Rock N Roll Experience - Warped Tour 2006

I'll admit that initially, I never wanted to cover the Warped Tour, simply because I viewed it as a kiddie show that was mostly lame bands & it was just something that I tried to avoid. Well, it really is true that you can't say you don't like something until you've tried it, because the Warped Tour was actually alot of fun, & for being my first Warped Tour ever, I walked away from the show with alot of great memories...first & foremost, the crowd is not all little kiddies..it's pretty diverse & I would actually say that the Warped Tour is more lax & cooler than Ozzfest! All of the bands have thise very social quality to them..they all hang out with the crowd, & the backstage area is like a huge bar-b-que...band members & crew everywhere, just hanging out, talking, doing interviews, taking pictures..this is the picture of what every large summer tour should be!

Initially, since this was the first date of the tour, the press passes were handed out a little late & the show had already started, so I actually missed a few bands, BUT, as I found out, it's impossible to cover everything at this show..there's atleast 7 stages & there are usually 2 bands or more playing at the same time, so I did my best to run around, capture the main bands I was there to see, see a few I didn't really know, & do a handful of interviews.

The first band I saw was The Casualties & it seemed odd to see these over the hill punk rockers slamming away at like 11 AM..it was sunny, the birds were out & 4 guys with brightly colored punk rawk hair were ripping through 3 chord punk songs..that's what you call surreal!

The first interview I did was with The Vincent Black Shadow:

Rock N Roll Experience: So I have to ask you, is the name Vincent Black Shadow inspired by Vincent Price?

Robbie: No, it's a Hunter S. Thompson title..we were reading Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas & he makes alot of references to Vincent Black Shadow motorbike & it just flows off the tongue very nicely so..we've had alot of people coming up to us & going, Oh, Hunter S. Thompson..right on!

Rock N Roll Experience: What is the significance of the Rubber Duckie on the front cover of your new CD?

Cassandra: If you look at the painting or whatever..I did the painting myself & it originally didn't have that & I thought it looked a little too serious & morbid, so I added the little rubber duckie so that everyone knows we are not completely evil

Rock N Roll Experience: So what band are you guys going to try to see at Warped today?

Robbie: THe Buzzcocks for me & I don't know..I havn't really had a chance to see who else is on today, but yeah..Joan Jett too, but she is playing the same time as us

Rock N Roll Experience: How long has theband been together?

Robbie: We've been a band for about 3 years.

Rock N Roll Experience: What do you expect from the Warped tour?

Robbie: I expect to make alot more fans & make it a good breeding ground for our success in the future, because if you look at all of the bands from past years that started on the smaller stages...a majority of them have gone on to either headline the larger stages or go off & do their own thing, so it's a really good starting point for new bands I think.

It was actually pretty funny,because in the media area, there was ALOT of band members going from person to person, doing interviews, & I got alot of them done in a short period of time...I would have to say that my personal favorite of the day though was Britt Black, & I'd also say that her set was easily my favorite of the day as well! Britt Black plays a mix of gritty rock mixed with ounk ethics, but it's really more hard rock than anything...Britt plays guitar & has a good rock n roll voice, & a band that just kills backing her! The highlight of her set was her cover of The Cult's "She Sells Sanctuary", & when I had a chance to talk with her, here is what she had to say:

Rock N Roll Experience: Have you ever been to the Warped Tour before?

Britt Black: I sold Merch in 2000 I believe for Bif (Naked)

Rock N Roll Experience: How did you become Bif Naked's guitar player?

Britt Black: I've actually known her since I was like 6 years old...I started an all girl band & we had a single called "I Am Afraid of Britney Spears" that was on "Dude Where's My Car" & then we broke up & I had no band & I was like, what do I do with my life, & her guitar player quit at the same time, so I just joined her band & it was supposed to be just for the Summer, but it ended up being 2 years.

Rock N Roll Experience: Is the Britt Black band permament members, or are they hired players?

