Coffs Harbour Showground
Saturday, November 30th, 2013 :
The Vans Warped Tour is a must see festival. With headliners such as The Offspring, Simple Plan, The Used, New Found Glory and Parkway Drive, Warped also boats a bunch of international and local bands to spice up the lineup.
Coffs Harbour Warped Tour started off its proceedings with Hands Like Houses, playing on the larger of the three stages and attracting a sea of devotees as they arrived through the gates. Having just completed Vans Warped Tour in the US this year, the guys seemed right at home and made for an awesome viewing experience. Next up was Safe Hands, the local support hailing from Newcastle, who made the most of every second they had on stage and genuinely fed off their crowds energy.
Prepare Like a Bride, found themselves playing on the #NOREGRETS Stage, presented by Contiki. A metal/hardcore band from the Gold Coast, their set was absolutely fabulous. Singer Ryan Bowles, in particular caught my attention; having such powerful and precise screaming capabilities in a live performance setting. They played a song that was dear to the young vocalist, entitled “2 am”, being about his father whom passed away. Dedicating that performance to his friends father, it was a touching and special live moment. Man Overboard were next on my check list; the American pop-punk band playing a good 40 minute set. At one point lead singer Zac Eisenstein proclaimed to the crowd, “come close to the stage, we don’t bite” and of course, the crowd obeyed.
The Vans Warped Tour had a nice sit down area amongst the trees for people who needed to rest or were simply waiting for their favorite bands to make an onstage appearance. Yeah, it rained and yeah, it got a little hot but that definitely didn’t detract from the overall experience of the day! The food and beverage choices were great; from Wendy’s to a local wood fired portable pizza place and of course, the generously sugared slushie beverages to keep us up and active for the entire day. As the day progressed the bad weather began to set in, the mosh pits got muddy as hell. Do you think that deterred the punters? Absolutely not!
One thing in particular about Vans Warped Tour Australia that genuinely impressed me, was the signing tent routine. Paying only $2 for a signing allocation not only allowed us to meet our favourite acts, it also went to the kids at Camp Quality; a worthy cause that I and may others were more than happy to participate in and an act for which Warped Tour should be commended for.
Tonight Alive hit the main stage next; the crowd screaming and surging in anticipation. Their set was well performed and definitely a crowd pleaser, playing old-time favourites as well as new tracks off their recently released sophomore album. Closer to the end of their set, vocalist Jenna McDougall told the crowd to “always reach for your goals, never sit back and wait for good things to happen to you, go out and get them”, to which the crowd enthusiastically applauded.
Sydney band Hand of Mercy, performed a really punchy set with their entire crowd moshing to the bands metal inspired music. Scott, the lead vocalist, had impressive clean vocals and you could tell the rest of the band genuinely enjoyed playing their set. It was great watching them all dance so enthusiastically on stage. For All Those Sleeping hit the “Off The Wall” stage shortly after. The American Hardcore band had the crowd going mental and encouraging the punters to mosh and to clap their hands; creating a great atmosphere and complimenting their instruments and voices perfectly.
We Came as Romans were great to see live. They played their popular Pop Goes Punk cover of “Glad You Came” with their powerful vocalist singing the first verse, followed by the rest of the band eventually coming in. It was a fantastic second song to their set. We Came As Romans kept reminding the people in their crowd to live their lives to the fullest and I actually class their set as one of my favorites of the day.
Later in the afternoon, Warped Tour veterans New Found Glory started to play on the aptly named “Kevin says” stage. Their set started off with a bang and the crowd began immediately jumping around and passionately singing every single lyric. A few songs in, New found glory humored the crowd with some trivia, stating that they were on the last Vans Warped Tour Australian back in 2001 and that they have been a band together now for 16 years! The band performed their massively popular Sticks and Stones album in its entirety as well as their punktastic cover of the popular 90’s tune “kiss me”, by Sixpence None The Richer. Half way through the set, a young man was invited up on to the stage because he wanted to address the crowd on an important matter. Turns out it was that he wanted to propose to his girlfriend on stage. She was crowd surfed all the way to the stage and was greeted by him gesturing down on one knee and asking for her hand in marriage. It was unreal.
My next musical adventure was seeing The Amity Affliction’s set on the “Off The Wall” stage. The rain started to set in hard, so of course, “Amity” began encouraging mud fights to begin. Lead vocalist Joel Birch had to abruptly stop the set when a girl whom was crowd surfing and made it all the way to the front, fell to the ground. It appeared that security didn’t catch her as she tumbled over the heads of those on barrier, resulting in a seizure when she hit the ground. When she thankfully recovered, Joel had a dig at the security saying “it’s your job to catch them” – it was a little intense there for a minute. The set started up again with them playing from their new album “Chasing Ghosts” and everyone continued throwing mud and moshing to the songs.
Simple Plan had one of the best sets of the day, playing some of their biggest hits like “Welcome To My Life” and “Perfect”. Beach balls with “Simple Plan” marked on them were getting thrown around and the crowd was going absolutely crazy and loving every single second of it. I really feel the band played to the highest standard possible and they continuously mentioned that they love Australia, which was always followed by cheers of joy throughout the crowd.
The band I had been waiting for the whole day for was up next, The Offspring. Despite the fact their set began a few minutes behind schedule, they most definitely made up for it, playing an incredible set sporting all their hit songs such as, “Why Don’t You Get a Job” and “Spare Me The Details”, with some of the new stuff thrown in the mix too. The Offspring had the best set, of the day, hands down! With the band going hard and everyone in the crowd moshing and singing along, it was just a perfect way to end the night!
Vans Warped Tour Australia was an absolutely brilliant festival. With an astounding concoction of bands of all genres, it appealed to the masses. From pop to punk to hardcore and metal, it was just an incredible experience and one any music lover would be crazy to miss. Despite the fact that the festival is only half way done, I think the general consensus is that it’s been a wonderful comeback and that we want it to return again and again and again for many years to come! Get ready Canberra, Adelaide and Melbourne! You’re gonna have a blast!
Reviewer: Bree Walsh
Photographer: Terry Paull
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