Vans Warped Tour doesn’t go out quietly
40-plus bands play final edition
Well, that’s that. After a spectacular 23year run, 1,500 or so bands and the launch of a cultural youth movement, the Vans Warped Tour wrapped up its final stop ever in Massachusetts. Let the record show that the last local edition was closed out with a bombshell set by Las Vegas alt-metal/ punk heroes Falling in Reverse.
The traveling rock festival — the largest and longest running in the U.S. — was created by punk visionary and former Lollapalooza stage manager Kevin Lyman and started inauspiciously with its first show in 1995 in Boise, Idaho. That year, the festival featured a young Gwen Stefani and No Doubt, Sublime, Deftones, L7 and many more. Locally, the first Warped Tour was held at Northampton Airport. In 1996, the tour took on its permanent sponsor, skate company Vans (which has a unique local connection in that its founder, 83-yearold Paul Van Doren, is from Braintree), and has since been known as the Vans Warped Tour.
Over the years, the punkmetal-ska-rap-rock cavalcade was held in various fairgrounds, parking lots and venues across Massachusetts, including Suffolk Downs in East Boston, Brockton, Barnstable, Gillette Stadium and most often, the Xfinity Center in Mansfield. The festival annually
featured anywhere from 50 to 70 bands and has hosted a who’s who of ’90s and 2000s stars, including Katy Perry (yup), Kid Rock, Green Day, Blink 182, Billy Idol, the Black Eyed Peas, Eminem, N.E.R.D., Fall Out Boy, GEazy, Ice T, Linkin Park, M.I.A. and Yelawolf.
For Massachusetts bands, it’s always been a summer staple, as many of the region’s biggest acts have toured on Warped, including Killswitch Engage, Godsmack, All That Remains, Dropkick Murphys, the Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Staind and Unearth, who were part of Friday’s final edition.
The tour has always been a one-stop shopping eclectic mix of emerging bands, chart-topping acts and punk and metal’s old guard. I’ve covered the Warped Tour dozens of times over the years for the Herald and have had my own memorable days, including seeing Kid Rock on an empty side stage just before his breakthrough 1997 album “Devil Without a Cause.” That album went on to sell 14 million copies. It was also at Warped Tour where I first saw Boston’s own Bad Rabbits for the first time and was immediately hooked by their funky soul.
Friday, as I wandered around the steamy Mansfield grounds, I felt a bit sad that this festival that’s been so much fun for so many was over. But the 40-plus bands made sure to go out with a bang. Electro-popsters 3OH3!, horror rappers Twiztid, emo-punk bands Set It Off and Crown the Empire, and the aforementioned Falling in Reverse, gave fans many amazing final memories.
R.I.P., Warped. Thanks for all the good times.