Karrigan

Vegetarians, environmentalists, skaters and the concert-worn "Free Huggers" were all accounted for at the 2007 Vans Warped Tour at Tinker Field July 22.

The 12-year running festival has changed its attitude by decorating the field with huge recycling bins next to each trash receptacle, which were overflowing onto the grass just as the clouds rolled in around 1 p.m.

The promoters went so far as to give out free tickets and VIP passes to participants who picked up water bottles, beer cups, busted Trojans that had served as beach balls and other trash in between sets.

To even further display their green friendliness, they held a contest for all patrons to collect 10 empty bottles for a chance to win a free trip to the Florida Keys for a tour with Jacques Custo's grandson. The contest was also extended to the greenest band and sponsor. The Hot Topic stage featured solar-powered equipment and biodiesel generators.

This happy-go-lucky vibe was in abundance throughout the venue. But of course, there was music, too. Rocking the stages were Pepper, Coheed and Cambria, Anberlin, The Starting Line, Circa Survive, Norma Jean, Alesana, Killswitch Engage and many more.

Coheed and Cambria ripped up the stage, sending fans into intense mosh pits and causing young girls and large guys alike to crowd surf, especially when the lead singer of Alesana joined the crowd, allowing admirers to grope and scream along with the lyrics.

The lead singer of Anberlin, Stephen Christian, is a UCF graduate and Professor Brophy enthusiast (department of psychology). He had much to say about political issues.

"Entertainers need to shut up!" Christian said. He told the crowd to come to their own realizations about politics and not depend on the views of others that might be popular in the media at the moment.

With such a logical point of view, it is no wonder how the band exploded out of Orlando into mainstream music. They were able to maintain their huge local fan base at Warped Tour, making Orlando their best stop yet.
Bands also let audiences have a little taste of their albums to come. The Starting Line, who has performed at UCF before, spiced up their sound with a fresh direction. Having influences from James Brown and Bob Dylan, their new album, Direction, has an edge of bluegrass and folk and proves to be an interesting change from the band's previous endeavors.

Local bands who won the Ernie Ball Battle of the Bands for Warped Tour were Breaking Tides, There for Tomorrow, Never Ending Story, Karrigan and Letter Perfect. They all drew out large crowds for their performances, especially Breaking Tides - the lead singer showed his insane vocal range - and Karrigan, with their extreme thrashing session.

UCF students and alumni were all over the place. Warped Tour 2007 rocked both the ears and minds of its attendees.

Environmental, social and political issues, and the hardcore emotion-driven lust for music all collaborated peacefully under the darkened skies of Tinker Field's litter-free grass. One could only hope for future Warped Tours to be just as amazing.

- Central Florida Future

BY JEFF NALL
FOR FLORIDA TODAY
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Coconuts On The Beach

Karrigan is one of those bands that comes out of nowhere and blows up.

Officially, the band made its debut earlier this year, and within two months had made an impact on the Central Florida scene.

The group won the Ernie Ball Battle of the Bands and thereby the opportunity to play the Orlando stop of the Vans Warped Tour at Tinker Field.

On Friday, the award-winning band will perform along with In My Sky at Metro Entertainment, 3020 W. New Haven Ave., West Melbourne.

A quick survey of the band's site, www.myspace.com/karriganrocks, gives you a good idea as to why it's done so much in so little time.

The first track on the site, "Settle Down," is anything but settled.

Instead, the song is musically ebullient and frothing with infectious melodies. Throughout the song, the band's rhythm section makes this song as danceable as it is sing-along ready.

I can't say frontman Austin O'Laughlin's vocals sound wholly unique. But whatever they lack in ingenuity, they make up for in diversity. He goes from Southern aggressive rock to pop-punk to gritty rock vocals -- and acts as the perfect conduit for relentless energy.

If you're looking to recharge after a breakup, long week at work or an otherwise sucky life, this band is likely to be a great Friday pick-me-up.

Contact Nall at www.MySpace.com/SpaceCoast MusicWriter or sabletide@yahoo.com. - Florida Today

Four Central Florida bands have prevailed in the Central Florida competition for a spot on the Ernie Ball stage at Warped Tour, which plays Tinker Field on July 22.

The winners are Letterperfect, Karrigan, There for Tomorrow and Breaking Tides. Nationwide, more than 13,000 bands applied for a chance at the high-profile hometown performances, and a total of 180 bands were selected.

