Relient K driving on
new terrain with Warped Tour
Lindsay Schoon
Van’s Warped Tour has been making its way across the States and parts of Canada all summer. This event consists of several outdoor stages with music going on simultaneously. The music on warped tour is targeted towards teenagers and young adults who are into Alternative rock. While most of the acts on the tour are secular, there are a few Christian crossover acts in the mix: MXPX, Mae, Emery and Relient K. While at the tour stop in Detroit, MI, I had intended to see those four acts, but they had all been scheduled to perform at the same time. Since I had spoken with two members of Relient K earlier in the day, I decided to watch their show.
This show marked the second time I have seen Relient K perform this summer - the first being at Cornerstone Festival. The play list for Warped Tour was more or less a condensed version of the one they use for festivals; festivals typically allow a band to perform for one hour, while warped tour allows only 30 minutes. The first song of their set was The One I’m Waiting For, which is the first track on their current album, Mmhmm. The second tune was their smash hit Be My Escape, followed by Chap Stick, Chapped Lips and Things Like Chemistry - an older tune of theirs which is currently featured on Nickelodeon’s Drake and Josh soundtrack. The show continued with Who I Am Hates Who I’ve Been and the crowd favorite Pink Tux to the Prom. Who To Bury, Us or the Hatchet and Who I Am Hates Who I’ve Been followed, and the performance ended with the catchy I So Hate Consequences . They did not play any of their obvious religious tracks.
The five boys of Relient K - Lead singer and guitarist Matt Thiessen, guitarists Matt Hoopes and Jon Schneck, drummer Dave Douglas and bassist John Warne - performed a technically accurate show. Thiessen’s vocals were on, while Douglas was impressive with his coordinated drumming and singing. Every member showed a great deal of energy. However, the audience wasn’t as into the performance as one would expect. While a trademark of Relient K shows is heavy moshing and skanking, there wasn’t much of it at Warped. The band played late in the day, so it is very likely that the fans were too exhausted to put much energy into experiencing the show. Also, given that many other bands on the tour use profanity to stir up the audience, Relient K’s clean image may have been a little tame for some of the people in attendance.
I felt that choosing to do Warped Tour was definitely a big risk for them. They wouldn’t have the safety of the Christian crowd that has been familiar with their music for quite some time. In fact, many of the concertgoers in Detroit were seeing Relient K for the first time. However, it has ended up being a good move for the band - when I spoke with Thiessen before the show, he stated that joining Warped has been a great opportunity for them as far as exposure is concerned. Another positive thing that has come from their Warped experience is the ability to reach people outside of the Christian bubble. Thiessen has said on numerous occasions that the band does not want to be confined to one genre. Getting out into an unfamiliar market is certainly one way to break the mold. Given that their Mmhmm album just went gold - their first album to have done so - it seems that taking the road less traveled, so to speak, has had definite benefits.
Warped Tour is nearly finished for the summer, but you can catch Relient K on tour with their friends MXPX this fall. Their album Mmhmm is out in stores now. You can also purchase their previous three albums: Two Lefts…, Anatomy of the Tongue and Cheek, and Relient K.