By Michael Breen, SDAM Staff Writer
©Copyright 2008 SDAM.com/Michael Breen

One of the hardest parts about reviewing these major shows is that we aren't told until the day of the show, or just before, that our press request has been accepted. I'm sure major periodicals have paid staff who are on call, and they also assume with some confidence that their requests will be accepted. We have to struggle for recognition, and were happily surprised that House Of Blues and the Vans Tour promoters accepted our request. Since we are a "dot-com only" publication, it takes a very modern attitude toward the media to for promoters to understand how important it is to take us "dot-commies" as seriously as print publications. So it turned out that just two days before the San Diego stop on the Vans Warped tour that we got the email approving our request for access. We were turned down for OzzFest and other multi-band shows we've requested...maybe next year. So this was a pleasant surprise, but we had to contact our writer's pool to see who could cover the show. We got Kevin McGoldrick and a friend to cover the show from the crowd, and I accepted the fun job of handling the backstage and photo pass responsibilities. However...I am sufficiently "mature" (i.e. "old") that I don't know any of the bands by name! My very first concert was Led Zeppelin way back in 1977, so I tend more towards Aerosmith and the Rolling Stones than Sum 41 and Bowling For Soup. Luckily, I have an in-house expert who not only knows these bands and their music, but is constantly playing their music at extremely loud volumes in our house. So it was a no-brainer for me to invite my 14-year-old daughter Gabrielle with me to the show. Not only was she very excited to go, this relieved me of the embarrassment of not knowing what any of the musicians looked like! The Vans Tour includes tons of bands (see the San Diego list here). They run a "lottery" to see what order the bands will play in, so we had no idea who we'd see when. I was sure we (I?) wouldn't survive all day (noon to 10PM!), so we headed to the Coors Amphitheatre at around 3PM. After waiting in the security line just to get to the ticket window, I was glad that our passes were there (I have arrived at venues too many times to find nothing waiting at will-call), and Kevin even managed to recognize me while waiting in the will-call area (apparently Amber, our writer coordinator, had described me as having "wild blonde hair" and that was enough that he knew it was me!). So he and his friend were in, Gabbi and I were in, and the adventure began. Whew, takes a lot of work just to get into these shows! The Vans Tour is a very cool recognition of the extremely short attention span of today's youth. There was an "extreme sports" exhibition, 6 stages, tons of booths, and always something going on. It was fun to watch how well the potential for mayhem was contained, mostly by having two main stages and a "side-stage" for each "main" stage, so that as soon as a band ended another group would start right up. This is also in recognition of the need for constant non-stop entertainment... So Gabbi and I cruised around for a while, getting a feel for the event. It was held in the massive parking lot at Coors Amphitheatre, so the actual venue inside was closed, with only the concession stands open. By the time we got there, lots of people were already relaxing in whatever shade the could find, but the majority of the crowd was prowling around the stages and booths, so we started doing that too. We wandered up to a stage that had a band that Gabbi said she "kind of recognized," so we ran backstage to get a band list. Sure enough, it was Bowling For Soup...so we rushed back out to catch the rest of their set. These guys were having a ton of fun, and their second guitarist was this really large guy who looked (and acted) and awful lot like Curly of Three Stooges fame. When the band swung into their last few songs, they of course included two that I had heard pumping from Gabbi's room many times: "Punk Rock 101" and "Girl All The Bad Guys Want." Gabbi had brought the guitar "tablature" and lyrics to this song on a recent trip to Mexico, where she and I learned how to play this song together (I've been playing guitar and bass for well over 20 years, Gabbi's been playing guitar for about 3 years now). So when the band said "Sing along!" Gabbi told me "I could play along with this one!" We took advantage of our photo pass to get some great pictures of the band from the "photo pit," but I was glad to be out of there before the last songs, because as people wandering by recognized these more well-known songs the crowd suddenly swelled and a mosh pit formed, spilling over into the photo pit between the stage and the wall. One of the things I thought was interesting was the "accessibility" of most of the smaller bands. The main stage had its own backstage, but the smaller stages just had booths next to them, so it was easy to walk up and chat with these bands. It was fun to watch people begging for guitar picks and throwing themselves at the stage, only to be stunned into speechlessness when they run into someone from the band right at eye level 10 minutes later. Gabbi and I took advantage of this to talk to lots of band members, including all the guys from Bowling For Soup. Gabbi got a great picture with the band (that's her at left...see, hanging with Dad can lead to cool stuff too!), and when I told them I was born in El Paso (they are from Texas), soon they were introducing me to the bassist's girlfriend (she's also from El Paso) and talked to us a little longer...ignoring the line of autograph-seekers that had formed for a while. Very cool and accessible guys, and I recommend anyone meeting someone they idolize that they stay calm and find something interesting to talk about. They are just people too! Each band had a booth as well, although the "major" bands staffed them with reps. The "smaller" bands hung out at their booths, so we were talking to Bowling For Soup and other bands quite a bit, while listening to acts both large and small and wandering all over the place. Tons of people, mostly between 15 and 25, lots of tattoos, and amazingly a large amount of solid black being worn on a blistering hot day. Fashion triumphs over comfort, yet again. And Gabbi noticed some moshed up people, including one guy bleeding pretty badly from his head and face. Finally, we were ready for the main stages. After another pass through backstage (where Gabbi got her picture taken with the lead singer of "The Used"...that's her again at right...watch where that other hand goes, buddy!), we headed over to one of the two main stages to catch Sum41. These two stages were going constantly, as soon as one band finished the next started, so we were ready when Sum41 hit the stage. Gabbi got her first experience in the photo pit, and got amazing photos. Especially if you consider she was dodging flying bodies the whole time! The kids were going nuts, and didn't even wait for the first song to kick in before they were crowd surfing away. The crowd control staff (marked with jerseys that said "Safety Staff"...we don't call 'em bouncers any more!) was very professional and incredibly patient, helping the same guys (and gals!) over the wall, escorting them out to the sides, only to see them come flying overhead again. I saw one girl carried up to the front, where the crowd held her in place so she could take a couple photos, then tossed her over the wall to go around again. An amazing display of cooperation amidst chaos. After this, we were done. The show was going on for a couple more hours, and I remember when I would have been there all day. For now, this was enough for this "old man," so we headed out. There must have been thousands of dollars worth of marketing materials (flyers, cards, stickers, etc.) strewn about...I'm glad I'm not on the cleanup crew (although it's probably easier to clean the parking lot than the venue inside). I would recommend this and other multi-band shows to everyone, it was a ton of fun, and was a great way to catch lots of music for the price you usually pay to see one or two major acts. Thanks again to House Of Blues and the Vans Tour people (and the Coors Amphitheatre) for taking such good care of us, hope to be there again next year! Click for a larger version of the band list!