Warped Tour 2008

Warped Tour 2008: live in Scrantonlive in Scranton (2008)
Warped Tour

Reviewer Rating: 4

Contributed by: skankbookskankbook
(others by this writer | submit your own)
Published on August 15th 2008I wish I could say that only I went to the Scranton stop of the Warped Tour because I had nothing else to do. I wish I could say I only went because a buddy had an extra ticket. In all honesty, I went because I was actually extremely stoked. While I was totally bummed that the Bouncing Souls dropped.

I wish I could say that only I went to the Scranton stop of the Warped Tour because I had nothing else to do. I wish I could say I only went because a buddy had an extra ticket. In all honesty, I went because I was actually extremely stoked. While I was totally bummed that the Bouncing Souls dropped off the tour two days earlier, the lineup was still very appealing. I'd seen Reel Big Fish at least 20 times before, knew from experience Against Me! and the Street Dogs put on stellar sets, and was even curious to check out Say Anything and (dare I say) Angels and Airwaves. It started off as a perfect day to take your shirt off and rock out to some great bands. Okay, maybe I was one of the only ones without a shirt on, but you get the idea.

You may call them sellouts, but I call them one of the best bands in music today. I was disappointed to see the crowd didn't share my opinion, though; the 11:50 a.m. stage time may have contributed. I found myself singing solo along to "Walking Is Still Honest," and only a few others shared my enthusiasm for "Reinventing Axl Rose." While some of the New Wave songs had larger fan support, it was still discouraging as a fan to see a band that has worked their asses off to get where they are have such little support. I let the fact they didn't play anything off As the Eternal Cowboy slide, as some sacrifices are always made on Warped Tour set lists.

Set list:

Piss and Vinegar
New Wave
Walking is Still Honest
Stop!
White People for Peace
Pints of Guinness
Reinventing Axl Rose
Borne on the FM Waves of the Heart
Don't Lose Touch
Thrash Unreal

I've been meaning to see the Street Dogs again since first seeing them on The Gold Tour with the Bouncing Souls twice in 2006. By this time (12:20 p.m.), many in the crowd looked as if they weren't even in elementary school while Mike was still with the Dropkick Murphys. They still had the energy of rowdy middle school students, which some of them may have been. I hadn't had a chance to check out State of Grace prior to the show, but the new songs sounded well-executed. Highlights of the set included "Not Without a Purpose," "Tobe's Got a Drinking Problem" and "In Defense of Dorchester."

After the Street Dogs, I went to get my Against Me! set list signed at their merch tent. They gave out free ice pops, which may be one of the most creative and kindest acts I've experienced at any Warped Tour. The highlight of my day came when Warren pointed out the middle-aged woman with a teenage daughter in front of me. "She says her daughter came for Katy Perry and that she came for us. How cool is that!?"

As Reel Big Fish took the stage at 2 p.m., the sun had gone away and it had started to drizzle, but no one seemed to notice. Turn the Radio Off and covers dominated the set, as might be expected when playing to an audience who might not know they've done anything else in their busy career. They actually stopped playing a few songs at the second choruses in order to fit more onto the set list. It was a good concept, though I'm getting sick of hearing the multiple versions of "S.R." I've seen better performances by them, but I've also seen them play a lot worse. (NOTE: I've uploaded the raw footage my co-worker shot of "Where Have You Been" and the first rendition of "S.R." to YouTube).

Set list:

Sell Out I Want Your Girlfriend to Be My Girlfriend Too
Another F. U. Song
The New Version of You
Enter Sandman
Where Have You Been? / S.R. (regular, blues, country, death metal, disco)
Beer / Take on Me

As soon as RBF had finished, an announcement was made that a storm was coming in and that people should head to the nearby amphitheater for cover. Relient K attempted to squeeze a song in before the impending lightning and hail, but they got shut down before the opening chorus. The skies opened up, and the Warped Tour was swept with a taste of chaos (lame, I know, but it was too good to pass up). Everyone rushed to the safe cover of the amphitheater or nearest merch booth, failing to avoid the inevitable drenching. They announced that the music would resume once the storms passed, but I decided to leave, knowing that it would be at least four hours before the next band I wanted to see played.

As I left, I realized this may be the last Warped I go to. My recent quest for a full-time job has proved to me that I can't financially afford $40 for a punk show anymore. Either way, a great show, great bands, and I got a pretty nice tan.

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Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not respon sible for them in any way. Seriously.

