warped tour first

• Win a Jericho Cruise Trip
• Album Release Calendar
• Festival Guide

Whatever Happened to the Bands From Warped Tour’s First Lineup?

The year was 1995. Lollapalooza was already ruling the roost as a major touring festival capitalizing on the popularity of the alternative music scene at the time. The H.O.R.D.E. tour had also found some success focusing on a more roots-based lineup of acts since starting in 1992. And Ozzfest was still a year away from happening. But there was a new tour ready to get underway, one that focused on a more underground lineup of acts: The Warped Tour .

Concert promoter Kevin Lyman worked in connection with Ray Woodbury, Warp Magazine and CAA to develop the festival that was initially aimed at targeting punk music fans and tying in with skateboarding and extreme sports culture.

The first Warped Tour kicked off June 21, 1995 in Boise, Idaho, wrapping just shy of two months later on Aug. 18, 1995 in Detroit, Michigan. It would not only feature punk acts, but also included acts with hardcore, reggae, ska and grunge roots, with a few big name acts using the festival as a springboard into a bigger career. Fans were also treated to pro skating, boarding and biking exhibitions with a monster halfpipe, a giant climbing wall and other forms of entertainment.

So who rocked the initial Warped Tour, helping to launch the “punk rock summer camp” tradition? Find out what happened to the bands from the first Warped Tour lineup below.

Where Were Quicksand Before Warped Tour? 

The four-piece of Walter Schreifels, Tom Capone, Sergio Vega and Alan Cage were one of the buzziest bands on the Warped Tour, turning heads with their post-hardcore gem Slip in 1993. With a new album just released in February 1995, the Warped Tour offered them a chance to grow their audience and turn people on to the Manic Compression album, sometimes as the top billed act on the tour.

Where Were Quicksand After?

Sadly, for fans of the band, Quicksand’s run ended shortly after the Warped Tour concluded. The group split in October of 1995 while dealing with internal conflict in the band. Oddly enough, the Warped Tour provided a landing point for a few of the members with Schreifels producing music for Warped mates CIV and Cage joining another Warped act Seaweed. Years later, Vega would play bass for another inaugural Warped act, Deftones.

A reunion would follow in 1998 with an attempt at a new album, but tensions arose again with the group once again splitting before any material was released.

A decade would pass before Quicksand would enter the conversation again, this time reuniting for a Revelation Records 25th anniversary show in 2012. More shows followed, then a full-fledged tour, and by 2017 they were once again working on new material. The 2017 album Interiors and its 2021 follow-up Distant Populations were both critically praised efforts.

Where Were L7 Before Warped Tour?

At the time the Warped Tour arrived, they might have been the most recognizable band on the bill. L7 kicked off their career with 1988’s self-titled album and 1990’s Smell the Magic , but really saw their career take off with alt-rock’s emergence and their 1992 Bricks are Heavy album, featuring the breakout single “Pretend We’re Dead.” They issued the critically hailed follow-up Hungry for Stink in 1994 and were over a year into touring the record when Warped began.

Where Were L7 After?

The band’s fortunes started to fade as the grunge era came to its conclusion. L7 issued The Beauty Process: Triple Platinum in 1997 and Slap-Happy in 1999 to diminishing returns. In 2001, they announced their “indefinite hiatus,” with the members splintering off into other projects. But in 2014, they reformed with the core ‘90s lineup of Donita Sparks, Suzi Gardner, Jennifer Finch and Demetra Plakas. By 2019, a new album was issued titled Scatter the Rats . They remain active, having played a 30th anniversary tour in support of Bricks Are Heavy in 2022.

No Use for a Name

Where Were No Use for a Name Before Warped Tour?

After releasing Incognito in 1990 and Don’t Miss the Train in 1992, No Use for a Name dropped Leche Con Carne in February. An opening slot on The Offspring’s Smash tour and the Warped Tour invite helped to raise their profile at the time.

Where Were No Used for a Name After?

The prolific punk outfit had a wealth of lineup changes over the course of their career, but it never slowed them down. They issued nine albums over an 18-year period, including five after their first Warped Tour run. But the band came to its conclusion in 2012 with the death of longtime guitarist and vocalist Tony Sly. They’ve reunited for two one-off performances since then under the moniker No Use and Friends.

Where Were No Doubt Before Warped Tour?

Wait a minute, weren’t No Doubt a huge band? Not at the time that Warped Tour came about. They struggled out of the gate with 1992’s self-titled debut, enough so that they had to self-record and independently put out their sophomore set, The Beacon Street Collection , in early 1995 just to get Interscope back on board to let them record the Tragic Kingdom< album that would be their commercial breakout. Warped Tour gave them a proving ground, with “Just a Girl” arriving a month after the tour concluded with the Tragic Kingdom album following two months removed from Warped.

Where Were No Doubt After?

Warped definitely provided a springboard for No Doubt, whose Tragic Kingdom album would yield seven big singles over the next three years en route to a diamond certification in the U.S.

The band would score another hit record with 2000’s Return of Saturn album, would have a soundtrack hit with “New” from the movie Go and would lean into dancehall, electro pop and new wave influences on 2001’s Rock Steady album.

With a string of alt-rock and pop crossover hits, No Doubt dropped a greatest hits album in 2003 and took a hiatus in 2004 where singer Gwen Stefani then emerged as a solo star in the pop world. A reunion and work on a new album followed in 2008 with the record titled Push and Shove finally coming to fruition in 2012. Another hiatus followed, with the band playing shows sparingly. Stefani continued her solo career and appeared as a coach on NBC’s The Voice in recent years.  Her No Doubt bandmates formed Dreamcar with AFI’s Davey Havok and recorded an album. At present, No Doubt remains inactive.

Where Were Sublime Before Warped Tour?

Sublime had a strong following in their native Southern California and their ska-punk sounds felt like a natural fit for Warped Tour. At this point in their career, they had turned heads with their 1992 debut, 40oz. To Freedom , featuring the songs “Date Rape,” “Badfish” and “Smoke Two Joints.” but their 1994 follow-up Robbin’ the Hood yielded no singles and was largely overlooked.

Where Were Sublime After?

Sublime’s biggest success and biggest tragedy would follow their appearance on the 1995 Warped Tour. With a major label behind them for the first time, they entered the studio in early 1996 to record a self-titled album, but sadly singer Bradley Nowell died of a heroin overdose in May 1996, shortly after recording for the album had been completed and ahead of its scheduled release.

That self-titled album yielded the band’s biggest single, “What I Got,” as well as “Santeria,” “Wrong Way” and “Doin’ Time,” all alt-rock radio hits.

With Nowell’s death, the group essentially disbanded with a number of posthumous releases coming out in the years that followed. Eric Wilson and Bud Gaugh formed the Long Beach Dub Allstars in 1997, but the group disbanded in 2002.

In 2009, Wilson and Gaugh reunited for a show with a new vocalist, Rome Ramirez, but a lawsuit was brought by Nowell’s family to prevent the trio’s continued use of the Sublime name. Eventually, the trio continued by calling themselves Sublime With Rome. They’ve since recorded a trio of albums, though Gaugh would leave the group in 2011.

Where Were CIV Before Warped Tour?

CIV were essentially newcomers in 1995, though Anthony Civarelli, Sammy Siegler and Arthur Smillos had previously played in the band Gorilla Biscuits. Warped Tour gave the band their launching point, with their debut full-length album Set Your Goals arriving two months after Warped finished.

Where Were CIV After?

The band scored their lone hit with “Can’t Wait One Minute More” off the Set Your Goals album when it arrived in October 1995. They returned with 1998’s Thirteen Day Getaway and then disbanded in 2000. A compilation of their music was released in 2009, and they’ve played a few scattered one-off reunion shows in the years since their final studio album.

Where Were Deftones Before Warped Tour?

Once again, you think of Deftones being a major rock band, but in 1995, they were truly just starting out. Their debut album, Adrenaline , wouldn’t be released until October 1995, so Warped Tour was their introduction for a lot of fans attending the new festival that year.

Where Were Deftones After?

Deftones quickly made a name for themselves with their crushing sounds and ferocious performances. The songs “7 Words” and “Bored” got word of mouth rolling on their debut album. Their 1997 album Around the Fur continued to build the buzz thanks to the hard-hitting singles “My Own Summer (Shove It)” and “Be Quiet and Drive (Far Away),” but it was the 2000 White Pony album that truly put them on the map with alt-rock radio.

The band remained a strong presence through the 2000s with a self-titled album and Saturday Night Wrist but tragedy struck in 2008 as bassist Chi Cheng suffered a brain injury following a car accident. The band shelved their Eros record they had been working on, while Cheng remained in a minimally conscious state for several years. The bassist would eventually die in 2013 after falling into cardiac arrest.

Eventually deciding to move forward, the band recruited Quicksand’s Sergio Vega to fill in for Cheng, and they released one of their most powerful albums to date with 2010’s Diamond Eyes . The 2010s were a particularly epic period for the band, finding success with Koi No Yokan , Gore and 2020’s Ohms albums. They remain one of hard rock’s top bands.

READ MORE: Whatever Happened to the Acts From Ozzfest's First Lineup?

Face to Face

Where Were Face to Face Before Warped Tour?

Face to Face were still on the rise when the Warped Tour arrived in 1995. Their 1992 debut album, Don’t Turn Away , garnered the attention of Fat Wreck Chords, who re-released it a year later. They went through a similar situation with their sophomore set, 1995’s Big Choice , which was initially released by Victory Records before A&M picked it up for a re-release. Both their first two albums featured the standout song “Disconnected,” which started to garner radio play giving them some recognition leading into the festival.

Where Were Face to Face After?

The band never quite hit it big, but remained a prolific recording act with a strong live show in the years after the Warped Tour. They recorded five more albums before going on hiatus in 2003 and disbanding a year later after announcing a farewell tour.

The split wouldn’t be forever though, as the group reunited in 2008 and have released five more records in the years since.

Good Riddance

Where Were Good Riddance Before Warped Tour?

The Santa Cruz-based hardcore punk outfit were new to the scene in 1995, having just released their debut album, For God and Country , in February of 1995 with Fat Mike of NOFX and the head of their label Fat Wreck Chords serving as one of the producers.

Where Were Good Riddance After?

Good Riddance have endured through a pretty steady career. They’ve recorded nine studio albums total, including that 1995 debut album. There have been a handful of lineup changes over the years, and the group actually split in 2007 before deciding to reunite five years later in 2012 and record two more albums in the years since they got back together.

Guttermouth

Where Were Guttermouth Before Warped Tour?

Guttermouth had already established themselves as a raucous and often outrageous act by the time they reached the Warped Tour in 1995. They were two albums into their career, currently touring off of 1994’s Friendly People sophomore set.

Where Were Guttermouth After?

Guttermouth recorded seven more studio albums after their inaugural Warped Tour run in 1995, though their last release was 2006’s Shave the Planet record. They continued to tour in the years since, taking a hiatus in 2013, but returning with a reformed lineup in 2015.

The band did have some issues with Warped Tour in 2004, insulting some of the other acts on the bill and openly mocking what they viewed as uniformed political commentary from some acts. After several weeks they were asked to leave the tour. Singer Mark Adkins issued a statement apologizing to Kevin Lyman and revealing they had left the tour voluntarily, admitting his distaste for the political atmosphere surrounding the festival.

Sick of It All

Where Were Sick of It All Before Warped Tour?

The New York-based hardcore act Sick of It All had three albums under their belt in 1995, the most recent being the aggressive 1994 effort Scratch the Surface , featuring the title track and “Step Down.”

Where Were Sick of It All After?

Over time, Sick of It All earned a reputation as one of the most respected hardcore acts going. They’ve recorded nine more studio albums since that Warped Tour appearance in 1995, with the most recent being 2018’s Wake the Sleeping Dragon . They are the rare act that hasn’t split or endured a long hiatus at any point over the course of their career.

Where Were Tilt Before Warped Tour?

Tilt enjoyed a solid debut with their 1993 album Play Cell , and they looked primed for a big jump after opening for Green Day on the Dookie Tour in 1994. The sophomore set, Til It Kills , arrived in the spring of 1995, just ahead of the Warped Tour.

Where Were Tilt After?

The band recorded two more studio albums — 1998’s Collect ‘Em All and 1999’s Viewers Like You — for Fat Wreck Chords before calling it quits. A split briefly occurred in 1996, but they reunited in 1997. They’ve since played a pair of reunion shows, one of which was a Fat Wreck Chords 25th anniversary in 2015 and the second came in 2017 at the famous 924 Gilman Street venue in San Francisco where they got their start.

Where Were Wizo Before Warped Tour?

Germans do punk too! In fact, Wizo had three studio albums already in their homeland and a fourth, titled Herrenhandtasche set to arrive just after the Warped Tour concluded in 1995.

Where Were Wizo After?

Wizo primarily opted for 7” singles and EP offerings in the years after Warped Tour. They did make a name for themselves in the music industry in 2004 by being the first act to issue a single (known as the Sick EP) on USB flash drive. Later that year they issued the Anderster album, before deciding to call it quits a few months later in early 2005.

They reunited in 2009 and tour in 2010. They’ve since released two more studio albums and issued the single “Grauer Brei" in May of 2023, marking their first new music in five years.

The Ziggens

Where Were The Ziggens Before Warped Tour?

