LAS CRUCES — "Thank you for (blanking) sticking it out in this heat," Pepper singer-guitarist Kaleo Wassman told a few thousand of the nearly 10,000 who turned out for Wednesday's Vans Warped Tour stop at NMSU.
I hadn't been there but a few minutes, right around 4 p.m., and the mercury was stubbornly ensconced in yet another 100 degree day, though after topping out at 108 on Monday it didn't feel all that bad.
Many of the females in the mostly teenaged crowd were in bikini tops and shorts, a lot of the guys were shirtless and in shorts. The lines for shaved ice were as long as they were for the hottest acts of the moment, such as the Ready Set and rising stars like Of Mice and Men.
The only things more popular than the music and autographs were water, shade and sunscreen. Good thing they don't do this in a parking lot like they do in places like Detroit.
It was 13 degrees hotter than last year, NMSU events and marketing coordinator Bobbie Welch reminded, but it didn't seem as hot as it has been. In fact, she said, EMT calls for heat-related problems were down 25 percent (and there were only five arrests).
"We'd heard horror stories about how hot it was, but you have to treat it like a day job, work your ass off in the day and chill out at night," said Rory Clewlow, guitarist for British metalcore band Enter Shikari, during a stop by the press tent.
Even Chris Batten, the band's shirtless, slightly pale bassist, said it "wasn't that bad" on this hot, clear, sunny afternoon. Muscular drummer Rob Rolfe, also shirtless, noted they "use the air-conditioning in the bus" as much as possible, and cautioned the quartet, which played early in the afternoon, and second-year Warped tour vets worry "it'll be baking hot when we get to Arizona."
At least they don't have to worry about that until Aug. 7, when the tour affectionately known as "punk rock summer camp" plops down in Phoenix.
Of course, that nickname is less applicable these days. Warped is like a giant mixtape of what's popular with teenagers who aren't into what's popular in the mainstream. Each successive tour is like a collective finger on the alternateen pulse. With about 80 bands on eight stages (seven tour stages and one local stage), that's a lot of pulse-taking.
Punk rock remains the foundation of all that is Warped, but in founder Kevin Lyman's ongoing quest to keep it relevant with today's teenagers, the 17-year-old Warped hasn't reinvented itself so much as it has evolved.
Thankfully, the great emo scare is over, and as that whiny genre fades into memory, modern versions of alternative metal and various variations on punk, rap, pop, reggae and even rootsy rock are now the order of the day.
The idea, Lyman said in an earlier interview, was to appeal both to Warped's core audience — the kids who are in high school now (with some middle schoolers mixed in) — and the ones who've moved on to college, but stopped going to Warped.
You could see it in action. In the relatively short time I was there — from 3:45 to 5:15 — the youngest kids gathered around certain bands, older kids gathered around others. Metal leaning bands like hot newcomers Attack! Attack! (on the Teggart main stage) and gimmicky genre-bending acts like Blood on the Dance Floor (on the Skullcandy stage) drew younger crowds.
More musically sophisticated bands, like jammy throwback quartet Lionize didn't pack them in at the the Tilly's/Alternative Press stage, but the smallish, more collegiate crowd seemed to appreciate the band's soulful performance and instrumental command.
Next door, at the Nintendo 3DS stage, the poppy melodicism and energy of The Dangerous Summer (Nintendo 3DS stage), who took the stage brandishing the trophy they won at the 4th annual Warped bowling tournament on Tuesday (Hellogoodbye took first), drew a more diverse crowd.
Due to time constraints (I got out of the office 90 minutes later than planned; I had to be somewhere by 6), I wasn't able to take in a whole set by ay one band, so I did my own sampler of the bands who played while I was there. Lionize and the The Dangerous Summer stood a head above the rest, showing more depth, chops and songwriting ability than the others I heard.
Freshman 15 was a nice surprise. Judging by their errant attempts to get laughs early in their set, they recovered nicely with a sense of fun and the kind of pop punk hookiness that reminds one of Blink-182 before they broke big.
Blood on the Dance Floor had some strong harmonies, but lost me when gender-bending singer Dahvie Vanity rapped — clumsily. Attack! Attack! showed what all the touring they've been doing can do to tighten a band's sound, but as metalcore bands go, they sounded pretty typical, not distinctive.
Miss May I played on the smaller Advent stage (sponsored by the Las Cruces-connected clothing company), but had a sound that was more well-honed than A!2's and more intensity. Sets like that, and crowds like that, could lead them to the main stage in a year or two.
That's the thing about Warped that's been so consistent. It's a lot like high school. Bands come on as freshman, get to play for hundreds of thousands of people, and either drop out or keep moving up the ladder. "Kevin Lyman has done more for small bands," Shikari's Batten said.
Indeed, he has.
And he did good this year, at least what I was able to sample of it. He's hardly the first promoter to put so many bands, so much merchandising and so many worthy causes (groups devoted to everything from fighting smoking to feeding impoverished children) in one place. But he's one of the few who's been able to do it so effectively and so consistently for so long.
Welch said a crowd of 9,601 showed up for this year's Warped, an increase of 1,000 over last year. The improving economy didn't hurt, she said, but pointed out some other possible ingredients in this year's success.
"Talent? Cheaper gas? Better advertising," she mused via text. "(It's) always hard to pin it down, but the whole tour is up, so (it's) probably talent."
I'd have to agree. Based on what I saw this year, I would have stayed longer if I could have. I haven't been able to say that every year.
Comments