We first ran this post in 2015, but with Warped Tour set to begin again on June 24 we figured an updated reissue made a lot of sense. If you’re going to Warped this year as press, please comment below with your date and maybe we can cross paths!
Vans Warped Tour, the summer camp of punk rock. Every year many people get their start shooting shows by covering Warped Tour. I didn’t get my start shooting Warped, but covering it did prepare me for how to handle shooting an all day music festival in the scorching heat without water. It’s an experience unlike any other and sort of a right of passage for music photographers, especially for those in the punk/alternative field. I’ve decided that not doing a tutorial guide on how to shoot warped tour would be irresponsible, so here are some of my tips (I know Todd Owyoung has a great article on the same thing and I purposely haven’t read to avoid any plagiarism).
Gear (Technical and Professional):
You can shoot warped tour with almost any body and any glass. You’re shooting outside and your equipment doesn’t need to be top notch. Afraid of using your kit lens because of its aperture limitations? Bust it out! You’re shooting in daylight!
Remember to bring extra cards, and batteries. It’s an all day event. Sometimes we all need a reminder to bring extra cards and batteries.
Warped tour is an all day event. Make sure you have sunscreen, comfortable sneakers and appropriate clothing. And please wear deodorant, your pits will smell at the end of the day when you’re shooting verticals 😉
Check out smaller bands:
The reason for this is simple – the little bands are the ones that are going to get big next year. Imagine having photos of Katy Perry from that one summer she spent sweating it out with the best punk had to offer on Warped Tour. I wish I did!
Last, but not least, be creative.
If you shoot vigorously like I do, then you can shoot 10+ bands at Warped. Do something different. Yeah that jump shot is great, but the only way to separate warped photos from you and every other person shooting Warped is to be creative and different.
Nick Karp is a professional photographer and freelance music writer. He recently relocated to NYC and dyed his hair bright pink because that is the kind of thing people do in the music business.
The lineup for the 2016 run of Van’s Warped Tour was unveiled last week, and it won’t be long before bloggers, vloggers, and podcasters from all corners of the country are submitting their press credentials in hopes of covering the world’s largest traveling music festival. There are more than 50 bands on the lineup this year, and among them are some of the biggest name the alternative scene has ever known, including Good Charlotte and Sum 41. Both those bands are great, and we definitely think you should catch their sets, but if you want to make your coverage of Warped Tour unique we urge you to find time for the smaller bands on the bill as well.
Warped’s main stage acts will most likely bring in clicks for your website at a faster rate than articles pertaining to the younger acts, but in our experience the best coverage often arises from time spent with those still trying to find their footing in the music business. These are the same bands who wake up early every day to work the lines before gates open, and then spend every waking minute possible on the festival grounds in hopes of meeting or making fans. Those individuals and groups are the ones making the most of their Warped Tour experience, and they’re likely to see the biggest return for time spent as a result. In fact, many of the tour’s biggest bands today were once artists hustling CDs outside the gates, and that will no doubt continue to be true with the next round of alternative headliners.
By stepping away from the obvious draws and seeking something worthwhile in other corners of Warped Tour you open yourself, not to mention your audience, up to a world of possibilities that could lead in a million different directions. Perhaps you discover the unknown band who will headline the festival two years later, or maybe you meet an artist whose got a story that you know your readers will want to hear. The point is, you will find something to cover that is different than what will be covered by everyone else at the festival, and as a result you will be able to forge relationships and connections with people who may be able to help you down the line. The networking opportunities at Warped for aspiring professionals is one of the more underutilized points of entry to the music business with easy access in the industry, which is precisely why we’re here telling you to take advantage of it.
