The Warped Tour is considered the modern Woodstock: it was the heaven for all punk-rock lovers. Mainly held in America for 25 years, it was an annual musical festival that became the meeting place for all the punk rock fans coming from any part of the world: it’s also often referred to as the “punk rock summer camp”.
It was founded in 1995 by Kevin Layman, who came up with the idea of creating a place where people could gather and enjoy live punk rock music.
Since then, every year, about 70 different bands and artists played in over 40 different cities, hosting hundreds of thousand fans of all ages. All artists belonged to the punk rock world, except a few who were given the opportunity to perform on stage: these were The Black Eyed Peas, Katy Perry and Eminem.
In 1996 the skateboard shoe brand Vans began sponsoring it: in fact, the
Warped Tour started as a skate punk music tour which gathered all who were fond
of ska, punk and grunge style, rock, emo and hardcore.
It carried the flag of the 90s punk rock: people went there to share their
passion, toasting and have fun together, jumping and crowd-surfing under the
hot sun.
Punk rock brought on stage what the teens of that time (and not only)
wanted to hear and sing: anarchy and hate towards the authorities, non-conformism,
life precariousness, love, mental issues and drugs.
People love music, and when their feelings and ideology are sung, they
love it even more.
The Warped Tour just gathered strangers and make them feel part of a
huge family that supported and understood them.
Dark clothes and make-up, checkered Vans and pants, multicoloured and
gelled hair, fishnet tights, studs, tattoos and black polish: style was surely the
centerpiece of the Warped Tour.
This is a typical punk rock outfit:
But, as any good thing, it must come to end.
Over the years, the tour experienced several music genres and, in the
final years, it focused more on pop punk and metalcore. This was perhaps the
main reason that caused the downfall of the tour, even though fans are not 100%
convinced.
Kevin Layman, the founder, revealed that 2018 would be the last year
touring and then the tour would end, due to the fact that punk rock “wasn’t
what it was at the beginning anymore”. In fact, punk rock did change and slowly
turned into pop punk; its culture changed and so the way of producing music
did, but the roots were always the same. The old tour-goers just wasn’t
identifying anymore with that culture.This caused a loss of popularity and,
consequently, a loss of attenders.
Also, it’s rumoured that there has been bad blood among the artists. Bands
that were invited to play declined claiming they didn’t want to perform with
some others bands.
So it wasn’t about the money: it was about the community and elitism
that grew inside the system.
No smartphones, no people judging you or hating, just music and fun: it
seemed a very welcoming place where you could go and enjoy life without
worrying about the actual life. People just didn’t worry about dancing and
jumping with strangers: they became your family for a day. For just a day, you
could find your place and enjoy the atmosphere of those moments.
Anyway, good moments that I’m sorry I didn’t get to live and (perhaps)
never will.
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