PULSE
8 Wednesady, August 1, 2007
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How to get warped
THEY’RE WARPED: What do 20,000 people, more than 30 bands, nine stages and worried parents have in common? The 2007 Vans Warped Tour, now in its 13th year struck Detroit with its hurricane-force guitar riffs and pounding bass this past Friday.
Detroit rock city hosts the 2007 Vans Warped Tour Story and photos by Jordan Flower Photo Editor
Go all you punk rockers, hardcore metal heads, emo junkies and ska freaks. Go to the 2007 Warped Tour and gorge your ears on the best and worst that the music industry has to offer. With an ever-changing band and stage line up, there’s bound to be something you can wrap your head around. I took this past Friday to go to the 22nd stop on the tour in what might be the smelliest city in America, Detroit, Mich. Outside the home of the Detroit Tigers, Comerica Park, nearly 20,000 fans packed around nine stages and numerous vendors were selling everything from $8 beers to fake weed necklaces. The tour offers bands in variation of Los Dantes, a local indie rap group, Anberlin, the Florida punk quintet, to
mainstream heavy metal band Killswitch Engage. Anberlin played for the last time on the 2007 tour at the Detroit show putting on an excellent live show. “I love Warped Tour, it’s like punk rock summer camp, except my mom didn’t drop me off, and she’s not gonna pick me up,” said Anberlin lead vocalist, Stephen Christian. “Yeah, and I got no care packages either.” With most bands performing different genres of punk, the hardcore metal band Killswitch Engage just seems out of place. “It’s weird being the metal guys on a punk rock tour,” said Killswitch axeman Joel Stroetzel. “Everyone has been pretty chill, we’re not really the exciting guys on the tour, we just get drunk and keep to ourselves.” The tour has now been disturbing the peace and worrying
parents for 13 consecutive years, all thanks to founder, Kevin Lyman. The Vans Warped Tour took its name from the shortlived Warped Magazine. Shortly thereafter, the tour picked up the Vans skate apparel company as its leading sponsor. A concern always is the heat at the shows. “It’s good to be out of the deep south, it’s just so hot and now that we are out of Florida, I’m just so happy. Its so humid man, it’s like breathing gravy.” Stroetzel said. With temperatures reaching low 90’s in Detroit last Friday, people were dropping like flies. Most of the people in attendance are loyal to the bands. Christian said, “We were scheduled to play at 7 p.m., but because it got pushed back, we got pushed back till 8:30 p.m. So pretty much we were the last band, but it was packed. So we were like why are you guys still here. You’ve been out in the
“I love Warped Tour, it’s like punk rock summer camp, except my mom didn’t drop me off... ” Stephen Christian | Anberlin vocalist heat, and through the rain and you’re still here to sing along with us.” Heat will not kill this tour, with 20 more stops on it will keep rocking, keeping mostly to the cooler northeast and ending in California in mid August. The next couple of shows actually throw down right here in Ohio: Cincinnati on August 1 and Cleveland on the August 2. Great music, lots of heat, good friends if you bring’em, go to a show and have a blast!
LEFT: Lead vocalist Stephen Christian of the punk band Anberlin, led the Florida group to the excitment of the screaming fans. The band put on an amazing show for their last stop on the 2007 Vans Warped Tour. The group has been touring nonstop since May when the started their asian tour. They now get a break before hitting the road again. The band will do a few more shows this fall before going back into the studio around February TOP: Lead vocalist of the hardcore metal group Killswitch Engage (left) and Mike D’Antonio (Right) most definitely rocked the hardest out of all the bands on the tour. RIGHT: Killswitch Engage guitarist Adam Dutkiewicz showed his crazy side, walking out on stage wearing a horn in the center of his head. Adam had been out of commission for a while with a back injury. While most bands pay attention to their music and resort to jumping around on stage, Killswitch uses methods such as licking their guitars or stroking a large imaginary penises. ONLINE: More photos and audio from Warped Tour | www.bgnews.com
RED JUMPSUITS ARE ALL THE RAGE: The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus punked out on the 13 stage in Detroit. Vocalist Ronnie Winter and guitarist Duke Kitchens played to a packed show at the 22nd tour stop.