Emo battles punk as Warped rolls along

The Warped Tour folks have figured out how to maximize the number of groups that can perform at the daylong rock festival: Just have them play at the same time.

On Thursday at Cal State Fullerton, the first of three L.A.-area stops for the annual punk-centric tour, the day ended with Bad Religion beginning its set while Story of the Year was playing its last song. Since the stages were side by side, this gave new meaning to the term “battle of the bands.”

Up until then it had been a tightly run ship, the proximity of the two main stages on the university’s athletic field encouraging a spirit of baton-passing fraternity at some points and of subtle digs and competitive challenge at others.

When Vandals singer Dave Quackenbush said that New Found Glory would be up next, the crowd responded with murmurs and scattered boos, revealing the central rift represented by the Warped lineup -- punk on one side, emo on the other.

If fans of a band as lighthearted as the Vandals -- whose smarty-pants set was highlighted by a Christmas song called “Oi to the World” -- can work up some venom on the issue, imagine what the more hard-core set must feel.

Emo is punk’s winsome little brother, a more accessible, commercial and moderate mutation that has developed a growing audience in recent years. You can see why punks would regard it with scorn. Bands such as New Found Glory and Story of the Year on Thursday took punk’s head-clearing rat-tat-tat and chopped it into stuttering rhythms, which it stretched into extended lines more conducive to swaying than slamming.

Worse, in their eyes, is the wimp factor. During a set by New Jersey band Thursday, which sounds as if it bought all the At the Drive-In patents when that band broke up, singer Geoff Rickly seemed to be doing a sensitive-guy parody of the sensitive guy when he thanked the audience “for treating the young ladies with dignity and respect” and prefaced his comments on the troubled state of the nation by saying, “You might not agree, and you can come up and say so.”

On the other hand, it’s hard to argue with the sentiments, and even a more credentialed punk force, Anti-Flag, wasn’t far from teary-eyed when it spoke about peace and about punk’s role as a haven for misfits and outsiders.

Everyone seemed to survive the divide, and it turned out that the crowd of about 12,000 contained enough sub-audiences to support other genres as well. On the main stages those included Coheed & Cambria, with its Tenacious D-tinged mystic metal, and the Sounds, a Swedish band that recycles some Blondie sass and ABBA hookiness into a catchy if repetitive package.

Out in the boondocks could be found fledgling bands and such square pegs as new wave-ish IMA Robot and Juliette & the Licks, with actress Juliette Lewis a taunting rocker in front of a band powered by former Hole drummer Patty Schemel.

For everyone, though, Warped is a slightly watered-down musical experience, with the half-hour sets leaving the bands saying goodbye at a point when they’re usually just getting into gear.

With the fans better lighted than the artists on the shaded stages, attention easily wandered, which might just be the nature of Warped. It’s a day in the sun, a chance to check out some bands and a few thousand of your peers, to line up for autographs and merchandise booths.

Now in its 10th year, Warped has shown it knows how to survive the concert business’ toughest times and appears as likely to go away as the county fair.

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Vans Warped Tour

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Where: Seaside Park, 10 W. Harbor Blvd., Ventura

When: Wednesday, 11:30 a.m.

Price: $27.75

Contact: Ticketmaster, (213) 480-3232