Something Like Sound

Photo by Steven Wooldridge

The E-Days concert once again pulled hundreds of students into Volk Gymnasium for a fun night of music. Starting off the night was a reggae band from Savannah, GA, that went by the name Passafire. While they insisted the crowd rock out, the music tended more towards a relaxed feel. Occasionally, the songs would break down from the easy-going sways into solid rock riffs that got the crowd moving significantly. The 45-minute set was pretty uniform from start to finish, but was certainly enjoyable.

Surprisingly, the reggae band was a pretty good match as an opener for the ska band headliner of the show, Less Than Jake.

After a between set break that carried on for well over 20 minutes, Less Than Jake came on excitedly and quickly got to playing. Their fast-paced songs were led by an equally fast guitar and punctuated by the signature ska sound of the trombone and saxophone. Most of their songs were fast, quick, and fun, but occasionally the set wound down to a more ska and less punk sound. Throughout their set, mosh pits were continuous and crowd surfers glided along by the dozen.

Of course, what E-Days concert doesn’t involve some ridiculous antics by the headlining band? Less Than Jake was quick to announce that they were actually the band Reel Big Fish and that they were from Tulsa, OK, neither of which is true. A few times, people were invited up on stage and asked to do one thing or another. The band ego was enormous, explaining how they were better than several other bands, such as My Chemical Romance and blink-182, based on ticket prices and such. All in all, their ridiculous attitude added to the atmosphere of the obviously ska punk concert.

Explaining that they don’t leave the stage and come back for encores anymore, they finished off their 90-minute set with three-song “encore,” and let the crowd go, finishing off a fun night.

This review, like most things on this blog, will be multi-faceted. I’m going to try and cover the areas of live music review, overall social context, and public transportation.

To begin, I was fortunate enough to get 2 press passes to Warped Tour (unlike most of the other festivals this summer), so I brought along my friend and photographer, Patrick. Pat and I left Golden bright and early via the bus and, after getting on a bus that didn’t stop at Mile High, but went all the way to Auraria, arrived at Warped in time to get our passes, and see the first acts of the day.

Initially we ran all over the place, catching half a song here and there; just enough to get a couple decent photos. During this time we saw Chiodos, who managed to get a fairly energetic crowd for 11 am on a Sunday. More wandering and we caught a little bit of local band Vices I Admire, then it was off to Bayside.

Bayside put on a great set (it was also the first set that we stuck around for), starting things out with a NOFX cover, then moving in to some material from their Walking Wounded album. We tried to see Single File, but the crowds were just too much for the small stage they were playing, so we ended up seeing The Epilogues finish out the last couple of songs from their set.

We started kicking it old school with The Bouncing Souls. For a 20-year-old band, these guys certainly did not let age get in the way of putting on an energetic set of punk rock. At the urging of an enthusiastic guy in the press area, we decided to see Tat, a British group with a female lead. Their music did not dissapoint and the overall set was quite fun.

Up next was probably my favorite act for the entire day: Rev. Peyton’s Big Damn Band. Armed with a few resonators, a washboard, and a drum kit, the “big” band certainly knew how to play to the crowd. Rev. Peyton himself was such a character, the kind of guy you’d expect to see running a great BBQ joint some place in the South, but with enough attitude to still come across as a bit of a punk.

Another highlight had to be Bad Religion. Another band that has been around much longer than most of the tour’s patrons have been alive, Bad Religion appeared to be entirely comfortable and connected with the stage and the crowd. After they played “Sorrow” Pat and I headed over to see Big D and the Kids Table. We saw a lot of ska that day, but nobody else had their own backup dancers.

Underoath is one of those bands that all of my hardcore-music friends are in to. I decided I might as well give them a chance, and while their brand of heavy-hitting music played well with the audience, I was quickly ready for something else. Fortunately there was more great ska readily available at Streetlight Manifesto. With one of the most energetic brass sections I’ve seen in years, Streetlight gathered a crowd, then got it moving.

Alright, one more ska band, I promise. Less Than Jake was next, and their set reminded me a little bit of seeing Goldfinger back at E-days in ’08. It was rude punk/ska, ’nuff said. Finally it was time for the big hometown closers: 3Oh!3.

The clouds rolled in and lightning struck in the distance as the set began. Soon a few drops began to fall, until it became an all-out deluge of hail and rain. The band played on. Pat and I sought shelter, 3Oh!3 played through “Don’t Trust Me,” then the set was cut short. See our video of people running away in the rain to get a better feel. Other than the weather, the music was pretty decent, and everyone there was dancing, well done boys.

Now for the discussion on public transport. In our haste to get out of there Pat and I hopped on the first bus with the correct route number, not knowing it only went about 3/4 of the way. We found ourselves on west Colfax in the middle of the night; fortunately we have friends who graciously came to pick us up. The point is: RTD, while very useful, doesn’t have the most user-friendly routes on the west side of town, so be sure you know where your bus is going before you get on.

Ok, one last topic: the social context. I am really not that old (I was born in the late 80′s), but I felt old just being surrounded by thousands of teens all dressed in their Hot Topic clothing and (ususally) ridiculous hairstyles. Perhaps it’s my own tastes/views or just the current trends, but all the kids looked the same, and most of the pop bands they were there to see sounded the same (remember we stuck to the old school bands, not the newer pop bands).

In closing, I will say I had an excellent time at Warped Tour this year. I attribute this mostly to the fact that there were so many solid, older bands at the core of the festival to provide some actual musical value. Bad Religion, Bouncing Souls, etc.: these are the bands that have been going at it for decades, they are seasoned road-warriors and punk legends, it was almost awe-inspiring to see them practice their trade in a parking lot in the Queen City.

Here are the photos I took yesterday, expect to see Pat’s (superior) photos tomorrow.

Bayside

The Epilogues

The Bouncing Souls

Tat

Rev. Peyton’s Big Damn Band

Bad Religion

Big D and the Kids Table

Underoath

Streetlight Manifesto

Less Than Jake

3Oh!3

Photos by Tim Weilert