Bowling For Soup, Simple Plan, Pennywise Among First Confirmed Warped Tour Artists
Emo kids, pop-punkers, and metal heads: the first confirmed artists for the 30th edition of the Vans Warped Tour are here.
Warped Tour organizers revealed the news on Monday, posting the first editions of the lineup. The punk-rockers of Pennywise and metal’s Miss May I will perform across Warped Tour’s three confirmed dates in Washington, D.C., Long Beach, and Orlando, while The “1985” stars of Bowling For Soup will take the stage in Washington, D.C. and Long Beach, and the emo icons of Simple Plan will perform in Washington, D.C.
Other acts announced at this time include dark alt-pop singer Chandler Leighton, performing across all three dates, as well as the ska punk band Dance Hall Crashers, who will take the stage in D.C. and Long Beach.
According to Variety, Warped Tour organizers plan to roll out the lineup for each day with “30 Days of Warped,” beginning with Monday’s lineup announcement. Over the next 30 consecutive days, through February 26, more artists will be announced. See the updating list via the festival’s official website.
The festival will host two-day events at Washington, D.C.,’s RFK Stadium Festival Grounds on June 14 and 15, the Shoreline Waterfront in Long Beach, California from June 26 to 27, and Orlando, Florida’s Camper World Stadium Campus on November 15 and 16.
Tickets are currently up for sale — with two-day presale passes start at $149.98.
Warped tour, which launched in 1995, helped punk and rock bands rise to stardom like Paramore, Bring Me The Horizon, A Day to Remember, Simple Plan, and Sleeping With Sirens, while also bringing-in big-name acts like Less Than Jake, Green Day, Blink-182, and Reel Big Fish. Additionally, hip-hop and pop stars graced the stage periodically, bringing-in stars like Katy Perry, Demi Lovato, The Black Eyed Peas, Eminem, Riff Raff, and more.
In 2018, the festival celebrated its final full-scale year, featuring Warped veterans like Falling In Reverse, The Amity Affliction, Four Year Strong, The Maine, Taking Back Sunday, We The Kings, Sum 41, Mayday Parade, and All Time Low. At the time, Lyman shared he was “happy to get the chance to travel around the country one more time” and “bring you another best day ever.”
Then, to celebrate Warped Tour’s 25th anniversary, three celebratory events were held in Cleveland, Atlantic City, and Mountain View. The shows also marked the return of the All-American Rejects, who hadn’t released a record since 2012, and fans had the chance to experience motocross sports as “an exhibit of art that has come out of the tour’s history.”
While several traveling rock festivals have popped-up over the years, including the DISRUPT Festival, Sad Summer Fest, Summer School, and Is For Lovers Fest — as well as the two-day emo revival festival When We Were Young in Las Vegas — nothing has been able to replicate the true nostalgic nature of Warped Tour.
Original founder Kevin Lyman told Rolling Stone that “I’ve always felt we need to pay homage to the past; but we’re looking to the future of the artists and the community.” He said that the lineup will feature between 70 and 100 acts at each stop and they’re “getting very, very selective in trying to find some unique twists to the lineup.”
