We asked manager and host of ‘Waldman’s Words’ on idobi Radio, Scott Waldman, to take on the challenge of choosing The 10 Most Underrated Warped Tour Bands of the 2000s. With help from pop-punk band Makeout’s Kyle Dee, they picked the band they felt was the unsung hero of Warped Tour each year from 2000-2009. See which band they chose for each year and their dad-joke filled discussion below.
Good mourning. Kyle Dee from the band Makeout REALLY misses Warped Tour all times of the day. We do too, and we wish that it rode out for a bit longer. Dad jokes aside (and eventually forthcoming), I had the chance to chat with the band’s new singer about the top ten underrated Warped Tour Bands of the 2000s, year by year, and it’s a diverse list. Enjoy, and when you get a chance, check out Makeout’s new music, which REALLY fucking rules:
SW: Starting with one of the most underrated punk bands of all time… I like it!
KD: I like it too! And I like you! But back to Gob, if I could emulate any guitar tone, it would be the tone of GOB. I still use them as a reference.
SW: You’re too cool.
KD: Give up the grudge, Scott.
SW: What to do: Reign on your parade OR face the ashes? You decide.
KD: How ‘bout both?
SW: It’s actually three things, Kyle. There’s an Easter egg there. IDIOT!
KD: Dammit! You’re always one upping me.
SW: 182 times a day, and I look at it as a ONE DOWNER.
KD: Okay, but honestly, Sugarcult is still one of my favorite bands. The perfect blend of pop and rock. Tim Pagnotta is an amazing songwriter, and everytime I hear “Stuck In America,” it’s a reminder to step up my game and not write sucky songs.
SW: Somewhere down on suckerton.
KD: Your jokes have me bouncing off the walls with laughter.
SW: I’m looking like a fool AGAIN. Won’t get fooled AGAIN. AGAIN AGAIN AGAIN AGAIN AGAIN AGAIN. AGAIN. Again. (pauses again)
KD: Last Stop Suburbia is one of my favorite pop-punk albums of all time.
SW: Solid record for sure! By the way, my old band toured with Allister and I still “stan” them. ALSO, the follow-up record to LSS is quite underrated as well. I digress!
KD: Being from Chicago, Allister have always been hometown heroes… And extremely underrated!
SW: This list is co-sponsored by underration… Anywho, let’s discuss the best cover band of all time AND let’s also discuss Warped Tour AND let’s also discuss poor grammar.
KD: I am in and into it.
SW: MFATGG play cover songs in a fashion that I constantly want them to gimme gimme more. Their live set is even better.
KD: I need to see them as I trust your musical judgment. My first Warped year was 2004, so let’s go back in time for this one: Every burned CD that I ever made as a kid had one of their songs on it.
SW: STOP STEALING MUSIC, KYLE. You’re making out like a bandit.
KD: An RX Bandit?
SW: (LOUD UNINTELLIGIBLE SCREAM)
KD: What you see is what you get, Scott!
SW: Billy Talent is my favorite band from Warped 2006, and 2004 is a way to two down the hell out of me, you silly scallywag.
KD: What an incredible live band, too. They’ve got the full package — hook, line and sinker.
SW: I mean, you ain’t wrong. Try lying. Don’t try honesty. Get it? Because lying is the opposite, and I am being funny. Understand?
KD: This suffering is too much.
SW: Suffering < Matches < Fire < Paper cuts
KD: Quirky live band, fun, tight… A great addition to any Warped Tour lineup.
SW: TOTALLY. I had the chance to share the stage with them in LA when I played with The City Drive. Kumar from Harold And Kumar was backstage. I am not name dropping and this is 1000 percent true.
KD: Was there a White Castle backstage?
SW: Salty thighs.
KD: And Salty fries.
SW: Salty. Sour. Spiders.
KD: The Spiders were on Warped at a perfect time… It was right when their single “Little Razorblade” was blowing up.
SW: HEY! Hey.
KD: (pauses) Hey, Scott. ANYWAY, it was super cool to see a band bringing back the glam rock feel to the mainstream.
SW: Great AND smart songs. Solid LP. Hi.
KD: Produced by Ric Ocasek from The Cars, too! My turn to name drop, my old band did a tour with the Pink Spiders and they were all great dudes.
SW: Great gallows great leeches.
KD: (laughs) Lido Leeches?
SW: Yes.
KD: My memory of Gallows at Warped Tour includes the entire band jumping into the crowd, moshing with their fans, and witnessing some guy grabbing a table from a nearby merch tent, and charging through the circle pit with it above his head.
SW: What a story, Mark. My Gallows memory isn’t even from Warped Tour. It’s from the pit of hell.
KD: I imagine the pit of hell to be something like the belly of a shark.
SW: Ludo is the great white of sharks.
KD: They are the hammerhead of quirky, fun, pop-rock anthems.
SW: Easily my favorite band here (and I helped curate this list), Ludo stormed the beaches of (insert parking lot here) on a year with a Katy, a Perry, and several heroes of the gym class.
KD: They captivated audiences with their wit and unique stage presence. Easily the most underrated band on the list. I love them. Love them dead, actually.
SW: I see what you did there and it gives me life. You’re my broken husband now, Kyle man.
KD: I’m cool with that. I enjoyed watching their crowds grow larger on Warped that year as their song started to rise on Alternative Radio.
SW: Don’t stop.
KD: Stop.