The Vans Warped Tour has been a staple for fans across the globe for 24 summers. Traveling across the country and sometimes overseas to bring fans a diverse lineup of artists that would most likely not even visit some stops. Warped Tour isn’t all about the music as it has stepped up to promote a variety of nonprofit organizations and bring some thrilling action sports to enhance the experience. This is more than a traveling festival, this is a punk rock summer camp that has allowed fans to set aside their worries for a single day and inspire themselves to be who they want.

     2018 marked the final cross country edition of the Vans Warped Tour. 2019 brought a select few dates to commemorate the 25th Anniversary of the tour. Those stops included Cleveland, Mountain View and Atlantic City. 

     The Atlantic City Warped Tour was setup like any other day on any other year. The only difference here is the fact you had Warped Tour celebrate 25 years on the beach with much bigger names on the bill. Those names included 311, A Day to Remember, The Offspring, Blink-182, Taking Back Sunday, just to name a few. Veteran bands paying homage to a festival that helped launch their careers.

     You may not realize it but many notable artists became superstars after performing a summer on Warped Tour. You had Eminem, Pink, 3OH3, Paramore and Katy Perry in previous lineups. A brief recollection of 2008 when Katy Perry was a fairly small name but had a hit single titled “I Kissed a Girl.” It was assumed Katy Perry would be a one hit wonder and for those who thought they’d never hear from her again were wrong as she would move on to be one of the most iconic pop stars of the past decade.

     Now back to the Warped 25 celebration in Atlantic City. The weather for day two of the festival was picture perfect. Large crowds gathered for the final Warped date ever on the east coast. The day started with a performance from a rapper named Dem Atlas. This Minnesota native not only performed for the first time ever at Warped but this was his first time attending the festival himself. The rapper has a record out titled “Bad Actress” that incorporates many of his personal experiences into the music. Dem Atlas has also worked with another rapper that is no stranger to Warped Tour, Atmosphere, who performed the day prior.

     Anthony Green from Circa Survive decided to crowd surf to the Atlantic Ocean during the band’s mid afternoon set. The Starting Line didn’t have to sing the lyrics to their powerful pop punk anthem “Best of Me’ as fans began to sing it for them. Members Kenny and Matt of The Starting Line are thankful for the support fans have given them over the years and as of now are performing select shows.

     Dirty Heads made their return to Warped with the crowd hovering in marijuana smoke. Bowling for Soup brought 14-year old group Not Ur Girlfriendz to sing with them on stage. Other notable performances throughout day two were Set It Off, Neck Deep, Andy Black, The Used, The Menzingers, Taking Back Sunday, Sleeping with Sirens and Reel Big Fish.

     The day capped off with The Offspring and Blink-182 performing all of their biggest hits. Blink not only celebrated the 25th anniversary of Warped Tour but also the 20th anniversary of Enema of the State by performing the record that includes cult classics such as “What’s My Age Again” and “All the Small Things” in its entirety.

     It was a successful Warped 25 in Atlantic City as a sold out crowd made themselves heard. The nonprofits, including To Write Love on Her Arms and HeadCount, once again encouraged festival goers to support great causes. The merch tents were as tempting as always to spend your pay away and of course there was the return of the Monster Energy lounge.

     The future of Warped Tour is unknown. All we know for now is the festival is history and all we have is to reflect back on the legacy and impact Warped Tour has left on so many people. People who literally had their lives changed in some positive way thanks to Warped Tour. Thank You Kevin Lyman for bringing us 25 consecutive summers of happiness.