The Vans Warped Tour was never 100 percent punk rock, but now the festival is an entirely different beast than ever before — and no, that’s not a good thing. Photos by Joe McCabe.
If the tour that sells itself as North America’s premiere summer punk tour is any barometer for the current state of punk rock, then, with all due respect to the ’80s-mohawk-sporting, sleeveless-patched-denim-jacket-wearing UK punk group , I’m sorry … but punk is dead.
The Vans Warped Tour is as much a commercialized traveling flea market as it is a concert. Every band had a tent with t-shirts and CDs to hawk. Even bands that did not perform were represented with merch tents. It wasn’t an uncommon sight to see a ragamuffin guy with tight jeans in his mid-20’s trying to peddle his bands’ newest full-length to a group of awestruck teenage girls.
Multiple stages dotted Invensco Field’s parking lot, which was carpeted with plastic bottles and band fliers. Every stage had a sponsor tie-in, ranging from websites to clothing companies. Some spectators were lucky enough (and I write that with tongue firmly planted in cheek) to mosh and dance atop the Monster Enegery Drink truck or take in a performance from the shade of the KIA Motors VIP tent.
The tour that, if held up to punk ideals, would sound like fast riffs, three chords and politically charged lyrics protesting about social strife has been replaced by synthesizers and lyrics complaining about punk bitches and unreliable hos. Those songs were performed by unofficial punk coroners (, , to name a few…) that represent genres spanning crunkcore to pop electonica. No joke.
To be fair it’s not like The Vans Warped Tour was ever entirely pure punk rock. The tour was kick started into the leviathan it is today by having acts like blink-182 and No Doubt bring the summer extravaganza to the mainstream in the mid-to-late-‘90s. Warped, now in it’s 15th annual installment, has also had the same shoe company’s name tattooed on every flier and poster promoting the tour since its second summer in existence.
Warped has always had it’s punk mainstays, and even this year was no exception — they were just fewer and further between. , , went through the motions to fill up their 40-minute sets. Greg Graffin of Bad Religion and Fat Mike of NOFX both made comments eluding to feeling out of place amongst the sea of bright colored shirts and neon-framed sunglasses.
The hot, early-August afternoon gave way to torrential evening rains that abruptly showed up half way through headliner ‘ set. The rain might have symbolized the tears the punk gods shed over what the… scratch that, these weren’t the emo gods. So the rain followed by hail was probably a big middle finger to what the tour and alleged punk scene has become.
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Andrew Brand is a Denver-based writer and a regular contributor to Reverb.
is a Denver photographer and a regular contributor to Reverb.
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