Warped in Calgary was almost a no go after a severe hail, lightning and thunderstorm attacked the area.

However, things cleared up and the motor city speedway was ready for punk rock. The speedway is filled with dust which had quickly turned to mud and wet ground. This signalled the crust punks who were out in an unusual abundance to wrestle in the mud and make fools of themselves. I arrived with my friends, who had driven out for the show from manitoba, just as the ataris were playing. I couldn't believe it! The Ataris were playing at 1:30, I missed most of their set but got inside to see them play 'Boys Of Summer' and 'San Dimas'.

After this I checked the board listing bands and was quite disappointed to note thet not only were Pennywise and AFI missing but The Used, Taking Back Sunday, Bowling for Soup and Mest had failed to make the treck to calgary. Canada got the shaft.

I wasn't impressed, I mean you pay the same price for every date yet half the main stage bands were absent. That sucked. Anyway after the initial disappointment of missing the Ataris and finding out about the lack of big bands, I checked out the merch and tried to get free stuff which was also pretty much non-existent.

Anyway, despite the short comings of this date, Warped is what you make of it. There were plenty of hot girls, the weather was warm and there were plenty of hot girls.

I checked out Rufio, who were pretty good, I hadn't heard any of their stuff before but I enjoyed their fast poppy punk.

Next band I saw was the Mad Caddies on the main stage. These guys are amazing, they never fail to rock the entire crowd. Chuck is an amazing front man with a great voice and they are all excellent musicians. They played stuff off all their releases and got the crowd dancing. It was great I recommend these guys to anyone. Pick up 'Duck and Cover' or 'Just One More', these are there best release in my opinion.

So, for me, The Mad Caddies were the band of the day.

Next I saw Avenged Sevenfold on the volcom stage. they were cool, mixing so many different types of music and playing some especially catchy hardcore. Definitely worth a look.

After this I watched Simple Plan, this was hilarious. they were pelted with bottles and mud, and one of their guitarists got hit in the gut.

After a while I felt sorry for these guys as they were obviously hated by 90% of the crowd. Why did they played Warped?

They covered "American Jesus". I couldn't believe it. It takes balls to cover Bad Religion in front of thousands of already hateful punks.

Whatever, their stuff is not punk but its catchy and I felt bad for the guys.

I also saw the Suicide Machines who ripped it up, they were second best show of the day. Go to see them and experience the 'Braveheart'. They played lots of old stuff and everyone moshed and sang along.

Thrice were good, as were Poison the Well. It was cool seeing some heavier bands on the mainstage. Poison the Well, are worth seeing, their stage energy is awesome and their vocalist is amazing.

Next came Rancid. I'm not a big fan but it was cool to see "Radio" and "Ruby Soho" live. They looked exactly how I imagined - leather and mohawks.

I missed The Dropkick Murphys and Face to Face but both bands drew huge crowds and sounded good from across the speedway.

The last band I watched was Less Than Jake, who are one of my favorite bands. they played quite a bit of new stuff, which is really good, as well as some oldies. All in all they sounded great live and really put on a good show with a cool party feel. There's nothing like ska in the summertime.

I left before Andrew WK, because I'm not a big fan, but from what i heard crossing the parking lot he sounded pretty wild, repeatedly chanting his name, and rocking hard.

Overall Warped in Calgary was fun, not as strong a line up as last year but still worth checking out.

I discovered 2 new bands: Avenged Sevenfold and Matchbook Romance. I also missed Glassjaw's set but I had to eat. (if you go to warped make sure you get your food and drink coupons early so that you're not waiting in line for ever.)

Bands - 7/10
Atmosphere - 8/10
Girls 9/10.