Vans Warped Tour UK 2012

Alexandra Palace, London

Featuring Lostprophets,

The Used, New Found Glory

And more!

Vans Warped Tour Push All Things Rock To The Limit On UK Shores

US Punk Rock Summer Camp Shakes Off The Chill In Its Return To England For The First Time In 14 Years. With A Sold Out 10k Capacity Venue, A Grand Total Of 28 Bands And Four Stages All Ready To Widely Welcome The Big Hit That Is Vans Warped Tour. 

Fans of all genres fiercely approach the stages in a fast pace race to see their childhood heroes that span from The Used, Funeral For A Friend, Bowling For Soup and New Found Glory. It’s been a long wait but Warped Tour UK combines all the energy of the 40+ date leg in the States, both on and off stage.

The Brighton bark is heard across the main stage area as established heavy weights Architects become the recognisable whirlwind force to be reckoned with. Sure it’s not quite 6pm before Sam Carter and co step out in full charge with ‘Alpha Omega’ but this doesn’t turn off these underdogs. What’s more surprising is that even though there are two other stages equipped with performances the room fills out before ‘Day In Day Out’ is even given a chance. Demanding a sea of circle pits the frontman creates a scenery flourished with immense brutality and pure destruction in ‘Devil Island’ before closing the set far too soon with ‘These Colours Don’t Run’.

Not even five minutes after Architects reach for their towels, drenched in sweat and out of breath something that sounds a lot like a DJ set, generally found between performances, plays out. But it’s not a previously prepared CD put on to maintain the crowd spirit. It’s 3OH!3..a couple of guys who refer to themselves as “a boyband from Colarado”. Nathaniel Motte, one half of the “boyband” doesn’t exactly take to the stage with any amount of power or enthusiasm. Instead it’s easy to mistake him for stage staff as he struts around a little bit too chilled, Motte, would you rather be somewhere else? Perhaps it’s the camouflage coat Motte hides under unfortunately resulting in even their most well-known hits including ‘My First Kiss’ featuring Ke$ha on the backing track that seems short of life.    

Wiping a decade’s worth of dust off Sticks And Stones New Found Glory open the hearts of their most die-hard fans straight through to those who only just recently jumped on the great pop punk runaway train with 2011’s Radiosurgery.   ‘All Downhill From Here’ sets the room alight, with the mighty legends that are Jordan Pundik, guitarists Chad Gilbert and Steve Klein, bassist Ian Grushka and drummer Cyrus Bolooki leading the way dressed in their personalised basketball jersey uniforms. This highly impressive and smiles all round atmosphere reassures the NFG team are at the top of the league table. Collecting golden points with fan favourites ‘Understatement’ and ‘My Friends Over You’. It’s no longer any old stage, it’s more a basketball court and supporters grow in the thousands with cheers that reach a just about bearable sound level.  The astonishing and bustling rhythm in ‘Sonny’ shoots and scores.  Then as team NFG dribble about into ‘Head On Collision’ it marks not a band, but a movement, Pundik and co are born and bred legends flying the flag for the strong belief that pop punk’s not dead. The genre’s most treasured 6 string man Chad Gilbert responds to the ever-lasting cheers saying ‘Warped Tour has been with us growing up, we’ve been a band for so long not because of a label but because of our die hard fans’ and sure most bands go through the growing up phase but deep down New Found Glory haven’t, aren’t, and never need to. ‘Kiss Me’ formats a jump shot seeing not a single pair of feet remaining still, what an achievement! The twelve track set list draws to a close with ‘Hit Or Miss’ and as always these pop punk God’s were a certain hit! 

Judging by the sounds of the skin crawling, ear bursting screams Bring Me The Horizon are here. Taking on one of their biggest ever shows, though come 2013 the Steel City crew will look back at tonight as something on the smaller scale. Always known as the marmite band who divide opinions and quite frankly piss people off just by breathing, undoubtedly flaunt There Is A Hell, Believe Me I’ve Seen It, There Is A Heaven, Let’s Keep It A Secret with a storm as ‘Blessed With A Curse’ explodes into a rubble of intense excitement while the outro for ‘Fuck’ huddles a lighter in the air kind of moment. Its scenes like this that proves the haters wrong. It’s not just the countless mosh pits in ‘Football Season Is Over’ that features guest vocals by Deez Nuts’ J.J. Peters that emits ferocity there’s undeniable and certainly exceptional abundant of power and technique that evidently boasts in ‘Diamonds Aren’t Forever’ which carries on over to a cheeky ‘gangnam style’ wall of death, or so Oli Sykes calls it. BMTH unveil a treat for the restless audience, new track ‘Shadow Moses’ off long awaited new album Sempiternal spills out guts with all its confidence and muscle before Oli Sykes and co say farewell with ‘Chelsea Smile’.

Very special guests The Used take the opportunity to play a set that could easily represent their Greatest Hits. Effortlessly blowing away everyone present with ‘Take It Away’ off certified gold 2004 album In Love And Death, juxtaposed with ‘The Bird And The Worm’ is the epitome of a rock veteran anthem as the lyrics are echoed throughout the thousands.  ‘Listening’ is a colossal monster that raises the temperature with frontman Bert McCracken’s screams that capture the essence of passion and rage. Recently released ‘Put Me Out’ gets an astronomical reception. Then something electrifying happens… ‘Taste Of Ink’ ignites and Bert looks back at his fellow band members with a smile made up of genuine heart felt pride at the sight of their fans singing every word straight back at the quartet, it seems Bert can’t believe his bands’ luck that their fans know every word across the six albums showcased tonight.   ‘Pretty Handsome Awkward’ erupts this Saturday evening and it would be an impossible challenge to rival The Used’ set. Half the band take to the side as Bert and guitar hero Quinn Allman pour all their talent into ‘On My Own’, the singer tell us ‘we started this band for one reason, because we love music’ and this alone can shape what Warped Tour is about.  Their strength doesn’t stop there though, ‘A Box Full Of Sharp Objects’ gains this band victory as they go home knowing nobody could have done it better.

Is this what 10,000 faces have been waiting for, a reminder that Lostprophets are here and they’re setting their sound in stone?  Of course it is! Warped Tour could not have gone down any greater and just as well, no other band could have taken up the headliner role as well as Lostprophets. ‘The New Transmission’ is blasted through the airwaves and rings the Ally Pally radar uncontrollably.  A distinctive frontman in the form of Ian Watkins doesn’t act shy either as he dances to the bass, refreshing the likes of ‘Shinobi Vs Dragon Ninja’, ‘Last Summer’ and ‘Last Train Home’. The Welsh rockers fuse ‘We Bring An Arsenal’ with gang chants, a rhythm full of bounce and lyrics that will forever remain on everyone’s tongues. Living up to its name ‘Where We Belong’ becomes the definite highlight of the entire indoor festival and whether you’re a die-hard Lostprophets fan or a casual listener there’s no denying Watkins and his disciples were the best choice for the job. As the night draws to an end, fans resist stumbling out as Lostprophets wrap things up with ‘Rooftops’, ‘Bring ‘Em Down’ and the much loved ‘Burn Burn’ defining an army of chaotic guitar rhythms along with boisterous punch while bringing to the Warped Tour table alternative rock and nu metal that only Lostprophets have in the bag.