I went to the Warped Tour in Minneapolis on Sunday, bringing my pocket-sized camera along. These certainly aren't the best photos I've ever taken, but there's a few good ones. I focused mainly on the good small bands, since I was actually able to get close enough to them for a clear photo.
The festival was held in the Metrodome parking lot, because nothing makes an outdoor festival better than pure asphalt. Especially when it's 90 degrees and the heat comes up off it. It was unbearable, especially when you add in the fact that water was $3, beer was $6, and you had to walk all the way into the Metrodome just to use a bathroom.
The Riverboat Gamblers. This shows how hot it was. They had only been on stage for 10 minutes, and the lead singer was already drenched with sweat.
The Riverboat Gamblers again. The lead singer climbed all over the stage like a monkey. It was quite enjoyable to watch. Also, he has a fine pirate shirt, which adds to the amusement.
Motion City Soundtrack. This photo's a little blurry, but I felt it was important because of the pope chops the lead singer is sporting. They are fine pope chops, and should win many awards in this year's National Facial Hair Competition.
Kinison. Nice polo shirt, douche.
Valient Thorr. This band put on one of the greatest performances I've ever seen. The lead singer kept shouting about how the band is from Venus, and how us earthlings are all bastards for not having the technology to fix their spaceship.
Valient Thorr again. After ranting about Venus some more, the lead singer climbed a speaker and rocked out like a badass. A large crowd began to form.
Valient Thorr yet again. Just when I thought they couldn't rock any harder, the lead singer jumped into the audience and began moshing with people while he sang. The stoned gentlemen behind him seems particularly surprised by his jump from the stage. The stoned man's girlfriend was typical of most girls at the festival: completely unattractive except for the fact that she's showing major skin. Sadly, she was one of only three females at the Warped Tour who were above the age of 14.
To hell with pictures. Let's watch the video I took of Valient Thorr (10.1 MB, click the photo above). Don't feel bad if you don't understand the lead singer's jibberish about Venus and spaceships. Just do like we did, and laugh at him. The only unfortunate part about this video is that my camera was unable to handle the immense rocking, so the sound gets a little scratchy when they start playing at the very end of the clip.