The following bands are the 10 act we think you should consider covering, but it’s really just an effort to get you to consider something different with your tour coverage. Some names may seem bigger than others, but we believe they all offer unique perspectives on music, the industry, and the state of the alternative community as a whole that have gone largely untold up to this point. Like their peers before them, these acts are in need of strong journalism and word of mouth to make it over that last horizon of viral/buzzworthy popularity so that they might be able to make music their full time careers. You have the power to help change their lives, and we’re asking you to consider doing so following your time at Warped Tour this year:
Avion Roe
Former Inside Music guests Avion Roe are no strangers to appearing on Van’s Warped Tour, but this will be the group’s first major outing since signing with Epitaph Records in the fall of 2015. The band has already completed their debut album, but it’s not the end of March and we have yet to know anything about the record or when it will be available. The band’s music should speak for itself, but as longtime supporters we can attest to the fact there are few bands on Warped that will be able to match the energy this group brings to the stage. We predict this summer will be the one that establishes Avion Roe as the genre heavyweights they appear destined to become, and it’s a story you won’t want to miss.
Sykes
We caught Sykes during an unofficial SXSW showcase our friends at The Catalyst Publicity Group hosted earlier this year and were immediately taken by their unique twist on classic pop rock tropes. The band has already developed a fervent following outside the US, so it’s not a leap to assume their stint on Warped will make them equally popular here in the states. Just try and experience the song above without wanting to hear everything the band has written. We dare you.
Mother Feather
Mother Feather is a band that should need no explanation. The name alone is enough to spark your curiosity, and the visuals that help promote the group only amplify that interest. When you do hear their music, be prepared to discover an infectious combination of classic rock sensibilities and modern rock attitude that just won’t quit. In fact, we had to stop writing this paragraph several times while the band’s music was on because the urge to play air guitar and dance around the office with our cats was too strong to resist.
Prof
Prof’s 2015 video for his single “Bar Breaker” was one of the wildest clips to his the internet last year, and we have a feeling his live show will be just as crazy. Warped Tour rarely selects more than a handful of rappers for the festival, and this year is no exception to that rule, but the addition of Prof shows Warped still knows big potential when they see it. Of all the bands on this year’s lineup, Prof is among those least known by the tour’s core demographic, but we’d wager that will change in no time at all.
Coldrain
At first glance, Coldrain feels like an odd addition to the Hopeless Records roster. The label has housed their fair share of modern rock acts over time, but in recent years Hopeless has been viewed by many as a pop punk brand. What you realize when listening to Coldrain is that Hopeless ˙has never been a label focused on one particular, but rather a feeling only felt when a certain kind of music is played. It’s like a sudden rush of blood to the brain ignited by music that offer deep and true expression of the human experience, and that is exactly the kind of art this group creates.
Against The Current
If there is such a thing as being a ‘sure thing’ in music, Against The Current would be it. For the better part of two years now this band has been skyrocketing through the pop and rock underground, carried by the powerful talent of singer Chrissy Costanza. Some will compare her to Paramore’s Hayley Williams, but if that happens it’s only because people don’t know who else to compare someone to when speaking about female vocalists in the alternative world. The truth is Costanza, much like her bandmates, is a true original.
Palaye Royale
Palaye Royale may be the best kept secret in Sumerian Records history. Their sound is a cross-section of radio ready rock and punk aesthetics that will have you bobbing your head in no time at all, and their live show has been the talk of the underground for what feels like forever. Warped has more straightforward rock bands than at any other point in recent memory on the lineup this year, and that bodes well for Palaye Royale’s ability to win over new listeners. If you haven’t heard the group’s label debut, “Don’t Feel Quite Right,” we urge you to pick it up as soon as you are able.
Bad Seed Rising
The youngest band signed to Roadrunner Records, Bad Seed Rising is a force unlike anything the rock scene has experienced in a decade or more. Where many young bands tend to write about their personal experiences and the struggles of growing up, Bad Seed Rising have always had their eyes on the bigger picture. This bands writes song that can and hopefully will one day change the world. Everything they do is done for the purpose of not only furthering their own careers, but mankind as a whole, and they’re only getting better with age.
The Heirs
We have a feeling The Heirs could to Warped Tour 2016 what PVRIS has been in years past. Just edgy enough to be considered alternative, yet catchy enough to grab the attention of pop tastemakers, The Heirs offer an infectious mix of ideas that is both fun and captivating. Most people don’t consider Warped Tour to be a place where people go to dance is if they were in a club or in their room alone, but The Heirs might change that when songs like “Ecliptic” are played.
