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If the Warped Tour were a person, it would be old enough to vote now, and you can tell it's getting up there in years when New Found Glory and Taking Back Sunday -- not Pennywise and Rancid -- are becoming the oldsters in the lineup.
In its 18th year, the tour touched down Thursday at the First Niagara Pavilion with 107 bands representing punk, pop-punk, ska-punk, electro-punk -- in short, most kinds of punk -- hard-core, reggae, rap-metal, metal-core and more.
Although the thermometer was inching toward 90, it didn't feel like one of those oppressive days at Warped, partly because a large portion of the crowd hung out down at the covered Pavilion stage and partly because of some merciful clouds.
Taking Back Sunday singer Adam Lazarra, down on one of the parking lot stages, told the crowd, "I would like to say that even though it's overcast you should all be wearing at least SPF 30. That's the most rock 'n' roll thing I've said all day."
And it was a lot more humane than making people run in circle pits.
Here's a capsule look at the proceedings:
The Finds
* The best set of the day was played on the tiny Kevin Says stage for a mere 50 or so people. It was LA band Dead Sara, led by Emily Armstrong, who might be the female punk-rock version of Robert Plant and Jim Morrison rolled into one. With the...