BY MICHAEL LLERENA
1994. A truly pivotal year in the history of punk rock. Green Day releases their Grammy award-winning opus Dookie. The Offspring release the equally pivotal album Smash. Coincidentally, this was also the year that Lollapalooza veteran Kevin Lyman created his own tour to showcase his favorite punk bands and extreme sports. Lyman would christen this new project the Warped Tour.
After more than sixteen years in music culture, the Warped Tour has become a titan
amongst music festivals. This traveling summer festival has featured everyone from Eminem and The Black Eyed Peas to NOFX and Bad Religion. Every year, Warped draws thousands of concertgoers, exposing them to new music and, more recently, allowing them to become more active in social and environmental activism. Organizations like Feed Our Children Now, Amnesty International, and PETA2 are just a few of the numerous non-profit organizations represented at Warped Tour and have now become an integral part of a fan’s experience at the festival. Attendees need only sift through the countless makeshift stands scattered throughout the grounds in order to get involved with the charity of their choice. In a truly progressive fashion, Warped Tour has managed to retain its older sensibilities, while still expanding itself to become more socially aware. Through the efforts of the Warped Eco Initiative, these shows are now run in a way that promotes ecologically-minded thinking and a commitment to a more environmentally conscious society. Recycling and the use of biodegradable materials are among the reforms instituted at Warped over the past few years.
At this year’s Warped Tour in West Palm Beach, the bill featured artists and bands from numerous genres. Collaborations were far from discouraged as concertgoers were treated to on-stage musical crossovers by dub rockers Pepper and rapper Grieves, reggae revivalists The Aggrolites and bluegrass punks Larry and His Flask, as well as many others. While the two groups would often come from different ends of the musical spectrum, the energy and spontaneity of the performances did not suffer.
While freshman bands are often the catalyst for Warped purists’ dissatisfaction with the tour’s roster, this year proved to be one of redemption, with newcomers like Larry and His Flask and Middle Class Rut gracing the stage. The former of these two groups is a volatile concoction of rowdy punk rock and lightning-fast bluegrass. Balancing lush three-part harmonies and unrivaled prowess on anything with strings, this Oregon sextet gave one of the best performances of the entire day. On the other hand, California rock duo and fellow Warped newcomers Middle Class Rut proved to be standouts as well. Although the group consists solely of a guitarist and a drummer, the band still managed to fill the acoustics of an amphitheater as loudly as their larger group counterparts. Headlining acts like Against Me! and A Day to Remember proved to have earned their stripes as top dogs with performances that made the crowds erupt in jubilation.
While Warped Tour can be a musically enriching experience for many, there are those who have bones to pick with Lyman and company. For many who still remember seminal 90’s punk bands like Face to Face and No Use for a Name playing the early festivals, Lyman’s more eclectic and mainstream accessible line-ups are seen as acts of treason. However, at nearly seventeen years old, this tour has been around longer than many of its competitors (i.e. Coachella, Bonnaroo, Austin City Limits), and thus requires some form of reinvention and progression. In 1995, punk rock was Warped Tour’s bread and butter. While it is still is prevalent in the tour’s DNA, Warped has become more diverse and appealing to fans of different kinds of music. Encompassing hardcore, hip hop, electronica, alternative rock (and yes, emo), this tour is not marketed solely to one demographic.
Moreover, it is easy to forget that beloved 90’s rock icons like Sublime and No Doubt got their start on this very tour, as will many of the freshman groups that some fans initially write off. In fact, one could say that this is how Warped Tour has managed to stay relevant for nearly two decades. Rather than remain stagnant and pander to purists, the tour continues to showcase fresh and interesting acts; some who are at the top of their game and others who are just starting out. Thus, it is because of festivals like the Warped Tour that music enthusiasts will always have a place to see their favorite band and maybe enjoy some new ones along the way.
