For the 2008 stop in Fresno, it was held at the Savemart Center parking lot. Many kids saw this year’s festival as one last way to release some steam and have some fun before the start of school.
For many “alternative” Fresno citizens, the Vans Warped Tour has become an annual tradition. Even as the genre has changed a bit, many still show up bright and early to the Fresno date. Warped Tour has maintained a cultural significance by being able to attract kids of all different types of interests.
Since its incarnation, the tour has hosted such bands as No Doubt, Sublime, Weezer, Blink 182, Green Day, and NOFX. As the years have gone by, the festival has tried to diversify the line up in order to appeal to a wider “alternative” audience. An example of this is the inclusion of hip hop with acts like Chuck D, Jurassic 5, The Black Eyed Peas, and Dr. Octagon.
This year’s lineup included Every Time I Die, Against Me!, Rise Against, Story Of The Year, and Angels And Airwaves on the main stages. Old favorites Reel Big Fish opened up the festival with their hits “Sell Out” and their ska take on Aha’s “Take On Me.”
Gym Class Heroes also got the crowd moving with their cover of Lamb of God’s “Laid To Rest” and their hit “Clothes Off.” Power pop bands Say Anything and Motion City Soundtrack helped close out the nine hour festival with their evening performances.
One surprising addition to this tour was Katy Perry, who at the time of her performance had the number one single in the country with her song “I Kissed A Girl.” Many turned out to catch her small stage performance, making her one of the biggest draws at the festival. Other small stage acts included All Time Low, Devil Wears Prada, and 3OH!3.
While this year’s lineup seemed to be focused more on the style of hardcore and pop, Warped Tour did make an effort to bring a few punk bands along. Many spiky-haired, studded jacket toting teens showed up early to catch punk legends GBH. Five time Warped Tour vets The Vandals were also on hand and opened up their set with their classic “Oi To The World.” Punk fans also enjoyed sets by bands The Horrorpops and The Aggrolites.
The Warped Tour allows music-goers to catch their favorite bands in a single day and introduce them to new ones. Over 40 bands play each date with half hour time slots, leaving fans plenty of time to check out the bands playing simultaneously on different stages.
“I was mainly there to see Gym Class Heroes, Set Your Goals and Four Year Strong.” said Javier Flores, an FCC student. “I knew who the Street Dogs were but never really got into them. I decided to catch their set and I really liked them” he added.
While it may be all fun and games for music lovers, some bands get the short end of it all. Set Your Goals, a Bay area pop-punk band, played for the entire tour this year. Matt Wilson, one of the singers for the band, explained that his band expected to make money on the tour.
“The reality of it was that our bus was so expensive, this ended up being one of the few tours in our band’s history where we lost money” added Wilson. As a result, the band had to cancel a trip to Europe to play the coveted Reading and Leeds festival where they would have played with the likes of Rage Against The Machine, The Killers, and Metallica.
This year’s tour seemed to satisfy many Fresno kids. After all, there’s no other traveling festival that pleases the metal, punk, and hardcore youth.
Warped Tour has managed to evolve as the years go by depending on what kids are into. The fans may get younger and the hot genre of music may change, but Warped will always be able to cater to fans for years to come.
