Warped Tour: 50-plus bands, 100-plus degrees

Welcome to the 2008 Vans Warped Tour, where peace (but precious few other things you can't get in a mall) is in fashion.

It's the first of 46 dates on the annual punk rock traveling show, and, about 10 minutes through the gate, you wished maybe you would've waited until Sunday's date at Seaside Park in Ventura, where cooler breezes are likely to prevail.

It seems as if the ratio of merch booths to patrons is 1:1; the temperature just cracked 100 degrees; and the three funniest T-shirts I've seen so far are all unprintable on this blog. Although tops was a big, alliterative greeting "... From Florida."

An incorrect schedule posting already caused me to miss L.A. hip-popper Shwayze, but I will try to be better the rest of the afternoon. Really.

--post and photos by Kevin Bronson