Day One Of Warped Tour, Live From Pomona, CA

The Yahoo Live webcast of VWT's June 19 show
BY LIV SLABY

While thousands of teenagers poured into Pomona's Fairplex under the hot California sun, thousands more watched from behind their computer screens. The Vans Warped Tour Webcast, streamed through Yahoo Live, let fans watch over 30 bands perform on June 19. I was able to see a majority of those bands, but alas, I was not able to spend my entire day in bed with my laptop. However, a few artists really stuck out to me and influenced who I will be seeing at Warped Tour in Chicago.

Despite having one of the earliest times, Beartooth delivered a passionate and fiery performance. They poured every ounce of energy they had into getting the crowd riled up and giving their rage-fueled, intense songs the power they deserved. The crowd responded just as energetically, starting mosh pit after mosh pit and kicking up enough dust to create a permanent haze in the air. Hopefully Beartooth doesn't lose their fire as the tour goes on, but I doubt they will.

What else could be expected from Attila except absolute madness. The partycore band created an atmosphere of absolute craziness and a "party hard, destroy everything" mentality that drove the audience wild. The energy that the band created and shared with the audience made me wish I was there in one of the huge mosh pits or circle pits. Bonus points: they had huge red solo cups the size of trash cans on stage with them.

Even though Beartooth and Attila where amazing, Set It Off were by far the best performers I saw all day. They brought the sound of summer with them in a theatrical performance filled with youthful energy. In addition to sounding incredible live, the band also frequently interacted with the audience. Cody Carson, lead singer, could be seen crowdsurfing and stepping out onto the audience's hands, as well as telling the crowd to follow him back to the band's tent after their set by jumping into the audience and carrying a flag emblazoned with Set It Off's logo. Seeing their performance quickly moved the band to the top of my Warped Tour priority list.

The livestream was a great opportunity for those who can't go to Warped this year to experience it, and a sneak peek for those who are attending at later dates.

You can watch the livestream here, but it will expire in a few days. Hopefully it will be posted on YouTube soon! Also check out Beartooth, Attila and Set It Off if you don't know them already, and check out the VWT site for the full set list and tickets.