Pennsylvanian dance-rock foursome Innerpartysystem are currently on Warped Tour. Here, drummer Jared Piccone checks in from the road in the first of a series of weekly updates...
“Being on Warped tour for the first time is a lot like the first day of school. At first everyone is a bit quiet and reserved, checking everyone else out. Old friends from the year before immediately warm to each other and carry on like the summer break never happened. Being the new guy in all of this, it's a pleasure to see this all go down.
“The older punk rock bands are never too loud, they huddle together under their tents by their buses, and slowly sip on cheap beer and gossip about the new bands that they ‘just don’t get’, as well as chatter on about war stories from years ago. The new bands are quick to jump into the sex drugs and rock ‘n’ roll cliché that has been drilled into their brains from birth. Armed with beer bongs, girls and a false sense of popularity stemming from beefed-up MySpace plays, some young bands I’ve been hanging with look like they’re almost trying to self destruct, before they’ve even had a chance to do something significant on this tour.
“As I leave my bus on opening day, a little groggy from the five-day party session we all indulged in on the ride out from Pennsylvania, I’m bombarded with sounds of kids yelling and bands playing from all angles. To my left I can hear Frank from Gallows talking shit about all the new electro bands on Warped Tour this year: ‘If you don't have a fucking guitar in your band, you don’t belong on this fucking tour,’ he yells as a few thousand over-21-year-olds pump their fists and yell in agreement.
“To my right, I see Escape the Fate doing an interview the Playboy.com, and when asked to sum up tour in one word, the drummer answers: ‘Sluts’. As I walk by I'm in such a whirlwind of backstage rock concert overload, I don't know whether to roll my eyes in disgust, or run over and give him a high five and take a shot of Jägermeister. As I try to stay neutral in all the Warped tour drama that may unfold this summer, I remember that above all the egos sweltering to a boil in the 110 degree heat, all genre prejudice that may ensue, that deep down we are all really in this together. We all share the same love to play music, and we all have to wait in a line to shit that extends as long as the English channel.”
The band are currently offering a free summer mixtape MP3. For more details, log on to their official site.
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