Come Build A Warped Tour for 2025

Words by: Matthew Spence

Welcome to Weird Cherry News. I’m your anchor, First Name: Thelonious. Last name: Jones, or at least that’s the name I use when I file my taxes. This just in: Life is boring as fuck but not for long. Do yourself a favor, grab a comfy seat and a box of fruit snacks, and look outside your window; you’ll see a bunch of millennials and Gen-Z’ers storming the streets and clogging the traffic worse than the Eras Tour. No, there isn’t a parade going (the Black Parade is in 2 years). They’re racing to Journeys and Hot Topic like It’s Mad, Mad, Mad World with the Van Wilder soundtrack. Which could only mean one thing: AHHHH YEAH, the Warped Tour is coming back. “Fuck you,” to all who thought it was a phase.

Allegedly. Possibility. Either. Neither. Rumors and speculations are going around high school hallway style after the founder, Kevin Lyman, alluded to it during an interview with Pollstar: “We have something cooking up” for the next year. With all that being said, time to lower the guitar to knee level, iron my fav pair of Billabong pants, and break out the pubescent guitar tone.

Now, once upon a time when I was a wee little lad and for 3 decades, the Vans Warped Tour was a cornerstone of youth culture. Warped Tour walked so other festivals could walk a bit faster. For Christ’s sake, a festival that comes to you? Versus you going to them? Sign my ass up for that alone. On paper at least. When motherfuckers sing about wanting to leave home in a punk song, this is where they wanna sign a lease (or at least a place where they don’t need to pay rent). Welcome to Paradise indeed.

Being the home of bands that inspired everyone to pick up a guitar and sing or sit and talk about people who play and sing. The tour united skaters, skate-punkers, pop-punkers, the emos, the musically inclined, and much more to forget about the world and their problems and just live. Next year, fans can get to experience it once more after 6 years of its end. Fuck a high school reunion, why would I wanna see people I was forced to be around for 4 years when I could possibly see that one dude I talked to before the LMFAO set but never saw again? That’s a real reunion, yo.

During its 3-decade run, the tour evolved in different ways: some good, some bad, and you know it’s had its’ share of bad. Jesus. Yet, the one thing that can’t be denied is its knack for giving a spotlight to many artists on the rise and bubbling to become global. Artists who have left their handprints in the Warped Tour cement include the following <clears throat>: Blink-182, Fall Out Boy, Paramore, Katy Perry, Eminem, Black Eyed Peas, Sum 41, and a plethora of others. Talk about a hell of a reference list to use when applying for a job. Hell, some bands damn near had a residency on the tour as some bands have become staples on their bills, like the aforementioned Blink and Sum 41, At the Drive-In, Less than Jake, Simple Plan (HOW COULD THIS HAPPEN TO MEEE, I’VE MADE MY MISTAKES) and Pennywise.

Short and Sweet: It’s tight. Now with a 2025 return, my ass will be right in the comfort of my bedroom because I know most likely, I won’t go [We be broke these days for concerts and festivals]. However, there’s a lot of shit I hope to watch during a live stream or hear about from Instagram from other people who most likely didn’t attend either. Since I never got to build a bear, we’re gonna Build a Warped Tour, it’s way better… and free.

We On A Warped Tour with Matthew, my Man

It’s the 2020s; not even just music has changed since 2018. Fashion, culture, social media—our brain functions. I wonder if the tour will adapt once more to this new world, musically and all. While the tour has featured a couple of hip-hop acts and pop acts, primarily it’s Punk and Emo, hopefully, that close the minds nor discount the plenty of acts that implement plenty of genres while still keeping the spirit of punk alive. Even, just open the door a bit wider for folks. Either way, I have a handy little list of people I think would be cool to see at the Warped Tour of 2025.

-Paris, Texas (I mean, they literally have had sponsorships with the brand; they’re an easy shoo-in more than Disney winning the Best Animated Feature at the Oscars.)

Rico Nasty. Duhh

Lil B. He has one of the most iconic songs about Vans

Pennywise. We need to hear Bro Hymm yo

Foushee. She’ll have a good mix of Alt and R&B

Zack Fox. He could literally do anything he wants honestly: Rap, do a DJ Set, or stand-up set, I’m fine with any of them, but that’s just me.

Navy Blue. I’m not sure, how this works cause, he’s sponsored by Converse so……I don’t know.

Gouge Away. How about some hardcore?

Mud is Gonna Have the Biggest Comeback of the 2020s

It’s weird wishing Rain on someone’s parade….literally, but as a fan of Woodstok 94 and its famous (or infamous) mud-slinging, it would be cool to have one of our own. MUD FIGHT, MUD FIGHT. A safe one of course and a fun one, where no one gets hurt or loses a tooth (sorry Mike Dirnt). Turn the Warped Tour into a Cartoon Network Game.

Some other third thing

I just want it to be a time yo. Everyone to have fun, soaking up the sun, and making Sheryl Crow proud man. Show up and show out. Where the past, present, and future come hand in hand with lyrics of sulking, fucking up shit, and having a good time. Now, in a time where we have goliaths of festivals like Coachella, Rolling Loud, Flog Gnaw, Dreamville, When We Were Young, etc. It makes you wonder if Warped Tour has a place today, especially compared to the latter competition “When We Were Young”. Has it lost its momentum? Have we all moved on to other outlets and places? Do we need it? Personally, I have no fucking idea, but I want it. I love the idea of the community coming back together.