1995 was a big year for self-proclaimed “cowpunksurfabilly” band The Ziggens. After three previous records, the Huntington Beach rockers dropped a pair of albums in 1995 — Chicken Out! and Pit Stop .

Where Were The Ziggens After Warped Tour?

The band kept up a pretty hectic recording schedule into the early 2000s, issuing six more albums before signing off with their 2003 Greatest Zits: 1990-2003 compilation. The group eventually reactivated, returning to the studio and recording their Oregon album in 2021.

Who Else Was on Warped Tour’s Inaugural 1995 Lineup?

As with most years of Warped, there was a wealth of acts participating in the first year and we didn't get to all of them. It would grow even bigger in subsequent years. But some of the other acts who played the inaugural Warped Tour year include Lagwagon, Orange 9mm, Seaweed, Swingin’ Utters, Sense Field, Blue Meanies, The Grabbers, Fluf, Alligator Gun, D.G.T., Dimestore Hoods, Integrity, Into Another, The Lordz of Brooklyn, Mung, Protein, Red Five, Shyster, Supernova, Tree and Your Mom.

The initial Warped also played host to skating and extreme sports exhibitions from Steve Alba, Neil Hendrix, Remy Stratton, Angie Walton and more.

What Happened to Warped Tour After 1995? 

Warped Tour just continued to get bigger and evolve after its initial run. The Vans shoe company would become its major sponsor for the remainder of its run. While punk remained a staple throughout, emo and metalcore acts began to populate the lineup in the early 2000s.

Blink-182, 311, A Day to Remember, AFI, All-American Rejects, All Time Low, Anti-Flag, Bad Religion, Dropkick Murphys, Every Time I Die, Falling in Reverse, Good Charlotte, Less Than Jake, Motionless in White, Motion City Soundtrack, New Found Glory, NOFX, Paramore, Pennywise, Reel Big Fish, Silverstein, Simple Plan, Sleeping With Sirens, Sum 41, Thrice, Underoath, The Used, The Vandals and Yellowcard were among the acts who played the festival the most times.

And where some of the other ‘90s festivals went through dry periods over the next decade, Warped Tour kept it going as a touring festival through 2018. The traveling Warped Tour ended in 2018 . The Warped brand also expanded to include tours of Australia and events in Mexico and Japan. Plus there was a Warped Rewind Cruise at Sea in 2017.

After the 2018 tour, Kevin Lyman announced that there would be a 25th Anniversary Warped Tour celebration taking place in three locations — Cleveland, Atlantic City and Mountain View — in 2019. It now holds the record for the longest touring music festival run in U.S. history.

50 Greatest Pop-Punk Albums of All-Time

More from loudwire.

• All Warped Tour Lineups, Ranked
• Strange Rules at Burning Man
• All Coachella Years, Ranked
• People You See at Every Festival
• The World's Greatest Music Festivals
• The Timeline of Fyre Festival
• Firsthand Tales from Woodstock
• Tips & Tricks for Sneaking In
• The Worst True Festival Clichés
• What Was Woodstock Really Like?
• Tips for a Legendary Experience
• How Altamont Ruined Everything
• The Best EDM Festivals
• The Best Country Music Festivals
• Things to Bring to Every Festival
• Dead Musicians to See as Holograms
• Best Drugs to Take at Coachella
• 15 Legendary Coachella Performances, Ranked By ...
• The 15 Best Headliners At Coachella, Ranked
• 14 Of The Best Music Festival Band Reunions, Ra...

All 25 Warped Tour Lineups, Ranked

Vote up the Warped Tour lineups that make you wish you had front-row seats.

Warped Tour is one of the biggest names in the concert canon. Those who haven't gone want to and those who have gone wait for the day they can go again. For a majority of its run, it was the largest traveling music festival in the United States. A number of past Warped Tour lineups have been impressive, but which year was the best? Help decide below! 

Starting as an eclectic alternative rock festival in 1995 and gradually morphing into a punk rock festival by the next year, the tour gained momentum when Vans, the wildly popular shoe manufacturer, was signed on as the tour's main sponsor in 1996. As Warped Tour became increasingly popular with each passing year, more sponsors signed on, slowly growing the tour's scope of influence. Sadly, 2018 proved to be the final year of the famous tour as announced by Warped Tour's founder, Kevin Lyman. 

You'll find every Warped Tour lineup here! Vote below on the best Warped Tour lineups, keeping in mind factors like the bands performing, production value, and overall spectacle. If you're an avid concert-goer, you can also check out this list of the best Coachella lineups ! (Disclaimer - some years certain dates had slightly different lineups). 

Warped Tour 2005

• Warped Tour

Notable Peformers: My Chemical Romance, Fall Out Boy, Thrice, Billy Idol, The All-American Rejects, Bowling for Soup, Dropkick Murphys, Hawthorne Heights

Dates: June 18 to August 14

Warped Tour 2004

Notable Performers: NOFX, My Chemical Romance, The Used, Fall Out Boy, Billy Talent, Yellowcard, Motion City Soundtrack, New Found Glory, Good Charlotte, Anti-Flag, Bowling for Soup 

Dates:  June 25 to August 19

Warped Tour 1999

Notable Performers: Cypress Hill, Blink-182, Dropkick Murphys, Pennywise, Black Eyed Peas, Suicidal Tendencies, Less Than Jake, Bouncing Souls

Dates:  June 25 to July 31

Warped Tour 1998

Notable Performers:  Bad Religion, Godsmack, Rancid, Less Than Jake, Blink-182, Beck (some dates), Unwritten Law, Reverend Horton Heat, Incubus 

Date:  July 4 to August 9

Warped Tour 2000

Notable Performers:  Weezer, Flogging Molly, Green Day, Anti-Flag, No Doubt, Papa Roach, The Muffs, Suicide Machines, NOFX, Good Riddance

Dates: June 23 to August 6

Warped Tour 2007

Notable Performers:  Bad Religion, Pennywise, Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, Killswitch Engage, Yellowcard, Ambelin, Flogging Molly, Hawthorne Heights

Dates:  June 28 to August 25

Warped Tour 1997

Notable Performers:  Blink-182, Reel Big Fish, Descendants, Less Than Jake, Sugar Ray, Pennywise, Social Distortion, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones 

Dates:  July 2 to August 5

Warped Tour 2001

Notable Performers:  Pennywise, New Found Glory, Dropkick Murphys, The Vandals, Sum 41, Rancid, Less Than Jake, The All-American Rejects, Good Charlotte 

Dates:  June 29 to August 12

Warped Tour 2006

Notable Performers: Joan Jett and the Blackhearts,   Less Than Jake, The Academy Is..., Anti-Flag, Billy Talent, Motion City Soundtrack, Paramore, Rise Against, NOFX

Dates:  June 15 to August 13

Warped Tour 1995

Notable Performers:  Sublime, No Doubt, Quicksand, Fluf, Deftones, No Use for a Name, Supernova, CIV, Deftones

Dates: August 4 to September 5

Warped Tour 2018

Notable Performers:  Korn, Prophets of Rage, Limp Bizkit, Reel Big Fish, Pennywise, All Time Low, Taking Back Sunday, We The Kings

Dates:  June 21 to August 5

Warped Tour 2011

Notable Performers:  Paramore, Jack's Mannequin, Bowling for Soup, Relient K, MC Lars, Less Than Jake, Anti-Flag, Simple Plan 

Dates:  June 24 to August 14

Warped Tour 2002

Notable Performers: New Found Glory, Simple Plan, Flogging Molly, Anti-Flag, Reel Big Fish, Yellowcard, Goldfinger, NOFX, Jimmy Eat World, Bad Religion, Good Charlotte

Dates:  June 21 to August 18

Warped Tour 2003

Notable Performers:  The Ataris, Dropkick Murphys, Rancid, The Used, Pennywise, Less than Jake, Suicide Machines, Andrew W.K., Yellowcard, Glassjaw 

Dates: June 19 to August 10

Warped Tour 2008

Notable Performers:  Katy Perry, Amberlin, Jack's Mannequin, Angels and Airwaves, Reel Big Fish, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Broadway Calls, The Devil Wears Prada 

Dates:  June 20 to August 17

Warped Tour 2016

Notable Performers:  Falling In Reverse, Less Than Jake, Good Charlotte, Sleeping With Sirens, New Found Glory, Yellowcard, Ghost Town, Bad Seed Rising, We The Kings

Dates:  June 24 to August 13

Warped Tour 1996

Notable Performers:  Fishbone, Pennywise, CIV, Rocket From The Crypt, Dance Hall Crashers, Down By Law, The Figgs, Guttermouth, Blink-182, Fluf, Red 5, Sensefield, Far 

Date:  July 4 to August 8

Warped Tour 2019

Warped Tour 2013

Notable Performers: Chiodos, New Beat Fund, Gin Wigmore, MC Lars, Craig Owens, Dia Frampton, Charlotte Sometimes, Big Chocolate, Echosmith, Motion City Soundtrack, Reel Big Fish 

Dates:  July 15 to August 4

Warped Tour 2009

Notable Performers:  Less Than Jake, Underoath, Bad Religion,  T.S.O.L., The Adolescents, Sing it Loud, TAT

Dates:  June 26 to August 23

Warped Tour 2010

Notable Performers:  Alkaline Trio, Motion City Soundtrack, Anti-Flag, Dropkick Murphys, Andrew W.K., Penny Wise, Reel Big Fish, The All-American Rejects, Suicide Silence, We The Kings

Dates:  June 25 to August 15

Warped Tour 2012

Notable Performers:  Falling in Reverse, The Used, Yellowcard, Dead Sara, Rise Against, Yellowcard, MC Laws, Machine Gun Kelly, Anti-Flag

Date:  June 16 to August 5

Warped Tour 2014

Notable Performers:  Breathe Carolina, Falling in Reverse, Mayday Parade, Less Than Jake, We The Kings, Yellowcard, The Ghost Inside, The Mighty, Finch

Dates:  June 13 to August 3

Warped Tour 2017

Notable Performers:   Andy Black, Beartooth, Dance Gavin Dance, I Prevail, New Years Day, Falling In Reverse, Streetlight Manifesto, Neck Deep

Date: May 27 to November 1

Warped Tour 2015

Notable Performers:  As It Is, Bebe Rexha, New Years Day, Knuckle Puck, Metro Station, Candy Hearts, Motion City Soundtrack, Memphis May Fire 

Dates:  June 19 to October 18

Lists about the phenomena of the summer music festival - who to see, how to dress, and what to expect beyond heat, crowds, and bigger crowds.

75 Warped Tour acts that made the tour legendary

• Published: Jul. 18, 2018, 7:05 a.m.
• Anne Nickoloff and Troy Smith, Cleveland.com

Bryan Bedder

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Over 20 years, countless bands have played parking lots to amphitheaters on the Vans Warped Tour.

For much of that time, Warped has carried the torch for traveling rock festivals. Though, all good things must come to an end.

In honor of this year being the final for the Warped Tour, we look at the 75 acts that made it so hard to say goodbye.

Kevin Winter

1. Paramore

Paramore is a Warped Tour success story. The band started at the small female-fronted Shiragirl stage in 2005 with its first-ever tour and grew to become one of the biggest headliners in its subsequent five Warped Tour performances.

Paramore’s sound has undoubtedly changed over the years, but some of its most iconic releases (2005’s “All We Know Is Falling,” 2007’s “Riot!” and 2009’s “Brand New Eyes”) all arrive during the band’s punky Warped Tour years.

Johanna Leguerre

2. Simple Plan

Simple Plan has played Warped Tour a dozen times, making the trek an essential part of the Canadian band's career, from its rise in the early 2000s to its recent resurgence.

Jason Merritt

3. Blink-182

There is no band more responsible for the popularity of the music featured year after year on the Warped Tour than Blink-182. The band only played the tour four times, but you could find copycat on the bill every year that followed.

Combining elements of skate punk, ska, hardcore and punk, NOFX has been one of the steadiest presences on Warped going all the way back to its early years. The band has served as a must-see on the tour seven times.

5. New Found Glory

What would a summertime party be in the 2000s without some New Found Glory? The band’s fun pop-punk songs and exuberance earned it multiple headlining spots on Warped Tour.

6. Less Than Jake

Although Less Than Jake has performed at Warped Tour 10 times, nothing can tire out the ska-punk band. With colorful outfits, inflatable balls and boundless energy, Less Than Jake has always had a ton of fun on the summer tour.

Atilla Kisbenedek

Sum 41 has a unique Warped Tour. At its peak, the band was one of the most popular acts on the tour. Then things fell apart. But Sum 41's comeback has been staged on the tour the past few years, which has been great to see.

Marsaili McGrath

8. Motion City Soundtrack

Half of Motion City Soundtrack’s lifespan as a band existed in Warped Tour. The band was around for about 20 years and it played the tour for 10 of them, becoming a staple on the lineup.

Mauricio Santana

9. Bad Religion

As pioneers of the pop punk genre, it was essential to have Bad Religion as part of Warped. And the band delivered, performing six times, including two spots ni during important late 1990s runs.

Tina Fineberg

10. Yellowcard

When it comes to stage acrobatics, few Warped Tour bands could beat Yellowcard. Every show, audiences knew to wait for violinist Sean Mackin’s backflips.

