gonz
08/11/06, 06:55 PM
August 11, 2006 - Warped Tour 2006 - Tower City Amphitheatre - Cleveland, Ohio
Warped Tour this year was a complete blast. Even now sitting here extremely sunburnt (it's disgusting how red I am) with my ears still ringing loudly, I see today as one of the highlights of the summer. Now let's jump right into the bands I saw in order.
Starting off the day for me was Canadian punk-rock outfit Billy Talent. Ben Kowalewicz' deafening shrieks soon woke me up on what was a beautiful Cleveland day. They played with high amounts of energy and sounded spot on. After around 4 songs I departed to catch fellow Candians Moneen.
Let's be honest, I've heard not one person speak anything close to badly about Moneen's live show. I had high hopes of this set and they destroyed my expectations. The energy that Moneen plays with is unheard of. It is obvious that this band loves playing music and was having the time of their lives. This band leaves it all out on the stage and gives it everything they've got. Towards the end of the last song (Passing Of America), singer/guitar player Kenny Bridges went up to guitarist Hippy Hughes enthusiastically with his guitar resulting in Hippy getting quite a nice goose egg on his forehead. A fitting ending to a set full of body parts flying.
After getting a bite to eat I headed down to Main Stage Left to catch one of the most influential bands in this scene, Saves The Day. They sounded gorgeous, flawless even. Chris Conley was spot on. They played new and old, pleasing the rowdy crowd.
Next I figured I would catch some of TAI's set. From what I heard they sounded good and Willy Beckett sounded great. I didn't stay very long because it was crowded and I wasn't all that interested.
After missing them when they came on the Circa Survive tour, due to an illness in the band, I was more than happy to see YIS on the schedule. If you haven't heard of this band or just haven't heard, please go purchase (or download) their CD, Outside We Are Fine, it really is a great debut album and they played the songs off it perfectly. This band has a great singer and some really interesting songs.
I hadn't listened to Emanuel in quite some time before going to check out their Warped set. I didn't catch any new songs but I did hear a few off their debut CD and they sounded good. Nothing spectacular but it was enjoyable. I wasn't to keane on Matt Breen's vocals and I actually believe that guitarist Mat Barber has a more enjoyable voice.
I really have no idea why Cartel is playing the Ernie Ball stage. They could have easily had a crowd large enough for one of the larger stages and could have probably even held their own on one of the main stages. I only stayed for 1 or 2 songs but they sounded good, but I soon became antsy to head over to Saves The Day's acoustic set.
I would have loved to stay for this whole set but Thursday playing 15 minutes later called my name. The acoustic set had such a great vibe. After 3-4 songs I was walking over to Thursday with a large smile on my face.
Say what you will about Thursday's live show, but today they tore the place up. They sounded remarkable and the crowd was completely insane. They played a little from everything (minus Waiting) and killed the set. I just wish they would have one the Energizer extra 10 minutes thing instead of Against Me! (which I can't stand).
After a while Jared Leto and his band 30STM paraded on stage with bandanas over their faces, waving giant flags with their logo on it. Quite an entrance. I didn't stay for the whole set because I got annoyed, but what I heard sounded good. I was surprised at how good Leto's voice actually is. While his singing sounded good, his talking was sub-par. He couldn't go 2 words without dropping an F bomb and really sounded like an arrogant bastard. I can't blame him though; 1) he's a movie star and 2) the crowd obeyed his every will. After "suggesting" everyone in the crowd crowdsurf, there were easily 30 bodies floating over the crowd at once! It was a site to behold. After they played 4 songs off of A Beautiful Lie I left, pissed that they hadn't played one song of the S/T album yet (which is far superior).
At 5:30 I headed over to catch a few songs from Ace Enders and The Early November. They sounded great but I was becoming tired and wanted to at least see a little bit of Joan Jett, so I headed over. She sounded great and I really respect her for still rocking out.
After realizing I had 5 minutes until ETID came on, I booked it across the Tower City Amphitheatre just in time to see Ratboy playing the drums to "Kill The Music" just as the rest of the band accompanied him. ETID's live show lived up to the hype as well. They were flawless and extremely fun. Watching Andy doing his "running man" move while playing the guitar is fabulous. Keith had almost half the crowd in a giant circle pit after he stopped "Bored Stiff" only seconds into the song after the initial pit wasn't acceptable. It was a blast, I just wish they would have played at least one song from Last Night In Town.
I was planning to skip them after seeing them three times and figuring it would be a similar set list, but I had nothing better to see and it turned out being a fun show. I always like The Bled live no matter how nasty they sound.
Some of you may be shocked to see TS listed here and I don't blame you. I did a double take after I saw them written in on the schedule and jumped for joy. Much to my dismay as I walked to the stage directly next to the stage I saw the Bled on, I saw them loading up the amps. This was not a good sign. I went up and asked "Isn't a band supposed to be playing here now?" only to be answered with "They didn't show up". Blast! My hopes were crushed and I walked back extremely disappointed.
Along with Thursday, this is a band I have been waiting to see live for quite some time. This is another extremely fun band live and I cannot wait for their fall tour with Moneen, it is going to be incredibly fun. They played songs from all 3 of their CDs (past and future) and it sounded great. The mighty Dallas Green on vocals sounded amazing. It felt great being one of the few who were singing along to the new songs. It was a great set, although it seemed like it ended as fast as it had started.
Walking out I caught half a song from I Am The Avalanche and they sounded great, just like th last time I saw them. I was too fried to stay and watch the rest though so I left and there ended a fabulous summer day.
