Live Review: Vans Warped, Sydney

Twelve years since Kevin Lyman’s skate-punk-turned-mixed-bag festival graced our shores, the legendary Vans Warped is back.

After two dates in Brisbane and Coffs Harour and two broken down buses, 28 bands and the sleepless tour crew arrived in Sydney Saturday night, bringing with them the unflustered ethos that shaped the festival’s inception.

With a heavy emphasis on newer bands instead of big-name headliners and a centered stage layout, Sunday’s timetable allowed for equal eyes on those still on the ascent.

There was an ever-present energy to get behind the newer acts from artists and punters alike. Bert McCracken said he would consider it a personal favour if the crowd checked out Sydney hardcore band Corpus after The Used’s set. He also pointed across the Darling Harbour and gloated that he could swim to his home in Newtown whilst a topless woman atop shoulders tried in vain to get his attention. The Used’s set was heavy with early tracks like I Caught Fire, All That I’ve Got and Pretty Handsome Awkward, yet his delivery had changed drastically; while McCracken once yearned for mental peace, now it seemed his yearning was for an uprising for change.

Earlier on Stage One, Tonight Alive proved pop-punk is on its way back. Jenna McDougall’s voice soared and bled into the other sets, her range and pitch no-longer outside her comfort zone. She beat her chest with the mic that matched her green hair, and drew attention to the evading slogan on her t-shirt: This Is Not Subliminal.

“It’s not okay to be pushed around,” McDougall yelled, encouraging her fans with emboldened sentiments throughout.

Interestingly, it was Stage Two that saw the most lively and seething crowds. Sydney’s Hand of Mercy returned form a European tour on Wednesday but lack of sleep did nothing to stop their brutal breakdowns and showy guitars sending fans into a constant swirl of black t-shirts and bloody knees. But those who fell were just as quickly set back on their feet. Minnesota’s For All Those Sleeping followed with a set as urgent as frontman Mike Champa’s wounded screams. Prickly guitars, the sharp tenor of clean singer London Snetsinger and a jagged stage presence pierced through virgin ears, while those more accustomed were sent over the small barricade in waves of crowd surf appreciation. Vans Warped veterans We Came As Romans treated fans to a set tof botany-obsessed tracks like Tracing Back Roots and To Plant A Seed, and while the set ticked the preconceived boxes of the stage’s predecessors, the predominantly stagnant crowd suggested otherwise.

In true Vans Warped fashion, the one technical hiccup turned into a unique, enviable moment. The sound difficulties over at Stage Three meant Canberra band Hands Like Houses could either skip their set or perform an impromptu acoustic show amidst the noise bleeds from For All Those Sleeping and Reel Big Fish. Wheeling road cases into the crowd and asking fans to take a seat, frontman Trenton Woodley and guitarist Alex Pearson snuggled in close to the small sea of zealots shushing each other. With Woodley sans mic and Pearson on borrowed acoustic, it may not have been what was envisioned for Sydney, but as they pulled it off with aplomb in close quarters, fans knew they would be the envy of those attending other dates.

Perhaps it was the head-to-toe tattooed guy in a Boys II Men shirt that gave it away, but Hatebreed’s set on Stage Two was the unquestionable anomaly of the day. Two brutally ringing tracks in, and a fistfight forced sound technicians to shut things down while security removed an inimical fan.

“It’s already hard enough for us to get on fucking tours,” said frontman Jamey Jasta, sporting a Game Of Thrones t-shirt. “They think we’re going to bring a bunch of fucking animals.”

Muscular metalcore tracks like Live For This, Mark My Words and Smash Your Enemies sent the teeming crowd into a continuous spin. Another fight ensued, more punters were ejected, and Jasta played down the anarchy with wit.

“If anyone asks about the fight, you say it was during New Found Glory,” he said.

Later on Stage Two The Amity Affliction crowd outnumbered those at Millencolin, and with tracks like Anchors, I Hate Hartley and an impeccable cover of Lana Del Rey’s Born To Die, their fan’s sing-alongs almost drowned even frontman Joel Birch.

The festival scene may be looking quite dire of late, with cancellations and cut backs announced almost every month, but if the reprised Vans Warped is anything to go by (not to mention AJ Maddah’s Soundwave, which is the single most successful music festival in the country), heavy music fans can pride themselves on keeping the industry alive.