Warped Tour, Carson, California: Punk Rock Summer Camp Ends on a High Note

Punk Rock summer camp came to a close on August 25, as the last tour stop of the Warped Tour came to the Home Depot center in Carson, California. The tour is in its 13th year, and it does not look like it will be slowing down anytime soon. On the last stop, Kevin Lyman decided to change things up a bit and had one stage dedicated to "old-school" punk rock bands along with extreme sports and the addition of Mexican professional wrestling for the all-day affair.

Things got to a feverish pitch early in the day as veteran funk/punkers Fishbone took the stage at noon and floored new and old audience members with their own mix of ska/soul/punk/funk and metal. Angelo Moore and Norwood Fisher led their new band members through their classic material as well as songs off their latest disc Still Stuck In Your Throat. On another stage, the three-piece punk-abilly band Tiger Army took command of their audience with a blazing set of rockabilly inspired punk tunes. The trio is truly a group to be seen and they just might be the breakout band of this summer's tour.

While the masked stars of Lucha Libre USA took to the wrestling ring the band Hawthorne Heights hit the stage to the delight of the twelve year olds at the festival. Although on this stop of the tour there seemed to be a lack of pent up frustrated emo bands on the bill, (and more women added to the bill such as Meg and Dia) Hawthorne Heights proved to be the soothsayers of all things pensive and disillusioned. The band cranked out their power pop hits to the adoration of the younger demographic. It will be interesting to see if they or any of these bands are willing to expand their sound and style to encompass more depth and originality.

Rapper POS put on a serious display of lyrical gymnastics and took his message to the masses, proving that being a rapper at a punk rock festival is about as punk rock as you can get! On the old school stage Keith Morris and the Circle Jerks kicked out the type of jams that may have had Hawthorne Heights fans trembling but made old school punk fans breathe a sigh of relief. On the main stage however, Pennywise and Bad Religion both raised the bar on turning the festival into one giant, full throttle mosh pit.

Pennywise whipped the crowd into a manic frenzy as soon as they hit the stage. Jim Lindberg, who most recently authored a book on fatherhood, came at the crowd with the intensity of a rabid pit bull. He led his band through many a Pennywise classic and gave thanks to the old school punk bands on the bill as well as Kevin Lyman for keeping the Warped Tour going. Towards the end of their set as the band led the crowd to scream "F&@k Authority," it was clear that this might be the peak performance of the day. Later on in the day, Bad Religion capitalized on the energy and had the LA audience singing and chanting their songs during their entire set.

As the festival came to a close one thing remained clear. Kevin Lyman has created a sense of community with the Warped Tour and it is this sense of community that will keep the tour alive. Purists will criticize the corporate sponsorship and some young bands may scoff at having to BBQ for other bands or play at 11:00am to four or five people. The fact remains however, the Warped Tour has turned into the summer ritual for punk, emo, hardcore, and indie rap artists and their fans and Lyman has tried to maintain the essence of what is and what can be called punk. As kids streamed out of the parking lot you could almost hear the collective phrase, "see you next summer" from the masses themselves, as the last guitar chord was played.