Here's more than you'd ever want to know about the Ernie Ball Battle of the Bands:

SAN LUIS OBISPO, CA (July 5, 2007) – The live portion of the 11th Annual Ernie Ball Battle of the Bands is about to begin, and there’s local, homegrown talent taking the stage! This year, over 13,500 bands entered the Ernie Ball Battle of the Bands competition for a chance to perform live on the 2007 Vans Warped Tour. Nominated by fans and then hand-selected by a panel of Ernie Ball judges, four bands per tour stop have earned a spot on the Ernie Ball Stage for a total of 180 unsigned band performances this summer.

Coming to Tinker Field in Orlando on July 22, the four local bands selected to play live at this summer’s Warped Tour on the Ernie Ball Stage are: Letterperfect from Orlando, Karrigan from Orlando, There for Tomorrow from Windermere, and Breaking Tides from Orlando.

“There is something to be said about a company that puts locals in the mix,” said JFunk, bass player for Letterperfect. “We have been Ernie Ball lovers for years, but this is just the icing on the cake. It’s good to know that hard-working bands really do have a chance to be recognized for what we love to do.”

“First and foremost, we’re looking forward to playing the Ernie Ball stage,” said Chase Williams, guitarist/vocals for Karrigan. “Everyone at Warped is open to music. It will be a great opportunity – a chance for us to show the world what we have to offer.”

“We’re looking forward to promoting our band,” said Christian Climer, guitarist for There for Tomorrow. “There will be thousands of kids there this year, and we can’t wait to spread our name. We want everyone to remember There for Tomorrow at the end of the night.”

Giving musicians the incredible opportunity to sound off to huge crowds, the stage has featured more then 5,000 unsigned bands, including then up-and-comers Bowling For Soup, Sugarcult, Story of the Year, New Found Glory, Avenged Sevenfold, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Less Than Jake, and more. This year, winners will play alongside headlining bands Throwdown, My American Heart, We Are the Fury, It Dies Today, and more. For a complete list of all bands playing the Ernie Ball stage, go to www.battleofthebands.com.

The Vans Warped Tour starts on June 28 in San Diego, CA and will make 45 stops across North America this summer, ending August 25 in Los Angeles, CA. Bands entered the competition by uploading two songs, a bio, a picture, and a band website. Every band profile can be heard online at www.battleofthebands.com.

The 180 bands who make it to the Ernie Ball stage at the Vans Warped Tour also compete for the chance to be one of four showcase bands chosen to play live before industry and record label executives at a major Hollywood venue in the fall of ‘07. Throughout the Battle of the Bands competition, participants will be judged on performance by a group of Ernie Ball staff and sponsors as well as highly regarded musicians and entertainment industry professionals.

All registered bands are automatically eligible to win thousands of dollars in rock ‘n’ roll music gear from Battle sponsors in the also fan-driven online voting competition, where fans vote for their favorite groups at the Battle website from June 28–September 10. The top four bands in this Battle portion will win prizes from Battle sponsors including Auralex, Krank Amps, DW Drums, Boss, Electro-Voice, Ernie Ball/Music Man, OLP Guitars, Taylor Guitars, Zildjian, M-Audio, and Remo.

Since its debut eleven years ago, the Ernie Ball Battle of the Bands has given the best local bands from North America the opportunity to showcase their talents in the world’s longest running and largest live music promotion in the music industry. The Vans Warped Tour heads into its 12th year with a lineup of more than 106 bands on six stages that includes Anberlin, Circa Survive, Coheed and Cambria, Meg and Dia, Paramore, and The Used.

he Ernie Ball Company was the first to offer rock strings with the creation of Slinkys, and further revolutionized the market by offering guitarists Custom-Gauge single strings. Ernie Ball also produces Music Man guitars and basses, volume pedals and accessories. - Associated Press

There are some bands that are born to play commercial-pop tinged punk, and Orlando, Florida’s rock quartet Karrigan fit that bill perfectly. The band’s latest EP, My Conscience Got the Best of Me is a brew of love-soaked vocals reminiscent of Daphne Loves Derby’s Kenny Choi with bushy chord bristles that produce fluffy lathers liken to The Summer Obsession and uplifting grooves that have a Say Anything-vibe in its wind-in-your-hair pick-ups. The album’s content is pure power pop with a romantic-edge that will attract couples, or people who see themselves with someone in mind but they aren‘t quite there yet. Produced by Michael Birnbaum and Chris Bittner (Coheed and Cambria, The Sleeping, Straylight Run), My Conscience Got the Best of Me blankets its listeners in mollified tension where anger and frustration gives in to the power of the moon following that desire to fly straight into love’s waiting arms. The album is mushy while maintaining a viable commercial rock-veneer.

