On Oct. 17, Vans Warped Tour announced its comeback, with tickets going on sale Oct. 24 at 9 a.m. PDT. After announcing the long-anticipated return, organizers announced the tour dates in a video, but no lineup. Fans were left to blindly buy tickets for shows in Washington, D.C. June 14-15; Long Beach, California July 26-27; and Orlando, Florida Nov. 15-16.
The Lineup
Currently, Warped Tour has officially ended their “30 Days of Warped” and given us most—but not all—of the lineup for each of the cities. And yes, you read that right, each city has its own lineup.
Now, technically, this isn’t that bad of an idea. Warped has never had the exact same lineup at every show (in fact, 2019 was set up the same way). What’s unusual this year is the lack of clear headliners, something Warped Tour has traditionally featured. No clear artists are leading this tour, which is something that they typically have.
Washington D.C.
D.C. is giving us artists such as 3OH!3, All Time Low, Avril Lavigne, Bowling for Soup, Hawthorne Heights, Ice Nine Kills, Scene Queen and The Maine. It is ironic that the lineup has Scene Queen with her song “18+,” calling out the predatory behavior of those in the Warped scene and All Time Low being one of the bands with those types of allegations.
Long Beach, Calif.
Long Beach is giving us some of the artists above as well as 311, Black Veil Brides, Falling in Reverse, New Years Day and Silverstein.
Orlando, Fla.
Orlando is giving us some of the aforementioned artists as well as having Huddy, Plain White T’s and State Champs.
So, Is Warped Tour Going to Be Worth It?
At its base, two-day passes went on sale starting at $149.98 (including fees), which is surprisingly about the same price as they were for the last tour in 2019. But, that being said, there were several different tiers, with Tier 5—now the only option left for Orlando—priced at $199.99 plus $29.99 in fees. Orlando is the final two days for this tour, so why is it not sold out? Now, that’s not something I can answer but it is something that has led others who are watching and seeing what all is being announced, wondering “Why? Why have these days not sold out when everything else has?”
Perhaps, it’s the fact that the lineup hasn’t been completely announced. Even though the organizers didn’t announce that this would happen until a few days before they did the “final” reveal. Washington D.C. was missing two artists, Long Beach was missing 15, and Orlando was missing more than 20. Fans have taken to the official Warped Tour Instagram comment section, to X and to other social media platforms to question why it took them three months to announce the lineup, just to not announce the entire thing.
This tour will have the normal different experiences, an artist alley where you can get photo ops, meet different artists and buy merch. An extreme sports section in which you can sign up or just watch different people do tricks on their BMX bikes and skateboards. Both of these moments are things that people have looked forward to at Warped for 30 years now.
Comparing it to other festivals going on this year, however, the pricing and the lineup just doesn’t appear to be worth the price. As well as for those considering making the trip from the University of Missouri, the cost and lineup may not justify the travel for MU students.
Of course, Warped Tour has always been about introducing people to newer acts but they also had more known artists perform as well. Truthfully, it’s up to you. I personally think that it isn’t worth it, but I’m no expert and I’m not you. If you’re thinking about getting on a waitlist for D.C. or Long Beach or purchasing the $200+ tickets for Orlando—which don’t include transportation or hotel—you’ll have to decide if it’s worth it
I, for one, won’t be doing this and will be purchasing a ticket for one of the other festivals this year that have bands that I’m looking forward to seeing and have a better price.