Let’s face it…. bashing bands that are synth-pop crossovers into the punk scene has become cliche. In the months following Buddy Nielsen’s attack on fellow Saints and Sinners tour mates brokenCYDE and Breathe Carolina, his rallying cry has reverberated through the punk community. Quotes coming out of the early dates of the Vans Warped Tour reflected a growing dissident between bands that were performing on the summer long tour and set the stage for the South Florida stop at the Cruzan Theatre in West Palm Beach on July 25, 2009. So was there any punk left in this punk rock festival?

For those petty enough to search out the proponents of this drama, I’m sure they found exactly what they wanted. I on the other hand was so enthralled by everything good that was going on that I hardly had time to notice any of the bands whose presence may have been suspect. In between dodging rain storms, photographing bands and observing backstage behavior, there was little time to criticize.

Opinions will vary from person to person over the highlights of the day with so many bands playing over a wide spectrum of punk styled music. From my perspective the hands down best performance was served up by the British band Gallows.

It seems like they were they only band on the tour that get the idea that they should bring their music to the fans. I mean literally to descend from the raised stage and come down on the same level the way punk music, in their case hardcore, should be. Singer Frank Carter, his brother guitarist Steph Carter and bassist Stuart Gili-Ross breathed life back into the annual tour that has grown stale with bands pulling from the same bag of tricks, like the “wall of death” and the “this is the biggest circle pit I’ve ever seen”.

Otherwise the acts performing on the main stage dominated the day.

This year it seemed like the more popular acts were awarded longer set times. And why not? South Florida gets the shaft when it comes to national tours. Most tours don’t venture below Orlando and when it comes to a band like Chiodos, who haven’t been here since the 2007 release of Bone Palace Ballet, a shortened set would surely be upsetting.

Established punk bands like Less Than Jake, Bouncing Souls and Anti-Flag truly made the day less gray than the foreboding clouds appeared as they encroached on the fun through most of the afternoon.

There was no denying that 3oh!3 is better at being a festival band than playing small clubs. Their last South Florida performance on the AP tour was easily forgettable. Their appearance in front of the capacity crowd was amazing. As I watched their set from the back of the stage I couldn’t believe how well received their music was as a sea of hands formed their signature hand sign. I guess there are some exceptions for synth-pop crossovers.

I was walking a friend back to her car after a couple drinks at a Boca Raton, FL bar as a car pulled in the parking garage with their music up and windows down.  As the girls got out of her car I turned to the driver and said, “3oh!3….nice”. She shot right back at me with amazement in her voice, “You know 3oh!3″. Of course I did. The truth is that anybody under 30 years old with half a pulse in their veins should be able to identify their distinctive programming style from an ears shot away. After seeing my friend off I went back down to the bar to find this girl getting turned away for not being 21. So maybe I have the musical taste of a high school girl. So what!!!

It wasn’t too long ago before that incident that 3oh!3 was only two dimensional to me as I came across their video on Youtube for “Holler Till You Pass Out“. What stuck out most were that the music was on point as if it were crafted in crunkest inner-city project that Atlanta had to offer and the two band members featured in the video, Sean Foreman and  Nathaniel Motte, didn’t take themselves too seriously.  For two white guys from the mid-west it is the only real approach that could be adopted.

Let me stop at this point to assure you that 3oh!3 are far from what might be termed a “novelty act”. They are no Flight of the Conchords nor are they some Eminem spin off. What 3oh!3 is are two DJ’s that have done their homework enough to know what gets people hyped up. This was most obvious on their last South Florida tour date when they played a small side stage at the 2008 Vans Warped Tour.

What set 3oh!3 apart from every other band that played that day was that without setting up on one of the two main stages they pulled the biggest crowd. Everyone that gathered on that section of concrete set off to the side of the park was there for a reason. They were there to see for themselves just how ridiculous these guys were in person. 

Rapping/singing solely to recorded tracks Foreman and Motte made themselves spectacles. They shamefully mocked boy band choreography and mixed in some pathetic break dance moves that had everyone laughing. The mostly black security guards that stood between the stage and the crowd didn’t know what to make off it.

It didn’t take long before the shannanigans were over and the guys took to just performing. Every song brought the energy level up as Foreman and Motte became more interactive with the crowd. They spent just as much time perched up on the barricades allowing them to be on the same level as their fans as they did up on the stage. At one point Sean Foreman took to the middle of the crowd and wouldn’t leave until being escorted back by the security. By the end of the set which included the growling anthem “Chokechain” and the tongue-in-cheeck “Don’t Trust Me” there wasn’t a person left that was unmoved. Even the security staff were cracking smiles and letting loose.

Most recently 3oh!3 released another comical video for the single “Don’t Trust Me“.