I didn’t believe it when PENNYWISE announced it, but as I read it in the paper a few days later, the NYC date of the Warped Tour actually sold out its entire 16,000 ticket allotment. I knew it was crowded, but selling out an outdoor festival? That’s just insane. Thanks to a somewhat forgiving weather pattern that kept temperatures below 90 degrees for most of the day, I was in constant delightment as I watched the national carnival of punk rock come through and pitch their many tents with fury and a fearless attitude. With a roster that read like a who’s who of national punk acts, the two main stages were outfitted with solid performances from AFI who began 12:50pm until ROLLINGS BAND closed up at 9pm. All told, I caught some 15 bands in some way or another, and had an absolute blast as I begged the day not to end.

I always find it interesting that given the punk nature of the Warped Tour, it’s always the special non-punk guests that seem to draw some of the biggest attention – this year being ALIEN ANT FARM whose new found massive fan base showed up in droves. Right from the start, I did a lot of scrambling on this particular day, catching three songs from AFI (who sound much better in a smaller setting), then hurrying to watch JIMMY EAT WORLD, and then thankfully, almost all of NO MOTIV’s great set (they played “”So What”" from the “”And the Sadness Prevails”" album, something they don’t play that often!) on one of the smaller stages. With my photo pass, I was able to take pictures of all of the bands and stand in between the stage and the crowd barrier, but only for the first three songs. Fortunately, on the smaller stages, the crowd control people didn’t care, so it was a much more relaxed atmosphere. Then again, there weren’t some 6000 people trying to crush security detail on those stages. JIMMY EAT WORLD absolutely smoked live, and when they played their hit single, “”Bleed American,”" the crowd just went off, even at 1:30pm.

From there, my activities get a bit hazy, but I recall the DROPKICK MURPHYS hitting the stage just as I sat down to interview Greg of the BOUNCING SOULS. After that pleasant jaunt, it was all music for the rest of night. PENNYWISE were kicking up a dust storm of magnificent proportions on the main stage, but delivered only a so-so set, talking more than rocking. As they finished with the epic “”Bro-Hymn,”" the VANDALS came on next only to start up “”Bro-Hymn”" again, which was rather hilarious. H2O followed and as always, were great. No matter their setting, they always come out flying. Toby’s an energy machine, I swear. Such new tunes as “”Out of Debt,”" and “”Role Model”" thundered with intensity. It also helped that all of the DMS crew was on stage, as well as some 100 other NYHC friends and family. It was literally a hall of fame. Davey Havok came out and sang with Toby on their cover of Madonn’a “”Like a Prayer,”" which was very cool.

I missed LESS THAN JAKE in order to catch the highly underrated JERSEY on the tiny Volcom stage, and that was cool as they seemed to make a bunch of fans in a hurry. JERSEY is clearly a band to look out for, especially if you like RANCID styled punk rock. One band that was also on one of the smaller stages was SWITCHED, who played an explosive metallic hardcore thing with cool melodic vocals. They were a six-piece, with three guitarists and damnit if they weren’t the loudest band of the day. I don’t know much else about them, but I’m looking forward to hearing more from them.

The BOUNCING SOULS never disappoint live, even with their almost annoying relaxed stage presence, but their set was especially good because they played a lot of new material off of their new one, “”How I Spent My Summer Vacation.”" I like the song, “”True Belivers”" more and more with each listen. From there, it was all about BIG WIG. I managed to sneak onto the stage and watch their set from right behind the drummer, which was pretty dangerous actually as drumsticks flew nearly everywhere. I love these guys, and their tight, tight set was going over very well with the crowd. The new material (total speedmetal – i’m serious) sounded fabulously heavy, but the old favorites such as “”Smile,”" “”Girl with the green jacket,”" and “”Sellout,”" among others made for a great 30 minutes.

I ate dinner during the ATARIS and watched from far, finishing just in time for the best band of the day: RANCID. No band does as much as RANCID does in 30 minutes. I guess you can chalk it up to pure talent, but Tim, Lars, Matt, and Brett make up a living legend of an act. Their set was composed of hits from all the albums, and tunes like “”Radio,”" “”Nihilism,”" “”Roots Radical,”" “”Journey to the End,”" “”Loki,”" “”Side Kick,”" and so forth had myself and rest of the crowd in absolute euphoria. It was also pretty cool of RANCID to sell all of their cds for only $6 a piece at their table.

As much as I go to the Warped Tour for the music, I go to shop too, and got some great deals this year. Hopeless Records’ table was stocked high with $1 and $2 cds of samplers they’ve put out, including the new Plea For Peace / Take Action compilation, which everyone should considering checking out. Other things picked up included the new cd from Canada’s BELVEDERE who are one of the best melodic/thrash/hardcore bands currently out there. Too bad their set conflicted with RANCID’s. I also picked up a copy of Side One’s new free label sampler which is quite the good disc.

Although it’s always tough to stomach the high price of food at the Warped Tour, and of course, the 10,000 pounds of garbage that accumulate during the day, major props go to the people working the Gryo stand on the right side of the field, of which I visited twice. I think my buddy Kevin mentioned this in his site, punkrocks.net, but the amount of organization and time control at the Warped this year was far superior to years past, and the bands were up and ready to go precisely on the time scheduled. This was true was as well with the many bands that did autograph signings, who fortunately, didn’t keep too many kids waiting in the sun for too long.

On the way home, my brother, his friend, and myself walked into a Dunkin’ Donuts, dirt encrusted and all. The looks we got from the customers inside were more than worth the price of filth we paid. Long live punk rock, long live the Warped Tour.