Ah Warped Tour. In its 10 years of existence, it has become the quintessential summer tour, known for showcasing some of today's better known punk (or not so punk depending on what circles you run in) bands. For many kids it has become a signal that yes, summer is finally here. With that in mind, we headed to Cal State Fullerton for the first of two Orange County dates. Despite arriving early, by the time we got in the doors it was already an hour and a half after the show had started, and upon heading to the big inflatable schedule, we realized we had missed Duane Peters and the Hunns. Putting that aside, we were right on time to see the Bouncing Souls, so we made the trek to the Teal Stage to stake out our spots.

Now in a perfect world, being a band for about 10 years longer than most of the bands on the bill would warrant a larger crowd, but for the Souls this didn't seem to be the case. Most people had either headed to the next stage over to watch Yellowcard, or were still stuck outside. However, as Yellowcard got their pop filled, electric violin groove on, more people came over to the Teal stage, and when the Souls finally took the stage, you could tell that they had plenty of fans to play for. After some cheering and chanting, the band appeared on stage with Greg sporting a new haircut (think slightly longer and with pink streaks), and headed right into the opening of "Ole." It was a great start to their fun as hell set, which included (not in order) "Hopeless Romantic," "Anchors Away," "Lamar Vannoy," "Cracked," "K8 is Great," "East Coast Fuck You," "The Something Special," "Fight to Live," "Sing Along Forever," and the closer, "True Believers."

Right as the Bouncing Souls ended, Flogging Molly struck the first chords of "Drunken Lullabies," so we ran over and got as close as we could without disturbing people who could, to put it simply, kick our ass. They were playing great, but through no fault of their own, the sound became a bit muddled in the large speakers, and the high notes of the whistle were about as grating as nails on a chalkboard. (Someone actually passed out during their set and medics were brought in to take him away). Despite this, it was still a pleasure to catch their set. Some songs played (I can't remember all of them) were "What's Left of the Flag," "Rebels of the Sacred Heart," "Selfish Man" (dedicated to George Bush), and "Salty Dog."

After their set we found a break in the schedule, and decided to wander through the aisles of tents on the field. Saw someone getting a mohawk in the "Mullet or Mohawk" tent, headed over to the Epitaph on to pick up some free shit, saw Heather in the Alkaline Trio tent, watched bizarre performers in front of the Truth bus, said hi to the son of Dave King (Flogging Molly) who was manning their tent, and listened to the new Melee CD in their booth before heading back to the main stages.

Anti-Flag were about 2/3 of the way through their set when we got back over there, and creating quite a stir, literally. What little grass there had been in the morning in front of the stage was completely gone, creating a tornado of dirt due to the constant circle pit. The only song I actually caught between Justin Sane's lectures was "Die for Your Government," which seemed appropriate as he rambled about the draft being imposed and added the obligatory, "Fuck Bush." They seemed to have put on a good show though, and as they finished I headed to the front to wait for Alkaline Trio.

I decided to brave the cramped conditions that appear at every Trio show these days in hopes of hearing some of their older material, however, I was severely disappointed. After (finally) introducing the 2nd guitarist, the band dove into their set which consisted of "My Friend Peter," "Private Eye," "You've Got so Far to Go," the song on the Rock Against Bush comp, and all rest of the set off of "Good Mourning." Despite my dissatisfaction with the set list and the cough I had for the rest of the day from the dust, I won't deny that they put on a very energetic show, which fit well in the Warped schedule.

After a little break we caught the second half of the Vandals's set. To be honest, I wasn't expecting much, however, I stand corrected. The Vandals put on a very entertaining show, complete with one of the singers climbing up the stage as high as you can go without actually being on the roof and shouting, "I could die any moment so enjoy this." Some songs I caught were, "I've Got and Ape Drape" (dedicated to the 909 crowd), "Oi to the World," "The New You," and new songs "My Neck, My Back" and Indie 103.1 favorite "Don't Stop Me Now."

A short while after the Vandals, Sweden's The Sounds took the stage. Having caught them at Coachella, I knew that this band could play to larger crowds, however, whether the Warped crowd would receive them well was up in the air. The crowd turned out to be receptive, if not all that enthusiastic. It seemed only to take a slight toll on the performance, and the Sounds energetically played such numbers as "Dance with Me," "Hit Me Hard," "Seven Days a Week," "Living in America," "Riot," and of course closing with "We are the S-O-U-N-D-S."

By this time, I was pretty tired, and having seen Bad Religion multiple times in the past and having no desire to watch Story of the Year, we walked over to catch the last set on the Maurice stage by the band Mae. I don't know any songs they played, but it was pretty mellow music, and if I had to label it I guess I'd say it's in the vein of "emo pop." It was a great way to wind down after many upbeat performances.

It was a great way to spend an afternoon. If you have $30 and aren't completely jaded, I'd recommend going just to take a break from your normal schedule. Just be sure to bring money for the $3 bottled water.