Laura Roberts

11. All Time Low

All Time Low burst onto the Warped Tour scene in 2007, but quickly earned fans around the country with its fresh pop-punk sound. The newcomer quickly became a staple for Warped Tour, going on to perform five different fests.

12. Pennywise

Pennywise joined punk acts of Green Day, Rancid, Bad Religion and Blink-182 in gaining mainstream success during the 1990s. Pennywise spread that out over nine warped tours, more than any of those aforementioned acts.

13. Deftones

Deftones were an important addition during the Warped Tour's early run, offering up another name act as the tour was just beginning to take off.

John Davisson

14. Reel Big Fish

It’s hard not to dance at a Reel Big Fish show. The ska-punk band’s infectious, horn-driven sound fits right in with Warped Tour’s punky roots.

It's okay if you've never heard of CIV. Just know they've influenced a ton of punk acts and played Warped three of its first five years.

16. Bowling For Soup

Angsty kids had a soundtrack with Bowling For Soup in the 1990s. Songs like “1985,” “High School Never Ends” and “Girl All The Bad Guys Want” are humorous reminders of the rebellious days of ‘90s kids. The band has continued to play Warped Tour past its heyday, performing throwback tunes for eager fans.

17. Face to Face

Another early Warped pioneer, Face to Face played two of the first three years of the festival. And the California punk band was a solid draw during that time thanks to its hit "Disconnected."

Imeh Akpanudosen

18. Anti-Flag

Anti-Flag has been one of the steadiest acts on Warped during the 21st century, playing the tour no less than 10 times and giving the tour a political charge.

Robb D. Cohen

19. Silverstein

Silversten were a product (influence wise) of several popular Warped acts of the 90s. That made the Canadian post-hardcore outfit a force on the tour nine times, from 2004 to this farewell trip.

20. Katy Perry

Katy Perry played Warped Tour just one year -- 2008. But she made quite the impact. With her single "I Kissed a Girl" No. 1 on the charts, Perry routinely drew the biggest crowds. Another fact: She was dating Gym Class Heroes frontman Travis McCoy at the time and he would carry her out on stage.

Mark Metcalfe

21. Motionless In White

Goth kids can rock, too. And Motionless In White has long catered to the audience members wearing all black on a hot summer day. The gothic metal band has played its heavy, dark music on Warped Tour nine different times.

Noel Vasquez

22. Flogging Molly

Celtic punk band Flogging Molly is one of the biggest leaders of the genre in America. The band played its dancey rock songs to Warped Tour a whopping seven times.

23. The Used

There was a stretch where the emo/screamo sound of The Used was as good a draw as any act on Warped Tour. The band's early albums remain essential parts of canon.

24. The Ataris

The Ataris became the true boys of summer the six times they played Warped Tour. The emo pop band formed in 1996, but continues to tour today (and even played Warped last summer).

25. Green Day

What a treat it was to have Green Day, the band that feels like the godfather of every Warped act, on the tour in 2000.

26. Mayday Parade

Emo rock band Mayday Parade are on Warped Tour’s lineup again for 2018, and it’ll be the seventh time it has played the fest. Fans always eagerly await the band’s best-known hits like “Jamie All Over,” “Miserable At Best” and “Terrible Things.”

From the late 1990s to early 2000s, MxPx spent every other year on the Warped Tour, making itself at home and adding to the tour's skate-punk vibe.

28. Avenged Sevenfold

As Avenged Sevenfold got bigger and bigger in the early 2000s, Warped Tour became the place where fans could enjoy the act in a live setting.

Charles Sykes

29. Fall Out Boy

Fall Out Boy played Warped Tour twice, in 2004 and 2005, before it grew too large for the fest. The band’s 2005 album “From Under The Cork Tree” started snowballing fame for Fall Out Boy that continues today, creating top hits that have crossed over into mainstream success.

Scott Gries

Before Eminem took the world by storm, he played Warped Tour. Yes, you read that right. The Real Slim Shady drew massive crowds in 1999. He would soon get too big to ever return.

31. Good Charlotte

Brothers Joel and Benji Madden have led Good Charlotte into pop-punk stardom since its formation in 1996. The band only played Warped Tour four times, but often led the fest in high headlining spots.

32. The Mighty Mighty Bosstones

Thanks to bands like The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Warped Tour always had a diverse feel to it. It wasn't just about post-hardcore or pop punk, giving ska rockers the chance to shine as well.

33. Chiodos

Chiodos were one of the defining bands of the pop-screamo subgenre, and it mashed together the energetic, melodic rhythms of emo pop, with vocalist Craig Owens’ hellish screams bringing a heavier element. The result: prime tunes for Warped Tour mosh pits.

Duane Prokop

34. A Day to Remember

Warped Tour can be a rowdy day, and that’s especially true with A Day To Remember. The metalcore band had a way of riling up its audience all five times it played the festival.

35. Dropkick Murphys

Infusing traditional Celtic songs with punk rock, Dropkick Murphys added some flavor to Warped Tour’s lineup the five times it participated.

36. We The Kings

Songs like “Check Yes, Juliet” and “Skyway Avenue” are basically Warped Tour anthems. That’s because We The Kings’ infectious, upbeat energy were a fixture in seven different tours.

Chung Sung-Jun

37. Story of the Year

Story of the Year spent most of its time on Warped Tour in the early 2000s, establishing itself as a star of the lineup. The band had just released its hit songs like “Until The Day I Die,” “Anthem Of Our Dying Day” and “And The Hero Will Drown.”

38. The Maine

The Maine formed in 2007, but its first big step into the alternative rock scene was with the 2008 and 2009 Warped Tours. The band released its first album, “Can’t Stop Won’t Stop” in 2008, and has gone on to release five more successful albums since then.

Kellie Warren

39. The All-American Rejects

Only a handful of Warped Tour acts have been crossover success in the mainstream music world, and The All-American Rejects are one of them. The band’s songs “Dirty Little Secret,” “It Ends Tonight” and “Move Along” all became famous after its time on Warped Tour.

40. Sleeping With Sirens

Kellin Quinn, the singer of Sleeping With Sirens, is one of the most talented voices in emo rock, with soaring vocals and scratchy growls. He debuted on Warped Tour in 2012, just a couple of years after forming Sleeping With Sirens, and played the fest for five years straight until 2016.

Peter Kramer

Anytime Thrice was on Warped Tour, the band was a big draw. It's complex style brought solid musicianship to the tour and allowed fans to watch the evolution of a band that wasn't afraid to switch things up.

42. Taking Back Sunday

When emo music started to rise up in the 2000s, Taking Back Sunday was one of the most popular bands. Songs like “MakeDamnSure,” “Liar” and “Cute Without The ‘E’” helped to define the genre, and also to define Warped Tour’s distinct sound.

43. Sublime

Sublime co-headlined the second Warped Tour, which was the first time the tour went full-on coast to coast. The band quickly earned a reputation for its naughty behavior, but remained a huge draw.

A mainstay int he West Coast punk rock scene of the early 1990s, Fluf supported Warped during two of the the first three years and helped shape the pop-punk sound.

45. Black Veil Brides

Originally, Black Veil Brides rocked out with big hair, black makeup and tight black outfits, bringing a throwback glam metal vibe to metal music. Over the years, the band has toned down its style a bit, but continued to release heavy, dark music that’s a hit at Warped.

46. Every Time I Die

Since the early 2000s, Every Time I Die has been involved in mini Warped Tour shows. But it wasn’t until 2006 that the band took on a full summer of intense concerts. Since then, the band has played Warped Tour regularly, and is currently on the final fest tour.

47. The Starting Line

One of the most beloved pop-punk acts of all time, The Starting Line played Warped four times during the band's peak period.

Barry Brecheisen

L7 gave girl-rock a face during Warped's early years, helping set the stage for future acts like Paramore and New Years Day.

49. Senses Fail

Senses Fail has played Warped Tour six different times, and the lineup was different many of those times. Yet, despite the turbulence in the band, singer Buddy Nielsen always put on a show, leaping around on the stage with endless energy.

50. No Doubt

It can be hard for a tour to get big acts early on. Fortunately, No Doubt hadn't quite blown up when it played the festival. Gwen Stefani and company would return in 2000 for just one show.

51. Pierce The Veil

Over a decade ago, Pierce The Veil burst onto the emo rock scene, and moved its way up the ranks in Warped Tour. The band started off by playing just one date in 2007, then ended up on the fest’s main stage for the full tour in 2012.

52. Sick of It All

Hardcore rock band Sick of It All played Warped early on but didn't forget its roots. The band returned last year for a standout run.

53. My Chemical Romance

Many Warped Tour fans were hoping My Chemical Romance would reunite to play 2018’s festival. Unfortunately the band, which broke up in 2013, isn’t getting back together any time soon. Yet, MCR’s two performances on Warped Tour were impressionable enough to leave fans begging for more.

54. New Year's Day

When it comes to fans, New Years Day beats a lot of other Warped acts. The band’s fans go all-out with a massive crowd wearing mostly black. At Warped, girls and women can also be seen rocking the half-red, half-black hair pattern made famous by singer Ash Costello.

55. Gym Class Heroes

Gym Class Heroes scored a series of hits in the 2000s and played them live at Warped, giving the tour a steady hip-hop presence.

56. Quicksand

Post-hardcore act Quicksand served as one of the standouts on the first Warped Tour. However, the long trek proved too much for the band who wound up breaking up soon after.

57. Falling In Reverse

Bad-boy singer Ronnie Radke has been in the public eye for several run-ins with the law, at one point serving over two years in prison. That was where he started working on Falling In Reverse, a band that’s played Warped Tour a total of six times and has garnered one of the biggest fanbases of modern metalcore music.

58. Alkaline Trio

Stephen Shugerman

59. Something Corporate

Fronted by pianist and singer Andrew McMahon, Something Corporate put out poppy rock songs that pumped up the crowd all three times the band played Warped Tour. The band was only around regularly for six years, until McMahon continued on with his other band Jack’s Mannequin.

60. Andrew W.K.

Andrew W.K. can pretty much play any kind of festival. But when he brings his wacky set to Warped Tour, it's a one of a kind experience.

Rob Grabowski

61. Dillinger Escape Plan

Don't sleep on metal at Warped Tour. Bands like Dillinger Escape plan have brought their complex mathcore to Warped multiple times.

62. No Use For Name

As one of the most seasoned acts on Warped Tour during the 20th century, No Use For a Name transitioned from hardcore punk to a more melodic sound over the years.

As one of the essential punk rock acts of the 1990s, you knew Rancid would make this list. Tim Armstrong and his trademark guitar joined the tour just three times. But each run was memorable.

64. The Vandals

The Vandals are best known as one of the first rock bands to incorporate turntables into its sound. The band was a steady force on Warped Tour during its peak.

65. Bouncing Souls

Bouncing Souls doesn't get enough credit for its influence on various punk genres 1990s. But anyone who saw the band during at least one of its six Warped appearances knows just how good they were.

Roger Kisby

66. Coheed and Cambria

Coheed and Cambria played Warped three times. But each time the band stood out. Coheed's technical musicianship was unlike anything else at Warped but its bouncy collection of hits was enough to draw impressive crowds.

Astrid Stawiarz

67. Plain White T's

Plain White T’s only played Warped Tour twice. However, the band spiced up the loud, punky event with a softer side, with songs like “Hey There Delilah” and “Rhythm Of Love.”

Karl Walter

68. Underoath

Underoath was a huge part of Warped Tour during the mid-2000s. The band returns to say goodbye in 2018.

Matt Winkelmeyer

69. Saves the Day

Saves The Day formed while singer and guitarist Chris Conley was still in high school, but the band’s sound quickly matured in the form of two full-length albums in the late 1990s. The band’s unique hardcore sound propelled them onto Warped Tour three different times in the festival’s history.

Ethan Miller

70. Unwritten Law

Unwritten Law has toured a lot since the early 1990s and the band has managed to make Warped a part of that four times.

71. Glassjaw

Unfortunately, Glassjaw didn't play Warped Tour during its early years. But the band more than made up for it when it finally joined the tour for a raucous showcase, twice in the mid-2000s.

Katie Darby

72. Four Year Strong

Four Year Strong? More like 17 years strong at this point. The post-hardcore band puts out intense, aggressive music that gets mosh pits going at Warped Tour. Four Year Strong has played the festival six times, including this current summer.

73. Neck Deep

Neck Deep has played a huge role in the more recent pop-punk revival, creating popular albums since 2012’s “Rain In July.” It’s brought that refreshed sound to Warped Tour four different times with massive audiences full of fans.

74. Rise Against

No stranger to any kind of rock showcase, Rise Against's brand of melodic hardcore felt at home all four times the band hit the stage at Warped.

75. Bayside

Bayside has a knack for putting out the catchiest punk and emo songs, like “Sick, Sick, Sick” and “Devotion And Desire.” Those songs proved popular with the Warped Tour crowd—Bayside went on Warped Tour four different times, and frontman Anthony Raneri played the fest one additional time as a solo artist.

• | Privacy Policy
• | User Agreement

Use of and/or registration on any portion of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement , (updated 8/1/2024) and acknowledgement of our Privacy Policy , and Your Privacy Choices and Rights (updated 7/1/2024).

© 2024 Advance Local Media LLC. All rights reserved ( About Us ). The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Advance Local.

Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site.

