What follows is highlights of eleven (or twelve, seriously, who is counting anymore) interviews that I did last Sunday on the final day of the 2008 Warped Tour at the Home Depot Center. Because most of the interviews went on for 10 minutes or longer I wanted to give you, the reader, highlights of the bands experiences on tour. So read up and get a feeling of what it is like to play Warped Tour. Mmmm, I can smell it already.
Dr. Manhattan looked both mildly inebriated and very excited that they had survived the hot days of the Warped Tour. The band wins the award for the loosest twosome of the day. The first two minutes of the interview involved a back and forth on breaking through security and playing a game of soccer on the Home Depot Center field…
In regards to the catering on Warped Tour:
“I don’t know if you’ve heard about the catering yet, but the catering is amazing. All the food is better then you eat at home. It’s great to just sit outside and eat with everybody.
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When asked about what touring with Warped Tour during the two hottest months of the year was like, many bands usually respond with such words as “tough” and “brutal” (more on that later). An established band like Minneapolis’ Motion City Soundtrack has the luxury of an established fan base and a air conditioned tour bus. Still doing a full tour in those conditions can be tough. Bassist Joshua Cain let me know that doing only part of the tour can be a little bit better for your health.
LA.Cityzine: How has the tour gone so far?
Motion City Soundtrack: It’s been good, we were just on the end of the tour so it was a little breeze for us.
LA.Citzine: Yeah, didn’t you guys do the full tour a couple of years ago?
Motion City Soundtrack: Yeah, that was a little more intense. I’m much more healthy now [then I was at the end of the full tour last time].
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Maryland’s All Time Low, a very impressive pop/punk band who did the full tour and is about to headline a tour with Mayday Parade, took us through an average day… well, at least for them… at Warped Tour.
“A day like today I woke up, came here, did a bunch of interviews, then I have to go play guitar with Story of the Year, then I have to go and do an acoustic performance, and then go sign autographs, and then I play, and then go and do a meet and greet.”
I’m never complaining about my job again.
P.S. He wasn’t complaining.
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Automatic Love Letter (who I kept calling Atomic Love Letter, d’oh!), gave me a little advice on what to bring on Warped Tour. The lead singer Juliet suggested candles while the guys in the band suggested bands “bring one of those bags you can shower with (solar showers), because you don’t shower every day.” They added that they hadn’t showered in like five days.
When asked what it felt like after not showering for five days their answers ranged from “You feel like a bum” to “You feel like a big ball of dirt”.
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When your traveling around in 100 degree heat, you would at least like to have some comfort. While a van is the traditional up-and-coming punk bands way to get from show to show, some bands are lucky enough to either possess their own bus or share with others. Mayday Parade, who has previously done the tour in a van, shared their simple answer difference between a cramped van and an air conditioned bus: “[The bus] is much better than the van, that’s for sure.”
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Shred (with piano) metal band The Human Abstract leader singer Nathan Ells was one of the better interviewed I had during the day. While we spend most of the interview geeking out about touring situations and the state of punk rock, he did give me a little insight on getting asked back on the tour:
LA.Cityzine: So is this your first time doing Warped Tour?
Human Abstract: No, we were on it last year for a month, and we are on it for a month this time around. We are trying to fiture out how to get on the Warped Tour for the whole thing. They said they really like what we did last year and… we were one of the first bands to be added to this one… but I just want to see what it’s like to do two months of this thing.”
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Not only is Anberlin a great live band, but they are also some of the nicest guys you’ll ever have the privledge to talk to. When I interviewed drummer Nathan Young I half considered quitting my job and hanging with Anberlin when they hit the road this fall with Scary Kids Scarying Kids. Luckily my better sense prevailed, but it was still hella tempting.
LA.Cityzine: So this is the first time that you’ve done the entire Warped Tour. How has it been for you?
Anberlin: Awesome! Way better than we thought it would be. You know, hot and sweaty but so much fun.
LA.Cityzine: What does a tour like Warped Tour mean to a band like you? You guys are pretty big in some areas, but in other areas does this mean more exposure?
Anberlin: Yeah, totally. There are so many fans and they may have not heard you or may have not seen you play, but there are so many people out there watching you. Getting to play for that many people a day is just ridiculous… I think it helps us a ton.
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Waiting for Set Your Goals (who ended up not showing) I was talked into interviewing a band from Britain named TAT. The interview went so well that I became an instant fan. One of the more interesting points in the interview was the bands take on the positives of Warped Tour compared to a club tour. While most bands find the days of Warped Tour hot and tough, lead singer Tatiana looked at it this way:
“But at the same time, I kinda feel like I don’t know what to do with myself during the day on a club tour. I get really really bored. On Warped Tour there is always something to do during the day. People will be like “Hey, do you want to sing with [so and so] today at 3?”.”
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Anarbor just graduated from high school. Now that they graduated they can tour full time. When asked about what Warped Tour was like for them (they played the last five dates) they eventually got to this point which I think summed up the experience for most new bands playing the tour:
“It’s really, really, hot. It’s kicking our ass and it’s a lot of work but it’s teaching us how to tour.“
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The Randies were my favorite interview of the day. It was just such a casual interview with the all female band that it felt like talking to old friends more than a band who just finished a tour. The most interesting aspects of this interview was hearing what the world of promotion and touring is like for an all female band. Female bands rarely get the promotion or press of their male counterparts.
On getting put on shows with other female bands:
“They are like ‘oh my god: they have vaginas in their band, and you have vaginas you guys should play together!”.
On what it is like dealing with A&R people:
“One guy at South By South West, some radio promotions guys was like ‘Yeah, I’m not going to listen to your CD, I don’t want to know anything about you and here’s why: you are girls and I don’t want to waste my time.”
(I wish I had time to get into the band watching a small plane crash while on stage in Saskatoon, but alas time has run out).
For further reading:
- Warped Tour Interview: The Briggs
- Home Depot Center Warped Tour Review and Photos
- Warped Tour Interview: Forever the Sickest Kids
- Warped Tour Interview: Valencia
- Ventura Warped Tour Review
- Ventura Warped Tour Photo Essay
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