by Jacqui - jdave@optusnet.com.au

This was the second Warped show in my area... I was determined to not miss it ... even though I couldn't afford the $40+ ticket price again. It cost more to actually GET to Manly than to get into the show. A bus took "ticket holders" straight to the park. Uh oh... I took out my ticket from the day before and flashed it. Well, I was still a ticket holder!

Once there, I faced a problem. Everyone was walking through the gate with their tickets... Security patrolled all sides of the gate... after realising no one was willing to sell tickets... I noticed a bit of commotion around the car park. Some skinny dudes were worming their way under the gate as there were no guards in the car park. As embarrassing as it was, I decided to try my luck. I made it under the gate only to be confronted by a guard, "Get out" he sighed. He walked off... I would try again once he was gone but the gates shook so damn much that he was sure to come back. I wasn't discouraged for long because soon I noticed another commotion. Some guys had managed to tear open a huge hole in the mesh stuff around the gate. They were leaping through and making it in to Warped. My friend pushed me into the gate so I stumbled through... I noticed guards so I dropped my bag which wouldn't fit through and wandered casually into the park. The guards seemed confused as they were sure they'd seen someone sneak through who would be acting suspiciously... Paranoid, I power walked far away into one of the stalls. Later, I was reunited with my friends, who had even saved my bag... and we were in!!!!

I found some friends who had 6 backstage passes but didn't know I was coming, so sold them for $60... I was pissed off for the rest of the day!

The time waiting for 'tones really isn't worth writing about so... 'tones came on at 5:30 p.m. after Pennywise and opened with Root. After a near-death experience in the Deftones pit the day before I wasn't brave enough to face the front of it again so I stood around near the middle/back.

Songs they played were Be Quiet and Drive, Bored... and the best version of Mascara I've ever heard. It was played in a lower key and the melody was slightly different. Chino sang it really emotionally and threw a lot more lyrics into it. It was like a completely different song. I was surprised because the last time I'd heard it live 6 months ago, it was a really heavy version. I was expecting that again. Headup rocked as usual and as I was becoming exhausted... I thought I was hearing things when the chords to the secret Around the Fur track, Damone, started... I thought... they're teasing us... but sure enough, Chino started singing. Oh my God, I thought I'd never ever hear this song live! It sounded almost exactly like the album version. Not many improvisations. Also, they played Around the Fur but I was too stoked about Damone to really appreciate ATF, which was my fave for a long time.

Chino stopped halfway through and acknowledged the real "hardcores" up the front, to the left. He seemed to recognise them. He then asked if he was in Sydney again and weren't they here yesterday? Then he asked how many of us were at the Iron Duke shows in August '98. The entire mosh raised their hands. I raised 2 hands. Chino read the minds' of the people who really WERE there and said, "The club was only about the size of that"... pointing to a caravan.

It was cool to see a band who fully recognises their real fans, whereas most bands just treat everyone equally. It was also worth it to go all the way to try to sneak in and hear some more Adrenaline songs.

I left Warped in agony knowing that the 'tones would still be playing a load more shows in the country but I couldn't make it.

Anyway, I'm still kinda proud that for someone as lazy as me, I've managed to see them 4 times!