Warped Tour; Marysville, CA; 8.23.07

Warped Tour's date in Mountain View back in early July was the first show I officially covered for Billboard, so my review for this one in Sacramento that I attended on my own accord won't be too long lest it gets repetitive. What I dread about Warped hitting my neck of the woods, especially if it's in late August, is that it is painfully hot. Though I've gotten through it okay in years past, this time it didn't go so well: upon getting home I spent twelve straight hours vomiting, had a fever, was sunburnt, and lost 7lbs in less than half a day because of dehydration. Fun!

In any case, while that dampered the experience a bit in retrospect, the line-up that Warped brings usually has at least a couple bands I really love that make up for things like this.

Daughtry; California State Fair; 8.22.07

Chris Daughtry has certainly proven himself to be the emerging superstar from season five of American Idol despite the fourth place finish. His album, Daughtry, recently hit the three-times platinum selling mark, and with each successful single, is showing no signs of slowing down. 

The thing about my feelings toward Chris is that...well, they've never been very good. I couldn't stand him on Idol and celebrated his elimination from the show. Oddly enough, though, I don't have much objection to seeing him live (masochist? Perhaps.) Since I had missed his club tour in the beginning of the year, when I noticed he was playing the concert series at the State Fair this summer, I decided to check it out.

Rx Bandits; Orangevale, CA; 8.12.07

When Drive-Thru Records was in its prime (from my viewpoint, this is easily the years of 2001-2003), their roster of artists was the backbone of my music taste. Though a lot of the bands signed to the label were of the pop-punk variety, Rx Bandits stood out as one of the differing sounds: they are, rather, a wonderful melding of ska, rock and reggae.

I can't even tell you the last time I saw these guys live, but it was far too long ago. So when I saw they were coming to my favorite local venue, The Boardwalk, it was hard to pass up. Admittedly, the place is nothing special, but I used to go to shows there practically every weekend and, you know, emotional attachment and all. It still thrills me to no end when an artist I really enjoy plays there, such as the Bandits.