Fresno State University, June 24, 2001

Warped Tour is definitely not emo. Or maybe it is emo in that it is so not emo? It was actually kind of relaxing and nice all day. I worked in an booth outside for Victory Records, a hardcore label, with my friend Alex and sold c.d.s. I sure got tired of these twelve-year-olds coming up and asking, "Do you sell any New Found Glory c.d.s?" No, no, I don't and have you any idea how these things work?!? Meeting people was neat-o though. I spent most of my time in the booth and was quite happy doing it.

The only people I ended up watching were H20, Hank Williams III and Assjack, and of coarse Kool Keith. I was rather unimpressed with H20, perhaps my expectations were not in the unified-jump-while-we-play-guitar category.
Hank III was AMAZING, the best live show I've witnessed in quite awhile... so incredibly unique, high-energy, and genuine. I was also pleased because it wasn't a big crowd. At that point in the day I was getting kind of fed up with the large throng of fans apparently not able to walk faster than the pace of an injured slug. Two thumbs up for Hank III.

Kool Keith was a disaster. I was so stoked about seeing him and I forgot that, of coarse, the Fresno audience was going to let me down. There werent many people in the crowd but that wasn't the problem. While Kool Keith was on someone threw a bottle up on stage and Jasper Johnson, who was up there keepin it real, threw the bottle back out into the crowd, and threw a "Fuck you, Faggot!" back out there too. This only served to inspire a cavelcade of bottles to be vigorously launched back up on stage, and both Jasper Johnson and Kool Keith delivered a string of swearing that both made no sense and would have started a gay rights parade, had there been a lot of people in the crowd in the first place. They eventually got so mad that they walked off the stage halfway thorough their set. I was sooo disappointed and embarrassed for Fresno. How truly sad. My disposable-drugstore camera was used quite a bit though. I guess I recieved a mini-version of what I wanted, as he did play stuff from both his Black Elvis and Dr. Octagon periods. Now hes the Spankmaster... he just gets badder and badder. I appriciated his merchandise table, as they were selling paddles with his mane scrawled across them. Now that's class.

Warped Tour wasn't a total wash for me, but though the 'punk rock' ideals were being thrown about in the forms of the Anti-Racist Action booth and bands like Hank III playing, I couldn't help feeling like people like me didn't really belong. This type of huge event belongs to the kids who came to see New Found Glory and Sum 41... what it came down to was my friends and I coming just to be there and getting a chance to see each other again. Maybe we are just not cool enough to appriciate this type of thing.

A thirty-minute set and obnoxious crowd behavior just isn't going to work for those who wish to truly experience live music. Give me a show at a tiny club any day.