The album starts the show with the percolating chord rumbles of “Underage Drinking Party” and the seething vocals of lead vocalist/guitarist Austin O’Laughlin who actually has as much bite as a powderpuff. Being in a fight with O’Laughlin must be like having a pillow fight with bean-bag sized pillows. O’Laughlin’s vocals have an infectious bounce that pings across the rhythmic grooves of bassist Ryan Klein and drummer Keith Allen in “Summer Shadez” revealing thoughts that linger on, “It’s been about three minutes / And I can’t get you out of my thoughts / I knew nothing about a broken heart / It’s you, keeping me off guard / Tell me forever, we go on and on and on and on / Drop down, felt the pulse of your heart / Downtown summer nights and I swear / I was holding the world.” The lyrics are dreamy and the band tries to toughen them up with a pop punk swagger and slick grumbling chords played by guitarist/keyboardist Chase Williams. The band solders softcore with flustering rock vibrations in "Love Triangles Are Fun But the Corners Can Be So Sharp" and shrink-wraps the buoyant keyboards with the rhythmic rolls of “There Was a Fork in the Road So I Took It.” The final two tracks “From Up Here” and “Here’s to the Nights We’d Kill to Get Back” keep a positive vibrancy with bubbling chord lathers and tail-wagging rhythms.

Karrigan are making their debut as a power pop quartet with their EP My Conscience Got the Best of Me. Their melodic lines are laced with unwavering optimism and a powderpuff punch. They have shared the stage with Paramore, Boys Like Girls, Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, New Found Glory, All Time Low, and Chiodos, and they are looking forward to playing several dates on the 2008 Vans Warped Tour. Their set will be best enjoyed sitting next to your date, or at least sitting next to the one that you would like to be dating. You will understand why after the show.

Recommended If You Like:
Daphne Loves Derby, The Summer Obsession, Say Anything - absolutepunk.net

While most UCF students are studying for exams or hanging out at their favorite haunt, the five guys from local band Karrigan are spending their summer touring the U.S. as part of the Vans Warped Tour.

Bandmates and UCF students/alumni Chase Williams, vocalist, Austin O’Laughlin, guitarist and Keith Allen, drummer, gave the Future a call. Read on as they discuss their musical influences, future plans and what being on a national tour is like.

Central Florida Future: How did you guys become a band?

Williams: Me and Austin just wrote some songs, and we kept trying forever to find some other UCF students to join us and help us out. So we asked our good friend Ryan to help us out on bass for a little bit. We put an ad out on MySpace and found all these weirdos for drums, just like weird people. But we finally found Keith and he was like a normal dude. We actually started practicing on top of a UCF parking garage. Then we got kicked off by the cops, but it was pretty cool for a couple of weeks.

CFF: How did you end up on Warped Tour?

Williams: Our first show was actually at Liquid Cellar, a former bar across the street from UCF, and that was our first show ever. Basically we just started off playing shows around Orlando and then branched out to Florida and basically we just travel now.

CFF: How would you describe your sound?

O’Laughlin: It has changed a lot over the last year. Our record My Conscience Got the Best of Me came out last year and it is more of like a pop-rock record. And now, we’re changing our sound, because of what is going on in our lives with school and … pretty much doing what we wanted to do from the beginning, which is dance-pop. We want people to go out and dance to our music.

CFF: Who are your biggest musical influences?

Allen: The music we play isn’t really influenced by what we grew up on. What I’ve got in my car doesn’t sound like Karrigan. I grew up listening to pop-punk music I guess, like NOFX, AFI, stuff like that. But our music doesn’t sound like that at all. Chase grew up on like Goo Goo Dolls, Third Eye Blind. We all have a vast brand of bands that we grew up and listened to. So, pretty much when we write music, our influence isn’t bands, it’s more like what is going on in our life currently, how we feel. We don’t base our music on other people’s music.

CFF: What has been the most exciting thing so far about being on Warped Tour?

Williams: My bandmates have this crazy vision that you can only get certain types of food in certain areas or regions. So, when we’re in New York, we get NY Pizza or when we’re in China, we’ll eat Chinese food. No, but you get what I’m saying. When we’re in Chicago, we get Chicago dogs and deep dish pizza. But that’s like the one thing we have to do. We were in Philly a few days ago and we were eating cheesesteaks, just because we had to.

CFF: What is up next after Warped Tour is over?

Williams: We’re basically going to write a whole full-length record. We’ve got a bunch of labels looking at us who want to see what we can put out next and [we want to] just sell our record to a label. September and October we’ll be writing. It should be out around December. We’re thinking — we’re hoping — on a major label, so we’ll see.

You can check out Karrigan on the Kia Kevin Says stage at the Orlando stop of the tour on Friday at the Central Florida Fairgrounds. - The Central Florida Future