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Thursday, August 15, 2002

By John Young

Leave it to the Vans Warped Tour, a celebration of punk-inspired, independent-minded music, to make its move to a new venue a memorable one. After years of cramming thousands of young fans into the various Station Square amphitheaters, Warped wisely took the larger 2002 version of the tour to the Post-Gazette Pavilion Tuesday. The two skating ramps, eight stages and 76 bands fit comfortably in the vast, rural acreage in Burgettstown.

The festival show quite literally turned the Pavilion inside out. Instead of placing the biggest acts on the venue's main stage, with its covered seats and ample shade, Warped brass chose the site to house many of the least widely known artists. There were no reserved seats, either, so cheering, moshing swells of people stood against the two staging areas.

About 150 fans crowded the edge of the stage for the Planet Smashers' silly ska and the Casualties' old-school shout-along hardcore. In contrast, a mere eight listeners stood quietly along the stage during a moody, scream-filled set from Arkham. All the while, a few hundred others scattered themselves about the pavilion, many seeking relief from the heat and sun.

Clearly, Warped 2002 tended to be too much of a good thing at times. Up to five bands were often playing at once, many with little advance hype to draw crowds. Groups resorted to taping posters with their stage locations and set times on everything from merchandise booths to port-a-johns.

Long Beach, Calif., band Halo Friendlies belted out tuneful garage rock to about 50 people on a small stage mere feet from the two spaces for the main acts in the parking lot behind the Pavilion lawn. Guitarist Natalie Bolanos wondered aloud, "Has anyone here heard of us?" She counted four raised hands and rolled her eyes before plugging her band's CD.

The two primary stages featured an interesting array of Warped mainstays and acts new to the bill. If anything, the lineup was a bit heavy on earnest, melodic punk rock. Bands like No Use For a Name and Lagwagon did little to distinguish themselves, while Guttermouth played obvious, cloying odes to drinking and dumb behavior.

Punk bands in long standing fared better. MxPx offered doses of its reflective, nice-guy rock on tunes like "My Life Story" and "Punk Rawk Show." Bad Religion singer Greg Graffin let his lyrics do the talking, blasting away at mainstream values in songs like "I Want to Conquer The World" and "[Forget] Armageddon, This Is Hell." NOFX closed the show and noted that they would have to supply the political content since Pittsburgh's Anti-Flag wasn't playing this year.

Reel Big Fish and the Mighty Mighty Bosstones proved sturdy, also. Both flew the banner for ska in sets heavy on hits and humor.

The acts that stood out were those doing something different. Flogging Molly, while clearly owing a debt to the Pogues, turned Irish folk into engaging, pounding punk. Something Corporate, while clearly owing a debt to Ben Folds, added singer Andrew McMahon's thumping piano to their hook-filled power pop. A reformed version of the Damned, clearly stating that all the bands owed them for "starting all this" punk-rock business, satisfied oldsters with their '70s staples "New Rose," "Neat Neat Neat" and "Smash It Up."

Andrew W.K., recently here to perform at Ozzfest, also stood out. It was difficult to tell whether his big, shouted songs and "Laugh-In" dance moves were meant to be a parody or not.

In what was surely a cost-cutting move, the show wound down before 9 p.m. Thus, only NOFX ended up using any lights, and those were two small units plunked on the drum riser. Anyone who wasn't tired, sunburned and satiated hadn't made much effort to get involved. If anything, this version of the Warped Tour surely left some fans wishing they could have been in more than one place at once and the sun could have stayed up longer.

John Young is a free-lance critic for the Post-Gazette.