With the first week of school hittin' me hard, I'm behind on my blogging duties!

I went to Warped Tour in Boise a couple weeks ago. It was fun! Over 60 bands playing on 8 stages between noon and 9 p.m. Most of the bands were punk / emo / metal. But there were some pop, funk and reggae acts too, so there was plenty to choose from.

I had an all-access pass, so I was able to hang out backstage and visit with the bands / artists, drink comp'd Monster energy drinks and Hanson's sodas and chow down on catered food. My friend also had a photo pass, so he spent a bunch of time crawling around on stage, sitting bass amps and such, taking pictures of the mainstage acts.

Headliners were Tiger Army, Circa Survive, New Found glory, Cute is What We Aim For, Flogging Molly, Coheed & Cambria, Pepper, Killswitch Engage, Bad Religion, Paramore, Hawthorne Heights and Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, each playing a 30-minute set.

But I also ran around and caught some acts on the smaller stages. Kaddisfly; Vincent Black Shadow; Drop Dead, Gorgeous; Meg & Dia; Ambient; Aroarah; Love You Long Time; Kryterium; From Aphony and Mortal Enemy. Several of these are local to Idaho and Utah, so Google 'em and/or add 'em as friends on MySpace. Aroarah was particularly good, and I hope the ISU Program Board has the sense to bring these gals to campus.

Also, a good number of the Warped bands announced they'd be back to Boise this fall to play at The Big Easy. Check out www.bigeasyconcerts.com for dates.

As for the bands I met, I hung out with Flogging Molly the most. But also had a few minutes to visit with the guys from Pepper, Bad Religion and Hawthorne Heights. The singer for Paramore is just adorable, and was particularly nice. The guys in Coheed & Cambria were kinda stuck up, but then, it was a hot day and alot was going on. Oh well.

The event seemed more like a fair than a concert. The interior area was filled with tents. Each band had a merchandise booth, and there were booths for local Boise venues, radio stations, TRUTH, Trojan Condoms, non-profit organizations, and of course, Van's shoes! There was more ... too many to mention.

Perhaps the most interesting thing I learned was that none of the bands get paid. They all make their money from merchandise sales. Some of the smaller bands actually come away from the Warped Tour with less money in their pockets than they had going in! but they feel its worth it for the exposure. The bigger bands can gross thousands of dollars in a day.

After the show, we went to the tour bus area, ate at the band bbq, and hung out with Kevin Lyman, The Big Guy when it comes to the Warped Tour.