Weekly Warped: Punk Rock 101

Today we’re proud to bring you our very first in-depth look at the 2010 Vans Warped Tour as part of our on-going coverage of the festival. Our topic today is the history lesson it provides; once you’re done reading up on what you can learn during your day at the tour, make sure to pick up tickets for the show as it passes through your town this summer.

Come back later today to see our first photo gallery of the festival too.

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Punk Rock 101

When you hear about the annual Vans Warped Tour, you immediately think of standing in an asphalt parking lot watching a dozen of your favourite bands playing all in one day. It’s a day full of music, friends, circle pits and direct sunlight and depending how you normally spend your day at the festival – the mention of the tour could bring up visions of you running from stage to stage watching as many bands as you can, standing in line to meet a band at their merch tent, or hanging out with your friends in the shade of a tree as you soak in the constant flow of action all around you.

One thing you may not think of when you think about the Warped Tour is the educational opportunities it provides – not in terms of the charities and non-profits sectors but rather the crash course in punk rock history that it offers to its thousands of attendees each and every day.

No matter your opinion on the tour’s line-up, it’s that variation and diversity that enables the tour to offer an eight hour history lesson in punk rock. A cursory glance down this year’s line-up and an older punk fan may find himself scratching his head – Hey Monday? Anarbor? Pretty Reckless? Fight Fair? Breathe Carolina? Call The Cops? The Cab? We The Kings? Who are these bands?

They’re the new names of bands on the scene and, for some, it may seem strange to not have Bad Religion, NOFX or Rancid on the tour but a further look down the list will reveal names that may be familiar to that old punker –  Face To Face, Reel Big Fish, Swingin’ Utters, Pennywise, GBH, Bouncing Souls, Anti-Flag, and Fear among others.

These are names that may be familiar to a veteran Warped goer; but flip the situation around and these would be unknown to a newcomer who may, instead, know every word to every All-American Rejects song. This offers a unique opportunity, a chance for people from both age groups to be introduced to new bands and new music.

Tommy Simms, guitarist of Automatic Loveletter, put it nicely saying “music is ever evolving and ever changing. Even to say that people are only [at Warped Tour] to see punk rock [is wrong]; punk rock’s not even the same as what it used to be.” The question is how it went from The Adolescents to Alkaline Trio to The Summer Set? The sonic journey may seem long and convoluted, nevertheless it’s all connected and one day at the Warped Tour gives you a chance to not only trace that pathway but watch all three bands in the meantime.

No other place could ever accomodate the different types of fans in one place as well as the Warped Tour does; a fact that Chris Browne of Polar Bear Club, discovered on the first day of this year’s tour “I remember walking by earlier and I’m pretty sure it was Pierce the Veil and Face To Face playing right next to each other and the different types of fans was astounding but that’s a great thing that we’re at the same show and those two bands are playing next to each other. I hope that the fans of the one band will give an earnest listen to the other band because I think there’s a lot to like about both.”

That’s the key, to be open minded and unafraid to open your eyes to something completely new; to give them a chance before you discount them. Now, not everyone will be able to fully appreciate every band on the tour. Fans of Mayday Parade may not enjoy The Bouncing Souls in the same way as someone like I would – and that’s okay, but those few people who do will experience something that could change their lives. “I think there’s a couple kids that it’s going to be an affirming thing for them to see Fear and they will appreciate it later down the line when their musical palette expands a lot more” mentioned Mike Wiebe of The Riverboat Gamblers as he talked about his own broadening musical palette – which is something you do need for the tour. “It’s so diverse,” explains VersaEmerge singer Sierra Kusterbeck, “you’ve got ska bands, and then you’ve got GBH who is fricken on the tour and they’re this legendary punk band. Then you’ve got us, you’ve got The Cab, you’ve got Andrew WK and Motion City Soundtrack. It’s all over the place.”

All over the place, both sonically and historically. Face To Face, who played the first, second, third and fifth Warped Tour, are on the complete tour; as are The Bouncing Souls for the tenth time. Older, established bands like Pennywise (with their new vocalist Zoli Teglas), Reel Big Fish, Dillinger Escape Plan, Alkaline Trio, Anti-Flag and The Casualties are all playing different parts of the tour; and if you’re extremely lucky you may even catch a performance from Street Sweeper Social Club during one of their two dates. Right alongside that line up of historical bands is the new crop of bands – like The Flatliners, Four Year Strong, Bring Me The Horizon, AM Taxi, Cobra Skulls, Parkway Drive, Set Your Goals, and White Chapel; and if you’re patient enough and willing to give a few minutes of your day to each band, you will be able to trace the lineage of punk from its earliest forms right down to its newest evoltion.

It’s a crash course in punk rock 101 all in one day – only available at the Vans Warped Tour.

After all, as Bryan Kienlen of The Souls put it: “You gotta know the lineage. Let’s say, if you consider yourself a punk fan, you can’t really be a punk fan and not know Fear in my opinion. You can’t call yourself a punk rocker and not know Fear.”