Well, the 16th annual Vans Warped Tour is in the books, and the sun stayed away in the second half of the day- sparing many fans worse sunburns than they already had. This year’s Warped brought an intriguing blend of bands [...]]]>

Warped brought the noise to the masses once more to Comerica Park.

Well, the 16^th annual Vans Warped Tour is in the books, and the sun stayed away in the second half of the day- sparing many fans worse sunburns than they already had. This year’s Warped brought an intriguing blend of bands that skewered every where from Top 40 hip-hop to death metal, making it one of the most diverse lineups in the tour’s history.

The crowd at Comerica Park looked a bit smaller than in past years, so I am not sure if the economy has finally caught up to Warped Tour, or perhaps people weren’t as enthralled with the lineup as in past years. For whatever reason it was, fans still dug their favorite bands and probably found a few new ones that will rock their world in years to come.

This year’s Warped Tour felt like a 8 hour session of ADD, as I bounced from set to set and getting a taste of a lot of bands (that’s probably due more to the schedule of the day versus real ADD). So, after checking out the bands- here’s the awards I’m giving out at the Detroit stop on the Warped Tour:

Best Way to Start The Day Award: If you weren’t rattled out of your slumber by the 11:55 am start time of Bring Me The Horizon, then you just should have stayed out of bed. The British band played to one of the larger audiences of the day as they wailed their way through cuts from “Suicide Season” and new tracks from their upcoming release, due in October.

Best New Soundalike: We’ve already had Rome Ramirez come in and do an admirable job with Sublime this summer, and at Warped Tour- Zoli Teglas stepped in and nailed the vocals during Pennywise’s set. One of the cornerstones of Warped, Pennywise made a bold move as their first major tour with the new lead singer was for Warped. “Bro Hymn” sounded as good as it always has.

Most Shamelessly Entertaining Set: Andrew W.K.’s half hour set had one theme and one theme only in his set: Party. The white tshirt clad man spent his set kicking, screaming and motivating the crowd to make the most of the day. Plus, handing out free stuff during just about every song had the crowd liking him. For the set closer, the signature “Party Hard”, Oompa Loompas (you know from “Willy Wonka”) were on stage dancing along, and giving everyone a good chuckle.

Glad You Showed Up Award: After sets later in the day that could have been better, Suicide Silence’s 7pm-ish set was the way to help bring home the day. Starting with the furious “Wake Up”, the California deathcore band ignited what was becoming a sleepy crowd and didn’t relent during their set. I’ve never been the biggest fan of the band, but on this night- it was exactly what was needed.

Most Disappointed to Miss: Sorry to the guys in Parkway Drive, but there were too many bands bunched into a mid-afternoon slot to make it over there in time. Perhaps another time… Yeah, Sum 41 as well. There was too much jammed into the last part of the night as well.

Biggest Crowds of the Day: Just as a spot check, most likely this crown will be a tie between hometown rapper Mike Posner and Nevershoutnever. Posner’s brand of hip-hop is nothing new and seemed bland, but I guess I was in the minority. Either way, the guy still had people waiting to meet him at his booth 2 hours after he was done. Nevershoutnever….well, I just don’t get it. Guess I’m getting old….

Most Destructive Set: Dillinger Escape Plan. See, I almost made it through this without talking about them- but too bad. Their set was as spastic and vicious as ever, with the band’s equipment being smashed up and the band jumping on their equipment any chance they got- it showed a little danger in a day that was mostly tame.

That’s my rundown of Warped Tour. Check out interviews in the coming days that I did with Iwrestledabearonce and Eyes Set To Kill. If you want more Warped info, check out www.warpedtour.com.

Forget OzzFest, forget any other major traveling festival- because the Vans Warped Tour is rolling into its 16th year and is now becoming a cross-generational event for rock fans young and old (but mostly young). The 2010 edition brings an entertaining mix [...]]]>

The Warped Tour takes over Comerica Park's parking lots this Friday.

Forget OzzFest, forget any other major traveling festival- because the Vans Warped Tour is rolling into its 16^th year and is now becoming a cross-generational event for rock fans young and old (but mostly young). The 2010 edition brings an entertaining mix of emo, old school punk and metal bands for what will most likely be a scorching day on the blacktop of the parking lots around Comerica Park.
But instead of discussing every band on the bill, here are a few intriguing prospects to check out this year at the Vans Warped Tour 2010:

Andrew W.K: If there’s one thing we can say about Andrew Wilkes-Krier- its that he likes to diversify. He finally released his long shelved album earlier this year, as well as a EP of new age piano numbers called “Cadillac 55” late last year. With hosting the Revolver Golden Gods Awards and running a nightclub- does Andrew have time to tour? I am sure he’ll be just fine.

Bring Me The Horizon: The best thing about the final Taste of Chaos tour in 2009, the great Brit hope for metal is gearing up to release their next album, out this fall. But for now, get sweaty and crazy to their debut, “Suicide Season”.

Every Time I Die: Hey guys, Detroit misses you…don’t be such a stranger to this town next time you release an album.

Mike Posner: This guy’s got a song on MTV Hits called “Cooler Than Me”- sounds like it ought to be on” Jersey Shore”.  This year’s Warped tour equivalent to Katy Perry, who played the festival in 2008. Even though he was born right here in Southfield, he’s a graduate from Duke- not exactly the hotbed of hip-hop activity.

