Warped Tour
The Warped Tour is a touring rock music festival that toured the United States and Canada each summer from 1995 until 2019, and returned in 2025 for its 30th anniversary. By 2015, Warped was the largest traveling music festival in the United States and the longest-running touring music festival in North America. Internationally, the festival stopped in Australia from 1998–2002 and again in 2013, as well as the United Kingdom in 2012 and 2015.
Following the first Warped Tour, the skateboard shoe manufacturer Vans became the festival's title sponsor, when it then became known as the Vans Warped Tour.
Warped Tour was conceived by Kevin Lyman as an electric alternative rock festival, but later began focusing on punk rock music. Although it was primarily a punk rock festival, it covered diverse genres over the years.
Lyman said that the 2018 Vans Warped Tour would be the final, full cross-country run. On December 18, 2018, Lyman revealed details for the tour's 25th anniversary, with only three events in 2019.
In November 2019, rumors spread that Chris Fronzak planned to bring back the Warped Tour after Lyman's retirement. On October 4, 2020, Fronzak confirmed his intent to be involved in the return of Warped Tour; however, "for legal reasons it come back for 'three years or so. In 2024, Lyman confirmed that Warped Tour would return in 2025, with the lineup being announced from January to February.
Overview
Band performance times and sets were posted on an inflatable installation and were available in print for purchase from an on-site information stand.Every year had a "BBQ Band". In exchange for the privilege of playing on the tour, the BBQ Band prepared the post-show barbecue for the bands and crew most evenings. Past BBQ Bands included the Dropkick Murphys, Art of Shock, and "The Fabulous Rudies". Similarly, one band, Animo, was permitted for four years to play on the tour in exchange for working on the setup crew. The "BBQ Band" for the 2016 tour was Reckless Serenade.
The tour began as a skate punk and third-wave ska tour but later came to feature largely pop punk and metalcore acts. Some hardcore and street punk bands also participated, such as the Casualties, the Unseen and Anti-Flag.
The tour was not set up in a single fixed format; each show venue dictated a different layout. The event was set up in early morning and struck late the same day. Heading into Canada, a bus transported supplies while another bus held equipment not needed during the brief jaunt over the border.
Citing issues like transportation problems for minors and audience demographics trending younger each year, Kevin Lyman decided to let parents attend Warped Tour performances for free beginning in 2013. Parents had their own adult day care, known as Reverse Day Care. Grown-ups could spend the day waiting for their children in the Reverse Day Care tent, which offered ample seating, as well as fans or cooling devices to keep parents occupied during the festival.
Bands
History
The Warped Tour was created in 1995 by Kevin Lyman and Ray Woodbury, president of RK Diversified Entertainment, in production with the short-lived Warp Magazine and Creative Artists Agency. The tour began June 21 at the Idaho Center in Nampa, Idaho, and ended August 18 at the Phoenix Plaza Amphitheater in Pontiac, Michigan.In 2009, the two main stages were condensed into one and bands were given 40-minute sets, as opposed to the traditional 30 minutes across the previous two stages. Despite this, the tour decided to bring back the two main stages concept with 35-minute sets instead for the 2012 tour and beyond.
In 2012, the Warped Tour traveled to London, the first time the tour had left North America or Australia since 2002. In the UK and Europe, Warped Tour was operated by English promoter Kilimanjaro Live. The Warped Tour returned to London in 2015.
Warped Tour 1996
The tour usually was held at outdoor venues, though on rare occasions it was held indoors. In 1996, due to problems with the event venue, the show was forced to move indoors to The Capitol Ballroom nightclub in Washington, D.C.1996 was the first year for Vans as a sponsor; they remained the main sponsor thereafter.
