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Rambunctious Warped Tour revs up crowds
Mashing it up in the mosh pits
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Julie Sanchez. 20, and Eric Norbut, 24, of Long Beach, listen to the Warped Tour music while relaxing on the grass. Among the bands who played were Funeral for A Friend, Pepper, Bad Religion and Pennywise.
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The traveling punk music festival known as the Warped Tour dished up a little bit of something for everyone Saturday at Seaside Park in Ventura.
Heather Hester and Molly Emshwiller got to dish it back.
"We served food to every musician on this tour," Hester, 20, of Ventura, said with a smile as they waited to check out band lineups at the various stages shortly after finishing their kitchen duty.
Hester and Emshwiller were among an estimated 18,000 people who took in pounding music and pure fun at the crowded grounds. It marked the eighth time the Warped Tour has come to Ventura.
So what do today's punk musicians packing the heavy sound like to eat? "A lot of them are vegans, surprisingly," Hester reported, adding that they went for the cole slaw and inquired about vegan-based sauces.
Emshwiller, Hester's 19-year-old friend from Venice, summed up her duties thusly: "I stood there and served condiments to people, but it was worth it."
The pair lucked into this by walking over from Hester's home early Saturday afternoon — a wise move, given the traffic that snarled the Ventura Freeway and many side streets — and asking to volunteer. They got the idea from a male friend of Emshwiller's who served as a Warped Tour chef last year. As reward for their food duty, they received backstage passes which, yes, they were lording over their friends who were scattered across the crowded grounds.
"We're gloating in their faces that we got all-access passes," Emshwiller said. "We've been telling them, Oh, we're gonna go backstage now.'"
The Warped Tour, now in its 13th year, hardly needs any introduction to today's teens and twentysomethings. Parking lots were full by early afternoon, forcing many to park blocks away in downtown Ventura and walk over to the grounds.
This year, Ventura was the second stop on a 45-gig national tour that began Friday in Pomona and continues through Aug. 25 in Los Angeles.
Much of it was familiar to Warped Tour devotees: Saturday featured 59 bands on about a half-dozen stages, each limited to 30-minute sets. There were extreme sport demonstrations, such as a half pipe where skateboarders showcased their skills. A plethora of booths hawking food, T-shirts, sunglasses and the like gave it the feel of a flea market or circus.
And, of course, there were mosh pits near the front of the stage with plenty of headbanging, fist thrusting, body surfing and bad-mouthing of authority. When the lead singer of the band Funeral For A Friend told the crowd to be louder, it seemed unnecessary amid the din.
Christine Moody, a 29-year-old inventory specialist from Santa Barbara, was headed into the mosh pits later to see her three favorite bands, Pepper, Bad Religion and Pennywise.
It was her first Warped Tour. Looking around at the teeming, twisting masses, she said, "This is awesome. I'm really impressed. I'm having a blast."
Ventura police reported two arrests (for theft and trespassing), a possible heart attack victim and a few heat exhaustion cases, but said the crowd was for the most part well-behaved. No major fights broke out, though the mosh pits had their share of physicality.
"You sort of take your chances when you go in there," Lt. Tom Taylor said. On the whole, he added, "it's been pretty uneventful."
Posted by surfmedic91 on July 1, 2007 at 8:50 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Punk Rawk!!!!! Can't believe Ventura allows fun to be had for the punkers of Ventura. Well, there's only a few of us true old school punk rockers around.
Posted by surfmedic91 on July 1, 2007 at 10:34 a.m. (Suggest removal)
jwhite, Warped isn't rock and roll, it's punk rock. Real rock and roll is for the Ventura Theater and the SB Bowl, so check the schedules. My guess is that you don't get out much. Were you a Buena High Cheerleader?
Bad Religion has been around for more than 27 yrs and the lead singer has a PhD in evolutionary biology and a professor at UCLA. If you stereotype punk rockers as thugs, then you are stereotyping me, a combat medic currently in Iraq, as a thug. Should I stereotype rock and rollers as drug using alcoholics? Most of the Warped attendees are young kids out to see the bands they enjoy.
Posted by garnowich on July 1, 2007 at 5:44 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Thugs? LOL. You must be 50+, and ignorant. Times change and so does you're cherished music from back when.
Posted by surfmedic91 on July 2, 2007 at 10:52 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Outstanding comments JWHITE. At least you took the time to read the article about a type of music that you don't like. Where did you "check" where thuggish behavior definitions are? I'd like to find them. I would agree that these acts are not proper but the article is poorly written. How does bad mouthing of authority happen in the pit? Punk rockers are not thugs, they're punks. Thugs are the rap music listening, gang banging, drug dealing geniuses. Call me a punk but don't call me a thug (or a jock).
Posted by juanida55 on July 2, 2007 at 12:12 p.m. (Suggest removal)
The van's Warped Tour is awesome. I am 51 and I love it!!!!!
Posted by bugmenot on July 2, 2007 at 12:26 p.m. (Suggest removal)
juanida55 you old school thug you!
Posted by Tabitha_D on July 2, 2007 at 1:02 p.m. (Suggest removal)
heck yea juanida55!!!! this concert was a blast. i had friends get plenty of battle wounds but we all know the risks and even if its something not so intelligent to get in a mosh (accrording to some people/person on this comment list) its our choice as it is yours not to listen to this type of music if you don't like it. i gree with surfmedic91, why even read the article if this type of event doesn't interest you? if complaining about something you can't control is what floats your boat then whatever. have a good time with that. the rest of us will be at the next warped tour having a blast without you.
Posted by Tabitha_D on July 2, 2007 at 1:07 p.m. (Suggest removal)
**apologies**spelling error**
i agree with surfmedic91,....
Posted by stave1 on July 2, 2007 at 2:54 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I'm 50+ and even though I didn't go to this concert, I have been to others. I do like some of all styles of music. Keep the faith Surfmedic, take care of yourself.
Seriously, I would have looked pretty funny in the mosh pit. But, I have 3 beautiful daughters who have been to all of the Warped Tours concerts at the fairgrounds. They had a blast. Music is a blessing.
Posted by surfmedic91 on July 4, 2007 at 2:54 p.m. (Suggest removal)
For all the supporters, keep on rocking and attending the shows. Support the Warped Tour, the West Coast Primer Nationals and all the unique events of punk, customs cars, and events that keep Ventura and So. Cal so different from the rest of the country. See how many people attended this event without any real incidents and then go back to when rap concerts would be at Ventura Theater or Lowrider Magazine would sponsor a car show at the fairgrounds. I think the city of Ventura would much rather have a bunch of punks from miles around listening to music than thugs from all the local gangs having a venue to fight.
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