For thirteen years, producer and founder Kevin Lyman has been bringing his traveling Summer Punk Rock Circus, Warped Tour, around the world and the tour has been influential in helping numerous bands get a chance to show their talents to thousands of kids each day in a new city. Warped Tour has always been known as one of the most grueling tours each summer as tour dates are often six days a week and the travel between shows on hot summer days can certainly takes its toll, but it's also an opportunity many bands can't pass up.
As a special end to another successful Warped Tour,
Lyman added an extra stage to this summers final show on August 25 a the Home Depot Center in Los Angeles. As a tribute to the roots of the tour the final Warped Tour on their lucky 13th year had the privilege of rocking out to classic punk rock bands at The Old School Stage. The stage featured performances from
The Dickies,
Circle Jerks,
Manic Hispanic,
Fear,
The Adolescents,
Agent Orange and
Duane Peters Gunfight. Many of the bands that performed on the last show paid homage to the "
Old School Stage" acts citing these bands as early influences during the start of their careers.
We caught up with Sum 41, who have just released their new album 'Underclass Hero' and who have been a part of the Warped Tour for many years to get their thoughts on getting their career started on Warped Tour.
Watch video: Sum41 Got Their Start On Warped Tour
"This band got started after Deryck and Steve went to a Warped Tour in 1996 and saw a band Pennywise, who's still on The Warped Tour, NoFx and Bad Religion and Lag Wagon so I mean it's actually a huge part of our careers. We got started because of it. We started doing it I guess in '98 or '99 in Toronto in Canada and then we did a couple of weeks and we did the whole thing in 2001. It's just like a fun thing to do when your album comes out to play in front of thousands and thousands of people each day in each city and hang out with your friends."
We also caught up with of Pepper, who have come a long way from their first Warped Tour, to get his thoughts on touring with some of the bands influences growing up on this years tour.
Watch video: Pepper On Performing On Warped Tours Lucky 13th Year
"Lucky number 13 this year in 2007 and I just want to big up to Kevin Lyman, all the production, all the crews and everything. I don't know if anyone knows this but Pepper and Warped go way back. In 2001, our first year actually there was a stipulation to be on the tour we had to set up and break down the dearly missed Volcom which is no longer on the tour anymore. But that was Pepper the first year. We were driving in a van, no AC, get there at 8 in the morning set up a stage, play then break it down every day. It's safe to say that was the roughest Summer of Pepper's life. But it's really come full circle with being on the main stage and sharing a stage with bands we grew up with listening to and our huge influences like Bad Religion and Pennywise. So, it's been real gratifying I have to say and it's been great hanging out with all the boys. It's like everyone says, it's a Punk Rock Summer Camp and it truly is."
2007's Warped Tour finale featured artists Sum 41, Cute is What We Aim For, The Actual, Bad Religion, The Almost, Coheed and Cambria, Killswitch Engage, K-OS, Pennywise, Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, The Used, New Found Glory and a surprise appearance from Avenged Sevenfold, among many others. As 2007's version of Warped Tour is finished circling North America, look for many of the bands to get out on the road for headlining tours of their own. For those that missed Warped Tour's 2007 Finale here's a montage of live performances from Avenged Sevenfold, Bad Religion, Coheed and Cambria, Pennywise and Sum 41.
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