MM: The whole scene is way more intense, with way more bands and ground to cover. But it has a lot of stages and it has a whole different vibe to it than the other festivals. We seem to be attracting a lot of new fans and helps us keep growing. It’s a challenge for us, but it's good to try something new.

MCB: Does the idea of not knowing what time you are playing each day frustrate you?

MM: This year, it's been o.k. because we are playing generally between 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. each day, since we’re headlining one of the stages. But we played a few dates on Warped last year, and on those dates, we ended playing real early and one night played real late after AFI, as most people were leaving was interesting to see.

MCB: Is it safe to say that Throwdown’s new record “Venom & Tears” (Release Date - Aug.7) is an indictment on the state of the world?
MM: I think so, it's more of an indictment on American society. You take a song like “Americana” and it talks about how ridiculous this society has become with things like reality TV. It has songs like “Holy Roller,” which goes after self-righteous, holier than thou people. It has a lot of themes about this society that I think people can relate with.

MCB: People have said some of the songs such as “Holy Roller” have a sound reminiscent of Pantera. Do you get annoyed with the comparsions or embrace them?

MM: I don’t have that big of an issue with it. I think most people make those comments because of the way Dave (Peters - lead singer) sounds. Pantera, along with Machine Head and Sepultura have been major influences on us. We’re just being very honest with the music and if helps people latch onto the band, then we’re o.k. with it.

MCB: You guys adhere to the straight edge lifestyle. Has that ever been a problem with tourmates who didn’t have the same beliefs?

MM: It's never been a problem on tour, to be honest. We’ve toured with bands like Every Time I Die that definitely don’t follow that lifestyle, but we have mutual respect for those bands and they are cool with it. It’s something that we take to heart personally and believe in greatly.

MCB: Who would you like to share the stage with at Warped this year?

MM: If given the chance, bands like Coheed & Cambria, Tiger Army and Bad Religion. I’ve been huge fans of those bands for a long time.

MCB: What do you think are the key factors for Warped Tour succeeding for as many years as it has?

MM: I think it has to do with the still low ticket prices and seeing a lot of bands and being around different sorts of people than usual. The diversity of it has helped it out a lot.

Throwdown will headline the Ernie Ball Stage at the Warped Tour in Detroit on Friday, July 27^th at Comerica Park. Tickets are available through Ticketmaster. Additional dates can be found at www.warpedtour.com.

Starting with the new track “Pioneer to the Fall,” the band came out in their standard cool and collective demeanor and moved through the set in a orderly and very tight manner. Early on the band played such favorites as “Slow Hands” and “PDA.” While the music seemed to be note for note from the albums, the crowd wasn’t going above and beyond for the band.

Lead singer Paul Banks has quite a haunting voice on songs like “NYC” and “Obstacle 1” and has found his comfortable place as a singer. But frequent shoegazing and not enough variety in his voice comes off monotonous and flat at times. Bassist Carlos D has ditched the Crispin Glover look (thank god!) for a look similar to Brandon Flowers’ western Sam’s Town style.

The band stayed stagnant in the crowd’s mind through most of the set until the latest single “The Heinrich Maneuver,” and then blasted into the band’s best track “Evil” before moving to the encore, giving the fans what they wanted.

Interpol is often a critic’s favorite, due to their Cure/Joy Division influences, but the band seems on the cusp of massive stardom but hasn’t had that right push over the edge yet. At times, the band seems stuck in a linear direction of progressing with in their music. Perhaps some fluxes in that straight line might just do the trick to take Interpol to that next level.

Interpol will headline the Bud Light stage this Saturday night at Lollapalooza. More information at www.lollapalooza.com

Though it is unsure if the Californian band has actually seen much in the way of horrible weather, the songs are anything but gloomy. The upbeat alt-rock band are lead by Larry Soliman, whose voice flows well with songs like the toe-tapping “The Shake” and the lead off track “Boys! Grab Your Guns.”

