drum beat, almost like a tribal beat. The cd only picks up and gains momentum from here. Cemeteries Of London has a classic Coldplay feel. One of my favorite tracks however is Lover In Japan/Reign Of Love. The song starts to soar from the start where Chris Martins vocals nail every emotion that the song tries to portray. The best part of the song is where you think its over and you think a new song starts but you realize its the same song and the second half of the song devles into the softer side of the idea. I would have to say the standout track off of the album is the title track Viva La Vida. This song uses amazing violin riffs and a catchy tune. You may recognize this song off of the itunes commercials. Its absolutely incredible and shows what a band can do by thinking outside their usual formula. After this is the first single entitled Violet Hill. Its a solid song about relating love to a cold winter.. or so I think. Sometimes it takes me a bit to find the meaning behind the song. And the cd finishes strong with the second half of the title track Death and All His Friends. My only complaint about the album is that it was 10 tracks long. Although you do get every bit of what you pay for.
I cant say enough about this cd. Its different from what Coldplay has done in the past. Its more raw and electric. Dont go into this cd thinking that Coldplay has completely changed... because they havent. They seemed to have drawn some influences from Indie rockers like Arcade Fire and The Stars. The album has a darker tune then the previous three and definetly worth a listen if you have ears. And no this album wont make you gay nor will their previos three cds.
Bottom Line: Solid CD and high contender for album of the year!
Grade: A
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