Warped Tour 2005

I didn't think I was gonna make it to the Warped Tour due to lack of funds, and it didn't look like I was going to win the tickets on the radio.
Then, on Friday morning, I find an ad online looking for stagehands at the Warped Tour. Of course I contacted them and got the job. I would help unload in the morning, load back up at night, get paid for it, and could enjoy the show in between. SCORE!
So, I spent Saturday morning unloading and setting up several merch tents and smaller stages. By noon, when the gates were about to open, everything was set and ready to go. I then had the day off until 7pm, when we'd have to start packing back up, even though the show didn't end 'till 10 or so, because the tour had to move on and be up and running in Portland by noon the next day.
All in all I got to see most of the bands I wanted to, 13 in all, with the exception of MXPX and the Transplants, since they played after 7 when I had to work.
I'd have to say the most interesting band that day was the Gogol Bordello, who can only be described as "Gypsy Punk".
They consisted of the normal set up of drummer, guitarist and bassist, but then also had an accordion player and a violinist (or fiddler to be more exact since this was gypsy music), 2 dancers/background singers dressed as ragdolls and the singer who looked like a French cartoon gypsy; blue and white striped shirt, tight black pants with a sash and golden stuff hanging over the front, unshaven face and a pointy moustache, while singing with a French accent, which is interesting since he is Ukrainian.
Highlights on the mainstage included the Offspring:
( I don't know why, but there's something about thousands of people screaming "you stupid dumbshit goddamn motherfucker" at the top of their lungs that always gets to me...sniff...) and the Dropkick Murphys: who always seem to bring out the Irish pride in the non-Irish audiencemembers.
Backstage, the highlights included the Dropkick Murphys parking their tourbus right next to the crew campsite, and Noodles from the Offspring driving past me several times on a mini dirtbike while Dexter Holland (vocals, Offspring) hung out in front of a Winnebago chatting with people and drinking beer for hours)
All in all it was a great day, beautiful weather and an even more beautiful venue.....great music.....and, thanks to this gig, I landed 3 more crewing gigs for the summer, with more to follow (hopefully). I'll be crewing a Bob Dylan show end of this month, Crosby, Stills & Nash in September and ZZ Top in October.

Schoolyard Heroes CD release party

Friday night was the Schoolyard Heroes' CD release party at El Corazon. The lineup consisted of Mon Frere, Post Stardom Depression, Kane Hodder and the Heroes themselves. This was a local all ages show, and it showed as I don't believe I have ever been amongst as many 8th graders at a concert since I was in 8th grade. Nevertheless, this was an evening full of rock, sweat and attitude. First up were Mon Frere, a band I'd heard of by name, but had no idea what to expect music wise. I was pleasantly surprised by the trio, consisting of drums, guitar and keyboard, with female vocals. The band's sound is a mix of 80's new wave that blends nicely with the hard-rocking guitar riffs and melodic vocals. A good opener, but in my opinion not yet ready to headline their own show (then again, I have no idea how long they've been around and I might be wrong!?)

Next up were Tacoma's Post Stardom Depression, who I've heard on the radio a couple of times, and who, as the singer put it, are assholes with microphones. PSD sound like a garage band with very classical rock guitar, very pure, not a lot of distortion, which I liked, but I don't think the band came over all too well, as they did seem to be the odd band out, sound wise, and their taunting of the crowd whilst calling us assholes for not forking over $5 for something to eat, weren't the biggest hit of the night.

Kane Hodder is a band I had never heard of, but they definately took the evening to the level it needed to be for the Heroes, working the crowd into a moshpit and even managing to get people to start stagediving underneath the clearly posted "no stagediving" signs. They were loud and aggressive, and after the slow but entertaining start of the evening, were definately responsible for getting us riled up for the Heroes' set.
The Schoolyard Heroes are a Seattle foursome of very young musicians (Guitarist Steve turned 21 later that evening and lead vocalist Ryann is a mere 19) who live together, practise constantly and, according to DJ W. NoName, get better everytime they play. Their music is hard to describe, it is loud, aggressive, yet melodic, and Ryann has great Vocal range, from being able to produce Gothic melodies at the end of their set, to wailing with the best of them. This woman (girl) has an amazing amount of energy on stage, if you thought Gwen Stefani bounced aroudn alot, watch out. Their visual presentation was just as interesting and bizarre as their music is, with the three men dressed completely in black while Ryann came out in a frilly pink Dress and pearl necklace, throwing herself around the stage, dancing and interacting with the crowd, not in the least fazed by the club security's ridiculously aggressive manner of throwing the crowdsurfer's off the side of the stage, often moving bandmembers aside so he could get to the surfers.

The evening ended with Bassist Jonah exclaiming that "encores are fucking bullshit, we're just out of shape and had to rest for a second" before bringing it once again for a last song before sending us on our merry way home (after all, it was almost midnight and all the kids at the show had to get home).

All in all it was a great evening, definately worth the $6 it cost to get in. One last word of advice to the proprietors of El Corazon : there is no way the fire code should let you cram 500 into the small space of your club, and if yo must overcrowd the place liek you do, at least cough up some money for ventilation as it was very reminiscend of Georgia in the summer in there; hot, humid and sticky with no airflow whatsoever!

No summer job for me :(

Well, NoName and Jennifer White just announced the three finalists, and I wasn't one of them, so unfortunately, no awesome roadtrip for me this summer as I remain poor and at a crappy job!
No hard feelings though, I had tough competition, although I am very surprised they picked Rio as one of the final 3. I listened to her interview, and apart from half the listening audience not liking her. It sounded like the DJ's weren't that impressed by her either!?

Oh well.....Hopefully they do this again next year?!

You can't win them all...