Perhaps the one performer that tipped the scales for me to attend the circus known as the Warped Tour this year was Andrew W.K.. Mr. W.K.’s persona is dirty hessian mixed with motivational speaker. He preached his philosophy of living life and partying to a more than willing to listen crowd in the late afternoon in Hartford. Disappointingly, Andrew W.K. played the shortest set of any band I saw at Warped. Only playing seven songs, the set was heavy on selections from W.K.’s seminal debut album, I Get Wet. The set included opening with “It’s Time to Party” and playing such classics as “She Is Beautiful”, “Ready to Die”, and “I Get Wet”. Unsurprisingly the set included no songs from the disappoint The Wolf album and only one or two songs from the recently re-released Close Calls With Brick Walls. The set closed, of course, with “Party Hard”. Despite the short set, W.K.’s shenanigans more than made up for the fact. He stripped off several layers of Andrew W.K. tee shirts and threw them out into the crowd while making whoever caught them recite an oath that included “solemnly” swearing to “party as hard as possible”. He, also, introduced the crowd to his wife, Cherie Lily who worked as a hype woman while donning an outfit similar to a 1980’s Paula Abdul video. The stage antics made for one of the most entertaining performances of the Warped Tour.
MP3: Drink Up Buttercup “Even Think (Andrew W.K. Remix)”