First of all, ow.

Damn sunscreen I put on in the morning did absolutely nothing. My face was as red as Ted Kennedy's after hearing of niece Maria getting engaged to the Terminator. My neck was killing me even worse!

But what does pain matter, right? I was heading down to Old Bridge, NJ to catch the Warped Tour. How did the day go? Let's start at the beginning ...

Traffic was non-existent, both going down and coming home. I was quite pleased with this as my legs are too damn long for Ernest's freakin' Scion. Damn you Japanese people, why do you have to be so short AND make all the cars. Argh!

Ah, well, it was worth it. WT06 was a blast. Found some small bands that I am now big fans of (Armor for Sleep, I Voted for Kodos (which is also the best name of a band ever)), as well as finally getting around to seeing some bands that I knew of but hadn't really heard play before (Less Than Jake, The Bouncing Souls). Plus, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts - and not in 1987!

Most of the other headliners didn't really do it for me, Senses Fail and Rise Against. They're not bad, mind you, (Hell, they're better than most of the dreck they play on the radio these days), but they didn't really get me going.

Now, as to the almost exclusive reason as to why I was going at all - Thursday. Damn if I don't love these fine, fine gentlemen. I remember seeing these guys play at the Garfield American Legion and they were promoting their forthcoming album "Waiting." Far be it from me to assume that these guys would kick such serious ass as to be headlining the Warped Tour (and get voted to play an extra 10 minutes!) and still be putting out records all these years later. And not just records, but fantastic records. "War All the Time" is one of my favorite albums of all time, and not just of Thursday's. While "A City By the Light Divided" isn't necessarily as catchy to me as WAtT, it's still a superior disc when compared to the rest of musicdom. Even without their normal bassist, their sound was as spectacular as ever.

And ever the showman, Geoff worked the crowd some as well. Aside from a fantastic story-to-song segue that took everyone off guard, he told us of how he broke his nose by swinging the mic around in Long Island the night previous. This then was topped off by the request for a garbage rainbow. Never was there a more beautiful sight, *tear*. It was pretty cool though, in a flying garbage in a huddled mass of sweaty and sunburned people sort of way.

All in all it was a fun day. Good music, wildly over-priced Gatorade and a burn that'll last for an age or two.

Much obliged to Ernest for the invite, ticket and ride.