YouTube's privacy policy is available here and YouTube's terms of service is available here .

THANK YOU FOR 25 YEARS!

VANS WARPED TOUR

25 Years of Warped Tour | EP 1: When Kevin Lyman Met Steve Van Doren

25 Years of Warped Tour | EP 2: Skate Culture

25 Years of Warped Tour | EP 4: No Room For Rockstars

25 Years of Warped Tour | EP 3: They Played Warped?!

©2019 CCRL, LLC

• Statistics Stats
• You are here:

Setlist History: Warped Tour 1995

• Setlist History
• Last updated: 3 Aug 2018, 17:58:35
• Published: 3 Aug 2018, 17:58:35
• Written by: Erica Lauren
• Photography by: Jeff Kravitz
• Categories: Festivals Setlist History Tagged:

As we say farewell to the full, traveling stretch of the Vans Warped Tour, we're flashing back to the roots of 'punk rock summer camp.' The Warped Tour, which was first created in 1995 by Kevin Lyman, ran for 26 dates, kicking-off on August 4th at the Idaho Center in Boise, Idaho, and wrapping up a few months later on September 6th in Irvine, California. It wasn't until the following year, in the summer of 1996, that the tour gained a Vans sponsorship, adding their name to be the Vans Warped Tour.

The very first alternative rock filled lineup included bands like Quicksand, L7, Sublime, Deftones, No Use for a Name, Face to Face, Sick of it All, No Doubt, Guttermouth, Swinging Udders, and more. The music festival also featured pro-skaters, boarders and bikers, with a half pipe and street course for the sports. You'd be hard pressed to find this at this summer's final run of the tour. Check out the flyer for the first ever Warped Tour below:

Check out some setlists from 1995's Vans Warped Tour:

Watch No Doubt perform at the first Warped Tour, in this fan-shot video:

The current and final traveling Vans Warped Tour will conclude Sunday, August 5th at West Palm Beach, Florida's Coral Sky Amphitheatre. For ticket info to the final 3 shows remaining in Florida, visit the fest's official website here .

To view live photos from festivals and concerts, follow Setlist.fm on Instagram and Twitter .

Latest News

Today is John Peel's Birthday

Five Covers Carlos Santana is Shredding on his Oneness Tour

Review: Waxahatchee at Beacon Theatre

Stand Atlantic Lets Loose with Live Debuts in Melbourne

• Setlist Insider See the artists dive into their own setlist data.
• Live Debuts Witness the first time a song is performed live.
• Setlist.fm Exclusives Videos, photos and interviews - see it here first.
• Covers Better than the original? You decide.
• Guest Appearances Keeping track of the on-stage cameos.
• Setlist History Looking back on moments in music history.
• Tour Dates How to catch your faves: The who, what, where and when.
• Festivals News about the multi-artist, multi-day extravaganzas.
• General News Other music-related news.
• Aug 30, 2024
• Aug 29, 2024
• Aug 28, 2024
• Aug 27, 2024
• Aug 26, 2024
• Aug 25, 2024
• FAQ | Help | About
• Terms of Service
• Ad Choices | Privacy Policy
• Songtexte.com

• Manage Account

The Summer Punk Went Pop: Oral History of the 2005 Warped Tour

On the first day of Warped’s final run, we present the firsthand story of its watershed year - when Fall Out Boy, My Chemical Romance, Paramore, and others became stars.

By Chris Payne

Chris Payne

• Share on Facebook
• Share to Flipboard
• Share on Pinterest
• + additional share options added
• Share on Reddit
• Share on LinkedIn
• Share on Whats App
• Send an Email
• Print this article
• Post a Comment
• Share on Tumblr

This summer, the Vans Warped Tour — music’s last major traveling festival — is  calling it quits , citing fatigue, disinterested teens, and a marketplace shift towards blowout weekends over season-long treks. But 13 years ago, Warped nearly collapsed beneath the weight of its own success.

See latest videos, charts and news

Hayley Williams

The storm had been brewing for some time. Warped was 11 years old in 2005, and it’d played an integral role in bringing the likes of Green Day, Blink-182, No Doubt, Sublime, and even Eminem to suburban superstardom during the ’90s and early ’00s. An annual Warped trip had become a summertime staple for teens raised on bratty skate punk and ska, but by the middle of the aughts, it had morphed into something completely new. And bigger.

In 2005, a more sensitive, precocious, fashion-focused brand of punk exploded into popular culture. Its eventual poster kids spent the decade’s early years grinding it out in America’s VFW halls, the venerable ethos of Thursday, Saves the Day, and Jimmy Eat World their guiding light. Fall Out Boy and My Chemical Romance played Warped in ‘04 and after drawing fervent crowds, were signed on for the next year early; by the time June ‘05 rolled around, “Sugar, We’re Goin Down” and “Helena” were MTV staples, improbably climbing the Hot 100. 700,000 kids came out that summer, more than any Warped before or since (for context, last year pulled 300,000). Individual bands regularly sold over $30,000 of merch  per day . Bodyguards were needed for the first time. At summer’s end, the tour’s profits hit seven figures. But Warped’s summer-long slog paid another price; across 48 shows in 59 days, musicians and personnel grappled with oversized egos, volatile — if not occasionally hostile — environments, and a sideshow’s worth of distractions far from home, with a massive mainstream audience suddenly watching.

Trending on Billboard

On the first day of Warped’s final trek, we present the firsthand story of its watershed year.

I. “This Was Like the Moon Landing For This Type of Music”

Tyson Ritter, All-American Rejects vocalist-bassist:  2005 Warped Tour was everything people think about when they want to make Warped something of folklore. It was the real thing.

Kevin Lyman, Warped Tour founder & producer:  The Warped Tour’s only made money on tickets once, and 2005 was the year. If we turn a profit, it’s from sponsorships and merchandise.

Buddy Nielsen, Senses Fail vocalist:  It had everything to do with the scene’s success. This was like the moon landing for this type of music.

Lyman:  We’d done some early bookings. The year before, I had Fall Out Boy and My Chemical Romance on the smaller stage. The audiences weren’t huge at this point, but they were so engaged, so I said, “Gotta bring them on the main [stage].”

Pete Wentz, Fall Out Boy bassist:  That was a surreal moment for us. That was when us and My Chemical Romance were both getting on  TRL  at the same time. It was wild because we’d never experienced that.  (Note: all Fall Out Boy quotes in this piece come from a  previous Billboard interview ).

Lyman:  TRL  was so popular… everyone was watching. They grabbed onto these bands, and radio was playing them.

Nielsen:  Senses Fail did Warped the year before. My Chem wasn’t My Chem yet, as we know them. Senses Fail wasn’t Senses Fail yet. On Warped Tour 2005, everybody was everybody. Fall Out Boy was Fall Out Boy. You had the most bands that were not only successful but, like,  pop music  successful.

Matt Watts, The Starting Line guitarist:  The whole scene started as a left-of-center, DIY thing. Lots of these bands started at VFW or Knights of Columbus Halls. It was such a personal connection with fans. In 2005, it hit a critical mass.

Nielsen:  It was the first time bands had security guards. Pete Wentz and Gerard Way couldn’t get around without them.

Ritter:  The difference between those bands and All-American Rejects? Fall Out Boy, three bodyguards. My Chem had a bodyguard.

Lyman:  The audience coming to Warped Tour transformed from that hardcore person who was out skating or going to the beach to a crowd that was watching TV all summer. We managed to get them off their couches for one day! But they weren’t ready to be in the sun for nine hours. They would stand in front of the stages all day long waiting for those hit songs. It wasn’t like you could just come, watch those bands and leave; you were there the whole day. By the time the band went on stage, these people hadn’t eaten, hadn’t drank water, hadn’t put sunscreen on, so many of them just collapsed. Our medical tents were full.

Lisa Brownlee, Warped Tour tour manager:  I often think of Kevin Lyman as a mad scientist, crossing boundaries that ought not to be crossed when putting together a lineup.

Al Barr, Dropkick Murphys vocalist:  Fall Out Turds and My Chemical Shit Pants — that’s what we called them — were both blowing up, and I kept going around Warped Tour the whole day going, “Jesus Christ, this singer must be so tired because he sings for every band!” Because it all sounded the same to an old timer like me. But that’s when I realized I sound like my dad! Those bands? Not my cup of tea at all. But they were working their asses off, just like we did, and nothing was handed to them. They worked for everything they got.

Lyman:  The core audience was pretty pissed. We talk about punk rock being all-accepting, but a lot of times, it’s still very niche and very “who’s in their club.” This was before Twitter, so they verbalized it to me on message boards. Well, the club got a lot bigger.

II. “They Were Connecting on a Much Deeper Level Than Most of the Other Bands”

Watts:  In the VFW halls, Fall Out Boy put in their 10,000 hours and beyond.

Nielsen:   From Under the Cork Tree  had just come out. Fall Out Boy was huge.

Watts:  They put out the right record at the right time.

Wentz:  It was like, Warped Tour happening at the same time [and hearing], “You guys are super famous, but maybe just on Warped Tour!”

Watts:  Pete Wentz is a captivating dude. Patrick Stump is a great writer.

Justin Pierre, Motion City Soundtrack vocalist-guitarist:  I thought Patrick Stump had an amazing voice. I was very upset at how effortless it seemed. I would have to work 10 times as hard just to pull it off. He was kind of a weirdo, kind of a nerd. I really liked that. There was an unspoken nerd quality we kind of shared. I [recently] found a  picture online  of us coming back from a Target run… I really dug Patrick a lot.

Watts:  Once “Sugar, We’re Goin Down” caught on, it opened up the floodgates.

Andy Hurley, Fall Out Boy drummer:  I remember going to a water park right after we’d gotten to number one on  TRL  that day. I was like, “Yeah, we’re number one!” going down the slides and no one in the park knew at all who we were.

Wentz:  They were like, fucking losers!

Lyman:  Fall Out Boy and My Chemical Romance, I put them on at three or four in the afternoon. All the kids would be in the venue by then, but I knew their fans couldn’t hold up til the end of the day.

Watts:  My Chemical Romance was connecting on a much deeper level than most of the other bands.

Lyman:  A lot of merchandise was being sold. This is where Kate Truscott — who [now] helps run my company — was recognized because she was the merchandise person for My Chemical Romance. They were selling half a semi-truck of merchandise a day at that point. It was crazy.

Kate Truscott, My Chemical Romance merch manager:  I was out on the road with Chevelle, working for a company called BandMerch. I got a call that this new band needed somebody because they were suddenly doing way bigger numbers than anybody expected. They had some guy doing their merch and frankly, he was blowing it. Heather Hannoura [now Heather Gabel] did some shirts for us. Some of the stuff I was selling then is still for sale at Hot Topic. There were gloves with bones on them. They had fingers and no one bought them, so I would cut the fingertips off and then kids loved them!

Watts:  There were tons of kids coming out dressed in My Chem-appropriate attire. I use the term “goth vibes” responsibly: dark hair, black or red t-shirt, eye makeup.

Truscott:  One part of the summer, [guitarist] Frank Iero thought he was having some sort of brain bleed; He was blowing his nose and this red stuff was coming out. A doctor looked at it and was like, “Dude, that’s makeup.”

Lyman:  Some days, I heard they were doing $30,000 to $50,000 in merchandise.

Truscott:  Our highest day was $60,000, which to my knowledge, is a record that’s yet to be beaten by any band on Warped. It was in Detroit, a 30,000-person show at the Silverdome. Headed to banks on days off, our tour manager would be like, “What’s in your backpack? You can’t walk to the bank with $250,000 on you!”

Watts:  When you see bands changing pop culture, you see fans embracing their style.

Truscott:  The only band that had more items for sale than us was the Murphys. They used Warped as a warehouse sale every summer [ Laughs ].

Lyman:  Dropkick Murphys were probably the highest paid band on that year’s tour. Them and the Offspring were probably both making $15,000 to $17,000 [per show]. I had to book Fall Out Boy, $1,500. Atreyu, $1,500. Story of the Year, probably $750. I was delivering this whole package of bands. I don’t have the exact price, but I could probably tell you it was about $125,000 a show, talent-wise. You had to try to be right on the edge.

Nielsen:  Everybody was literally printing money. Everybody was stoked.

Lyman:  Fall Out Boy tended to go out, hang around the parties a little more… My Chemical Romance, I don’t think anyone in the band was really a partier.

Truscott:  There was nothing salacious. Frank is still married to the girl he was dating back then. [Guitarist] Ray [Toro] is still with the same girl. Gerard’s had a couple different girlfriends, but it was like, three in the 20 years I’ve known him, and now he’s married.

Lyman:  They were always nice to the women on our tour, the girls working with these bands.

Truscott:  I had a boxset of the  Charmed  DVDs. Gerard came by asking what they were about. I’m like, “It’s about witches that own a bar,” and he was like, “I can get behind that.”

Ritter:  You’d stroll this alley of buses and see Gerard doing a sketch in front of the headlights on the ground in front of his bus. He was too shy to talk to the group, but he could still sit out in front of his bus drawing a piece of art, which I thought was so fun. He would get in front of the headlights and show off his talent.

Truscott:  Gerard was always doing art. He hung out by himself a lot, drank coffee. A lot of coffee.

Pierre:  I think someone was like, “Oh he’s sober, too! You should hang out!”