Britt Black: They are hired players but I plan on having them forever..I don't want to change my members & do that whole shifting, like I think I was Bif's 27th member...I wanna have these boys & write with them & have them involved with all of the decision making as well, but it is called Britt Black incase they wanna quit, & then I can keep going

Rock N Roll Experience: What is your favorite song to play live?

Britt Black: I like "Jet Black Heart"...the audience loves it & they are so energetic when that comes on & sometimes they recognize it & sing along

Rock N Roll Experience: Has the Cult heard your cover of "She Sells Sanctuary"?

Britt Black: They havn't, but I used to know Ian...I toured with him when I was about 10 years old with Bif actually..he was in the Holy Barbarians & I told him, one day I am going to cover your song & he told me to do "She Sells Sanctuary"...we sped it up alot because we couldn't pull off that slow vibe.

Rock N Roll Experience: What is it about the Canadian music scene that spawns so many great girl bands?

Britt Black: I know..it's like you've got Kittie from Toronto, & there's alot...there's definitley a really good scene in Vancouver, but most of the punk bands that are there are girls & I don't know why, but it's awesome!

Helmet delivered a really great live show, & it was funny how their set started..I was talking with the Senses Fail guys & all of a sudden "Unsung" starts & the Senses Fail boys go, Shit! Helmet is on..we gotta go! & I ran over to catch their set as well. Page is the only original member in the band & although he might be a little older than some of the guys on this bill, he can still rock with the best of them! I had the opportunity to chat with Page for a few minutes, & he is pretty much the anti-rockstar..he's very low-key, very mellow, & actually nice! Here's what Page had to say: Rock N Roll Experience: Is this your first time playing Warped?

Page: It is

Rock N Roll Experience: Don't you think Helmet is a little too heavy for Warped?

Page: I don't know..we will see ha ha...we might scare some of them,

Rock N Roll Experience: Do you relate more to the metal side or the hardcore side?

Page: Gosh..you know, I sorta have an affinity for both, ironically, like some of the bands that I grew up on are like the Buzzcocks & Killing Joke & also Led Zeppelin & Aerosmith & I guess people kinda thought of us as a hardcore band from New York, but we were never really part of that Brooklyn scene.

Rock N Roll Experience: Is Frank Bello still a member of Helmet?

Page: Frank Bello is not..he is in Antrhax & his wife just had a baby..he is happily home in New York & relaxing.

Rock N Roll Experience: Did you see Anthrax on their reunion tour?

Page: I did not..I saw them about a year earlier & it wasn't the original..I got so busy that when they came through town that I couldn't make it to the show & I was bummed.

Rock N Roll Experience: How are you picking your set list?

Page: We are gonna play 30 minutes, so we are doing a cross section of stuff..we are gonna do a couple of things off "Meantime", things off "Betty", a couple of things off "Size Matters" & playing things off the new album

Rock N Roll Experience: Where are you going after Warped is over?

Page: I have a couple of artists I hope to be working with...a band from Australia called Exploders..they want me to produce their record, & there's this pianist in New York (I could not get the persons name..sorry!), so I'm gonna have a couple of things..sorta some civil time in between tours & I think we talked about maybe doing a Warcon tour with all of the Warcon bands & then I wanna get to Europe before the end of the year, because I love November/December in Europe...it's less crowded with bands.when you do the Summer festivals, it's fun, but it just wears on you because every band is over there & your bus is not as nice & you get hot, so I love to do a winter thing & do like a club tour over there.

Underoath delievered a strong set...the crowd & the pit was insane & it was I will admit that the band just tore it up! Seeing Underoath in a festival setting is totally different than seeing them in a small club & I mean that in a good way!

