Vision, The Dwarves, The Bouncing Souls, and Dropkick Murphys in Philadelphia, PA - 6/23/00
Against All Authority and Plan A Project in Boundbrook, NJ - 5/6/00
Less Than Jake in Piscataway, NJ - 4/28/00
Edna's Goldfish, The Pilfers, and The Toasters in Wayne, NJ - 12/29/99
Dropkick Murphys With Blood for Blood in Philly, PA - 10/29/99
Slow Gherkin and Edna's Goldfish in Wayne, NJ - 7/29/99
Warped Tour in Randalls Island, NY - 7/16/99
Warped Tour in Asbury Park, NJ - 7/18/99
Buck-o-Nine, Riverfenix, and Homegrown in Asbury Park, NJ - 4/17/99
Warped Tour in Randalls Island, NY - Thursday, July 16, 1999
The day started off good, but when me and my friend Ian got to NYC, his car overheated and, of course, there was no empty parking spots, so we had to park in front of a no parking sign. So we decided to go to the show, and the car would be cooled off by the time we got back.
When we got to the concert the first thing I noticed was that there was not grass, the whole place was dirt, so when people were skankin' and moshing, or even just walking, it would make a big cloud of dust. When we first got there I think Grinspoon was playing, and I didn't like them too much, so I waited for Buck-o-nine to play and this was my second time seeing them, and they played really good.
After that the we watched the Vandals play over at the main stage, and they opened up with their cover of "Summer Nights" from the movie Grease, and it was really good, I don't think it's on any of their albums though. Some other songs they played were "And Now We Dance", "It's a Fact", and "Oi To The World" which surprised me, becuse i didn't think they'd play anything from their Christmas album, and when they played "Live fast, Diarrhea" they said something like "This song goes out to Yoohoo, it's called Live Fast Diarrhea", there was a stand not too far back from the stage with free yoohoo, so i thought that was pretty funny. At one point Warren Fitzgerald climbed up on one of the really high speakers, and he was wearing a pair of black sweatshorts, but he took them off, and he was wearing this tight pair of neon-pink shorts, which looked really funny, and he danced around in them for a while.
After that Agnostic Front played, but I didn't stick around there for very long, because Dropkick Murphys were starting over at the main stage. Dropkick Murphys opened up with "Cadence to Arms", and went right into "Do or Die" just like on their album Do or Die, some songs they played were "On The Attack", "Blood and Whiskey", "Finnegan's Wake", and "Barroom Hero." they put on a really good show.
After Dropkick Murphys played, the Suicidal Tendencies, played at the other main stage, but i waited at that one, because Less Than Jake was coming on next, and I wanted to be up front. But I didn't really like the Suicidal Tendencies. I was right in the front and center of the crowd at the stage where Less than Jake was about to play, and pretty much everybody else there also wanted to be there, but for obvious reasons not everybody can be there. So everybody was pushing to get up front. It was really hard to breathe, considering the heat, how close everybody was, and the dust. When Less Than Jake finally played, they sprayed the audience with water guns which felt good, but it wasn't enough, they needed firehoses. About Less Than Jakes actual performance, I can't remember it too well, I was too busy concentrating on trying to breathe. I do remember they played their song "Anchor" from Short Music For Short People, which is a really good song. But everybody was still trying to get up front, and after a few songs, I couldn't take it anymore, and i pushed my way out of there. I had to sit down and catch up on all the breathing I wasn't doing before that. In the pit people were so uncomfortable they were asking the security guards to pull them out of there, when they pulled this one guy out his pants didn't come with him, that's how tight it was there. So to all you people who want to be up front at big concerts, don't be assholes and push your way up front, get there before everybody else if being close is that important, if everybody did this there would be plenty of room for breathing.
Later Pennywise played on the main stage, and did a pretty good show too, they played their song "Fight til You Die", and when they played their song "Bro Hymn" almost everybody was singing along. After Pennywise, The Black Eyed Peas who are like hip-hop played, I don't really like that type of stuff, so i just went and sat in the field, waiting for the Bouncing Souls to play.
Blink 182 was supposed to play next, and I don't know why, but the Bouncing Souls did instead, which was really good, because we were waiting for the Bouncing Souls to play so we can leave. They put on an awesome show, some songs they played were "Hopeless Romantic", "I Like Your Mom", "Fight To Live", and "Ole!", and they closed with "Here We Go." We left at about 7:30.
Well, when we got back to where we left Ian's car it wasn't there, so we went to the police station to find out how to get it back, and they said to go to the impound lot, and found out it would cost $150 to get it out, and we didn't have that. blah blah blah, we got it back at around 12:00.
We got to this show a little late, and just caught the last song the Vandals played, which was kind of disappointing since they put on such a great show at their last show. After that no bands that I like played for a while, including Blink 182, they played their song from Short Music For Short People, I don't know the name of it, but it's just a bunch of curses and dirty words with some music in the background, it sucks and it's pretty immature.
The pit during Less Than Jake was not nearly as bad as it was in NY, so I was able to enjoy it this time. At this show they not only had waterguns, but they also had water balloons that they'd throw out at the audience which felt really good. Some songs they played are "Anchor", "Jen Doesn't Like me Anymore", and "Automatic." I don't think they played "Never Going back to New Jersey" though, that's a really good song, and it seems like they'd play it in New Jersey.
The next band I watched was the Bouncing Souls, and they put on a really good show as well. Some songs they played were "Hopeless Romantic", "Born To Lose", "Fight To Live", "I Like Your Mom", and "Lamar Vannoy." They closed their show with "Here We Go." After them, no bands I like were playing for a while.
When Buck-o-nine played their guitarist wasn't there, because there's something wrong with his grandmother, I don't remember what though. So instead of one substitute, they switched between every couple songs. They mostly played their slower songs at this show. Some songs that they played were "My Town", "Pass the Dutchie", and out of the three times i've seen them, this was the only time they didn't play "Irish Drinking Song" which is really good... it's like an irish drinking song(as hinted at in the name) only it's ska. One thing that I thought was pretty cool was the singer said to have as many people crowdsurfing at one time, and it looked really cool with that many people crowdsurfing, especially since it was during a slower ska song.
After Buck-o-nine played Frenzal Rhomb was on, and I never heard them before but i stayed because Anti-Flag was next, they're from Sydney Australia. The were really good, but I don't remember the names of any of their songs. When Anti-Flag was setting up, I was able to hear Pennywise playing "Bro Hymn" over at the main stage, and the whole crowd seemed to be singing along. Some songs that Anti-Flag played were "Tearing Everyone down", and "Die For Your Government." I never noticed that their music was so good for singing along until this show, but almost the whole crowd was singing along there. They played a really good show.
After Anti-Flag, I just caught some of Agnostic Fronts show, and it was pretty good, when they played their song "Gotta Go", the audience sung most of the beginning. After Agnostic Front played, Dropkick Murphys played and are one of the best bands live you can see. Some songs they played were "Blood and Whiskey", "Finnegans Wake", and "Barroom Hero." After they were done a bunch of people left, a lot of people were still hanging out, so they came back out and said they had time for one more. They played "Skinhead on the MBTA", which is a great sing along, so people just filled up the stage and sung along. It looked really cool.
After the show we just hung out for a while, to wait for the traffic to die down, and all of Anti-Flag was hanging out at their merchandise stand, except for the bassist, and i got their autographs on their cd "A New Kind of Army" that I bought earlier that day. The drummer carries a little notebook where he gets fans to autograph, and I gave him my autograph, I never would have guessed I was going to give him my autograph.