Truscott:  We all lived on the same bus together. They turned the back lounge of our bus into a studio. My bunk was right up against it. I remember when they were writing “I Don’t Love You” [from 2006’s  Welcome to the Black Parade ]. Bob [Bryar] put a drum kit in the back and Gerard was doing vocals. It was four in the morning and I remember hearing the lyrics and opening the door like, “That’s a fucking brutal song!”

III. “Rockstar Shit Was Going On”

Lyman:  We were at the Pontiac Silverdome in Detroit and 30,000 people showed up. That might’ve been the second biggest Warped show of all time. We had this massive show at the sports arena at Long Beach State, outside of L.A.. That was probably the biggest show.

Truscott:  I was selling merch out of a 10 foot by 10 foot tent. The crowd would push into it, start crushing into us. I had to get up on the table a couple times and say nobody was getting anything until everybody calmed down. There was a day in Camden, NJ — the site was too small for the crowd there — I had to stand on my table and wave down security because kids were moshing and throwing themselves inside our tent.

Watts:  There’d be signings all day. There was no barrier between the artists and the fans.

Ritter:  All-American Rejects, Fall Out Boy, and My Chem — we’d do signings all day, every day. You’d try to get through 400 people in two hours. It became a chore, literally sitting for 400 people that walked by you asking, “Hi, how are ya?”

Pierre:  I always liked hanging out, signing things, meeting the people that liked our music. That was my favorite thing I did, next to performing.

Watts:  I bought a Metro scooter —  basically a fake Vespa — for like $500. I would cruise around after shows to find hotel swimming pools and go swimming a bunch. Because the shower situation at Warped is sometimes less than ideal.

Brownlee:  I couldn’t get from stage to stage fast enough to see the bands I wanted to see. The bill was so stacked.

Ritter:  When you play Warped, you get thirty minutes. These were thirty-minute sets.

Watts:  There are no “set” set times. It’s sort of drawn from a lottery in the morning.

Nielsen:  How did our sets sound? Fucking terrible [ Laughs ]. Back then we were still figuring it out. Generally nobody really sounds that great at Warped Tour. It’s windy and hot.

Lyman:  We had a massive storm July 15 at Race City Motorsport Park in Calgary, Alberta. We had a lot of storms through the years, but that one was crazy. It looked like just clouds coming, but it was actually clouds of dust and wind. It blew tents 25 feet in the air. When it hit, the Transplants were onstage. I’ll never forget them playing while I was trying to hold all the tents down.

Barr: Transplants were on that tour. I spent a ton of time with my friend [Transplants vocalist] Skinhead Rob [Aston].

Nielsen: You had [Transplants drummer] Travis Barker walking around with his television show Meet the Barkers .

Barr: One day I was going over to see Skinhead Rob, and this guy from MTV was getting thrown out of their bus because he had asked Travis and Rob if they got dressed up in monkey suits for fun. Rob just lost his shit on the guy.

Lyman:  Billy Idol was trying to make a reconnection with fans, so they wanted him to play some Warped dates in between his own tour routing.

Nielsen:  Billy Idol! Billy Idol was fucking hilarious. He did not know what Warped Tour was. You never wanted to be playing near him because you had to deal with him starting late and his set going over 10 minutes. He didn’t give a shit.

Lyman:  You don’t start the stage next door until the other band is done. In Minnesota, it was a nightmare. My stage managers weren’t communicating and there was a meltdown onstage and they started both stages, so you had Billy Idol singing “Rebel Yell” and then Fall Out Boy singing something. It was merging into this mashup by my tour bus.

Nielsen:  He’d come out of the bus shirtless talking to himself like, “WHITE WEDDING!”, practicing his vocals. Billy Idol was fucking wild, just on another planet.

Barr:  I remember walking around thinking, who is this heavy, ferocious punk band playing? And I’m like, oh my god, it’s the Offspring. Now the Offspring are a great band but they’re not a ferocious punk band. But on the backdrop of all these pop-punk and emo bands…

Nielsen:  [Frontman]   Dexter [Holland] was flying in a plane from show to show. One time he took our tour manager: “Come fly to the next show!”

Lyman:  He didn’t know these bands but he’d invite them to go to the next city with him. If you were sitting here in Cincinnati and he would say, “Hey Kevin, I want to take so-and-so to Chicago with me. Can you put them on by 6 so we can be at the airport by 8?” He would fly the band, pick up a couple hotel rooms for them, and go party in the city.

Nielsen:  Rockstar shit was going on.

Lyman:  Then you had Avenged Sevenfold. You knew they were gonna be big because they were the first band that ever showed up on Warped Tour with a smoke machine.

Nielsen:  You’d look up in the sky and see a cloud of smoke and be like, “Avenged Sevenfold must be on!” Broad daylight, it looks like the stage is on fire.

Lyman:  Avenged Sevenfold always liked to gamble — dice and poker. The Offspring, too, but not Dexter. Cee-lo, I’m sure the Murphys were in the middle of that.

Barr:  I myself wasn’t, but our crew were big into poker. They’d play with Avenged Sevenfold almost every night.

Watts:  The first night of tour, I remember our drummer, Tom Gryskewicz cleaning up against… I think it was one of the Transplants dudes. Tom came back to the bus with money and we were all like, “What did you do?” I think he probably ended up losing it back to those dudes at some point.

Spencer Chamberlain, Underoath vocalist:  A band — who we won’t name — needed money. We let them borrow money and they all came back with new clothes and tattoos.

Aaron Gillespie, Underoath drummer-vocalist:  Oh my god, that’s right! They were struggling on the tour…

Chamberlain:  They were struggling with something else. But we can’t say, because people might know. They went to the Christian band, knowing we’d be giving.

Gillespie:  Did we give them a bunch of money or a little bit?

Chamberlain:  A bunch.

IV. “I’ve Got These Girl Bands, Can I Set Up?” 

Lyman:  Shira? My God. How do these people come into your life, you know?

Shira Yevin, Shiragirl vocalist; Shiragirl Stage founder and producer:  I was on the tour in 2003, working for the Truth campaign as an emcee. I noticed there were very few, if any, females onstage. I didn’t understand why. I lived in Brooklyn at the time, and was friends with all sorts of all-girl punk and hardcore bands. My band approached Kevin in 2004.

Lyman:  Shira just showed up with her stage. Just showed up. In Englishtown, NJ, with this pink truck: “I’ve got these girl bands, can I set up?”

Yevin:  He said, “Okay, great idea, maybe next year. It’s the tour’s tenth anniversary, we got a lot going on.” I said, “Next year?!”

Lyman:  She’s from New Jersey, so you know how progressive people from New Jersey won’t take no for an answer.

Yevin:  We ended up crashing the tour. I drove in with my pink RV and just set up — super scrappy punk rock. Kevin walked by and loved it: “Shira, this is great. So are you on for the whole tour now?”

Lyman:  Next thing you know, she’s hanging over by my bus, hitting me up about how she’s going to do the Shiragirl Stage in 2005.

Shiragirl Talks Hitting the Road For Final Warped Tour, Shares Punk Pop Anthem 'Summers Comin'…

Yevin:  2005 was the year we made it legit. His team helped us get sponsorships for the stage. MySpace was our media partner. We hand-painted their logo on our truck. We did the whole application process for the Shiragirl Stage through MySpace. In the 2005 music scene, MySpace was a big platform for how new artists came up. The Dollyrots played that year and were amazing. L7’s bassist Jennifer Finch had this side project called The Shocker — it was really cool to have them on Shiragirl. They repped old-school Warped.

Truscott:  We were a pretty strong bunch of babes, the other women on Warped Tour. We stuck together and the guys were really supportive of us. It was probably the opposite of what everybody would expect me to say — that it was really hard and that I had to really earn my stripes. But that wasn’t a big issue. They saw me work hard and we all respected each other. I remember there was a day some kid stole from me at My Chem’s merch table. A bunch of the other guys saw it and chased him down and brought him back to me.

Yevin:  We were not taken seriously. At first, especially. We showed up in this beat-up truck and there were bets against how long we would last. By the end, they respected us a lot more.

V. “I Know a Lot of Real Hard Motherfuckers”

Watts:  The cookouts were probably the highlight of Warped Tour. The sun goes down and it’s not 100 degrees anymore!

Pierre:  Everybody had to come to lunch and dinner, if you wanted to eat. It made me kind of nervous, like high school in a way. If I’m by myself, shit, where do I sit? I kind of know these people, but I kind of don’t. I heard that people thought I was a huge asshole because I didn’t talk to anyone, but I was too nervous.

Watts:  Justin was a little bit more introverted, but he was always incredibly welcoming to us. I remember Motion City Soundtrack hitting their stride that year.  Commit This to Memory  had just come out. They were one of the few indie-alternative, left-of-center-leaning bands. They came from a different world, but still hit all the boxes for a fan going to Warped Tour.

Pierre:  I bonded with Gerard over Coke Zero, which had just come out. I was in their bus for some reason: “Oh my god, you got Coke Zero?” If I’m drinking Coke Zero in ’05, I think I was sober then, because that’s when I basically went from alcohol to caffeine. I would drink four or five Monster Energy Drinks a day. It was really bad. I’d reward myself after playing a show with two Monster Energy Drinks [ Laughs ].

Watts:  This was before people were on their cell phones 24/7. So it was one of the last times in my life I remember just hanging out with a bunch of people and not having a phone, not being interrupted by anything like that. Just shared experiences, shared connections.

Senses Fail's Buddy Nielsen Fights to Survive a Chaotic Present & His Band's Toxic Past

Nielsen:  There used to be huge parties afterwards, sort of a teen movie set thing.

Ritter:  It was like  Grease  on the road. Everybody was looking for their Sandra Dee.

Nielsen:  There’d be 20,000 people at each show and afterwards, two or three thousand would wind up getting backstage. It was a different time. You weren’t as worried about five thousand people partying at the end of the night — epic bonfire parties with every band and also people that found a way to stay. If you stayed long enough, security left, so…

Ritter:  I was 20. I’m 34 now. So think I remember my M-O was, okay the show’s over, who’s gonna get me stoned?

? Lyman:  Warped kind of self-regulates on drugs and alcohol because it’s such a hard-working tour and you don’t know when you’re gonna play. I was out every night; if someone goes a little hard at a party, what’s the best cure for that? Put them on 11:30 the next morning. Be the first band up. That’ll cure people.

Gillespie:  We drank, but we weren’t like, partying hard.

Watts:  There was definitely drinking, but there weren’t a lot of drugs. We were never a drug band, so if there was, it didn’t hit our orbit.

Nielsen:  I was pretty much YOLO-ing every moment of every day. I was 21 running around smoking weed, drinking beer, hanging out.

Lyman:  During this period, there were maybe some pills going around Warped, but I don’t know.

Ritter:  It was all about the nomadic journey of the night. You’d bounce from bus to bus, picking up a beer, hitting on a girl, hitting on whoever you were hitting on.

Barr:  I’ll omit their name, but there was a band that got drunk and decided to disrespect Steve O’Sullivan, who was head of Warped Tour’s security at the time. We were in Phoenix, his wife was pregnant with their first kid, and he was riding in the car with her and this band was drunk and standing in the way. They asked him to move and got in his face, in his wife’s face. The next day I assembled a group of characters you’d look at and say, “I don’t want to fight one of these guys, let alone have one of them come into my tent.” I know a lot of real hard motherfuckers. [We confronted the band and] said, “So you’re the band that decided to disrespect Steve O’Sullivan and his pregnant wife? Shut your little tent down, you’re gonna find Steve, and you’re gonna throw yourself down at his knees and apologize to him. If we don’t hear you’ve done this in the next twenty minutes, we’re gonna be back.” Five minutes later, Steve pulls up on his golf cart like, “What did you do? They were so apologetic and so polite!”

Nielsen:  People would throw water. It was like, dude, it’s 90 degrees out — don’t throw it. Every day, you’re getting nailed with water being thrown from the crowd.

Lyman:  Buddy from Senses Fail, to be honest, was a shithead mostly. He hadn’t grown up yet.

Nielsen:  We were playing Phoenix and someone threw a fucking jug of water. I caught it by the handle and whipped it back into the crowd as hard as I could and literally watched it bee-line a hundred yards and slam this girl right in the face. This poor young girl, I think she was like 16 years old. I ended up knocking out one of her teeth, totally by accident. I wound up corresponding with her father and her afterwards. I remember we invited her to a show, gave her some merch and were really sorry.

Lyman:  Buddy was one of those kids that we knew we had redeeming qualities. So we kept working with Buddy. You don’t want to write him off, you know? Another member of Senses Fail [now ex-member] got taken behind the bus, because he wore a shirt that had the C-word on it. I know the Dropkick Murphys and the Transplants were involved. He got taken behind the bus and they said, “Look, you’re going to either get rid of that shirt because you see all the women running this, or you’re going to eat the shirt. If you ever wear it again you’re going to lose option one.”

VI. “This Was Paramore ’s First Tour”

Lyman:  We had [the traveling punk and hardcore tour] Taste of Chaos [in early 2005] and Livia Tortella [of Atlantic Records] goes, “Hey, Kevin you’ve got to check out this girl Hayley Williams and Paramore.”

Gillespie:  We were friends with Paramore. We met Hayley when she was 16 and [drummer] Zac [Farro] was 14. Hayley opened up acoustic for us on Taste of Chaos.

