The 2005 line-up of the Vans Warped Tour, founder Kevin Lyman admits, was a matter of luck. Having My Chemical Romance, Fall Out Boy and The All-American Rejects on the same bill when they were all emerging as headlining acts was not anything he could have ever planned.
Nor anything he hopes to replicate soon, especially because attendance dropped in 2006 for the first time in the tour's history.
"We almost became, potentially, too much of a mainstream type of show," Lyman says.
So this year's version of the Vans Warped Tour, which stops Wednesday at the Post-Gazette Pavilion, is a decidedly retro affair. More punk bands, more unknowns, less star power.
"I feel there's a whole new resurgence of energy after these first weeks of shows," Lyman says. "There's a whole new wave of kids coming to Warped Tour, as well as people coming back to Warped Tour, people who may have not come for three or four years, because they find it's a great place to discover new bands and catch up on the state of the music scene."
It's also the only tour where the wall of separation that exists between performers and fans is almost negligible. When the tour visited Denver in July, thunderstorms hit Invesco Field at Mile High Stadium. Instead of letting kids fend for themselves, organizers got many of them to the backstage area to wait out the deluge.
Warped also has proved to be a breeding ground for musicians. Lyman estimates that at least 95 percent of the musicians on the tour attended Warped shows when they were kids.
"It's probably 100 percent, but you have to have a little room for error," he says.
When drummer John Keefe, of Boys Like Girls, was growing up near Boston, he was one of kids in the mosh pits, crowd surfing or just hanging out.
"I just wanted to be up there playing the entire time, though," Keefe says. "It totally inspired me to find something, practice and work as hard as possible to get there."
Meg Frampton, of the Utah-based band Meg & Dia, attended Warped Tour shows a few years ago in Salt Lake City.
"I remember it being very, very hot, and I couldn't stand to be there for more than an hour," she says. "But at the same time, it's always been a dream of mine to be on this tour. ... It was such a big deal, and everybody talked about it every year."
Past Warped Tours have seen some contentious moments between acts. But this year, Lyman insists, most egos are in check, and the atmosphere is more akin to a traveling circus of old in which the acts support each other.
"People are being smarter this year because of the economics of touring," Lyman says. "Sometimes your record label won't support you, so people are sharing crews, technicians. It's changed. Last year, there were rivalries, say between the emo scene and the punk bands. And now everyone knows their music, and they're kind of in the same boat together. In 1995 when I started the tour, it was to help bands build a community like that."
"There's no room for egos on this tour," says Jeff Czum, guitarist for the Buffalo-based group Cute Is What We Aim For, making its debut on Warped. "If you have an ego, you're like an (idiot)."
Czum attended past Warped shows in Buffalo, and remembers how he looked forward to the tour every year. Now that he's a performing musician, the shows have taken on a surreal aspect.
"Sometimes you're up onstage and you can't believe what's going on," he says.
But with so many acts -- there are currently more than 100 bands in Warped's rotation -- groups have to work extra hard to make an impression.
"It's hard to stand out," Keefe says. "There are so many great bands that have been doing it for so much longer, so you have to think outside the box a little when it comes to your live show. Just when you think everything has been done before, some one thinks of something even crazier. You have to be at your best at all times."
Czum says he tries to joke a bit with fans, and tries to remember what he felt like when he was watching bands he admired.
Frampton, however, has a different dynamic to deal with on a tour that is made up of predominately male performers. She stands out not only because she and her sister Dia are women, but also because their music is not the prototypical punk or emo that dominates Warped. At one show earlier this year, Meg & Dia's set was continually interrupted by a drunken fan making obscene gestures. He was eventually escorted from the venue, but Dia was especially shaken by the incident until she had a chance to meet some fans.
"After the show ... at our signing line, all the kids kept saying the guy was stupid and how much they loved us," Meg says. "It just really showed us there's a lot of support for the type of music we play. "
Warped also tries to be informative and environmentally friendly. This year's stage is 100 percent solar powered. and there are information areas featuring the anti-smoking truth.com, and Take Action!, which promotes a variety of nonprofit and advocacy groups.
While there are opportunities to broaden horizons, Lyman says it's most important to provide a day of good music.
"What we are doing at Warped is, hopefully, throwing the best day of summer for a lot of these kids," Lyman says. "We have a lot of stuff they can be exposed to, and if they come in open-minded to music and everything there, they might learn about what's going on in politics, the environment, just see what's going on. ... But for me, that trigger point is fun. I look at kids in schools, and if you take the fun away, they can't really learn."
Warped Tour tidbits
- The tour name comes from Warp Magazine, a defunct publication that covered music, skateboarding, surfing and other X Games-oriented sports. Founder Kevin Lyman got the idea for Warped after working on skateboarding tours.
- In 1998, Warped went abroad for the first time, playing in Japan, Australia, Europe and Canada.
- Warped always includes sideshows in addition to music. This year, the AAA Lucha Libre Mexican Wrestling League, featuring luchadores including Mini Chess Man and Psicosis, will be one of the featured attractions.
- Video gaming has become increasingly present on Warped. This year, xBox is sponsoring a Guitar Hero competition featuring the popular video game in which contestants can channel their inner Jimi Hendrix.
- Warped tries to raise awareness by giving space to charities. Among the organizations represented this year are the Rainforest Action Network, Save Darfur, Amnesty International and Boarding for Breast Cancer.
- Among the notable bands and musicians that have played Warped are Sublime (1995), Eminem (1999), Social Distortion (1997), Green Day (1997, 1999, 2000), Sugar Ray (1997), Joan Jett (2006), Blink 182 (1996, 1997, 1999, 2001), Beck (1996), Billy Idol (2005), Black Eyed Peas (1999) and The Rollins Band (2001).
-- Tribune-Review research
Additional Information:
Warped Tour
When: Noon WednesdayAdmission: $23.50
Where: Post-Gazette Pavilion, intersection of routes 18 and 22, Burgettstown
Details: 412-323-1919 or www.livenation.com
