They’re not on the official tour roster, but everyone who hit the Vans Warped Tour in Cleveland yesterday was treated to a special surprise set from Paramore.

The band happened to be passing through town, touring as an opener with No Doubt, and had a day off. For Warped Tourgoers in Cleveland, it just happened to work out perfectly and Paramore relived Warped Tours past for one night.

It just goes to show that, on the Warped Tour, no matter how packed the lineup is, there’s always room for surprises.

Vans has posted some photos and video here.

Were you in Cleveland for Paramore’s surprise set? We’d love to hear about it. Post it in the comments below, and if you’d like to share any photos or stories from the set (or from any part of the Warped Tour so far), email them to me at punkmusic.guide@about.com.

More Warped Goodness:

The Complete 2009 Vans Warped Tour Lineup
Warped Tour Lineups for each date
10 “Must See” bands on the 2009 Vans Warped Tour
What should you take to the Warped Tour?

I’m continuing to feel apprehension toward the upcoming Runaways biopic. First, we learned that Twilight star Kristen Stewart was slated to play Joan Jett, and then it was Dakota Fanning as Cherie Currie. Now the latest is that St. Louis garage rockers Living Things have been cast to play the Ramones.

This is dangerous territory; the Ramones are punk rock royalty, and anyone tapped to play them would need to handle the role very carefully and with the proper amount of respect – by which I mean none at all.

They’ve even admitted to coming by the role in a way that Joey would have probably found hilarious – Living Things frontman Lillian Berlin’s wife is the film’s director.

But in order to truly pull this off, the wigs will have to be perfect, and if Living Things are actually playing the Ramones songs, they’ll need to play them properly sloppy. Honestly, it may not be that hard to play the Ramones, as they often appeared to be living caricatures of themselves. The band will just need to get the sound and the swagger down pat.

Take a listen to this track:

Living Things – “Oxygen” (MP3)

And decide for yourself – is this the band that can “be” the Ramones?

Even if they can, I still feel the film is doomed. Casting Kristen Stewart as Joan Jett doomed it from day one. Honestly, she needs to be cast as something that matches her casting skills – like a brick, sandwich or piece of cardboard – in order to not seriously threaten a film’s success.

Living Things Web site

Photo courtesy of the Musebox

The 2009 Vans Warped Tour is well underway, and kids all across the country are flocking to catch their favorite band – or favorite 20 bands – when the tour gets to their town, but perhaps you’re not one of them.

Perhaps you’re not going to the Warped Tour this summer because tickets too pricey, or perhaps you feel that the band doesn’t have enough hardcore. Or maybe you are going to the tour, but want more anyway. Regardless of the reason, there is another tour package this summer worth keeping an eye out for.

Tomorrow, the appropriately titled 10 for $10 kicks off in Philadelphia, and there are a ton of reasons worth checking it out.

The 10 for $10 tour addresses two of today’s biggest concerns, the failing economy and the lack of cohesiveness in the hardcore scene, by putting together a tour package of 10 serious hardcore bands for, yes, $10.

Every night will be headlined by by Poison The Well, and Madball, Bane and Vision of Disorder will also join them on various dates on various dates. The roster will be rounded out supporting acts that include War of Ages, Terror, Trapped Under Ice, Death Before Dishonor, Crime In Stereo, The Mongoloids, The Ghost Inside, Vision and This Is Hell.

In a press release, Freddy Cricien of Madball had this to say:

This 10 for 10 tour concept is way overdue in my opinion. I'm glad and thankful, that the people involved, stepped up to actually make something like this happen! Our genre [hardcore] in the states, is in a 'strange' place right now. There is somewhat of a lack of appreciation for this “sub-culture.” A lot of people want to say they know certain bands, or are affiliated with this underground scene, etc., etc... Because it gives them some credibility, it sounds cool! Well, this is everyone’s chance to re-introduce themselves, and actually get involved with a very unique and authentic genre/movement. It's also a chance for all of us, the bands, to show our stuff as well!

Even though it’s a tour with bigger bands, it reminds me of the old hardcore house shows, where a bunch of bands would get together to play house shows because they wanted to, and you paid $5 or so at the door and got a great night of music. It’s a testament to the possible resurgence of unity in the hardcore scene, and hopefully we’ll see more tours like this soon.

Tour dates are listed below. Read more...

It was exactly 17 years ago today that MxPx played their first show, in the back yard of Mike Herrera’s parents. This location would become legendary – it’s where the band later performed for Tooth and Nail Records, netting them a record deal that saw them releasing their debut album while they were all still in high school, and where they created a recording studio out of the garage.

On this auspicious anniversary of the band’s humble suburban roots, MxPx has chosen to bring it back home, and perform a best of show.

The performance will be an interactive event with the band performing and doing an open question and answer session throughout their set. If you would like to “attend” the show (which takes place on Wednesday, July 8 at 6 pm PST/9 pm EST), it will be hosted here. “Doors open” at 5:30 pm PST/8:30 pm EST, so get there early to get a good spot.

Plus, if you have some requests that you’d like to make, there are a few places that you can go to pick your choices. MxPx has teamed up with Pickrset for voting (here), and you can also make requests on the band’s site and their MySpace site. Regardless of where you go, the guys promise to build their set around the songs with the most votes, which is a cool way to get everyone involved, even if it does make it hard to heard some of their deeper cuts.

That aside, it’s really not a bad way for a band to reflect on where they’ve come from, and on who helped them get there.

Photo © Nicole Lucas