Iwrestledabearonce: All the rage with the 15 year old metal crowd right now. The band themselves is quite talented, but needs to find a way to find cohesive songs next time around.

Pennywise & Reel Big Fish: Ok, this isn’t a double act- but this will be the extent of the “heritage” bands on Warped Tour this year and for older fans to recall seeing these bands played Warped back in the Phoenix Plaza days (ok, I’m included it that group). Pennywise has a brand new singer, and hopefully- the band doesn’t miss a beat.

Versaemerge: The band played the small Ernie Ball stage last year, and seemed to command a bigger than expected audience. This could be a breakout band in the next year and playing the main stage come Warped 2011.

The Dillinger Escape Plan: Just go see them, they’re all over the map, they’re awesome.

Over 70 bands hit the stages at Warped Tour this year, for a full listing of the bands playing in Detroit, check out www.warpedtour.com. Make sure to drink plenty of water and make sure to stay away from the sweaty guy with the “Free Hugs” shirts (because you know there will be plenty of them).

Warped Tour plays Comerica Park on Friday, July 30^th. Tickets are $33 and are available at www.ticketmaster.com. For additional dates and info, check out www.warpedtour.com.

As they prepares to release perhaps their most anticipated record to date, Option Paralysis (out now), the New Jersey based Dillinger Escape Plan is definitely evoking the slogan “dare to be different.” For the better part of the past decade, Dillinger has been putting out [...]]]>

Greg and Dillinger pictured in 2007.

As they prepares to release perhaps their most anticipated record to date, Option Paralysis (out now), the New Jersey based Dillinger Escape Plan is definitely evoking the slogan “dare to be different.” For the better part of the past decade, Dillinger has been putting out albums that defy the usual metal archetypes and can go off in several different directions during the course of one song.

Dillinger received wild praise for their 2007 album Ire Works, but early buzz is showing that the new record could exceed that.

As my interview with lead singer Greg Puciato began, he shared his confusion of the odd and peppy hold music used while he was waiting. During the interview, we discussed the band’s new found record label freedom and how the band had rebounded from a lot of adversity early in their career. Here’s my interview with Greg:

AM: With “Option Paralysis” about to come out, what has the early reaction been from fans?
GP: I think it’s been the most anticipated album in our career, even more so than the pre-Miss Machine era. When you’re in the band, it’s kinda tough to see things objectively or from an outside the band perspective because you are so involved with it. There is lots of early fervor that we just didn’t see with the last record. I think most fans were waiting to see how the band sounded with Chris Pennie, and were pleased as it worked out.

AM: What is the feeling going into the new record, versus the feeling you had before “Ire Works”?
GP: I think this time around was the first time that the band recorded a record without inner turmoil. It seemed like every record before this one had some sort of personal drama or chaos as the band was making the album. We started to believe our own lie, thinking you have to struggle in order to make great art. While I totally agree that nothing good comes from being comfortable and content, we just didn’t need that much tension every time we put out an album. In the end, it was the easiest record we ever wrote and recorded.

AM: Do you feel the new album is more sonically diverse than the material on “Ire Works”?
GP: As far as diversity goes, we never intentionally try to be diverse on the album. I’m not sure if we have ADD or something, but the music always seem all over the place. For me personally, I think it’s a huge vocal leap for me and a willingness to go out on a limb. For this record, I think all of us stretched our personal boundaries. We’re one of those bands that if every band is doing one thing- we want to go in the complete opposite direction. We are grateful for our fans, but we never want to feel like we owe them anything. If we get into a certain sounding, they might expect something and get made when we try something else. We definitely don’t want to be pinned down.

AM: What do you feel was the easiest and most difficult aspects of running your own label?
GP: We’ve been doing this 12 years now and you learn what to do and what not to do in this industry. We are definitely not ignorant to being business savvy. With the mass disarray and chaos the music industry is in at this time, doing your own thing is the only make to secure control. When we were at our old label (Relapse Records), one thing we benefited from was a high level of control in all aspects of the band. But forming our own label was the logical progression of the evolution of the band. Probably the most difficult aspect is not having an outside manager to handle every day affairs. You have to handle every aspect on your own and it’s a lot of work and you really don’t relax. There’s much less free time but it is worth it.

AM: By playing more indie rock geared festivals, what is your overall attitude about going in and playing shows like that?
GP: (laughs) It never seems like we fit in anywhere. If we ever did an OzzFest, I am sure the people raised on just heavy metal would hate us. When we do a festival like Bonnaroo, people are naturally going to have one of three reactions within 5 seconds of seeing us: they look puzzled and they decide to walk away or they will absolutely love us or the third, which is more like a morbid curiosity, and they want to see what will happen next.

AM: The band has a reputation for busting out not so obvious cover songs- is there any plan to do this on the tour?
GP: We just did a tour of Europe and we were doing the Tears For Fears song “Head Over Heels.” We played it for the fans and for us. We were surprised because we usually think younger fans don’t go back that far into the musical past and hear songs like that, but a good portion of fans in the crowd knew it. We’ve been playing with Van Halen’s “Hot For Teacher” last year and we might bring it out again.

Dillinger Escape Plan headline at the Eagle Theater on Thursday, April 1^st. Tickets are $16 and are available at www.ticketweb.com. They also play the Warped Tour when it comes to Comerica Park on Friday, July 30^th. Additional dates and band info can be found at www.ireworks.net. The band’s new album “Option Paralysis” is out now.