POP MUSIC REVIEW : ‘Warped Tour’ Engrossing but Oversized

About the only thing harder to find than a shady spot during the closing show of the national “Warped Tour” at Irvine Meadows on Monday was subtlety--particularly during the first half of the eight-hour, 15-band marathon concert.

With a main stage and a second stage located at each end of the Concourse Concession Circle, guitars sizzled, singers howled and a core of fearless fans moshed in the pits with reckless abandon. Active-lifestyle vendors hawked their goods and pro skateboarders strutted their stuff on temporary ramps. A 50-foot climbing wall was provided for fans to scale.

At its best, the melange of local and national punk and hard-core acts was engrossing and compelling. Some rote performances, however, suggested that the sun-baked fans would have been better served with a scaled-down lineup of maybe eight to 10 solid bands, with each playing more than the half-hour allotted here.

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Despite claiming to be “the real, authentic hard-core,” such established bands as CIV, Wizo, Good Riddance, Orange 9mm and Sick of It All delivered a recycled, in-your-face din of noisy thrash, devoid of imagination and bringing nothing new to the table.

But several other hard-core acts hit the mark by adding just enough color and conviction in forging their own musical personas. Of these, San Diego’s Fluf and Sacramento’s Deftones left the longest lasting impressions.

Of the top-billed, main stage acts, L.A.’s punk goddesses L7 were somehow the most riveting and playful. The female quartet rocked hard on a bed of distortion and feedback emanating from the dual guitar frenzy of Donita Sparks and Suzi Gardner. And a spontaneously loose character lurks in the shadows, sneaking out to play catchy pop-rock or unveil a winning sense of humor.

Local faves No Doubt, who play a likable hybrid of dance-ska-funk-rock, drew the largest and most enthusiastic crowd, which a concert official said peaked at about 3,500.