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The women of Warped Tour

This Friday, Warped Tour 2008 kicks off in Pomona, California. The traveling punk festival has been a success since 1994, and each year more than 100 bands participate, from veterans to newbies looking for exposure and a record deal.

Warped Tour is always, by and a large, a sausage fest (AKA the bands are male) but there are always a handful of women who are the must-sees. Past females who have fronted the stage include Juliette Lewis with her band The Licks and Joan Jett.

If you’re a fan of punk, hardcore, and what the kids call “emo,” I suggest you get to the date in your town early to find out when these ladies will be performing.

Frontwoman Jemina Pearl admits that the audience at Warped will be a little different from the band’s usual crowd. The art-punk band was discovered by Thurston Moore and has been a favorite of music snobs who scoff at the tweens and teens music Warped generally presents. All the better for you to take advantage of moving to the front of the stage during Be Your Own Pet’s set: fans of Yeah Yeah Yeahs will love Jemina’s thrashing, dancing, and style.

An upright bass at Warped Tour? You bet! Horrorpops are like something out of the movie Crybaby with their psychobilly rock. Patricia Day puts on a stage show that will put an end to the male monotony of the other stages on tour.

Katy Perry will either be completely embraced or the odd girl out of Warped this year. While her single has done well so far, her pop songs might be a little too happy for the pierced youngsters in attendance. If she plays the same time as any other pseudo-well known artist, she will most likely be playing for a select few bystanders.

A blonde with a purr, the New York-based musician is definitely worth skipping the no-names on tour. You may not know her yet, but Paige’s songs are like Uh Huh Her hiring on Liz Phair circa 1995. She demands attention.

You know what’s punk? Lesbians. Seriously — out singer Shira of the band Shiragirl came to Warped Tour a few years back and just set up a show. The tour had no choice but to invite them along! For the fourth year in a row, Shiragirl hosts their own stage of female punk bands which includes queer band Von Iva as well as Civet, Blameshift, Pretty Mess, Lia-Fail, Me Talk Pretty, Barnicle, and All or Nothing HC. I don’t necessarily agree with the separate stage, but at least there’s one exciting home base for when the dudes get boring.

One of the most successful pop-punk bands of the past year is fronted by a woman. Hayley Williams is the fiery redhead singer of Paramore and co-writes several of the band’s catchy tunes. They were nominated for the Best New Artist Grammy in 2007, losing to Amy Winehouse. But if you’re into emo and girls with pipes, Paramore is your best bet for Warped 2008.

Are you going to Warped this year? What band is totally worth the sunburn?

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