2008 Woodie Awards
Van's Warped Tour: Success and Failure
Kathryn Petekiewicz
Issue date: 9/22/04 Section: Arts & Entertainment
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A classic rock enthusiast to the core, it was highly unlikely that I would end up at Van's Warped Tour this past summer. Until recently, I had written modern-day punk off as an unsatisfactory attempt at true rock and roll. But my boyfriend's heart was set on seeing the show, and so I sacrificed my standards and agreed to go. While I walked through the gate a skeptic, I left with a newfound respect for both punk music and punk culture.
Although it was sweltering hot and poorly organized, the tour itself was enjoyable. The bands headlining the event were Taking Back Sunday, Coheed and Cambria, Story of the Year, Yellowcard, and Sugarcult, among others. In total 86 bands performed on the tour, most of them relatively well known. Interestingly, each one of these headlining bands would have been able to sell out their own shows, but yet each chose to take a spot on the tour where they were only given thirty minutes of play time and treated the same as the unknown bands on the tour. This sense of equality epitomizes punk philosophy, which is refreshing in an industry where so many are only concerned with fattening their wallets. And then it hit me: If punk rockers are compelled by forces other than money and glory, well then they are staying true to the tradition of rock and roll. They must actually be playing for the love of music. Albeit an easy concept, playing for sheer enjoyment is actually a phenomenon in today's industry.
As for the music itself, the performances ranged from exhilarating to embarrassingly unidentifiable. One band that did not live up to its reputation was Coheed and Cambria. Joseph Zambito, an Engineering student, said, "People go to concerts expecting perfect performances and Coheed and Cambria didn't play the perfect set that I wanted. I didn't really enjoy their set. I had to walk away after the first song because I would have rather have heard a good set by another one of the bands, rather than a bad set by Coheed." Besides the few bands that were not performing well, the show as a whole was enjoyable for most. While Zambito disliked Coheed and Cambria's set, he loved the rest of the concert. "Its every band that I ever wanted to see live playing their best songs with a crowd that's so intense that made the whole experience amazing. And between sets, when we walked around, we got to meet the other bands that were not as well known. Number One Fan [one of the unknown bands Zambito met] was so friendly and just as excited to talk to me, as I was to talk to them. It changed the way you would think about rock stars. People might not like punk but I think it's more for the fans than the money or the glamour."
Although it was sweltering hot and poorly organized, the tour itself was enjoyable. The bands headlining the event were Taking Back Sunday, Coheed and Cambria, Story of the Year, Yellowcard, and Sugarcult, among others. In total 86 bands performed on the tour, most of them relatively well known. Interestingly, each one of these headlining bands would have been able to sell out their own shows, but yet each chose to take a spot on the tour where they were only given thirty minutes of play time and treated the same as the unknown bands on the tour. This sense of equality epitomizes punk philosophy, which is refreshing in an industry where so many are only concerned with fattening their wallets. And then it hit me: If punk rockers are compelled by forces other than money and glory, well then they are staying true to the tradition of rock and roll. They must actually be playing for the love of music. Albeit an easy concept, playing for sheer enjoyment is actually a phenomenon in today's industry.
As for the music itself, the performances ranged from exhilarating to embarrassingly unidentifiable. One band that did not live up to its reputation was Coheed and Cambria. Joseph Zambito, an Engineering student, said, "People go to concerts expecting perfect performances and Coheed and Cambria didn't play the perfect set that I wanted. I didn't really enjoy their set. I had to walk away after the first song because I would have rather have heard a good set by another one of the bands, rather than a bad set by Coheed." Besides the few bands that were not performing well, the show as a whole was enjoyable for most. While Zambito disliked Coheed and Cambria's set, he loved the rest of the concert. "Its every band that I ever wanted to see live playing their best songs with a crowd that's so intense that made the whole experience amazing. And between sets, when we walked around, we got to meet the other bands that were not as well known. Number One Fan [one of the unknown bands Zambito met] was so friendly and just as excited to talk to me, as I was to talk to them. It changed the way you would think about rock stars. People might not like punk but I think it's more for the fans than the money or the glamour."