Warped Tour this year was a complete blast. Even now sitting here extremely sunburnt (it's disgusting how red I am) with my ears still ringing loudly, I see today as one of the highlights of the summer. Now let's jump right into the bands I saw in order.
Starting off the day for me was Canadian punk-rock outfit Billy Talent. Ben Kowalewicz' deafening shrieks soon woke me up on what was a beautiful Cleveland day. They played with high amounts of energy and sounded spot on. After around 4 songs I departed to catch fellow Candians Moneen.
Let's be honest, I've heard not one person speak anything close to badly about Moneen's live show. I had high hopes of this set and they destroyed my expectations. The energy that Moneen plays with is unheard of. It is obvious that this band loves playing music and was having the time of their lives. This band leaves it all out on the stage and gives it everything they've got. Towards the end of the last song (Passing Of America), singer/guitar player Kenny Bridges went up to guitarist Hippy Hughes enthusiastically with his guitar resulting in Hippy getting quite a nice goose egg on his forehead. A fitting ending to a set full of body parts flying.
After getting a bite to eat I headed down to Main Stage Left to catch one of the most influential bands in this scene, Saves The Day. They sounded gorgeous, flawless even. Chris Conley was spot on. They played new and old, pleasing the rowdy crowd.
Next I figured I would catch some of TAI's set. From what I heard they sounded good and Willy Beckett sounded great. I didn't stay very long because it was crowded and I wasn't all that interested.
After missing them when they came on the Circa Survive tour, due to an illness in the band, I was more than happy to see YIS on the schedule. If you haven't heard of this band or just haven't heard, please go purchase (or download) their CD, Outside We Are Fine, it really is a great debut album and they played the songs off it perfectly. This band has a great singer and some really interesting songs.
I hadn't listened to Emanuel in quite some time before going to check out their Warped set. I didn't catch any new songs but I did hear a few off their debut CD and they sounded good. Nothing spectacular but it was enjoyable. I wasn't to keane on Matt Breen's vocals and I actually believe that guitarist Mat Barber has a more enjoyable voice.
I really have no idea why Cartel is playing the Ernie Ball stage. They could have easily had a crowd large enough for one of the larger stages and could have probably even held their own on one of the main stages. I only stayed for 1 or 2 songs but they sounded good, but I soon became antsy to head over to Saves The Day's acoustic set.
I would have loved to stay for this whole set but Thursday playing 15 minutes later called my name. The acoustic set had such a great vibe. After 3-4 songs I was walking over to Thursday with a large smile on my face.
Say what you will about Thursday's live show, but today they tore the place up. They sounded remarkable and the crowd was completely insane. They played a little from everything (minus Waiting) and killed the set. I just wish they would have one the Energizer extra 10 minutes thing instead of Against Me! (which I can't stand).
After a while Jared Leto and his band 30STM paraded on stage with bandanas over their faces, waving giant flags with their logo on it. Quite an entrance. I didn't stay for the whole set because I got annoyed, but what I heard sounded good. I was surprised at how good Leto's voice actually is. While his singing sounded good, his talking was sub-par. He couldn't go 2 words without dropping an F bomb and really sounded like an arrogant bastard. I can't blame him though; 1) he's a movie star and 2) the crowd obeyed his every will. After "suggesting" everyone in the crowd crowdsurf, there were easily 30 bodies floating over the crowd at once! It was a site to behold. After they played 4 songs off of A Beautiful Lie I left, pissed that they hadn't played one song of the S/T album yet (which is far superior).
At 5:30 I headed over to catch a few songs from Ace Enders and The Early November. They sounded great but I was becoming tired and wanted to at least see a little bit of Joan Jett, so I headed over. She sounded great and I really respect her for still rocking out.
After realizing I had 5 minutes until ETID came on, I booked it across the Tower City Amphitheatre just in time to see Ratboy playing the drums to "Kill The Music" just as the rest of the band accompanied him. ETID's live show lived up to the hype as well. They were flawless and extremely fun. Watching Andy doing his "running man" move while playing the guitar is fabulous. Keith had almost half the crowd in a giant circle pit after he stopped "Bored Stiff" only seconds into the song after the initial pit wasn't acceptable. It was a blast, I just wish they would have played at least one song from Last Night In Town.
I was planning to skip them after seeing them three times and figuring it would be a similar set list, but I had nothing better to see and it turned out being a fun show. I always like The Bled live no matter how nasty they sound.
Some of you may be shocked to see TS listed here and I don't blame you. I did a double take after I saw them written in on the schedule and jumped for joy. Much to my dismay as I walked to the stage directly next to the stage I saw the Bled on, I saw them loading up the amps. This was not a good sign. I went up and asked "Isn't a band supposed to be playing here now?" only to be answered with "They didn't show up". Blast! My hopes were crushed and I walked back extremely disappointed.
Along with Thursday, this is a band I have been waiting to see live for quite some time. This is another extremely fun band live and I cannot wait for their fall tour with Moneen, it is going to be incredibly fun. They played songs from all 3 of their CDs (past and future) and it sounded great. The mighty Dallas Green on vocals sounded amazing. It felt great being one of the few who were singing along to the new songs. It was a great set, although it seemed like it ended as fast as it had started.
Walking out I caught half a song from I Am The Avalanche and they sounded great, just like th last time I saw them. I was too fried to stay and watch the rest though so I left and there ended a fabulous summer day.