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Yellowcard provided a bit of a lull with their run-through of solid but undistinguished pop-punk songs from their major-label debut, Ocean Avenue. That album's catchy, mid-tempo title track and its surging first single "Way Away" went over best, emphasizing the band's unique incorporation of an electric violin into their otherwise-standard mix.
A little later, Tiger Army drew a small-but-enthusiastic group of fans for their double-time psychobilly rockers. The band offered an equal mix of older, faster tracks like "Nocturnal" and "Never Die" from their first two albums, along with four cuts from their new Tiger Army III: Ghosts Tigers Rise. Overall, Tiger Army sounded great, and they got the fans moving, but there apparently wasn't time in the half-hour to squeeze in the classic "Annabel Lee," which was sorely missed.
Next up was Rancid lead guitarist/co-frontman Lars Frederiksen and his band, who brought the main stage its rawest set of the day, tearing through more than 10 songs in just half an hour. Anthemic tracks like "To Have and to Have Not" and "The Days of Wine and Roses" were met with the best reception, as the enthusiastic crowd threw their firsts in the air and sang along with every word.
But it was a blazingly-fast run of tracks like "Skins, Punx and Drunx" and "Fight" - both from Frederiken's recently-released sophomore set, Viking - that created some of the most furious circle pits Hersheypark Stadium has probably ever seen.
Anti-Flag drew an even larger audience for its performance, but wasted half of their 30 minutes offering their views on social issues from gay marriage to abortion. While songs like "You've Got to Die for the Government" and "Turncoat" provided solid street-punk sing-along material, all of the band's anti-George Bush politicking was redundant given the lyrical content of most of their songs.
Another politically-minded band took the stage next, but unlike Anti-Flag, Bad Religion let their music do all of the talking. Opening with the blazing "Sinister Rouge" from their new album, The Empire Strikes First, Bad Religion sounded no worse for the wear more than 20 years into their storied career.
Classics like "21st-Century Digital Boy" and "Stranger Than Fiction" sounded as strong as ever, but it was cuts from the band's 2002 comeback album, The Process of Belief, that were most impressive. The clean-toned verses and slow, determined chorus of "Epiphany" provided a welcome reprieve from the day's generally breakneck pace, and the powerful "Sorrow" closed out Bad Religion's set on a surprisingly-uplifting note.
Story of the Year drew what may have been the day's largest audience, but their pop-influenced screamo seemed more about current fashion than true passion. Modern rock-radio hits "Until the Day I Die" and the semi-ballad "Anthem of Our Dying Day" were delivered capably. But it was hard not to doubt the band's sincerity as singer Dan Marsala shifted effortlessly between soaring choruses and raw-throated screaming with the same level of seeming detachment.
However, there was no questioning the authenticity of openly-socialist Swedes the International Noise Conspiracy. The punk-funk band brought a decidedly old-school feel to their set, which included their two best songs to date, "Up for Sale" and "Capitalism Stole My Virginity," both from 2001's A New Morning, Changing Weather. But if the new organ-drenched, bass-driven cuts INC debuted in Hershey are any indication, the group's forthcoming Rick Rubin-produced Armed Love should prove a solid addition to their catalog.
As crews started to dismantle skateboard ramps and tents throughout the stadium around 6:30 p.m., the Bouncing Souls brought one last burst of energy to the fading Warped Tour crowd.
Kicking off their set with the fast-and-furious fan favorite "That Song," the band then launched into Anchors Aweigh's "Sing Along Forever." And the remaining audience members did just that to a set heavy on popular Souls songs like "Gone" and "Hopeless Romantic." And it was good to see that 17 years on, the Bouncing Souls still have the energy and fire to deliver subtler material like the melancholy "Kids and Heroes," then turn around and spit out the blazing punker "Cracked."
When the band closed with "True Believers," it was a fitting end to another great edition of the longest-running festival tour today. With a 10th-anniversary lineup this solid, the Warped Tour shouldn't have any problem going strong for another decade.
