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July 24, 2010
Cruzan Amphitheatre, West Palm Beach, FL

Review and Photos by Chris Kruger

Warped Tour 2010 was, in one word, everywhere! There is not a single place in the world that could have had a more diverse musical line up than this year’s Warped Tour. Just like in previous tours, a huge line of cars was waiting to get into the summer’s biggest music festival, with anxious teens and adults waiting to see their favorite bands from around the world. There were a total of seven stages this year, with a band playing at each one at every moment of the day so you had to be very cautious as to what stage you were at and what band you wanted to see. I found that quite a few times there were some of the more well-known bands playing at the same time, so it made it difficult to see a whole band’s set if you were really that interested.

Greg Puciato - Lead Vocals - Dillinger Escape Plan

This year’s crowd put to rest the fear that heavy music was being replaced by more pop/punk style of bands. Except for a few phenomenal acts, the main attention was on the heavier bands. While still early in the day, bands like Anarbor drew a decent crowd even though the doors had just opened right before they went on. But as soon as The Dillinger Escape Plan went on that’s where you could find the majority of the crowd.

Back over on the Glamour Kills stage, Artist Vs. Poet put on an OK set but it just didn’t seem like they were that into the show. Maybe the lack of crowd or the baking sun had already taking its toll on them, but I feel they could have performed better. Or maybe it was the fact that almost every single person was at the Andrew WK show, which was so packed I couldn’t even get to the photo pit to take pictures. It was ridiculous to say the least, there was a sea of people from the back fence to the stage and where you were is where you stayed till it was over! Parkway Drive also put a really great show on and despite criticism they may have been one of the best acts of the day. They were just on stage having fun and making sure the crowd did too. Never once did they forget about why they were there—to play great music.

EVERY TIME I DIE blew up the stage with massive, and I mean MASSIVE, stage presence. The kings of southern hardcore brought it all out this time and put most of the other bands to shame.

Slade Echeverria - vocals and guitar - Anarbor

I did get a chance to squeeze my way through and catch locals Hey Monday perform. They put on an incredible set for their hometown full of energy and fun. Going back to what I had said previously about heavy music not going anywhere, Iwrestledabearonce put on a huge set with massive amounts of energy and fun. After their set was over, everyone rushed to the TEGGART STAGE (main stage) to catch EVERY TIME I DIE. The band blew up the stage with massive, and I mean MASSIVE, stage presence. The kings of southern hardcore brought it all out this time and put most of the other bands to shame.

After cooking in the sun for Every Time I Die, it was really nice to head over and see VersaEmerge play under the amphitheaters covering. Even though they were a lot softer than what the crowd wanted, they brought a great show on Warped Tour this year. They definitely kept me guessing about what would happen next during their performance.

Phil Bozeman - Lead Vocals - WhiteChapel

After a nice, brief cooling off in the shade, I could hear everyone talking about WhiteChapel and how brutal they would be. I headed out into the hot sun again to go and see what all the fuss was about. Brutal was an understatement! The photography pit was overrun with bodies flying over the fence. Security quickly escorted us out and said, “Sorry it’s for your own safety.” Directly after them was FOURYEARSTRONG, which drew a huge crowd as well and they were a blast to watch on stage. They loved every moment of their set and so did the crowd.

Warped Tour veterans SUM 41 played a mediocre show at best and their age is really starting to show. It’s clear that they hit their musical peak years ago. The Cab played a nice relaxing set to calm everyone down a bit before the band of the tour (Bring Me The Horizon) went on stage later on. The preceding band, however, was disappointing. Attack Attack! should have just played one song and called it a day. Their set just blended in and it wasn’t really worth sticking around as most of the crowd thought the same and left.

Jona Weinhofen - Guitar and Vocals
Bring Me The Horizon

Now, on to what was the best band of Warped tour. Bring Me The Horizon knows how to set it off. With their singer in the crowd all you could hear was the chant “WE WILL NEVER SLEEP CAUSE SLEEP IS FOR THE WEAK” and then all hell broke loose. They were by far the most intense band on the tour and had the crowd moving like they had just gotten there, regardless of the fact they had been baking in the sun for eight hours. Their set was nonstop energy and I can honestly say I wish they played longer. They made me remember what Warped Tour was about. It’s about enjoying every single moment of every single band, and I think Vans maybe has forgotten that to an extent and made it too commercial: too many vendors and not enough quality bands, in my opinion. But hey, who am I to say what a quality band is these days. Everyone has their musical tastes and I think everyone got their taste buds teased this year….including me!

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