Warped Tour 1997
In 1997, the Vans Warped Tour went international and included venues in Europe, Canada, and the United States. Reed Glick was the manager for the international tour.Warped Tour 1999
In 1999, the tour started the new year in New Zealand, Australia, and Hawaii. After a pause, it resumed its North American tour in the continental United States through the summer, before finishing the tour in Europe.Warped Tour 2009
On February 10, 2009, details for the annual "Warped Tour Kick Off Party" were announced. The show took place April 2, 2009, at The Key Club in West Hollywood, California, and featured Warped Tour 2009 bands T.S.O.L., The Adolescents, Sing It Loud, TAT, and TV/TV on the bill. The tour won the Best Festival/Tour Award at the Rock on Request Awards.Warped Tour 2012
The Warped Tour 2012 kickoff party took place March 29, 2012, at Club Nokia in Los Angeles, California, featuring performances by Falling in Reverse, the Used, Yellowcard, Dead Sara, Matt Toka and Forever Came Calling. During the Toronto date, a fan fell unconscious during Chelsea Grin's performance and died. Both the band and Warped Tour offered their condolences on Twitter. For the first time in 14 years, the Warped Tour was held in the UK in November 2012. This was also the first year that the show Warped Roadies premiered. The show was a behind-the-scenes look at the inner workings of the Vans Warped Tour as it made its way across the country with more than 60 bands. Zach Booher of the band While We're Up was killed in a road accident in Wisconsin.Warped Tour 2013
The Warped Tour 2013 kick off party took place March 28, 2013, at Club Nokia in Los Angeles, California, featuring performances by Chiodos, New Beat Fund, Gin Wigmore, MC Lars, Craig Owens, Dia Frampton, Charlotte Sometimes, Big Chocolate, Echosmith, and special guests. The tour would again return to Europe for the second year in a row with more tour dates. For the first time since 2001, Warped Tour would also appear in Australia.Warped Tour 2014
The Warped Tour 2014 kick off party took place on April 1, 2014, at Club Nokia in Los Angeles, California, featuring performances by Bad Rabbits, Issues, One Ok Rock, Secrets, This Wild Life, To the Wind, Watsky, Chelsea Grin, Beartooth, Volumes, Buried In The Mountains, and others. The tour returned to Montreal for the first time in two years. On February 7, 2014, it was announced that the Warped Tour would visit Alaska for the first time for a pre-tour "The Road to Warped" show. The entire first date was streamed live on the tour's website. In June 2014, Kevin Lyman announced on Twitter that the UK segment of the 2014 tour would not go ahead. The San Diego stop was sponsored by Waveborn Sunglasses. As a part of celebrating the 20th anniversary of the tour, there were surprise appearances from two bands: Linkin Park played at Ventura, California on June 22, 2014, and A Day to Remember played at Chicago, Illinois, on July 19, 2014.Warped Tour 2015
The Warped Tour 2015 kickoff party took place on April 7, 2015, at Club Nokia in Los Angeles, California, featuring performances by As It Is, Bebe Rexha, New Years Day, Knuckle Puck, Metro Station, Candy Hearts, and New Beat Fund. The tour again visited Alaska for "The Road to Warped" show. The entire first date again was streamed live on the tour's website. The tour returned to Europe playing at the Alexandra Palace in London, England on October 18.Austin Jones, a former musician and a convicted sex offender, was due to take part in the 2015 tour until reports surfaced about his behavior and about tour founder Kevin Lyman's role in covering up Jones's actions.
Warped Tour 2016
The Warped Tour 2016 announced the lineup on March 22 at its kickoff party at Full Sail University in Florida, featuring select performances by 2016 Warped bands. Headliners of this tour included Falling in Reverse, Less Than Jake, Good Charlotte, Sleeping with Sirens, New Found Glory, and others. The tour kicked off June 24, 2016, in Dallas, Texas, and hit 41 cities throughout the summer, ending in Portland, Oregon, on August 13, 2016. In addition to the 41 cities, there was a "Road to Warped Tour Alaska" on June 22, 2016.Warped Tour 2017
The Warped Tour 2017 announced the lineup on March 22 at its kickoff party at Full Sail University in Florida. Headliners of this tour include Andy Black, Beartooth, Dance Gavin Dance, I Prevail, and New Years Day, among others. The tour kicked off June 11, 2017, in Seattle, Washington, and would hit 41 cities throughout the summer, ending in Pomona, CA on August 6, 2017. In addition to the 41 cities, an additional show was planned with a separate lineup in Toluca, Mexico, on May 27, 2017, plus a "Warped Rewind at Sea" cruise to sail between New Orleans, Louisiana, and Cozumel, Mexico, from October 28 to November 1, 2017.Warped Tour 2018
On November 15, 2017, Kevin Lyman announced that the 2018 Warped Tour would be the final tour. "I am so grateful to have worked with more than 1,700 bands over the last 23 summers", Lyman said in his announcement. "I wish I could thank every band that has played the tour." Warped Tour also announced it would play in Japan for 2018. Headliners for the Japan segment were listed as Korn, Prophets of Rage, and Limp BizkitWarped Tour 2019
On December 18, 2018, Lyman revealed details for the tour's 25th anniversary, taking place in 2019.Warped Tour took place in Cleveland, Ohio, June 8, 2019, Atlantic City, New Jersey, June 29 and 30, 2019, and Mountain View, California, on July 20 and 21, 2019.