ROAM
We’ve written at length about ROAM, and with each new mention the group seems to be inching closer to pop punk domination. Warped Tour could be the tipping point, and even if it’s not the pits for this band’s sets will be ones you do not want to miss. If you’re looking for a group that is connecting with the next generation of Warped Tour regulars, this band is the answer.
We have been trying very hard to find the right way to bring the controversy surrounding the artist known as Front Porch Step and his role in Vans Warped Tour to our blog, but so far our best attempts have been scrapped long before making it to this page. Suffice to say, if you don’t know anything about this situation yet, you will need to do some research in order to understand everything that will follow. We suggest using this link to get started.
What you’re about to read was written by the incredibly talented Kelly Doherty for Absolutepunk. If you like it, visit the original post and speak with Kelly about her work. Also, tell all your friends to read and share her thoughts.
This time last year, there were so many of us challenging structures like the Warped Tour on their refusal to accurately represent female artists on their bills. We talked about the way it acts as a barrier to women who wish to get involved in alternative music and the message it sends to female fans that their place is solely in audiences, looking up to male artists and being treated only as groupies, “fangirls” or, if they’re lucky, backstage staff. We called upon Kevin Lyman and his peers to buy into the concept that they have a certain social responsibility to the people that they make their money from.
Today, Front Porch Step is playing the Warped Tour and may possibly play the rest of its run. This comes in the aftermath of Lyman denying (here and here) that he would be playing. This year, rather than simply refuse to represent women accurately and passively engage in systematic patriarchal oppression, Lyman has opted to support an artist who has manipulated the blind trust of his underage female fans for his own sexual gratification. He has given this artist the seal of approval and is willing to attach his name to the actions of Jake McElfresh. By allowing him to play today, Lyman is saying that, on balance, the more important aspect of McElfresh’s character is his ability to play shitty three minute songs as opposed to the active harms he has caused against others. Much like a football team who is still willing to field a player who has been engaging in domestic abuse, Lyman is sending out a message that McElfresh’s actions aren’t really that important and that all the fuss has been about nothing. Considering how many young boys in their early teens are present at Warped Tour each year, it’s particularly damaging that they’re being told that it is okay to treat girls the way that McElfresh did. Lyman is, with this move, telling them it was just a mistake and it doesn’t matter. This is telling young girls that if something like this occurs to you, it’s not really a big issue and, by hell, there’s no point in speaking out against it because nothing will happen.
Furthermore, this is a message from Lyman that he does not care about your behaviour, no matter how morally reprehensible it may be – you can still get on his stage, he will still look after you. Given the past 12 months and the constant awful behaviour we’ve seen, with multiple figures from the scene either being involved in sexual assault claims or engaging in victim-blaming, this serves to show that if young bands act that way, Lyman will still back them. Warped Tour still has a big enough audience that a stint on the festival can make a band. This decision means there is little long term backlash for an artist who’s sexually assaulted an underage girl, if they can still fund their career from the youngsters who attend Warped. It makes the scene into even more of a skinny-jeaned freemasons – boys will be boys and it doesn’t matter what they do because Grandpa Kevin will still help them out.
The darkest thing about McElfresh playing Warped, however, isn’t just message based. His actions involved young female fans that he established contact with through shows and festivals: festivals like Warped Tour. Lyman is placing McElfresh straight back into a position where he has access to young girls and could easily start the cycle once again. Whether or not he does, I find it both disgusting and dangerous hat Kevin Lyman is willing to put the young people who fund his festival, and his life, at risk when he knows fully what he is doing. Lyman is giving FPS a platform to be looked up to and admired by young girls. Lyman’s actions are those of someone who simply doesn’t care. We’ve gone beyond the point of asking him to volunteer and engage in his social responsibility, to the point where we are asking him not to actively put young girls in danger for the sake of a few bucks and that’s so twisted.
