Running for over two decades, Warped Tour has been a seminal part to the summer of many music fans for some time. However, 2018 is to be the final cross country trip that the travelling festival will embark on. The festival has adopted plenty of acts that have gone on to achieve many levels of success, from performing at the Super Bowl, with other Warped Alumni headlining huge festivals all over the world and selling out arenas.
Founder Kevin Lyman leaves behind him a legacy that is unrivaled elsewhere on the globe. 2015 saw the death of Soundwave in Australia, yet the UK has three date touring festival Slam Dunk. Taking place annually in May, Slam Dunk constantly grows each year, however, three dates in one weekend doesn’t compare to Lyman’s summer long crusade across the US.
Warped has had its fair share of controversies however, in the festival’s primitive years some within the punk scene saw what Lyman was doing as orphaning the mantra of punk by creating a mass marketed spectacle, taking the business away from the scenes grassroots culture. More recently, Lyman’s choice to allow Front Porch Step to perform at the festival in 2015 whilst he was embroiled in allegations being made about his inappropriate conduct with underage fans. 2013 saw Bring Me The Horizon facing an apparent legal backlash from the parent’s of a young fan who was injured during one of their performances at Warped. Fortunately for festival goers, and the band, no legal action was ever taken, and plenty of bands have whipped crowds into a frenzy since.
Warped will leave a huge hole in the alternative music spectrum, far past the borders of the United States, the festival gave plenty of bands the platform to be recognized and given opportunities to work alongside more established acts and learn from them over each summer. And with 2019 seemingly now vacant, music fans across the US are going to have a huge hole that will need filling with some form of live event.
The announcement came alongside the dates for Warped’s last journey across the US, the tour starts June 21st in Pomona, CA, and will culminate on August 5th in West Palm Beach, FL. “Forever Warped” and “Best Day Ever” bundles can be found here for each date.
No Comments