Story by Bailey Wilson / Contributing Writer
Vans Warped Tour, owned and run by Kevin Lyman, will tour the country for the last time this summer.
Lyman posted Warped Tour’s final run on the Vans Warped Tour website and said in an exclusive Billboard interview that numerous factors led to its conclusion.
“I am so grateful to have worked with more than 1,700 bands over the last 23 summers. I wish I could thank every band that has played the tour,” he said, reflecting in his post on Warped’s website.
Warped Tour first kicked off in the summer of 1995 and has been touring since. Vans sponsored the tour in 1995 and 1996, and the name Vans Warped Tour stuck.
In the early years of the tour, attendees would find halfpipes among the many stages of punk bands. As the years went by, skating at venues became less common, and pop stars were added to the mix. The tour became known as a “punk-rock summer camp.”
“Warped Tour helped launch the careers of Fall Out Boy, My Chemical Romance and Avenged Sevenfold,” Lyman said.
Some of the bands that got their start at Warped, such as A Day to Remember, still play on the tour.
The final lineup for this year’s tour will be announced March 1. Click here for dates and venues.
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