Safety in Numbers, featuring lead singer/guitarist Andy from Hot Rod Circuit opened things up. My clever partner in crime at the show offered the idea that Andy really does believe in "safety in numbers," as this side project implements the same number of guitars (three) that HRC rocks with. The few recorded songs I've heard from the band didn't interest me a whole lot, but live, they brought it. The shared vocal leads prevented boring times, and the far right stage guitarist playing in his own world is an interesting sight. Their Jimmy Eat World / HRC (obviously)-inspired tunes gave the night a good head start... but then came Orange Island to kill any chance for solid continuity. Boring, dull, contrived - this band is absolutely nothing special. If Triple Crown had a sound, this would be it. Well, no, that's unfair - if Triple Crown had a sound that was beaten to a bloody pulp with the ugly drumstick of musical crap, then this would be it. I sang along to the catchy "Only the Good Looking Need Apply" (on the label sampler packaged with the newest Northstar album), but that was the closest to highlight material the set came. Pipedown brought the hardest set of punk rock to the night. Their sound is essentially a faster Anti-Flag with 50% screamed vocals - from the guitar leads to the backup/gang shouts to the melodic vocals and matching phrase-laced outfits, every trait of this band has them destined to be the next A-F. I could do without the lead singer's jet black hair dye and eye makeup, but I have to hand it to a frontman who's good with crowd participation - the eye contact, almost-cheesy "sinister" stare-downs, and finger/mic points coupled with his stage cris-crossing was good to see. They even had the usual left-wing banter, urging us to make a change and taking a stand against those who prioritized money, greed, and profit over the environment, animals, and personal relationships (not necessarily respectively). Their set was enjoyable, and I know for sure they closed with "Risen Up." The obvious highlight of the night then took the stage as Brendan, Chris, and Neal walked on to the opening chords of "Eye of the Tiger" playing on the PA. As the lights quickly shot back on, The Lawrence Arms went immediately into "On With the Show" and followed it right up with "Drunk Mouth Kitchen Smile." Having heard from plenty of sources that the usual set this tour was extremely heavy on The Greatest Story Ever Told, I couldn't care less whether or not this was the said case being an insanely huge fan of the band's latest effort, but the night looked like it was shaping up to align parallel with the rumors. But alas - the band then dove into a plethora of semi-older tunes; an only relatively intoxicated and as a result tighter-than-usual trio played "Porno and Snuff Films," "The First Eviction Notice," "Right As Rain (Part 2)," "Quincentuple Your Money," "The Rambling Boys of Pleasure," "Turnstiles," and "Necrotism: Decanting The Insalubrious (Cyborg Midnight) Part 7" (which sounded absolutelyfuckingamazing live, and followed a mini-rant by Brendan on how horrible Bush is, who also scathingly predicted a very sorry future for the girl who screamed "shut up and play!"). Chris had his usual cynical mug on, and Brendan danced around the stage with his enthusiastic smile plastered across his plastered face. They finished things out with "The Raw and Searing Flesh" (pulled off wonderfully despite the studio version's glossy production) and "The Disaster March." Amazing set, which only about a dozen-or-less people were into. My only complaint would be that the band deserved a forty-five minute set instead of their allotted time slot of a half hour. Having been only familiar with "20 Going On..." from last year's Warped Tour compilation, I retreated to the back with a mostly unbiased view to watch Tsunami Bomb's set. With a raw and relatively unbridled punk rock sound, the band played a fairly tight and fun set of tunes. About half or more of their set were new songs from The Definitive Act, so it looked like they hadn't abandoned their plans to favor playing from the new one despite the date pushed back by two months, because according to Agent M, "our label is lame." She grinned as she wailed her voice above the backup screams and distorted riffs for every song, and the band managed to unintentionally incite a "mosh pit" of the youngest average age I've seen in a while. Overall, I was comparatively impressed. SETLIST
El Diablo
Inv
Russian
Say It
My Machete
Break
No One's
Swimming
IB.U
Headlines
20 Going
Dawn on a Funeral Day
NGVBD
T.the R.
[Planned two-song encore below, which wasn't done]
Round
Not F

Thanks to Terry for setlist