Music writer gets 'Warped' in Atlanta

It's 10:30 a.m., and the sun is already forcing the sweat to drip down the back of my neck.

But I, like the thousands of other young music-hungry maniacs, am not daunted by the heat because I have arrived at Atlanta's HiFi Buys Amphitheatre July 18 to partake in 10 straight hours of the ultimate skaterpunk/indierock/metalcore/ call-it-whatever-you-want music experience — the 2007 Vans Warped Tour.

Started in 1995 by Kevin Lyman and sponsored by Vans Shoes, the tour has traveled both nationally and internationally and has brought recognition to a number of well-deserving "undiscovered" bands while raising awareness for a number of global causes and showcasing ambitious local skaters and bikers.

With a host of corporate sponsors, ticket prices are kept at a minimum allowing the tour's young target market of tweens, teens and twenty-somethings to get the most bang for their buck — 70 bands on at least six stages for a mere $30.

As I enter the venue, I recall the not-so-distant memories of attending the tour three years in a row during high school — "accidentally" moshing during a Less Than Jake performance and competitively chugging Yoo-hoo in the summer heat for a free T-shirt.

I'm seven years older now and, of course, the bands have changed, but the same aroma of sweat and teen angst is still in the air.

Now that I'm 24, I might be the only one here allowed to legally drink a beer, the price of which runs about $10.

In my opinion, it's an expense better spent on a T-shirt at the merchandise tent of my favorite band.

In effort to get the inside scoop on the tour, I head to the Smartpunk stage where I catch up with Stephen Keech, the lead singer/screamer of the Indiana-based metalcore band Haste the Day. He is donning a plain white T-shirt, typical tight black "emo" pants, plenty of tattoos and ear piercings large enough to stick his fingers through.

He and his band are setting up for their performance while Phoenix-based hardcore band Scary Kids Scaring Kids is performing on the hurley.com stage next to them.

Because of the amount of bands on the tour, one band is always setting up while the band on the adjoining stage performs. Lucky for these two bands, their stages have been set up under the amphitheater, which provides welcomed shade and a cool breeze.

While Scary Kids concludes its performance, Keech and band mates Devin and Brennan Chaulk, Jason Barnes and Mike Murphy take the stage.

The crowd gathers quickly as the performance begins, and Keech harnesses the audience with his energetic deep and raspy vocal screams, ironic considering his calm and passive demeanor off stage.

The band powers through hits like "Stitches" and "White Collar" off their recently released album "Pressure the Hinges."

The show ends as strongly as it started, and the audience chants "One more song!" in unison. But unfortunately, the nature of Warped Tour does not allow for encores, and the band exits the stage.

I accompany Keech through the venue, then through rows of back-to-back tour buses and makeshift "campsites" until we reach the bus that Haste shares with hardcore straight-edge band Throwdown. Neither band promotes drinking nor does drugs, and both endorse good morals through their music and lifestyle.

I climb aboard to get a deeper insight into the "glamorous" life of a band on the Warped Tour.

The bus is surprisingly clean considering there is no shower on the bus and about 10 guys are living together in such close proximity.

The A/C is heavenly compared to the heat outside. There are rows of bunks on either side of the bus and heavy curtains to block the light from outside. In the kitchenette, there are no less than five jars of peanut butter and two large containers of protein shake mix … excellent brain food for the rock stars.

I take a seat on the couch across from the rocker as he hands me a highly decorated lime green can of water especially designed for the bands on the tour.

"All the kids that watch us think these are energy drinks," he says with a laugh. "I'd hate to think that we're the reason they're devouring tons of Redbull out there in the sun."

He snacks on a cookie while he tells me about life on the road.

"Being on Warped Tour is completely different from our normal club tours," he says. "We always tour with a van and stay in hotels, so living on a bus has been an interesting change. We don't have cars so we can't generally leave. We have to walk across whatever venue we are at just to take showers, and the guys from Throwdown talked the caterers into giving us three meals a day instead of just one.

"We generally don't know when we will play until the day of the show, so everyday is different," Keech continues. "Typically, we perform, spend some time in the press tent and in the merch tent. We watch a lot of movies, play video games and basically just hang out until the bus rolls out for the next city."

Interestingly, I spy a "Guitar Hero" game in the corner by the TV.

Since the boys of Haste the Day played early today, Keech and I finish our interview so he can make his rounds through the Warped Tour press tent, leaving me to seek more bands to watch.

I spend the rest of the day milling through crowds of sweaty, pierced and tattooed music lovers, browsing merchandise tents and strategically stalking some of my favorite bands: The Starting Line, Hawthorne Heights, Bayside and Anberlin.

My biggest surprise and guiltiest pleasure of the day, though, is catching a performance of the UK's The Automatic. The boys from Britain put on an energy-charged show, with keyboard player Pennie jumping from an 8-foot speaker, throwing his mic on the ground and doing more jumping around than a high school cheerleader.

The day wraps up as the sun goes down as the Warped Tour prepares to head to its next destination. After an amazing day like this, I can only hope that maybe next year the tour will venture a little closer to Charleston because I'll be there rain or shine.

And, who knows, maybe by then, I'll have my very own rock star tattoo.