Lyman:  I put her on right before Killswitch Engage. She held her own. I was like, “Okay, we have to figure this out for Warped.” But I didn’t have anywhere to put them because I already booked the tour…  So I turned Shira on to her and she figured it out for the Shiragirl Stage.

Yevin:  The label flew me down to see the band in Orlando, and once I saw it, I got it. They were amazing — 16 years old! Hayley’s dad was the tour manager.

Lyman:  I remember the station wagon… Dad was still driving them around at that point.

Yevin:  This was Paramore’s first tour.

Chamberlain:  Paramore were like our little brothers. We hung out with them. They had similar viewpoints on life and we just got along with those kids. I think we all knew they were gonna be big.

Yevin:  They were actually signed to Atlantic, but their music was put out by Fueled By Ramen. So they had label support, but they were a new band. They were doing a lot of the Christian rock festivals. They came out on Warped right when their first album was coming out. The kids just loved it. The early crowds were huge.

Chamberlain:  Zac was like a little mini-Aaron. He would hit [the drums] so hard that the drum riser broke once.

Yevin:  Hayley was just one of the guys. That was sort of her thing. She wore the same t-shirt every day, the red and blue striped shirt  she wears in the “All We Know” video . She was very sweet, polite, very reserved. No makeup. Just came on, did her set, went back in the van, read her book. It was a little bit of a culture shock for us. We were these radical feminist punk rock riot grrrls. They were a very reserved band. They prayed before they went onstage. They kinda kept to themselves, but they killed it onstage.

Gillespie:  Hayley’s the real fucking deal. Deserves everything she’s got.

VII. “Sonny Moore’s Halo Name Was Skrillex”

Chamberlain:  ’05 was the first Warped Tour with [Tampa/L.A.-based post-hardcore band] From First to Last. We’d taken them on their first tour with [vocalist] Sonny Moore, so we were already buddies.

Nielsen:  This was when Wes Borland was in From First to Last. That blew my mind. Why the hell is a guy from Limp Bizkit here? I remember hanging out with Sonny and giving him a hard time, as a joke. And then he fucking turns into Skrillex [ Laughs ]. Ridiculous.

Chamberlain:  They used to come to our tour bus to play  Halo . Sonny Moore’s Halo name was Skrillex.

Gillespie:  He was having trouble with his voice back then.

Chamberlain:  He was such a sweetheart, and he had a lil’ personality on him, too. He would ask me, “How do you guys sing every night?”

Lyman:  The following year, he kind of changed to a kid named Skrillex. He came to Pomona, Cali. and played one of his first shows… Then I tried to book him that following summer and I think I could have got him for $1,500. I said, “He’s just sitting playing music on a computer, who the hell’s gonna care about this?” But I liked him a lot. Then by that next year, he was making $100,000 a gig or something.

VIII. “Equal Parts Relief and Sadness”

Ritter:  I think we played 19, 20 days in a row. By the end of it I wasn’t even talking. I was just giving sign language to people, clicks and whistles!

Truscott:  It ended in Boston: pouring rain, muddy, muggy New England summer day. Everybody was just done.

Pierre:  When it ended? Equal parts relief and sadness.

Yevin:  We were just grateful to have survived on our end. And we knew we were gonna do it the next year. There were bets against us saying we weren’t gonna make it. But we did. We got an MTV Warpie Award — “most punk rock way to win a place in the family.”

Lyman:  What were our profits that year? That year was seven figures.

Warped Tour 2018 Lineup: All Time Low, Simple Plan & 3OH!3 Return for Final Run

Watts:  The Starting Line toured with Fall Out Boy again in the fall, on the Nintendo Fusion Tour alongside Motion City Soundtrack, Boys Night Out, and Panic! At the Disco. I wonder what venues that tour would get if it happened in 2018; Panic! is bigger than they ever were. Same thing with Fall Out Boy. We’d be happy to be along for the ride. We’d play outdoors if we had to!

Chamberlain:  I think a lot of the younger bands now are kind of why Warped Tour’s ending. Warped Tour was a place where kids went to see bands they loved and discover new bands. Somehow over the last couple years it changed to bands on their first record with two busses, bodyguards, personal assistants. I think kids weren’t feeling as connected.

Gillespie:  It was so about discovery.

Chamberlain:  It got to be about how big of a rockstar you are.

Gillespie:  And that’s not why Kevin started it.

Lyman:  Relationships in this business were a lot different then. You could talk to someone and plan on working with them for a few years, you know? And they would understand that the first couple years, they weren’t helping you sell tickets. But hopefully that third year, they were actually helping to pull other bands like them along. A Day To Remember played one show in 2005, on the Ernie Ball battle of the Bands Stage. And then they fell into that same cycle, playing four more years… Now, that doesn’t exist in this world. Bands say, “Oh, we need Warped Tour to get to an audience” and then they decide to change their direction as a band.

Brownlee:  If you have been on Warped Tour as long as I have (and you’re as old as I am), it’s very difficult to have recall memory on specifics, including years. I wish I had the foresight to keep a journal for times like these… Our memories are a series of embellished half-truths. But in terms of the Vans Warped Tour, truth has always been stranger than fiction.

Get weekly rundowns straight to your inbox

Want to know what everyone in the music business is talking about?

Get in the know on.

Billboard is a part of Penske Media Corporation. © 2024 Billboard Media, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

optional screen reader

Charts expand charts menu.

• Billboard Hot 100™
• Billboard 200™
• Hits Of The World™
• TikTok Billboard Top 50
• Songs Of The Summer
• Song Breaker
• Year-End Charts
• Decade-End Charts

Music Expand music menu

• R&B/Hip-Hop

Videos Expand videos menu

Culture expand culture menu, media expand media menu, business expand business menu.

• Business News
• Record Labels
• View All Pro

Pro Tools Expand pro-tools menu

• Songwriters & Producers
• Artist Index
• Royalty Calculator
• Market Watch
• Industry Events Calendar

Billboard Español Expand billboard-espanol menu

• Cultura y Entretenimiento

Get Up Anthems by Tres Expand get-up-anthems-by-tres menu

Honda music expand honda-music menu.

• Latest News
• Daily Newsletter
• Weekly Newsletter
• Latest Food & Drink
• Restaurant Guide
• Restaurant Reviews
• Food & Drink Newsletter
• Latest Arts & Culture
• 100 Houston Creatives
• Submit an Event
• Movie Times
• HoustonPressArtsGuide.com
• Arts & Culture Newsletter
• Latest Music
• Concert Calendar
• Submit a Music Event
• Music Newsletter
• Things to Do/Tickets
• Best of Houston
• Best of Houston Reader’s Choice 2024 Voting
• Best of Houston Readers' Choice Past Winners
• Houston Press Careers
• Local Advertising
• Things To Do Newsletter
• Best Of Newsletter
• Food & Drink
• Arts & Culture

Houston's independent source of local news and culture

• Welcome, Insider
• My Newsletters

Houston's Rememberances of Warped Tours Past

Craig Hlavaty July 2, 2009 2:47PM

"For the first couple of years at the AstroArena they held the entire show indoors, splitting the headlining bands between the arena itself and two side-by-side stages in the AstroHall. This insured that there was no rainout, and also insured that every band sounded like they were playing in an echo chamber. "NOFX played the arena stage at the end of the day, and announced that they were refunding their share of the day's ticket prices since it was supposed to be an outdoor festival and the sound sucked. With the help of the Aquabats, NOFX then threw $5,000 in cash over the entire floor and played their set to a room full of people scrambling like mad to get the money. "NOFX also announced that they'd be celebrating one of their birthdays that night at Emo's, but that they knew it wouldn't matter since nobody at Warped Tour was old enough to get in. "I also remember taking my little brother a few years later to see his first Mighty Mighty Bosstones set (he loved 'em), and during the show someone was fired out of a cannon over the audience. Some dude threw beer or something at [singer] Dicky Barrett, and he jumped offstage and chased the guy all through the entire parking lot. My brother asked if this was typical. I said, 'Kinda, except for the cannon.'"

"I went to the first one and had an awesome time. That whole show was indoors at the AstroArena. Fluf played first and just killed it, and yes, they played 'Peanut Butter.' I remember O telling me how excited he was to finally go to Astroworld. I just didn't have the heart to tell him it was lame. Seaweed was at the top of their game. Bob was still on drums, and they just killed it. Quicksand was awesome as well and Sick of it All was bitchin'. "As for the low points, Sugar Ray and local band the Jinkies (yuck). L7 played but it was the worst L7 show I have ever seen."

"That time when it got rained out a few years ago. I was thankful for that because that morning I had the most intense hangover I've ever had. "The next day's emasculated indoor Warped Tour was a huge clusterfuck with muddy noise throughout and for some reason I wound up sitting through Meg and Dia's set while looking for a friend who, come to find out, had been toking up with the Unseen. I was trying to find where Novista was playing so I could throw shit at them and make fun of their bassist for looking like a douche-version of Jeff Goldblum."

"I saw Social Distortion on the '97 tour in Atlanta. I remember Mike Ness telling some story about hanging out with his friends and running into groups of jocks or some other non-punk stereotype and getting into fights. He ended the story with: 'Sometimes we got our asses kicked . . . but sometimes we beat the FUCK out of 'em!' "Big cheer, song starts. The story was nothing but the punk version of canned stage banter and my brother played me a tape later on where he gave the exact same speech, right down to 'Sometimes we beat the FUCK out of 'em!'"

"Seeing Ice T and Suicidal Tendencies play together and watching Nazi skinheads get kicked out and them driving off in a big pick-up truck. The afterparty was held at the bar next to Lola's, where nobody showed up."

"I was selling merch, and unexpectedly, and to my horror, I split my shorts up the back when I bent down to grab a box of shirts. I will be forever in debt to the Surfrider Foundation, which was in the booth next to me. They gave me a sarong to tie around my waist. I still have it today."

"So I was waiting in the ticket line with my friend who will remain nameless. We were attempting to get the backstage passes that New Found Glory had left for us. (This was like ten years ago, and yes I'm a little embarrassed.) "When we reached the front of the line, we were told that NFG had canceled that date along with several others due to the singer's illness, therefore there were no backstage passes to acquire. We decided to regroup and figure out what to do. Ultimately we resigned to purchasing tickets. "While in our second wait in line my friend started to feel a little queasy. We had gotten seriously ham-boned the night before. So there we were waiting behind ten or so people in the scorching heat and my friend starts vomiting on the pavement, splatters and all. The people in line and within sight of this display were totally disgusted, some beyond words. "Then I heard somebody say, 'Sick, that dude just puked up a cigarette butt!' Sure enough, there was a bile logged butt that hadn't been on the ground prior to the incident. Gnarly, to say the least. At any rate, we braved the heat and tried to enjoy ourselves. It fucking sucked for the most part." "The highlight of the day was hanging out with Saves The Day in their tour van drinking warm beers and smoking joint after joint of really poor-quality weed. At one point we were talking about how stupid MxPx is, and they walked right by us."

Trending Music

• After 50 Years, Chris Difford Finds That the Juice is Still Worth the Squeeze
• Birthed In Houston: Shinyribs Returns To Heights Theater
• Houston Press 1996 Music Awards

Latest Stories

Tems Brings Her Born In The Wild Tour to 713 Music Hall

By DeVaughn Douglas

AATW's Ray Benson Goes Reggae (Well, for One Album at Least)

By Tom Richards

Concert Watch 8/28: Charley Crockett, Squeeze and More

• Promotions Newsletter
• Terms of Use
• Privacy Policy
• Back to Top
• California Privacy Policy
• California Collection Notice
• Do Not Sell My Info

• Email Newsletters
• Subscriber Center
• Frequently Asked Questions
• News & Comment
• Seattleland
• Eat Drink Toke
• Weekly Classics
• Best of Seattle
• Dining Guide
• Protest Guide
• Sponsored Content
• Classifieds
• How to Advertise
• Terms of Use
• Privacy Policy

Warped Tour: The Festival for First-Timers

For kids in the boonies, the traveling fest can be Indie 101.

More Stories From This Author

Tom Waits – “Christmas Card...

An Incomplete History of the...

Actually, I’m not being sarcastic....

While record labels and most...

Capitol Hill Block Party Artist Panel Series 2019

The Capitol Hill Block Party Artist Panel Series 2019 is free (no festival wristband required), all-ages, and takes place from…

Golden Idols will release new EP

Seattle quartet returns with ‘Uneasy’

Travis Thompson, Wolf Parade headline Fisherman’s Village fest

The Everett Music Initiative festival, May 16-18 in Everett, will showcase more than 50 acts.