Beyond everything else, what’s particularly weird about Lyman opting to include Front Porch Step on Warped today is that he seems to gain very little from it. For once, Warped Tour can’t mask itself behind a cloak of ‘we’re doing it for the money’. Chances are, the inclusion of Front Porch Step against the will of the thousands of fans who signed petitions, shared tweets, and called for action will put fans off attending Warped. It’s likely that McElfresh is to walk out on stage to no more than a handful of people who are there to boo him, because he wasn’t a particularly interesting or good musician in the first place. It makes no negative impact on the sales of Warped Tour to not include him. No one ever said “aww, I was going to pay a load of dollars to go to Warped, but Front Porch Step isn’t on the line up so I guess I’ll play Xbox instead.” In fact, the tickets for this date were already sold at the point of announcing the act, so there is literally no benefit. Inclusion of Front Porch Step feels like a giant “fuck you, I won’t do what you tell me". It feels like a pathetic act of rebellion from a man who’s been coming under fire because his festival is the anti-thesis of what it once was, and that makes breaking away from Warped and everything it stands for all that easier.
It’s time that we stand up and say a resounding ‘fuck you’ to the Warped Tour and all that goes with it. Our mistakes last year came from trying to engage with and ask the likes of Kevin Lyman to change their actions and become fairer and more accepting. That’s never going to happen. Scene culture that goes hand-in-hand with Warped Tour 2015 is never going to change. It has no interest in changing because that would mean those in control would have to loosen their grip. It’s time that we make like bands such as Touché Amore and say we don’t need institutions like Warped. We will create a fairer scene on our own terms. We’ll start festivals and host shows that promote inclusion and safety. We’ll promote bands like Mitski, Speedy Ortiz, Joanna Gruesome, Perfect Pussy and so many more acts that give a fuck and care about their fans. Not only do we need to breakaway from the norm, we need to counteract its harms. We need to build counter-narratives, writing articles and promoting music that engages young audiences and make them realise the importance of equality, acceptance, inclusivity and responsibility. We don’t need the establishment, that’s not what punk rock was meant to be about in the first place. Let Warped Tour’s actions today be the moment that radicalizes a whole new generation of people who live for punk rock, and don’t want it to be killed by the very people we turned to punk rock because of in the first place.
Vans Warped Tour, the summer camp of punk rock. Every year many people get their start shooting shows by covering Warped Tour. I didn’t get my start shooting Warped, but covering it did prepare me for how to handle shooting an all day music festival in the scorching heat without water. It’s an experience unlike any other and sort of a right of passage for music photographers, especially for those in the punk/alternative field. I’ve decided that not doing a tutorial guide on how to shoot warped tour would be irresponsible, so here are some of my tips (I know Todd Owyoung has a great article on the same thing and I purposely haven’t read to avoid any plagiarism).
Gear (Technical and Professional):
You can shoot warped tour with almost any body and any glass. You’re shooting outside and your equipment doesn’t need to be top notch. Afraid of using your kit lens because of its aperture limitations? Bust it out! You’re shooting in daylight!
Remember to bring extra cards, and batteries. It’s an all day event. Sometimes we all need a reminder to bring extra cards and batteries.
Warped tour is an all day event. Make sure you have sunscreen, comfortable sneakers and appropriate clothing. And please wear deodorant, your pits will smell at the end of the day when you’re shooting verticals 😉
Check out smaller bands:
The reason for this is simple – the little bands are the ones that are going to get big next year. Imagine having photos of Katy Perry from that one summer she spent sweating it out with the best punk had to offer on Warped Tour. I wish I did!
Last, but not least, be creative.
If you shoot vigorously like I do, then you can shoot 10+ bands at Warped. Do something different. Yeah that jump shot is great, but the only way to separate warped photos from you and every other person shooting Warped is to be creative and different.
Nick Karp is a professional photographer and freelance music writer. He recently relocated to NYC and dyed his hair bright pink because that is the kind of thing people do in the music business.
This Friday, June 19, marks the official start of Vans Warped Tour 2015. There are more than 50 artists performing over the course of the tour’s near two-month run, and based on what we’ve seen online it appears many of our followers have already been received press credentials for whatever date is closest to them. If that applies to you, congrats! Covering Warped Tour is a fun and essential part of developing as a young music writer, especially if you have any interest at all in one day working in/with alternative music.