I had the chance to chit chat with all 5 members of Everytime I Die, & if you read Rock N Roll Experience regularly, you will remember that we had a situation with ETID a few years back...Guitarist Andy told us in an interview we conducted with him at Ozzfest, that Keith had been arrested & that he was arrested wearing fake boobs & it was a crazy story..well, we reported & it ended up on Blabbermouth & then Keith got wind of it & ripped us a new one..I never got a chance to explain my story to Keith, so here was my opportunity:

Rock N Roll Experience: I have to tell you..this guy here (pointing to Andy) got me in trouble with you & I wante to apoligize for that entire situation..Andy told me that you had been arrested & was wearing fake boobs & I just reported what he told me!

Keith: Oh, it's alright..Jager got me these fake boobs

Rock N Roll Experience: So what actually happened...you were just drunk & disorderly?

Keith: Yeah

Andy: It's like everyday ha ha Rock N Roll Experience: So let me ask you..where did the name ETID come from?

Steve: Did you ever spell it backwards? Do it & you'll find out ha ha

Keith: Mix up the letters..it's an anagram...ha ha

Rock N Roll Experience: Do you prefer Warped to Ozzfest?

Keith: Yeah..

There's no way to skip Joan Jett's set...she did not grant us an interview, but I did get to say hello to her, & I noticed on her bottle of water that someone wrote "Pussy Juice" on it...it's was kinda funny but I didn't have the nerve to make light of it to her. Joan's set was pretty short..it opened with "Bad Repuation" & kicked into "Cherry Bomb"..."Five" & "ACDC" were the newest songs played, but "Crimson & Clover" & "I Love Rock N Roll" were the 2 songs that got the best crowd reaction & I think those 2 covers were probably the best closers of all time!

I missed the Motion City Soundtrack's set, but I did get the chance to chat with them...

Rock N Roll Experience: So how was your set today?

Josh: It was good

Rock N Roll Experience: How do you say this song?

Josh: Well..it's "L.G. Fuad"....it's an acronym for Lets Get Fucked Up & Die & the reason we named it that was, there was a big debate about naming it Lets Get Fucked up & Die & some of the guys had a problem with having that on the back of the record, so we went with L.G. Fuad...Our friend Andy who lives in California made it up.

Rock N Roll Experience: How did you come up with the name Motion City Soundtrack?

Josh: We were trying to come up with names & that's the hardest part of starting a band & we couldn't figure it out..we kept naming theband different things & my older brother had made that up for something else & I asked him if I could use it & he said sure, so I just borrowed it from him & it worked out well.

The final interview of the day was with Senses Fail, & here's how it went:

Rock N Roll Experience: Being that your from New Jersey, do you visit the Maryland area alot?

Buddy: Yeah, I mean I've been down here a whole bunch for alot of different reasons, so I know it pretty well

Rock N Roll Experience: How long has Senses Fail been together?

Buddy: 5 years going on 6

Rock N Roll Experience: Where did the name Senses Fail come from?

Buddy: I used to be really into Eastern Religion & I just kinda ulled a thought from there...the idea of trying to reach Nirvana & trying to reach happiness through...to derpive yourself of alot of things, just the idea that everything is meaningless...material things are meaningless..it came from that whole thing.

Rock N Roll Experience: So were you straight edge then?

Buddy: No...I've never been straight edge ha ha...it kinda seems like a straight edge thing though.

Rock N Roll Experience: How do you like playing Warped?

Buddy: I think it's great..there's so many people that we know, so it's like just fun to be able to hang out with alot of people at once as opposed to just a couple bands on tour, you get to hang out with like everybody you've been on tour with.

Rock N Roll Experience: Who did you see play today at Warped?

Buddy: I didn't really watch anyone ha ha..we had alot of different press & so I'll see everybody..we are hear for 2 months!

That last statement that Buddy made is pretty funny, because there's so much that happens at the Warped tour, that is would probably take 2 months to really see everything & even then you are bound to miss things! Even though there was some technical problems, the first day of Warped Tour 2006 was a smash & when the tour rolls through your town, you've gotta see it to believe it! RETURN TO MAIN PAGE.