Warped Tour 2005

The Gorge Ampitheatre, Washington
July 9, 2005

click on a band name for the photo page

Dropkick Murphys  The Transplants  MxPx  No Use For A Name  Riverboat Gamblers

My Chemical Romance   The Explosion   HorrorPops  Various Shots

    I've been to the Warped Tour in a parking lot, race tracks, fairgrounds, and parks on the river, all of which were in 90 degree heat and 900% humidity. I have been to the Warped Tour in hell, basically. But this time, my 8th year and 10th show, was the most pleasant experience I have ever had - I wasn't drenched in sweat and covered in dirt.

    The Gorge is located in George, WA - 150 miles east of Seattle. It is in the middle of a winery, basically. From the parking area it just looks like a flat piece of land, but after walking through the gates and straight ahead, you are greeted with the most amazing sight - a huge grassy hill with a giant stage at the bottom. The stage looks like it teeters on the edge of a cliff with a rocky landscape and sparkling river beyond. The only thing that sucked about this absolutely beautiful locale? Hiking up and down the enormous hill. The second stages were to the right of the main stage but up a steep hill, and the majority of the vendor tents and other stages and attractions were all the way up the hill by the entrance. The place should really think about escalators.

    Despite the somewhat annoying layout, everything else ran like clockwork - one band would finish their set on the main stage and the next band would pick up the next second. The Bishop stage did have some sound difficulties, it kept getting muffled or would cut out a bit, but no one seemed to mind too much. Luckily, most of the emo/post-hardcore/nonsense bands were on this stage and I didn't really care. The Volcom and AP second stages were surprisingly packed with some great punk rock and rock n' roll bands. We caught the last few songs of Left Alone and the Unseen, caught the Riverboat Gamblers lead singer climb on top of the food kiosks and jump up on the Domino's Pizza sign (see the photos) before the 80-year old security guard yelled at him, saw one of the best sets of the day by The Explosion - and the surprising huge crowd at 9:45 for the HorrorPops, who, even though I like them, weren't that amazing. Good, but not amazing.

    A definate fact on this tour was that the crowd was split - many of the younger fans were there to see the post-hardcore/emo bands and they were easy to pick out - there was more eyeliner, black hair dye, and ghoulish make-up than at a Bauhaus concert. The 20-something and older crowd seemed more interested in the bands that have been around forever - the Offspring, Dropkick Murphys, and No Use For A Name. I didn't see the appeal of the post-hardcore and emo bands, they really all sounded exactly the same. At one point, one band finished on the left stage and another picked up on the right side - and I didn't even notice. I just thought they were playing an extra long set. There were more lyrics about reading, writing, or receiving a letter than I have ever heard in my life. It nearly made me want to jump into the gorge. But the saving grace of the day had to be the Dropkick Murphys, who blew everyone away. Between the exuberant guitar playing, a piper in plaid kilt, the accordion/mandolin/tin whistle player switching instruments faster than anyone I've ever seen, and the fact that Al Barr was down in the crowd more than on the stage shows their hard work and dedication to their fans. They blasted through their 30-minute set, letting a fan in the crowd come up and sing Barroom Hero (who did a pretty decent job) and played a few new songs off of their latest album.

    The Offspring, No Use For A Name, and MxPx were all good as well, though maintained a pretty docile stage show. However, Dexter from the Offspring did spray down the crowd with a huge fire hose and they also played a few older songs, which was nice. If I had to hear Pretty Fly (For A White Guy), I was going to puke. No Use puts on a great show every time I see them and they always pull out a great set of songs, though I would have liked to hear Don't Miss The Train. MxPx, being local boys, brought out a huge crowd, but each song blended so seamlessly into each other that it was hard to tell where one stopped and the other started. My Chemical Romance wins the prize for most creative clothing choices, with lead singer Gerard wearing a bullet-proof vest and a red stripe down the center of his face, and the guitarist wearing an apron with a skeleton print on the front. They were also the only band that seemed to bring both groups together - and had the largest crowd of the day.

    The attractions were as varied as the crowd as well, with tents from Trojan, Dodge, Playstation & X-Box, Winterfresh Gum and every band and record label imaginable. A surprising addition was the Major League Baseball bus, where you could watch current games, play the MLB video games, see how fast you pitched and it also featured a batting cage. There was also a "Punk Rock Museum" which mostly featured photos of famous punk rockers and some cool merchandise.

    As for my biggest disappointment of the day, it had to be the Transplants. Although I love the self-titled album, I knew it wouldn't translate well to a live set. Travis Barker is simply amazing however, never loosing the beat even though Tim Armstrong has no sense of time whatsoever. Tim Armstrong was like a spinning top on speed, knocking over his microphone more than he actually sang into it, and swinging his guitar more than he played it. And while there was a DJ in the background supplying  some filler, mostly all I heard was the cheesy gunshot noises. It was fun to sing to Tall Cans in the Air, and to see a large chunk of the crowd yell "Fuck You!"

All in all, it was a great Warped Tour - maybe not the best in band selection, but a great venue. Every year, this tour gets stronger and they still manage to keep it about the music - that is what is most important. It's become an institution for the summer months, and I hope it sticks around for years to come.

Review by Amanda Mitchell