Featured Local Savings

• Arts & Culture
• Newsletters
• Media Solutions
• Accessibility

• A subsidiary of Black Press Media
• Work With Us

Warped Tour 2001

• Edit source
• 1.1 Teal Stage
• 1.2 Brian Stage
• 1.3 Maurice Stage
• 1.4 Volcom Stage
• 1.5 Ernie Ball Stage
• 2 Tour Dates

Teal Stage [ ]

• Blink-182 (Played 7/14)
• The Bouncing Souls
• Deviates (Played 7/8 and 7/18)
• The Distillers (Played 7/18)
• Dropkick Murphys (Played 8/1-8/12)
• Fear (Played 6/22-6/30)
• Hank 3 & Assjack (Played 7/2)
• Inspection 12 (Played 7/27)
• Less Than Jake
• The Living End (Played 7/10-7/12 and 7/14-7/15)
• Madcap (Played 7/12)
• Me First and the Gimme Gimmes
• Obtik (Played 7/23)
• Pennywise (Played 6/22-7/8 and 7/27-8/12)
• Rollins Band (Played 8/1-8/9)
• Sum 41 (Played 7/12

Brian Stage [ ]

• 311 (Played 6/22-7/29)
• Angry Amputees (Played 7/8)
• D12 (Played 7/31-8/3)
• Deviates (Played 7/2)
• The Distillers (Played 6/22-7/7, 7/9-7/17, and 7/19-7/22)
• Dub Pistols (Played 7/10-7/24)
• Flogging Molly (Played 7/31-8/12)
• Guttermouth (Played 6/29, 7/6-7/11, and 7/13-7/15)
• Jimmy Eat World (Played 7/25-8/5)
• The Juliana Theory (Played 7/2)
• The Misfits (Played 7/10-7/17)
• Morgan Heritage (Played 7/25-8/12)
• New Found Glory (Played 6/22-7/2 and 7/14)
• Slightly Stoopid (Played 7/8)
• Sum 41 (Played 7/27)
• The Vandals

Maurice Stage [ ]

• 3rd Strike (Played 7/15-7/26)
• 7th House (Played 8/2-8/5)
• Alien Ant Farm (Played 6/22-7/25 and 7/31-8/9)
• Amen (Played 8/3-8/9)
• The Apex Theory (Played 6/22-7/8)
• Bigwig (Played 7/31-8/12)
• Black Halos (Played 7/5-7/8)
• Bodyjar (Played 6/22-7/15)
• The Business (Played 7/14-7/22)
• The Casualties (Played 7/13-7/23)
• Catch 22 (Played 8/7-8/12)
• DeRoot (Played 7/27)
• The Distillers (Played 7/8)
• El Centro (Played 7/20-7/23)
• Esham (Played 6/22-8/3)
• The Explosion (Played 7/17-7/29)
• Good Charlotte (Played 6/22-8/5)
• Grand Theft Audio (Played 8/9-8/12)
• Guttermouth (Played 7/12)
• Hank 3 & Assjack (Played 6/22-7/1, 7/3-7/7, 7/9-7/11, and 7/13-7/15)
• Hesher (Played 7/10-7/23)
• Home Town Hero (Played 6/22-6/29)
• Jaya the Cat (Played 8/2-8/5 and 8/9)
• Jersey (Played 7/31-8/5)
• The Juliana Theory (Played 6/22-7/1 and 7/3)
• Liars Inc. (Played 6/28-7/12)
• Little T and One Track Mike (Played 8/9-8/12)
• Lost City Angels (Played 7/11-7/12 and 7/14-7/15)
• Midtown (Played 7/17-7/29)
• No Motiv (Played 7/31-8/12)
• Pressure 4-5 (Played 7/7-7/8)
• Rehab (Played 7/31-8/5)
• River City High (Played 7/25-7/29)
• River City Rebels (Played 7/12-7/14)
• Rogue's March (Played 8/3-8/4 and 8/8-8/9)
• Showoff (Played 7/25-7/31)
• Slightly Stoopid (Played 6/30-7/7)
• The Spitvalves (Played 7/27)
• Sugarcult (Played 6/22-7/5)
• Sum 41 (Played 7/10-7/11, 7/13-7/26 and 7/28-8/12)
• Thrice (Played 6/22-6/27)
• The Youth Ahead (Played 8/5)
• Zooloft (Played 8/4)

Volcom Stage [ ]

• ,2 Cents Worth (Played 6/23)
• Agent 51 (Played 6/27-6/29)
• Anchor Man (Played 7/27)
• Bargain Music (Played 6/22-6/27)
• Belvedere (Played 7/5 and 7/31-8/5)
• The Benjamins (Played 7/11-7/15)
• Bum Ruckus (Played 7/26-7/29)
• Defiance of Authority (Played 8/5-8/8)
• DeRoot (Played 7/10-7/15, 7/20-7/23)
• Destruction Made Simple (Played 7/29-8/1)
• Deviates (Played 6/27-7/1 and 7/3-7/10)
• Dover (Played 8/4)
• Downway (Played 7/5-7/7)
• The Eyeliners (Played 7/20-7/23)
• Fatman's Belly (Played 7/5)
• Grade (Played 8/8-8/12)
• Hollywood Beach Brian (Played 7/27)
• Hot Box (Played 7/8)
• Idol Hands (Played 6/28)
• The Impossibles (Played 7/31-8/5)
• Jackpot (Played 6/30-7/3)
• Japetto (Played 7/31-8/5)
• Jones (Played 7/2)
• The Know How (Played 7/28-7/29)
• The Lawrence Arms (Played 7/5-7/10)
• Lefty (Played 7/27 and 8/7-8/12)
• Lovetone (Played 8/2-8/4)
• Luckie Strike (Played 6/29-7/1)
• Mest (Played 7/15-7/19)
• Obtik (Played 7/20-7/22)
• Pinhead Circus (Played 7/11-7/13)
• Project Wyze (Played 8/9-8/12)
• The Planet Smashers (Played 8/7-8/12)
• Potluck (Played 6/30-7/1)
• The Rocking Horse Winner (Played 7/26-7/29)
• Shutdown (Played 8/8-8/10)
• Sloppy Meateaters (Played 7/3 and 7/20-7/25)
• Sloth (Played 7/8)
• Stunt Monkey (Played 6/30-7/1)
• Sw1tched (Played 7/8-7/19, 7/28, 8/4)
• Thursday (Played 8/1-8/4)
• Tree (Played 8/7-8/9)
• Tsunami Bomb (Played 6/22-6/28)
• Userfriendly (Played 6/22-7/3)
• Wanted Dead (Played 6/22-6/24 and 7/8)
• Welton (Played 7/19)

Ernie Ball Stage [ ]

• 151 (Played 6/29)
• 2540 (Played 7/26)
• 28 Gates (Played 7/29)
• 3NT (Played 7/20)
• 3rd Man In (Played 6/23)
• 40 Watt Hype (Played 6/24)
• 5 Spot (Played 7/5)
• $50 Flander (Played 7/27)
• The 7 Method (Played 7/25)
• 7minds (Played 8/5)
• 7th Rail Crew (Played 8/9)
• AAK (Played 8/7)
• Absolve (Played 8/9)
• Addictive (Played 7/19)
• Afrodesia (Played 7/19)
• Aging Process (Played 6/23)
• Agonistic Resemblance (Played 6/30)
• All Access (Played 7/18)
• Asbestos (Played 7/17-7/20)
• Atomic Number 9 (Played 7/13)
• B9 (Played 6/29)
• Backhand (Played 7/24)
• Benevolent Souls (Played 7/8)
• Bi-Level (Played 7/11)
• Big Dictator (Played 6/28)
• Bill the Welder (Played 7/8)
• Blacklist Sunshine (Played 7/10)
• Blend Engine (Played 8/4)
• Blindshot (Played 8/12)
• Blister 66 (Played 7/8)
• Bravo (Played 7/2)
• Breakaway (Played 8/4)
• Bruise Bros. (Played 8/9)
• Buck32 (Played 7/25)
• The Brodys (Played 6/30)
• The Cartel (Played 8/10)
• The Cartwrights (Played 7/11)
• Chump (Played 7/7)
• Civilized Animal (Played 7/3)
• Closer Than Kin (Played 8/8)
• ColdSnap-9 (Played 7/6)
• Copper (Played 7/18)
• Crowned King (Played 7/5)
• Day Old Donuts (Played 7/23)
• Deceiving Ralph (Played 7/17)
• Desperation Squad (Played 7/8)
• Dinkus9 (Played 8/8)
• Dirtnap (Played 6/24)
• Distorted Conduct (Played 7/21)
• Distorted Penguins (Played 8/2)
• D.O.S. (Played 6/28)
• East Coast Pimps (Played 8/3)
• Eastcide (Played 8/8)
• Edinburgh (Played 7/12)
• Enamel (Played 7/15)
• The End of Julia (Played 7/20)
• Epagee (Played 7/6)
• Evil Engine 9 (Played 7/12)
• Explosion 9 (Played 7/10)
• Farmacy (Played 6/28)
• Faster Than Eddie (Played 8/11)
• FATE (Played 7/18)
• Fixit (Played 7/2)
• Flipside (Played 8/4)
• Flipsyde (Played 7/14)
• The Fonzarellis (Played 7/10)
• Fullerton (Played 7/27)
• Fusebox (Played 6/27)
• GAGE (Played 8/9)
• Gamma Rays (Played 7/31)
• Glasseater (Played 7/28)
• Going Nowhere (Played 7/28)
• Gravity Crush (Played 7/14)
• The Groovaholics (Played 7/11)
• Guilt Trip (Played 7/5)
• Happy Hour (Played 7/29)
• Haverbrook (Played 7/25)
• Hellshock (Played 7/15)
• Higher Down (Played 8/10)
• Hit By A Semi (Played 7/1)
• IH5 (Played 7/23)
• Ill Collaboration Unit (Played 8/1)
• Implant (Played 6/30)
• In Between Stars (Played 8/5)
• INTAK (Played 7/17)
• Ivet (Played 8/7)
• Jackmove (Played 8/1)
• Janis Figure (Played 7/14)
• Jinxed (Played 8/11)
• Jones (Played 7/8)
• Just A Joke (Played 6/27)
• Killshot (Played 8/12)
• Kronik (Played 7/19)
• Krystal Lake (Played 6/29)
• Last Chance Hero (Played 7/22)
• Last Place Champs (Played 7/13)
• Law Of Motion (Played 7/6)
• Lazerwolfs (Played 7/3)
• Lesson 11 (Played 7/19)
• Letterbox (Played 8/5)
• Liquid Youth (Played 7/22)
• Live For Today (Played 8/3)
• Logiene (Played 7/20)
• LoKey (Played 7/21)
• Loopus (Played 8/8)
• The Lost Cause (Played 7/6)
• Lost For Words (Played 6/23)
• Low Profile (Played 7/7)
• Lucky Boys Confusion (Played 7/15, 7/24-7/25 and 7/27-7/29)
• Lucky Strikes Out! (Played 7/14)
• Lure609 (Played 7/17)
• Maladjusted (Played 7/7)
• Marlinspike (Played 7/5)
• May Flood (Played 7/24)
• The Mimsies (Played 7/8)
• Miseuphoria (Played 7/31)
• Mold (Played 8/10)
• The Monjees (Played 7/28)
• Motor Betty (Played 8/4)
• MT Minds (Played 7/26)
• Munkyfinger (Played 7/29)
• The MunX (Played 7/24)
• Mynis (Played 6/24)
• Next To Nothing (PLayed 7/22)
• Nine Lives (Played 8/4)
• No Faced (Played 7/2)
• Non Zero Sum (Played 7/3)
• Nosedive (Played 6/24)
• NoseDive (Played 8/7)
• Omega Red (Played 6/28)
• One Short (Played 8/11)
• Outplay (Played 7/24)
• The Pathetics (Played 6/30)
• Peepin' Tom (Played 7/21)
• Phrenik (Played 7/1)
• Plight (Played 8/10)
• Poptart Monkeys (Played 8/2)
• The Proms (Played 8/7)
• Racecar (Played 7/13)
• REV-7 (Played 7/29)
• Riverside (Played 7/12)
• Rudiger (Played 6/29)
• Ruskabank (Played 7/10)
• Scream Sophie (Played 7/26)
• Secret Agent 8 (Played 7/22)
• Shift (Played 6/27)
• Shootin' Blanks (Played 6/23)
• Sick (Played 7/8)
• Skalami (Played 7/2)
• Slack Season (Played 7/27)
• Slingshot9 (Played 7/12)
• Something Left to Learn (Played 6/22)
• Space Nelson (Played 8/12)
• The Spicoli's (Played 8/11)
• Spindle (Played 6/22)
• SpiralJinx (Played 8/3)
• Squeezetoy (Played 8/1)
• Stiff One Eye (Played 7/23)
• StoneKracker (Played 7/21)
• Stop Tyler (Played 6/22)
• SubVert (Played 7/2)
• Sundog (Played 8/2)
• SuperGiant (Played 7/31)
• Swerve (Played 6/27)
• Swinging Lovehammers (Played 7/15)
• Ten Ninety (Played 7/18)
• Tenfold (Played 7/1)
• Third Try (Played 7/15)
• Tod. (Played 7/12)
• Toque (Played 8/1)
• Tornacade (Played 7/17)
• Tragically Undecided (Played 7/25)
• Twice The Sun (Played 7/28)
• Twin Cam (Played 8/12)
• The Twirpentines (Played 8/2)
• Unfisted (Played 7/27)
• Unfold (Played 7/7)
• UnWell (Played 7/13)
• UXB (Played 7/31)
• Vally Lemmons (Played 7/23)
• Wakz (Played 7/11)
• Where's Arnie (Played 7/20)
• Who's Your Daddy? (Played 7/3)
• Willknots (Played 7/1)
• Wyred (Played 8/3)
• Years Apart (Played 7/26)
• Zero State (Played 6/22)

Tour Dates [ ]

• 1 Warped Tour 2004
• 2 Warped Tour 2008
• 3 Warped Tour 2002

The Blog of Dimi

A Road Trip in Primorsky Krai

Dimitrios Fanourios Pischinas Filed Under: My Travel Stories Published: October 1, 2018 - Updated: December 19, 2021 Leave a Comment

Day #1: Tokarevsky Lighthouse & Land of the Leopard National Park

After some really epic adventuring in Kamchatka for a month and a half, we met again the Russian mainland in Vladivostok . We had to get back to Europe soon, and we found a cheap flight from Khabarovsk in order to do so. We had about a week to spare before heading there. During my previous visit to Vladivostok, local friends had made me aware of the many beautiful places surrounding their city. So we thought that a road trip around Primorsky Krai would be a much better way to spend this time than staying in the city. We were in need of a vehicle…

We searched the internet thoroughly for car rental agencies in Vladivostok. Out of the many providers we found, few would rent to holders of foreign driving licenses; and the options given by those few were somewhat upscale. We, after all, called that one bloke we bumped into deep down on the Google result page. He was apparently just starting out and our inquiry made him sound super excited. He had for us a Honda Fit for some €15 per day. We agreed on passing by the following morning to pick it up.

