Vans Warped Tour Photos

Vans put together an amazing lineup for the 2009 tour, it's 15th anniversary. Mixed in with old schoolers like the Bouncing Souls, Less Than Jake and Bad Religion were newer faces like 3OH!3 and TAT. This lineup proved to be a testament to the varied faces of punk rock. There's room for a little bit of everything, when you have the whole day to see it.

Celebrating their 19th year as band, the Bouncing Souls played the best set of the day, proving that they're ready for many more years yet, and that the old school still triumphs.

Fronted by Mike McColgan, the former lead singer for the Dropkick Murphys, the Street Dogs are a shining example of Boston street punk. With a little less Irish spin than he had with the Murphys and a little more punk, McColgan and crew whipped the crowd into a massive circle pit with songs that focus heavily on blue-collar ideals.

Hailing from Osaka, Japan, Oreska was a band I caught at the insistence of Warped Tour founder Kevin Lyman. Lyman had been impressed and entertained by the band's performance and I had to agree. Oreska are an all girl band who play fast tight ska punk that sounds straight out of the third wave. Their horn section is tight, and despite a limited grasp of English they get their point across. From their matching outfits to their frenzied beats, they are total rude boys... even if they're girls.

Against Me! was a great start to our 2008 Warped Tour day. Under the sweltering noontime sun, the guys blasted their way through a “greatest hits” set of folksy punk, including “Thrash Unreal,” “White People For Peace,” and “Don’t Lose Touch.” Definitely the most political band that year, it was good to see at least one bastion of punk rock politics still holding court on the tour.

The 2007 Warped Tour focused heavily on post-hardcore and metal. Underoath, Alesana and Bless The Fall joinedd old school Warped bands like Pennywise. 2007 also saw a pop punk explosion as Paramore burst on the scene and into stardom.

I knew Anti-Flag's set was going to be as politically-charged. What I didn't expect was how much energy they would display in the heat, or how much they could get the crowd going.They are one of the closest things that the punk scene has to the great protest singers of the Vietnam era, and if anyone can get the kids politically active, it will be these guys, high kicks and all.

Less Than Jake is another Warped Tour band of veterans. I've seen them here more times than I can remember, but their sets are always fun and full of positive energy. In 2006, they came out on stage wearing matching "Team Fat Ass" T-shirts, and their set was made up of old and new songs mixed with goofy banter and juvenile humor not fit for print. It was all about music, dancing and fun.

The notorious punk and rockabilly band from Australia, The Living End has been going strong fro well over a decade, and they just continue to get tighter as a band.

As emo, post-hardcore and pop punk music started to take over the Warped Tour, the Casualties are one of the last of a handful of true hardcore punk bands still on the tour. Tall mohawks and all, they are true bastions of a certain element of the old school that is never going to die.