SilentStorms (August 18, 2008)

Yikes, so basically you didn't see one good band. Balls.

elstevo777 (August 18, 2008)

last 2 times i've seen RBF (including Warped in Ventura) they haven't played SR!! they've usually played Party Down instead (similar concept just less time consuming)

markd248 (August 17, 2008)

should've gone to see broadway calls. warped tour in camden was only worth it for broadway calls and bouncing souls.

polaris (August 17, 2008)

It was either the fact that I haven't been to a warped since '03, or the fact that Scranton just sucks that made this day completely horrible.

Got there and missed Against Me! Only wanted to see Every Time I Die who didn't go on until 7:30. Then kicked out of the Obama tent during the rainstorm and got soaked.

The Bronx made me happy because they played for the smallest crowd and rocked it. ETID was good but the Scranton kids sucked. There was no movement or anything. I guess they all left after say anything played.

If I ever go to warped again, I'll stick to the Philly date. Screw NE PA.

the4footpartysub (August 16, 2008)

"I would rather go to the one in Stamford because Karen Filippelli is a total babe."

I think you mean the Utica date.

maverick (August 16, 2008)

I did a week of Warped Tour this summer and Scranton was my first day. The storm that hit was supremely gnarly -- we were stuck in our tent, praying it wouldn't blow away. Once the rain broke, Relient K took the stage again and played the Office theme song. It was pretty great.

-Scott

tmuda (August 15, 2008)

The Scranton Warped Tour was terrible.

SloaneDaley (August 15, 2008)

el-oh-el I actually didn't have a clue about the actor who plays Karen's racial/cultural/ethnic background til you mentioned it.

Pam is simply cute as a button, can't beat that in my mind, and to me I'm right.

SloaneDaley (August 15, 2008)

also that is perhaps the worst AM! setlist I've seen yet. You'd think they would have thrown in one or two of the New Wave b-sides since that is their most recent release. "Don't Lose Touch" is perhaps the weakest song on SFAFC, but I fear a lot of the album is too Bush-era centric and it'll actually get the least set time out of all the albums in the future, which stinks cuz it is my favourite.

blip (August 15, 2008)

by definition of Rashida Jones' cultural ethnicity, Jon Daley is a racist and anti-semite.

pam may have the better personality, but come on...karen is a dreamboat!

SloaneDaley (August 15, 2008)

Pam > Karen

hubitcherkokov (August 15, 2008)

1) What drugs do you experiment with?

2) Where can I find them?

I wish I could attribute it to that. I want to like "Reinventing...", just like how I want to like The Gaslight Anthem (again, I know I'm in the minority, but there is nothing special about them on record. Their live show is good, though.), but it seriously bores the hell out of me. Different strokes, I s'pose.

facetofacereunion08 (August 15, 2008)

sounds alot worse than the other waped reviewers' experience. agreed the suburban rhythym schtick has run its course.

blip (August 15, 2008)

I would rather go to the one in Stamford because Karen Filippelli is a total babe.

telegraphrocks (August 15, 2008)

I like all of AM!'s stuff basically the same, but I do find myself listening to Axl Rose the least because of the recording quality. Great songs, but the recording is poopie. POOPIE, I say!

inagreendase (August 15, 2008)

and "Reinventing Axl Rose" is completely boring.

1) What drugs do you experiment with?

2) Where can I find them?

hubitcherkokov (August 15, 2008)

I know I'm in the minority here, but I find "Reinventing Axl Rose" almost completely unlistenable. I got it shortly after it was released, so I don't even have the excuse of saying I got into their later stuff first.

"New Wave" and "As The Eternal Cowboy" are great, "Searching for a Former Clarity" has a few decent tracks but is otherwise boring, and "Reinventing Axl Rose" is completely boring.

SloaneDaley (August 15, 2008)

"When I said before that I was king of forwards, you gotta understand that I don't come up with this stuff. I just forward it along. You wouldn't arrest a guy who's just delivering drugs from one guy to another." - Michael Scott

Mrdogg45 (August 15, 2008)

My friend, it sounds like you had a pretty shitty Warped Tour experience.

holy_balls (August 15, 2008)

Me and the people I went with don't care for Against Me!, but somehow we caught some of their set and I saw the hottest redhead ever watching them. I almost had to sit down so I didn't hurt anyone. Fucking damn!

Matthew330 (August 15, 2008)

Score is for RBF wasting people's time with that SR bullshit.

fallingupwards84 (August 15, 2008)

is RBF ever going to quit that S.R. gimmick on stage? it was funny the first time, got old by the second and third