August 7, 2006

This year's Warped Tour could have fallen victim to its recent successes.

The venerable indie-rock tour, now in its 11th year, has seen another batch of its headliners - including Taking Back Sunday, Fall Out Boy and My Chemical Romance - make the leap to bigger and better things, in part, due to their stints in the sweltering asphalt belly of the star-making Warped Tour beast. So many jumping off at once left holes in the package tour's lineup that couldn't really be filled this year, leading to a lack of big-draw headliners and a rare attendance drop.

However, those holes also led to major opportunities for some newer bands (The Academy Is..., Against Me, The Sounds) to establish themselves as headliners and some veteran acts (Joan Jett & The Blackhearts, Helmet, NOFX) to connect with a whole new generation of fans.

The Academy Is... was ready for the challenge. The Chicago band, on the red-hot Fueled by Ramen label, is starting to land attention for its mix of Taking Back Sunday guitar-fueled drama and Fall Out Boy catchiness, especially with the single "The Phrase that Pays." "Black Mamba" (set for the upcoming "Snakes on a Plane" soundtrack) was a standout in the set, as singer William Beckett even dropped in a rocking cover of Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy." The new song "The Fever" showed how much The Academy Is... has already grown from its debut "Almost Here" released last year.

Against Me also took its show to the next level, getting thousands of its fans to pump their fists and call out Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice during "From Her Lips to God's Ears." The band, recently signed to Sire Records, is good, old-fashioned punk - fast, loud and angry. The strength of its set even drew Joan Jett, who made her way to the side of the stage to watch.

Speaking of Jett, her set was a highlight of the nine-hour show. She and The Blackhearts moved effortlessly from her hits "Do You Wanna Touch Me?" and "I Love Rock N' Roll" to songs from her new "Sinner" album without losing momentum. The new protest song "Riddles" is a great addition to her catalog, along with the new single "AC/DC."

Long Island's Patent Pending and I Am the Avalanche each drew large crowds, even though they were on at the same time, while The Sleeping pulled off an impressive set.

Saves the Day was the day's most versatile act, as singer Chris Conley, now with shocking-pink hair, roared through songs from the New Jersey band's "Sound the Alarm" album, including the great "Head for the Hills," during one set and then essentially led a campfire sing-along of its quieter, acoustic songs (including "Freakish") during another.

The day's breakout act had to be Gym Class Heroes, who wowed a huge crowd huddled together in front of the small Volcom stage with a clever, groove-filled hip-hop set drawn mainly from its new "As Cruel as Schoolchildren" album. The "The Queen and I," which moves at OutKast-hyperspeed, and the laid-back, tales-from-the-road "7 Weeks," which featured Beckett from The Academy Is... singing the hook, showed why the band will end up being one of this year's newest stars.

After all, that's why Warped Tour will continue to succeed. When it runs low on stars, it simply helps build new ones.

VANS WARPED TOUR '06. In a rebuilding year, Warped Tour still takes care of the franchise. With Joan Jett & The Blackhearts, Saves the Day, Thursday, Gym Class Heroes and 99 other bands. At the Nassau Coliseum parking lot in Uniondale on Saturday.