Live Reviews : Vans Warped Tour @ Birrarung Marr, Melbourne 07/12/2013

Images: Anthony Smith
Words: Jonty Simmons

Click here to view full Vans Warped Tour Melbourne gallery.

As families riding bikes along the banks of the Yarra stared at the mammoth line of black stretching from Birrarung Marr all the way to the Federation Square, it was obvious they were wondering why such a large group of people would wear all black and jeans on a clear sunny day. The Vans Warped Tour had officially returned to the city of Melbourne after 12 years, and the crowd had turned out early so they wouldn’t miss a minute of the action. Thankfully, after the gates opened, the line moved quickly and most people were inside within 15 minutes ready to catch the first bands of the day. First up were one of the two local bands lucky enough to gain a spot on the lineup, Feed Her to the Sharks. Starting the day off right, they managed to gain the honour of first crowd surfer of the day, along with a respectable circle pit for a band of their size. There’s no doubt that Feed Her to the Sharks will be a band to watch in 2014, as their live rendition of their most popular tracks off debut album ‘Savage Seas‘ was the highlight of the morning.

Next up were pop punk defenders Man Overboard who embodied the sound that Warped tour is most well known for. Despite some of their songs blending into each other, with not much distinction, and a punctuated “LET’S GO” before every fast paced segment, the band have obviously found a successful formula, and their dedicated fan base are completely fine with it.

Following Man Overboard were Tonight Alive; despite it being a cliché, the comparisons to Paramore are too evident to not be mentioned. This is not an insult however, as lead singer Jenna McDougall is able to hit every note perfectly, similarly to Hayley Williams, and the rest of the band have an energy that begs to be mirrored by the crowd. In response, the audience went crazy at the prospect of getting closer to the band, with crowd surges occurring rapidly throughout the entire set.

After the Sydneysiders finished their set with crowd favourite ‘Lonely Girl’, with most of the crowd sun burnt already, and the day just beginning, For All Those Sleeping began their set. Whilst not having as big a crowd as the veteran metalcore Americans were used to, their dedicated fans managed to scream their lyrics back at them with a ferocity of a crowd twice its size. Props must be given to lead singer Mike Champa as his screamed vocals were identical to record quality, and were kept at such a level for each and every song they played.

As the sun rose higher and higher into the sky, cans of free Ice Tea were hurled around when Michael Crafter of Confession came on stage to begin their onslaught. Some bands are able to fully embody the spirit of hardcore, and Confession are no exception with only seasoned veterans of mosh pits donning Vans bandannas on their faces and entering the battlefield during their crushing set.

However, only a small part of Confession was able to be seen, as The Used were beginning on another stage, and after missing them in 2012, there was no chance of them being missed again. It was evident that the majority of those in the crowd were no longer teenagers, but they couldn’t resist the opportunity to appease their 15 year old self by seeing a band that fully represented their teenage angst. Fully aware of this, The Used played songs from their back catalogue that begged to be played loudly in suburban bedrooms, and sung along years later at the Warped tour; ‘Put Me Out’ and ‘Pretty Handsome Awkward’ were the most well received and created giant circle pits for those willing to risk their possessions. An unfortunate side effect of this however, was an incident of fighting where the band were forced to stop a song for the first time ever in their career; luckily, vocalist Bert McCracken lightened the mood by claiming that at least they’d “remember this day forever”.

Afterwards, We Came as Romans burned through their set, but disappointingly, they lacked energy and clean vocalist Kyle Pavone’s efforts were completely off key for the majority of the set. The surprise addition of their cover of The Wanted‘s ‘Glad You Came’ off Punk Goes Pop was a highlight, dumbfounding a few crowd members who wished for the return of violence to the pit rather than swaying hands, but We Came as Romans failed to put on the show they are often praised for.

Managing to fit all 6 members onto the smallest stage of the tour was no small feat, but Crown the Empire were an excellent addition to the lineup, and despite a small crowd, gave it their all with boundless energy. Near the sound desk it was hard to tell whether Andrew Velasquez had painted red on his face, or was a result of a blood nose, but it gave an authentic element to the band’s dedication.

Before one of the most anticipated acts of the day, Hatebreed finished their set with a unique thrash and punk sound unmatched by any other band on the lineup. After 6 albums and holding the title as a pioneer of metalcore, the band has in no way slowed down and brought energy to their set that is often seen only in acts on their very first touring cycle.

As soon as Hatebreed finished, a sea of The Amity Affliction t-shirts flocked towards the barrier in the hopes that they would be able to get closer to their idols. Even after seeing them over half a dozen times, Amity are still able to put on one hell of a show. Dedicating most of their set to songs from their most recent album ‘Chasing Ghosts‘, the band knew that they had garnered the majority of their fans from such a release, and gave the fans exactly what they wanted. Of course, favourites from ‘Youngbloods‘: ‘I Hate Hartley’, ‘Anchors’ and ‘Youngbloods’ were included, and the oldest track in their setlist ‘Fruity Lexia’ was received warmly as well. However, the newest titleholder of crowd favourite ‘Open Letter’ truly created chaos in the pit, with bodies flying over the crowd in an endless procession of sweat and passionate singing along to every word from Joel Birch and Ahren Stringer. Thankfully, the vocal problems that plagued Ahren during the first half of their set during the ‘Brothers in Arms’ tour were non-existent, and the rest of the band played as perfect as their reputation states.

As the day drew towards the setting of the sun, Parkway Drive emerged to the possibly loudest cheer of the day during the unmistakeable intro to ‘Dark Days’. This proved to be a perfect opener, with limbs flailing in a massive pit even before the crushing breakdown of one of the band’s heaviest songs. Vocalist Winston McCall was as excited as the crowd at the prospect of the band being able to play a festival outdoors in the summertime in their home country, and this was easily recognisable in the performance of the band as a whole. It’s almost impossible to not be a fan of Parkway Drive based on their skill as musicians alone, and with crowd sing-alongs during ‘Home is for the Heartless’, ‘Idols and Anchors’ and ‘Wild Eyes’, the audience showed their appreciation for one of Australia’s biggest success stories. It’s obvious that the band appreciates the love of the crowd, and was shown most strongly in Winston’s kneeling down during ‘Home is for the Heartless’, letting the crowd take over, hearing them scream their hearts out and grinning from ear to ear with his eyes closed. Finally, even after being dropped while crowd surfing, and kicked square in the stomach in the pit, it was impossible to not use up the rest of the energy left to sing along to perennial set closer ‘Carrion’.4

Battered and bruised from the day, along with a lung full of dust kicked up during the hurricane circle pits at Parkway, it was time to limp over to The Offspring to finish off the Warped tour. Despite turning up late, classics such as ‘The Kids Aren’t Alright’, ‘Pretty Fly for a White Guy’, ‘Spare Me the Details’, and ‘Hit That’ were still able to be caught, and drunken sing-alongs in the muddy grounds of the bar were the order of the day. A burst water main brought ecstatic joy to a huge crowd of people, with security only barely managing to quell the blast of water after audience members were absolutely soaked. Finishing off with ‘Self Esteem’, The Offspring did exactly what they’ve been doing for over 2 decades; singing catchy as hell lyrics, making jokes about boners and having sex with the whole crowd, and rocking out. An encore wasn’t present, nor needed as the band had played everything the crowd had wanted, and more.

As everyone began to traipse home after a long day in the sun, the Vans Warped Tour had finished its triumphant return to Melbourne; there’s no doubt there won’t be another 12 years between festivals this time around.

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