Warped Tour Hits Columbia

By JC

 

COLUMBIA, MD--The Vans Warped Tour, a traveling music festival that exists mainly to showcase up-and-coming punk bands, came to Columbia on June 14th and 15th. It took place at Merriweather Post Pavilion with over one hundred bands performing throughout each day. Due to the amount of performers, there were about fifteen stages set up around the area, as well as the main pavilion.

The headliners played on two main stages near Broken Land Parkway. This year, two of the biggest attractions were groups of aging rockers; Joan Jett & the Blackhearts and The Buzzcocks. Both put on high volume and high energy shows, proving that can still rock after all these years. The two bands drew crowds just as large as any of the younger groups, and songs from their new albums were well-received.

Another standout was NOFX, who aren’t exactly old or young. Their performance was just as much comedy act as rock show, with frontman Fat Mike making a number of jokes, many at the expense of other band members. A highlight of their show was the opener, which consisted of the band speeding through 11 songs in 5 minutes. Other impressive performers were Rise Against, Against Me!, and The Casualties; all of whom make screaming your head off interesting.

Equally massive to the amount of bands on the tour is the number of tents. Many are merchandise areas for the groups, but others have things very slightly related to the tour. Take the PlayStation tent, where one can try out any PlayStation console (including the popular PS2 game Guitar Hero, which has its own guitar shaped controller). Still, the loud music is the most enjoyable part of the day, and the sheer amount of it certainly gives new meaning to getting bang for your buck.

 

 

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