17 Warped Tour facts you probably don’t know
As much debauchery happens onstage at Warped, there’s plenty that goes on behind the scenes. In case you aren’t a Warped historian, here are 17 facts you probably don’t know—directly from Kevin Lyman’s brain!
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1. It may just be an urban myth, but supposedly, the Black Eyed Peas met Fergie in the Warped parking lot when they played the tour in 1999.
2. The first canned water was created as a marketing tool by Monster for use on Warped Tour. Now this concept is used by most festivals.
3. The original name of the tour was the Bomb, but the day it was going to be announced, the Oklahoma City bombing happened. Bad timing!
4. If it wasn't for a blizzard, the title sponsor could have been Calvin Klein, and I probably wouldn't be writing this.
5. Arturo Vega, the creator of the classic Ramones logo, did the Aztec-themed artwork for the tour in 2012. RIP Arturo.
6. Bud from Sublime holds the record for most arrests on Warped Tour in one day. (Two.)
7. Ice-T called and didn't ask to be on the tour in 1999—he just said he was.
8. Less Than Jake have played the most Warped dates of any band. Their 365th Warped set was in 2014.
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9. Avenged Sevenfold were the first band to use a prop on Warped Tour: a smoke machine, in 2005.
10. In 1998, we merged with Ozzfest for the “Skatin Meets Satan” show. We made shirts for everyone—Sharon Osbourne was not stoked.
11. I did not have gray hair when I started this tour in 1995.
12. On Warped Tour Australia 1998, the whole tour stayed in campgrounds, with most of the bands and crews in tents. However, 311 insisted on a motorhome, but no one knew how to drive on the other side of the road, resulting in almost causing numerous wrecks along the way.
13. Contrary to popular belief, Underoath and NOFX actually got along quite well on the 2006 Warped Tour.
14. In 2008, Katy Perry was voted laziest artist on the tour since she was never at the post-show barbecues. However, no one knew I was working closely with her management to make sure she could do radio and TV appearances at 5 a.m. and then get back to the venue for the show. She was actually the hardest working person that summer, just not the hardest partier—except in New York.
15. Hurley got jumpstarted on Warped Tour, thanks to Blink-182 wearing their shirts nearly every day.
16. Green Day once said they would never do two things: watch Titanic and play Warped Tour. I’m not sure about the first one, but I made them do the second one in 2000.
17. After the first year of Warped, Airwalk tried to get me to dump Vans for a ton of cash. I said no way, because Steve Van Doren was the real deal. He still is.
