News

Warped Tour Announces Summer 2015 Lineup, Free Tickets for Parents, Comedy Slate

The Vans Warped Tour celebrates its 21st birthday this year and to mark the occasion, held a kickoff celebration in Los Angeles on April 7.

The Vans Warped Tour celebrates its 21st birthday this year and to mark the occasion, held a kickoff celebration at Club Nokia in Los Angeles on Tuesday night (April 7).

The event brought just a taste of what will come this summer, with performances by ho99o9, Bebe Rexha and Candy Hearts, an eclectic mix that clearly illustrates what tour founder, Kevin Lyman, was aiming for.

Warped Tour began as a festival dedicated to rock and punk bands like Blink-182 and Rancid, but since its inception in 1994, there have been more than a few changes, including the addition of acts outside the rock genre.

Longtime visionary Lyman says he wanted a diverse lineup to mirror concert-goers equally varied taste in music, but that’s meant receiving more than his fair share of criticism for booking bands in genres like pop (Katy Perry famously headlined in 2009) and screamo to the bill. This year’s lineup includes such acts as Riff Raff, Black Veil Brides, Kosha Dillz and Senses Fail along with addition of comedians and YouTube stars to the bill.

“If it sucks so bad, don’t go,” Lyman cracked. “Start your own festival. I’ve been saying it since 1997, there’s got to be a kid in a garage somewhere who’s gonna kick my ass one day and put me out of business.”

Until then, however, Lyman is looking out for the parents, offering one complimentary ticket for any child under 18 to bring along their adult (over 28) guardian/parent. Once at the venue, they have the option to chill in a parents tent, which features air conditioning, magazines and movies. Or, the tour’s founder added, “the comedy tent will be a great place for parents to hang out.”

See the full Warped Tour 2015 lineup below:

’68
A+ Dropouts
Aaron West and The Roaring Twenties
Alive Like Me
Alvarez Kings
American Opera
As It Is
Ascot Royals
Asking Alexandria
Attila
August Burns Red
Baby Baby
Beartooth
Beautiful Bodies
Bebe Rexha
Being As An Ocean
Black Boots
Black Veil Brides
blessthefall
Born Cages
BoyMeetsWorld
Brian Marquis
Buttons
Candy Hearts
Carousel Kings
ChrisB
Citizen
Crossfaith
Drama Club
Emarosa
Escape The Fate
False Puppet
Family Force 5
Fit For A King
Grey Gordon
H2O
Handguns
Hands Like Houses
Have Mercy
ho99o9
Hundredth
I Killed The Prom Queen
Icon For Hire
Jule Vera
Juliet Simms
KAYA
Knuckle Puck
Koji
Koo Koo Kanga Roo
Kosha Dillz
Le Castle Vania
Lee Corey Oswald
M4Sonic
Major League
Mallory Knox
Man Overboard
Matchbook Romance
MC Lars
Meghann Wright
Memphis May Fire
Metro Station
Miss May I
Mod Sun
Moose Blood
Motion City Soundtrack
Neck Deep
Never Shout Never
New Beat Fund
New Years Day
Night Argent
Night Riots
Onward, Etc.
Our Last Night
Palisades
PUP
Pvris
Riff Raff
Rivers Monroe
SayWeCanFly
Seaway
Senses Fail
Set It Off
Silverstein
Sirens and Sailors
Slaves
Speak Low If You Speak Love
Splitbreed
Svetlanas
TAT
The Amity Affliction
The Dirty Nil
The Karma Killers
The Kenneths
The Relapse Symphony
The Wonder Years
This Wild Life
Transit
Trophy Eyes
We Came As Romans
While She Sleeps
Youth In Revolt

Comedians:

Beth Stelling
Chase Bernstein
Dave Ross
Eli Olsberg
Eric Schwartz
Grant Cotter
Sammy Obeid
Sandy Danto

YouTubers:

Austin Jones
Bryan Stars
Damon Fizzy
Johnnie Guilbert
Jordan Sweeto

billboard