The parking lot of RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C. was completely full by mid afternoon. Not with cars, but with vendors, stages, and people, which is customary at the iconic Vans Warped Tour.
We don’t need official numbers to tell us what our eyes could see; almost everyone who bought a ticket showed up for both days. Fans stood shoulder-to-shoulder from the front of the main stages all the way to the concession stands. The secondary stages—mostly reserved for the heavier and rap acts-where full. Even the smallest stages showcasing the scene’s up-and-comers where well attended.
Clearly, Warped Tour’s faithful fans were hungry. And for one weekend, in Washington, D.C., they feasted. The first of three Warped Tour festivals this summer produced a lengthy highlight reel.
Headliner Avril Lavigne might have provided the biggest surprise. She brought out Sum 41’s Deryck Whibley for a performance of “In Too Deep,” shredding the stage with her former partner.
“I thought I fucking quit music,” Whibley joked.
MGK officially cemented himself as Warped Tour royalty, with a mostly rock set that ripped a hole through opening night. Both All Time Low and The Wonder Years pointedly political speeches landed like a bombs with the backdrop of a controversial military parade taking place on the other side of Washington, D.C. And The internet seems to be buzzing about Sense Fail singer Buddy Nielsen calling out Brand New.
“This is Warped Tour. We can’t have people running around kissing people,” Nielsen said. “It’s not 2008. It’s not 2009. Brand New is not fucking here.”
Punk and alternative grandfathers (literally) Pennywise and the Aquabats looked their age, but they performed as sharply as ever, attracting massive crowds. And any time a legacy band played a massive single, the festival shook. To name a few, Hawthorne Heights’s “Ohio Is For Lovers,” Bowling For Soup’s “1985,” Boys Like Girls “The Great Escape,” and The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus’s “Face Down” rattled the festival grounds like earthquakes.
Warped Tour’s MPV was unquestionably Games We Play. Frontman Emmyn Calliero filled the acoustic stage on Saturday and drew the biggest crowd of the weekend for the small, Arrow’s Stage on Sunday. Of all the up-and-comers, the group seemed to connect at Warped tour the best.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEV-fNKiHqo
Still, so many new acts carried their water on the Eagle and Arrow side stages. In matching, purple attire, Honey Revenge looked and performed like arena-worthy rock stars. 408’s crowd grew with each song—Fans couldn’t help by stop as they walked through the forest of merch tents nearby.
Millionaires and Heart Attack Man drew thousands despite early Sunday sets. With BMX riders ramping in the distance, People R Ugly ripped like they belonged on the main stage of Warped Tour ’02. And to leave out the excellent performance from Cliffdiver would be criminal. But there are so many acts you could say the same for.
Newly minted stars Scene Queen and Magnolia Park drew tough time slots. Both rocked on the side stages late into the night after the main acts wrapped up. But the pair each drew thousands of fans eager to catch one more show before the night’s end. All Time Low made a proverbial torch pass when they invited The Paradox singer Eric Dangerfield on stage for a song, and the frontman from the scene’s “it” band didn’t disappoint.
Many of the Eagle and Arrow stages acts didn’t exist or were in their nascent stages when Warped Tour went into hibernation. Would they be bigger with a couple summers touring the country, grinding on side stages, aided by the Warped Tour brand? It’s more than fair to think so.
Back on the main stages, act after act credited Warped Tour for launching their careers. We The Kings, Less than Jake, Mayday Parade—The list is long of bands that gave festal founder Kevin Lyman and the backstage crews a shoutout.
“This is where it all started,” We The Kings singer Travis Clark yelled before jamming “Check Yes, Juliet.”
For many of them, it was another chance to perform in front of tens of thousands. None of these acts needed it, but they still cherished the moment.
Skateboarders and the aforementioned BMX riders provided the non-musical entertainment. The festival grounds were also peppered with sponsor and charity tents. Regulars, like PETA and the Save A Breast Foundation, showed up while a silent auction of artwork was a nice touch.
The grounds felt like a traditional Warped Tour festival, for better or worse. Places to sit were at a premium, and cell service was brutal. But the festival was smartly laid out, and every set was on time. Even when it lacks accommodations, Warped Tour continues to run like clockwork.
Above all, the whole festival resembled a 40,000-person family gathering. Fans, albeit a bit older, snapped back into their moshing, crowd-surfing ways. Bands hugged on stage after playing their hearts out. But when acts asked how many fans were at their first Warped Tour, dozens of hands always shot up. Clearly, there were fresh faces at the festival.
Watching scene veterans race from stage-to-stage to catch as many bands as possible wasn’t just nostalgic, but a reminder that the love for the music doesn’t die with age. Maybe they didn’t runs as fast as they did when they were 16. But the smiles were as wide as ever.
“It was never a phase, mom,” Simple Plan’s Pierre Bouvier yelled before ripping into “I’m Just A Kid.” It’s an overplayed joke that actually felt fitting in the moment.
Warped Tour was a somewhat replicable, yet undeniably irreplaceable cultural rock for 25 years. Maybe a 50-city run isn’t in the cards for the festival’s future, but the staying power feels real. The scene’s young talent feels real. The passion of the fanbase feels real.
Hopefully Lyman and company see the same thing.
Photo Courtesy Of Warped Tour
