2009 Vans Warped Tour

The Van's Warped Tour is the longest running traveling international rock festival around, and the 2009 tour was more exciting than ever. With a lineup that included Bad Religion, Less Than Jake, NOFX, The Devil Wears Prada, Underoath, Saosin and tons more, tickets went fast. If you want to make sure you catch next year’s Warped Tour live, then go ahead and sign up for our Ticket Alert now. We’ll let you know as soon as 2010 Van’s Warped Tour tickets become available.

Millions of fans have attended since its creation in 1995. The tour, created by Kevin Lyman, began in 1995 with a few not-so-famous rock bands, but it still drew quite a crowd. The line-up included Quicksand, Sublime, No Use For a Name, Fluf, and Athlete. The tour boasts not only great punk-rock talent, but inline and skateboarding events to please their most avid fans.

The tour was a combination of all things punk. They had just over 25 full-time staff their first year and traveled across the US and into Canada spreading their love of rock to thousands of young fans.

By the following year, Warped Tour gained a more loyal following of punk fans looking for a good show. The 1996 line-up included punker favorites like Blink 182 and Simple Plan. Beck, Reel Big Fish, and 311 were also included on the line-up. Not only did the tour begin by presenting great punk bands to the audiences, but it helped out the performers by letting their music become known to a wider audience.

Blink 182 and Simple Plan are good examples of bands that were launched into stardom with the help of their days on Van's Warped Tour. By 1997 the key audience for the tour had been determined: 15-30 year old guys who love to rock as well as skate. Van's, sponsor of the tour, fed this stereotype well. The company specializes in skater paraphernalia and lends its hard-earned image to the punk scene. The line-up in 1997 was a continuation of the past two years. It included traditional punk rock bands like Descendents, Pennywise, and Social Distortion, but it also threw some flavor in with the ska beats of the Mighty Mighty Bosstones.

By 1998 the rest of the world was eager to get in on the success of Warped Tour. They began selling tickets overseas for concerts in Australia, Japan, and Western Europe. The tour became a year-round affair in 1999 when it began in New Zealand during the New Year season and continued to the USA by summer. Attractions began to become more numerous as the tour added more activities outside of the concerts themselves. Half pipes and ramps welcomed skaters and bikers in the audience to show off their moves. Booths with free merchandise from sponsoring companies also gained the approval of the fans. Warped Tour even began providing a 'reverse daycare' for parents who accompany their kids to the concert.

Over the next few years the tour continued to expand, taking the act to more cities, booking more dates, and selling out more venues than ever before. The tour headlined with famous bands like Bad Religion, MxPx, NOFX, The Unseen, and No Doubt. In 2002, Rolling Stone Magazine described the tour as 'punk rock summer camp'. The tour drew in over half a million fans that year and has continued to grow. The 2004 tour lineup included such greats as Anti-Flag, The Bouncing Souls, Flogging Molly, The Casualties, Rise Against, and Yellowcard, as well as a long list of quasi-unknown rockers who hope to get their big break by learning from their punk rock idols on the biggest punk rock tour the world has ever seen.