REBEKAH GREEN
PRIDE STAFF WRITER

The Warped Tour, created by Kevin Lyman in 1994, is now going on its seventeenth year. The tour has been sponsored by Vans since 1995, hence the acquired name Vans Warped Tour. Kevin Lyman (who is also responsible for the Taste of Chaos tours and the Mayhem Festivals) had been given the call by Vans to arrange a skating fest that included live performances. The Warped Tour idea sparked and bands like Blink-182, Beck, Pennywise, No Doubt, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones and more gathered quite the crowd in the tour’s early years of the nineties, guaranteeing a solid future for the annual event.

Originally, the tour featured many bands pertaining to the punk rock genre. Over the last few years though, the music scene of the tour has changed along with the constantly changing generation of attendees and the tour has expanded to a wider selection of bands ranging from veterans like Bad Religion to Simple Plan to A Day To Remember. The festival goes on from morning till night and each band plays about a 30 minute set that usually intertwines or shares the times of other bands on separate stages, giving visitors the opportunity to set up their own schedule of who they want to see. Some of the artists featured on this year’s main stage are Gym Class Heroes, Paramore, The Devil Wears Prada, Jack’s Mannequin and many more. Booths are set up on the tour’s grounds where attendees can check out items and information from sponsors, various nonprofit organizations and of course purchase band merchandise (visitors could even meet up with the bands after their sets). The event has also taken opportunities to conserve and recycle with the Warped Tour Initiative, by saving on fuel for buses, encouraging guests to recycle for prizes and even using a solar-powered stage.

This summer, Warped Tour is stopping in 42 different U.S. cities and is featuring over 90 bands, though appearances/performances depend on each location and the particular line-up (see the full band roster here: http://vanswarpedtour.com/bands ). This year’s tour begins in Dallas, Texas on June 24 and ends in Hillsboro, Oregon on August 14 (check here for the tour dates inbetween: http://vanswarpedtour. com/dates ). Once again, the San Diego tour date will be held at the Cricket Wireless Amphitheatre, on Tuesday, August 9. Ticket prices vary, and are available at the Warped Tour website (http://vanswarpedtour. com/ ) and through Ticketmaster’s various venues (http://www.ticketmaster.com/).

Logo Courtesy of: Wikipedia // vans hause
Photo courtesy of Rebekah Green