Whether it’s your first time covering Warped Tour or your eleventh it can be hard to know just what to highlight in your future blog coverage. I know your basic instincts will tell you to go for your favorite bands, as well as the headliners that will no doubt perform for thousands every day, but if you really want to make the most of your time at Vans Warped Tour 2015 we here at Haulix have a few suggestions that will not only challenge you, but also expand the type of coverage you’re able to offer readers. I know stepping outside your comfort zone can be scary, especially when trying to build a career, but if there was ever a place to take chances and really express yourself it’s while covering the world’s largest traveling music festival.
Warped Tour Now Has a Comedy Stage!
For the first time in its history, Warped Tour is adding a comedy tent to its numerous stages and attractions. This years festival will see Beth Stelling, Chase Bernstein, Dave Ross, Eli Olsberg, Eric Schwartz, Grant Cotter, Sammy Obeid, and Sandy Danto joining the mix of over 100 bands already on the bill. Some may think the combination of music and comedy in a setting like this is strange, but festivals like Bonnaroo and Sasquatch have long-proven the opposite to be true. Comedians, like musicians, grind it out every day to chase their dreams of entertaining crowds of all sizes for a living. The performers on this year’s stage may not all be household names yet, but that could change overnight, and just like the musicians on tour your coverage could help them take their career to the next level. Plus, highlighting this part of Warped encourages Kevin Lyman to bring it back next year, and to be perfectly honest we really want that to happen. So please, help us out!
Did you know you can basically go to school at Warped Tour?
The Entertainment Institute (TEI) is a music education platform that gives people access to musicians and professionals currently working in the industry through customized workshops, both online and in person. During Warped Tour, TEI offers one-on-one classes with Warped Tour artists and staff on a variety of courses, including Entrepreneurship with Fronz from Attila, Vocal Technique with Bradley Walden of Emarosa, and even YouTube 101 with online personality Bryan Starz, all for the low price of $25 per session. For coverage purposes, you could attend a class and report on your experience, or you seek out those who attend a variety of course and highlight a variety of experiences to help future attendees better decide which, if any, classes may be right for them. There are probably a dozen other ways to tackle this part of the tour, but those two should at least get you started. Be creative!
You Can Never Have Enough Feedback From Parents
Warped Tour implemented a pretty cool policy a couple months back in order to encourage more people to bring their young teens to the festival that grants parents free admission. This was a move taken years after the tour implemented a reverse daycare for parents, which features shaded areas, seating, air conditioning, and a variety of other amenities to allow for a small escape from the noise and chaos of the Warped grounds. Most people know all of this exists, but every year only a few outlets have the idea to ask parents about their experience at the festival. This could be done in a very direct fashion or in a fun and creative way, like having parents list the bands they saw, or even challenging them to review certain bands on the tour. Finding adults willing to participate may be a challenge if your date is fast-approaching, but people with weeks left to plan may want to get an early jump on this if its something that interests them. If you need help winning over parents, we encourage offering them money or your services to perform any chores they may need handled.
Nonprofits May Be More Important Than Ever This Year
With all the talk of sexual assault and the allegationsmadeagainstseveralWarpedTour performers new and old in the last six months, it’s not hard to understand why Kevin Lyman has made a public statement regarding his efforts to extend an invitation to organizations that focus on sexual abuse, cyberbullying, predator awareness and teen suicide to encourage them to come out to Warped Tour this summer. This is one of many moves the festival is making to try and ensure the safety and well being of all attendees, so it should be a no brainer that those who do participate deserve a bit of your time. This issue has become bigger and bigger in recent months, and the people representing the organizations trying to inform people about these awful things, as well as help these who have been preyed upon, need all the aide they can receive to bring their existence to the attention of young people who think Warped Tour is only about the bands on stage. Your coverage of these groups, or any of the groups on tour (To Write Love On Her Arms, for example) could literally save lives. That isn’t something you can typically claim about artist interviews, especially those captured in a festival setting. Think beyond clickbait and try doing something good for others. Trust us. It feels good.
