The ticket prices were steep, the line-ups insane, the grounds over-packed and the venue the worst decision they could have made, but seeing even one good band made you realize why you wanted to go to the Warped Tour in the first place. To see bands like H2O, Rancid and Pennywise play songs that couldn't be used in a Gap commercial almost made everything you had to deal with there bearable.

The Skydome has definitely had its moments. From World Series championships, to Wrestlemania to Rolling Stones concerts, it has housed some very special events. Unfortunately, the sold-out Toronto stop of the 2001 Vans Warped Tour was not one of its greatest moments.

From the second you stepped out of the Skywalk, there was literally a wait for everything. You didn't walk around hoping to beat the line-ups — you hoped you wouldn't be caught in it for more than 45 minutes. Not only was there a two-hour wait to get in, but there was always a little bit of doubt that you were waiting in the right line to get where you wanted to go to begin with. From athletes, to the press, to kids without advance tickets, there were different line-ups for everything and you prayed they weren't lying to you when they said you should be heading to Gate 7.

Anyone who has even heard of the Warped Tour knows that there are always at least four stages. And everyone in Toronto knows the size of the ground level at the Skydome. The two didn't mix. And when I stepped into the Dome I realized Vans would be virtually impossible to save.

It was such a beautiful day, but for reasons unknown to me, they decided to keep the roof closed. It was hot, sticky and smellier then you after a day of Warped Tour mosh pits. The sound was the worst I have heard in my seven years of formal concertgoing. You could not, at any point throughout the day, check out just one band without hearing at least one other who was playing what felt like only five feet away. Even when only Pennywise and the Atari's were left, and played alone, the sound clash was exchanged for a horrible echo.

The first show I caught was H20, a band I have probably seen now about six times. Being limited to a 30-minute set, like every other act, they still left you feeling like you had seen them for an hour. The effort and energy these guys put out for their fans is always 100 per cent. Unlike most of the other shows throughout the day, they had the crowd moving from song number one.

Up next was Kool Keith, a.k.a. the man of 90 different aliases. There's always at least one hip-hop act at Warped Tour and since Esham and D12 were thrown off following a fight, Kool Keith became the token rap act. Unfortunately, the majority of the crowd seemed to be there so they could keep their spots for when The Vandals came on the same stage in an hour. Mr. Kool did a lot of stuff from his new album, Spank-master, and really only got the crowd going after he performed a new one that basically repeats "Take off all your clothes" over and over again. After that the punk boys picked up on his sexually charged lyrics and seemed to enjoy the set. This change from punk rock to hip-hop was definitely needed at that point in my day though.

We decided Rancid were a better use of our time then going to drink, so we stuck around for their set. Like H2O, they're another band who give it their all, which is probably why the crowds get so crazy. Playing the best blend of songs both old and new that they could in a 30-minute set, I was glad I was seeing them instead of the bottom of a cup of beer. Added bonus, former WCW wrestler Vampiro made a guest appearance!

The next band we caught was one of my personal favorites, Less Than Jake. With costumes, dances and upbeat songs, they always put on a good show. They didn't do much of the whole crowd-talking thing, but played songs I love which was enough. One problem: no one really sang to their old stuff and I was the only person who didn't know their new stuff. I felt old.

While deciding to take a break, my friend mentioned he thought he could hear reggae. With the aforementioned sound problem, we weren't sure, so decided to head back to the De La Cruz stage. I looked at the set times and saw a band called Morgan Heritage were playing. I hadn't heard of them before, so it was definitely a possibility they were a reggae band. Once I approached the stage and noticed a large cloud of smoke that had not been over any other crowd, it was clear, reggae it was. It seemed every punk at this show who brought along some weed made their way over once they heard the rubber bass lines. It was awesome. Everywhere you looked someone was rolling, smoking, or passing a joint, which is all very illegal, but fun to see and you get high just standing there. It was very mellow, down-tempo reggae, which was again a well-needed change from the high-energy punk acts. And the crowd was loving it. They even went through the whole set without mentioning weed... until the last two songs. Then a ganja appreciation roar went through the crowd and was probably louder then any band crowd shouts I heard that day. Morgan Heritage was definitely a phat bonus.

The last band I paid full attention to was Pennywise. For some odd reason they played before the Atari's, which I guess was a good thing because I left after Pennywise to miss the mob who'd exit the Dome at the same time. Pennywise made me realize how much I missed the Warped Tour. I felt like the whole day was a forced (and unsuccessful) attempt at trying to have fun listening to punk and ska in a large festival atmosphere. But Pennywise brought it all back. They're a great band, with strong music and even stronger lyrics. They make you want to hear what they're saying and they let me leave the Skydome with a smile on my face. It wasn't so bad after all.