Warped Tour 2009

For reasons I won't get into, I went to Vans Warped Tour twice this weekend: once in Orlando and again in St. Petersburg. I would love to say that there was something worthwhile about each trip, that I got to connect with good music and act my age for one day out of the year. For me, that equates to having a few drinks, shoving people, and putting my long hair to good use.

Instead, all the bands I liked played a lot of music of their "freshly minted" albums, which are seeming to get repeatedly worse with each iteration. While I can understand why bands like Escape the Fate might have an undesirable sound on their new record, as the band's original lineup has been all but obliterated. I was disappointed by what I heard from Lights, because she's certainly a talented entertainer. Despite the interesting (but still sappy) duet she did with Shane from Silverstein, her solo music is technically pop and it has a "lets feel good and save the world" feel which is unwelcome with most angry white males, and certainly with angry Asian males trapped in an angry white body.

I like Senses Fail's new album, and I loved their performance as well. I was so drawn in by their music and the swelling motion of the crowd, I didn't notice when someone pickpocketed my wallet and Tina's iPhone out of the back of my jeans. I got my wallet back, but it was practically empty. The remaining calling around and identity protection BS killed any chance we had for having fun at St. P.

Sucks, but there are worse things that could happen.

Awesome news is, my birthday presents from Tina are almost here! I can't wait.

Gallery: