Warped Tour Gears Up for 17th Year

After 17 years the Vans Warped Tour has come full circle. Kevin Lyman, the tour’s producer and creator, has come up with numerous ways to make the longest-running and successful tour more accessible to attendees during these tough economic times. During last week’s press conference and tour kickoff party held for the first time on the east coast at the House of Vans, Lyman revealed ways in which the tour has become more environmentally friendly and assessable to breaking up-and-coming indie talent.

He revealed that after last year’s tour he really took the time to listen to bands. “I stopped listening to agents, I stopped listening to [the] radio and managers and started listening to music and try to see where things were going and put a tour [together] that I think is reflective [of that music], a tour that’s very diverse, very cool and in my mind [feature] the hard to find gems [that] are out there.”

The festival is known for brining Punk Rock and the skating culture to the masses something Lyman is fully aware of and doesn’t mind the association. “I’m often asked ‘what is punk?’ I think punk rock [as a genre] should be retired almost, in some ways and given to the legends of that music. What is punk? Well kids are punk if they are learning to play music and trying to figure out how to make it work.”

This year’s line-up consists of a diverse group of musical acts including well known bands like Gym Class Heroes, 3OH!3 and Asking Alexandria along with lesser known but equally captivating acts like The Wonder Years, Woe Is Me and Eyes Set To Kill.

“There are few major label bands on this year’s lineup, its back to where we were in 1995 when we had [bands like] Quicksand. This year’s Warped Tour is very reflective of where we’ve been it hasn’t changed in 17 years it’s come full circle and these bands are gonna get out there and work their asses off. They’re looking at [high gas] prices and we’re all gonna figure out how to get down the road this summer.”

“Another thing I saw, when I was standing outside the gates [at Warped Tour] last year, I saw kids leaving early. So I asked the kids why are you leaving at five are you not having a good time? And they told me ‘no we’re having a great time but we’re out of money.’ The economy and the whole environment has changed, a kid no longer gets an ATM card to take out money whenever they need it, they’re getting a fixed amount of money to come to a concert.

“When I asked other kids, why are you leaving? [A lot of the responses were] ‘I’m hungry’ or ‘I’m thirsty’ and I understood [something had to change].” The change will be in effect this coming summer, as Lyman explained he has worked out deals with food vendors to lower the costs. “I want these kids to stay for the entire show, they want to stay and see all the bands but if they got hungry or thirsty they had to go home.”

He continued, “[normally] water is $4.50 when you go to a venue, without raising the ticket price to the fans I’ve figured out a way to get the water down to $3 a bottle.” Warped Tour has also made a partnership with Clean Canteen which will provide them with water stations so that kids can refill their water bottles on site. For the kids that can’t afford to eat at the Warped Tour they’ve come up with a meal plan, “we have a prepaid food program where parents can buy their kids or you can buy a lunch before you come to the Warped Tour for $8.50 you’ll get a slice of pizza, French fries and a coke. You can buy it beforehand so that you when you spend all your money on a Day To Remember sweatshirt you’ll be able to have food ahead of time. That’s what you can do after 17 years try to embrace things and try to stay current.”

The future seems very bright and with talks of a Warped music station catering to Warped Tour artists there’s no stopping team Warped. Lyman promised that many of the things they are launching this year will “take [them] to the future and take [them] through the next few years and keep the [Warped Tour] relevant.”