With the help of Dashboard Confessional producer James Paul Wisner, My American Heart polishes their sound for the new record and also have a chance to slow down the tempo on tracks like “Tired and Uninspired.” The band worked for months on the new record and they say that after a rush to get their debut record out, they took their time with Weather, to create stronger songs this time out.

The band has been on the road pumping the release of the album since May, when it did a string of dates with The Audition. My American Heart will tour the States until the end of the Warped Tour, when they head overseas to open for Madina Lake on an upcoming European tour. The band hops on the one of the strongest Warped Tour lineups in years and is looking to show that the only thing that’s gloomy and grey is the album title, and break out to clearer skies.

My American Heart is part of the Warped Tour. Dates can be found at www.warpedtour.com

The brainchild of the long standing rock group Korn, the band headlined the show that showed us some of the stronger up and coming heavy metal, while some of the other bands on the bill seemed a bit out of place. The band’s second stage featured four bands, with varying degrees of success. The Los Angeles band Invitro seemed pretty intense, but this reviewer thinks their set was just too early in the day to make an impact. Meanwhile, England’s Twin Method had the right nu-metal uniform (multi-colored dreads, all black) for the Family Values Tour, the 1999 edition that is. Method's music seemed straight out of that era and the band even made the fatal mistake of saying “How you doing, Cleveland” which was received by a chorus of boos.

With Neurosonic unable to perform, the schedules were all moved up by a good half hour or so leaving Trivium to play a normal than earlier slot. In their half-hour set, the band strayed away from the songs that have made them stars in the metal world in favor for older material, mostly from their Ascendancy album.

The crowd did wake up for the recent MyCityBuzz interview subjects, Five Finger Death Punch, who received the most love out of anyone on the second stage. The band blends a new school metal trash, mixed with more crushing rock archetypes that would appeal to metal fans young and old.

On the main stage, Long Beach’s Droid, also recent MCB interviewees, might have been the show stealers in more ways than one. The band laid down a chugging groove during their set, whipping out songs like “The Resurrection” and “No God No Master,” giving the crowd the most entertaining set. The old Pine Knob tradition of people on the lawn throwing chunks of sod and dirt during metal shows was resurrected, as a good 10 to 15-minute fight ensued before venue security shut it down.

With Neurosonic unable to perform, the schedules were all moved up by a good half hour or so leaving Trivium to play a normal than earlier slot. In their half-hour set, the band strayed away from the songs that have made them stars in the metal world in favor for older material, mostly from their Ascendancy album.

The double-headed Mudvayne and Pantera monster Hellyeah performed next, and it was a case of Jekyll and Hyde. The first half of the set was furious and raging, with songs like “Hellyeah” and “Matter of Time,” but the second half was very tepid and with songs like “Alcohaulin’ Ass” and “You Wouldn’t Know,” bringing down their set.

When the sun begins to die, a team of scientists - Cassie (Rose Byrne), Searle (Cliff Curtis), Mace (Chris Evans), Harvey (Troy Garity), Capa (Cillian Murphy), Kaneda (Hiroyuki Sanada), Trey (Benedict Wong) and Corazon (Michell Yeogh) are sent to reignite the sun in order to save all of mankind. Through unforeseen events, catastrophes, and sabotage, the crew are in a race against time while some one or some thing is determined to stop them.

On the surface Sunshine is your standard Sci-Fi deep space disaster movie, but there is something underlying that speaks volumes. Sunshine is about sacrifices. Plain and simple. Through many mini-disasters you see the crews determination to complete the mission at all costs including murder, sacrifice and downright lunacy. Danny Boyle proves once again that he is on the rise. Although the story is slow at times, there is enough action, thrills and suspense to keep you hanging on for the ride. Towards the end things get a little hazy due to some chaotic camera movements and a blurring effect that I believe is supposed to add an element of the unknown but just frustrated me as I wanted to see what the hell was going on! But, in the end, it all comes together to make for a slightly different take on the standard plot of this type while still packing a punch.