There we were at his garage by late next morning. We checked the car, did all the paperwork, and were given the keys. “Where are you guys going to drive to?” he asked to know. “Just around the city” we gave him the answer he wished to hear. The road infrastructure of Primorsky Krai is not so… small-car-friendly, to put it so. He wouldn’t be very happy to know our real intentions. But I placed confidence in the Japanese engineers and was positive that we’ll not destroy their work…

Before we leave the city for good, there was that one place we’d heard of and wanted to visit. Down south from Vladivostok, at the tip of Muravyov-Amursky Peninsula, there lies Tokarevsky Lighthouse : one of the oldest operating lighthouses in the Russian Far East, built in 1876.

It was Friday; and it was a brilliantly sunny one. Lots of Vladivostokians had already come there since early morning to chill on the beach and lunch at the crab restaurants. The closer we approached, the more saturated the narrow road was getting with cars and girls in bikinis moseying down to the beach (of course, with guys, too; but when you are a guy, you notice the girls more – especially when they are in bikinis).

Eventually, we managed to park the car and started walking down to the tip of the promontory as well. There started a half-km-long land corridor leading to a tiny – possibly artificial – islet hosting a massive power mast. On either side of the corridor were beaches where most of the bikini-girls settled. After the islet, there started a narrow pebblespit leading to an even tinier islet where the lighthouse stood. At low tide, one supposedly can cross without getting their feet wet. When we were there the water level was at ankle height. We took our shoes off and started wading along the spit while gentle waves coming from either side were crashing against each other right underneath our feet.

We took a seat on the shaded side of the lighthouse and remained for some time gazing at the beautiful environs. Like small green patches appeared the hills and the islands in between the sea-and-sky blue immensity. Vladivostok and its towering cable-stayed bridges were faintly visible amid the dazzling sunshine.

We got back to the car by early afternoon and drove straight back to Vladivostok. We made two stops for buying cooking gas and some food to cook with it, and left the city. The heat by then was inexorable. We thought of having a dip before, by the lighthouse, but judged it better to wait and make it earlier to some beach or another where we’d camp for the night. Sweating like a pig in the air-condition-less car, by now, I had regretted it. It would be much longer than I expected to reach the ocean again.

We drove north on the highway for a good distance along the swampy delta of Razdolnaya River . We finally crossed the river at the point where Razdolnaye town is situated and headed down south again. After a couple of hours altogether, we reached a town named Barabash , at about the same latitude with Vladivostok, on the opposite side of the bay. About 15 km separated us from the coast from there. It was getting late and we decided to make for it.

That was the longest 15-km drive I ever did – if not for a traffic jam. I was expecting the road to be bad, but not so bad. It was more of a succession of potholes than a road, basically. We were slowly proceeding from one pothole to the next, hoping that the chassis will not break apart every time it forcefully bumped on the ground. At some points, we even had to cross straight through streams interceding with the road, praying that the water is shallow enough to allow the poor Honda to the other side, and not carry it downstream together with it instead. Every time we encountered some big jeep or pickup along the way, their drivers would throw a contemptuous, where-the-hell-are-you-guys-going-to-with-this-car kind of glance at us. I would smile at them and immediately close the windows so as to keep the dust they raised out of the Honda’s interior.

The road we were driving on was passing right in between the Kedrovaya Pad Nature Reserve and the Land of the Leopard Natural Park. The latter is named so for obvious reasons. The rare Amur Leopards that inhabit the region numbered an estimated 30 individuals when the national park was established in 2012. Now they exceed 100. Nevertheless, we didn’t see any. I’m quite sure those cats are smart enough to meticulously avoid humans; so that it must be extremely difficult to spot them.

We drove past a tiny settlement named Primorsky and, a little before dusk, finally met the ocean once again at Perevoznoye Bay . A neat, quiet, narrow pebble beach occupied the entire length of the bay. We soon spotted a little clearing on the littoral vegetation and – with due effort – drove and parked the car on the beach. We had found a home for the night.

A swim in the refreshing waters of the Pacific was what I mostly craved for throughout the day; thus it was the first thing I did. We then pitched the tent, made tea, prepared dinner, and remained attending the night’s advancement.

It was a magical night. Vladivostok’s lights and flashing bridges were visible across the bay, but still too far and unaided to interfere with the countless glowing worlds of the Milky Way overheads. It was a new moon. Both the firmament and the sea remained pitch-black throughout the entire night. The placid undulation kept splashing mellowly against the pebbles of the shore with nothing to render it visible.

Day #2: Bezverhovo, Lotus Lake, North Korean Border & Andreevka

After a long, delightful sleep we got up early the next morning. The sky was by then leaden with a thick layer of clouds which was to remain in place for all the rest of the day. Though, strangely, not a single drop fell. And even more strangely, a torrid heat – even worse than yesterday’s one – kept torturing us until late in the evening.

We packed everything up quickly and drove away. Our first destination for the day was clearly defined. But before that, there was an imminent urgency that needed to be taken care of. We were almost out of fuel. According to the map, there was a petrol station in the nearby Bezverhovo village. But if it for any reason didn’t work, we’d be in rather big trouble. When we made it to the place, we found out there was indeed such a reason: there was a blackout in the village… Fortunately, it didn’t take long before the power was back. We fueled the Honda full and were ready for the day’s long tour.

We drove a little around this picturesque village and took another bumpy track leading back to the main road. My back and the car experienced a great relief upon the instant we met the asphalt again. We headed straight south. Our destination was the North Korean border .

It was a long way. The sceneries we beheld along it were splendid. Lofty forested hills were interchanged with wide, vacant, green plains again and again; while the Sea of Japan appeared in all its vastness and greatness every time the road approached the coast. We then drove through a village called Kraskino which was the last and only hub of civilization we encountered along the way. After that village, almost every remainder of being situated in a 21st-century civilized country, together with the asphalt, gave out. There was only endless wilderness and desolation. The landscapes were even more splendid than before. We only encountered finger-countable other vehicles using the road, which still made me wonder where the hell they drive to.

The North Korean mountains finally became visible in the distance, and they were gradually bulging in our view as we were approaching the Tumen River which defines the border between the two countries. It was only then it suddenly flashed on me that, theoretically, as a foreigner, I should have special permission to come too close to the border. I had heard about this special regulation prohibiting non-Russian nationals from accessing areas within a certain, few-km-long range from the country’s borders. I had, though, never put this regulation to the test, and I now had good faith that there would be nothing like a checkpoint amid such a remote wilderness… But I had only faith and no permit.

Sure enough, there was a checkpoint. Just about 2 km before the riverbank, right by the entrance of Khasan settlement, where the only bridge allowing commuting between the two countries is located, a fat, bored, uniformed authority-dude, standing by the side of a half-ruined hovel, extended his arm for us to pull up. No Russian National and no permit – not to proceed any further.

We had to turn back. It was quite disappointing we made it all this way without being able to reach our desired destination. At least, we got to stop and have a walk by the shore of Lotus Lake which is located there. This lake is so named for obvious reasons. I never remember having seen so many lily pads clustered together. More than half of the lake’s surface was occupied by these noble flowers. It was a very picturesque spectacle to behold.

We drove back the same way in search of a new home by the coast. We picked out in random a village called Andreevka . Upon getting there, we expected to see a place very similar to the one of yesterday: an empty, quiet beach. But driving down the bumpy road to the coast, we figured out that there must be considerable human activity taking place down there. The traffic was getting denser and denser the closer we approached. It turned out to be a popular holiday destination for Vladivostokians. There were restaurants, souvenir shops, beach bars, bungalows, and all sorts of stuff you normally expect to see at some beach in the Mediterranean or in Southeast Asia, but not in Primorsky Krai.

We slowly managed to get the car moving among the rest of the cars, people, and potholes found on the narrow, coastal dirt road of the village. We drove past a number of too crowded beaches and eventually settled on a relatively uncrowded one by the south verge of the village. We spent a leisurely beach evening, and then we were sound asleep amidst the profundity of the dark night.

Day #3: Russky Island

All the rain that was supposed to fall but didn’t on the previous day fell throughout the entire night. By early morning, it kept falling strongly; so that it made us remain in the tent for the while, snoozing sweetly under its soothing harmony. The tone of the falling raindrops changed from constant to discontinuous, giving out a clue that they only fell from the foliage of the tree above and not from the sky anymore. A brief spell of sunshine was soon diffused over the soaked sandy beach. We took advantage of it for the last dip in that sea and packed everything up.

The road out of Andreevka was now muddy and filthy and slippery. It was a little tricky but the tenacious Honda brought us triumphantly out of there and back to the main road. The rain kept falling on and off for the rest of day. Apart from a few brief stops for ingesting and smoking, we drove straight back to Vladivostok non-stop. By late afternoon, we were crossing the world’s largest cable-stayed bridge onto Russky Island.

It was a gorgeous island; much more scenic than I would have guessed. I became kind of regretful that we hadn’t come here earlier. We could have spent a good number of days exploring the place with our interest not fading out the least. The whole island was full of hiking trails leading to numerous isolated beaches, cliffs, hilltops, old forts, and lighthouses. But now we only had a few hours.

We ended up at a beautiful, remote beach on the southeastern coast of the island and camped. We needed to drive through some more ridiculously rough tracks and walk quite some distance in order to get there. It was dusk by then. The rainfall was having a brief break at the moment. We took advantage of it for a refreshing swim under the gagged twilight. Darkness befell, the rainfall started once again, and we nested in the tent.

Day #4: Back to Vladivostok

The rain was still falling forcefully and incessantly out of the black sky in the morning. There was absolutely no hint given that it may fall in any lesser intensity for all the rest of the day. Sure enough, it didn’t.

We put our raincoats on and packed everything up hurriedly. Then we scurried back to the car as fast as we could and drove to the city. We needed to return the car by noon; but, poor thing, it was in a mess: it was silver, now it was brown with all the dirt it’d accumulated during the hard, off-road use it’d been through these last days. Its owner wouldn’t be happy to see it in such a condition. We had to look for a car wash.

The car got back its shiny silver color, but there was yet another thing which was in a mess: we and our backpacks. We drove to a petrol station which, besides fueling up, we also needed to get some cover from the rain. We parked right in front of the store’s entrance – the only roofed part we could stop at without hindering the traffic – and got to change clothes, wring the water out of the wet ones, tidy up the backpacks, have breakfast… and all sorts of stuff you normally don’t expect to see someone doing outside of petrol station – especially when you are a casual guy going to work on Tuesday morning. I understand why all those people were casting such perplexed glances at us while entering and exiting the service store.

We were back to the garage right on time to return the car. The bloke was satisfied to see it clean. Unlike what I expected, he did not check the odometer. So I didn’t have to explain to him that ‘yes, we drove a loooot around the city’ as I thought I’d need to. That was it. We’d soon bid farewell to Vladivostok and Primorsky Krai. We got on the bus and headed to the railway station. We had a train to Khabarovsk to catch.

Stays and Activities in Primorsky Krai

Stay22 is a handy tool that lets you search for and compare stays and experiences across multiple platforms on the same neat, interactive map. Hover over the listings to see the details. Click on the top-right settings icon to adjust your preferences; switch between hotels, experiences, or restaurants; and activate clever map overlays displaying information like transit lines or concentrations of sights. Click on the Show List button for the listings to appear in a list format. Booking via this map, I will be earning a small cut of the platform's profit without you being charged any extra penny. You will be thus greatly helping me to maintain and keep enriching this website. Thanks!

Hi! I'm Dimi and this blog is my creativity's outlet. I post a wide variety of content such as my books , stories and photographs from my trips around the world, my thoughts , my music , and more. Take a minute to read about the site or start exploring it .

Subscribe for periodical (1 per month at most) newsletters with my latest stories. Or get specific RSS feeds for the site's categories you are interested in.

If you've found this website informative, entertaining, or valuable in any way, please consider supporting my efforts to maintain and enhance it while keeping it ad-free. You can help in any of the following ways...

•Share its content.

•When relevant, use affiliate links displayed throughout the site or in the Partners page .

• Buy my books.

• Buy me a coffee.

Thank you! 😊