Offer Readers The One Thing No One Else Can: Your Experience
While I would never encourage anyone to forgo interviews completely, I’ve often found the most compelling content created around Warped Tour are the firsthandaccountsofwritersontheground at various dates. The play-by-play to someone’s day at festival filled with over 10,000 attendees, 50 bands, half a dozen comedians, numerous nonprofits, food vendors, and more is the kind of unique content no other site can replicate. By sharing your perspective you’re able to offer exclusive insight on the tour, as well as better engage with your readers in an authentic way. This isn’t you speaking on the tour through a structure discussion with an artist who is doing 5-20 interviews a day, but rather your thoughts, feelings, and experiences as expressed by you in the written word. There may be no better way of connecting with readers than through material like that, but in order to make it great you have to be completely honest with your audience. Be bold. Take chances. Say what you really feel and, with a little luck, people will connect with it and encourage you to share more.
James Shotwell is the Marketing Coordinator for Haulix. He is also a professional entertainment critic, covering both film and music, as well as the co-founder of Antique Records. Feel free to tell him you love or hate the article above by connecting with him on Twitter. Bonus points if you introduce yourself by sharing your favorite Simpsons character.
Every now and then we stumble across articles online that blows us away. The following post is an example of one such article, and it was written by Paul Adler for the audience at Medium. If you like what Paul has to say, please head over to his Medium profile and click through the rest of his work.
The Vans Warped Tour has become an American institution. But like many American institutions, it has a problem. That problem is one of sexual violence.
Every summer for the past 21 years, the Vans Warped Tour, universally acknowledged as an itinerant “punk-rock summer camp,” has brought the best, most in-demand alternative music to fairgrounds, arenas, and racetracks all across the country. Artists like Blink-182 and Katy Perry have jump-started their careers on the tour, propelling themselves to TRL-level adulation. The tour also boasts a more diverse bill every year, expanding lately into hip-hop and EDM. Mostly, however, alternative luminaries like NOFX, Every Time I Die, Alkaline Trio, Bad Religion, and The Bouncing Souls continue to anchor this Brobdingnagian tour package.
But over the past half-decade, a handful of alternative-scene, so-called “Warped Tour” bands have found themselves accused of sexual misconduct with minors. Musicians have been convicted of crimes, and other bands have been condemned for their apparent advocacy of physical and sexual violence, especially toward women. Of course, the bands and the tour are separate entities, and Warped isn’t legally responsible (moral responsibility is another matter) for the actions of its acts. Nonetheless, it’s tempting to let these scandals color the general perception of the tour. More difficult is untangling the nuances of this new age of opprobrium.
“I’m gonna speak the truth til I die. We saw @botdfmusic Dahvie bring under age [sic] girls to his hotel rooms an [sic] do sexual things. 100% ILLEGAL,” tweeted Jeffree Star. The cotton candy-pink-haired Internet icon, makeup artist, and would-be diva was responding to a 2010 wave of allegations leveled at Dahvie Vanity, founder of the electropop group Blood on the Dance Floor (BOTDF). Vanity, also known as David Jesus Torres, had collaborated with Star on several BOTDF releases, but the two had had a recent falling out. That year, Blood on the Dance Floor played Warped Tour in its entirety.
For his part, Star appeared to be offering some damning testimony to buttress the widespread claims of sexual misconduct continuously made against Vanity over the previous six years. In October 2009, Vanity was arrested in Centennial, Colorado on a charge of first-degree sexual assault for apparently bedding a fifteen-year-old girl.
The charge would end up being retracted, though it was hardly the only allegation of sexual malfeasance to emerge over the past half-dozen years. Pages dedicated to telling the world of Vanity’s suspected criminal behavior abound online. A Tumblr page entitled “The Truth about Dahvie Vanity” has a so-called “allegation roundup” delineating an array of claims against the singer. The roundup is full of jarring screenshots purporting to show texts and tweets from Vanity to young girls. The exchanges are lurid, to say the least.
Then there was the blog post from Ashley Costello, singer of the band New Years Day. The band, also Warped Tour participants, had frequently toured with BOTDF until Costello decided to speak out against Vanity in a lengthy, now-deleted jeremiad, saying, in part: “I have never met a bigger bully in my life. I have never felt so uncomfortable. I have never been physically attached [sic] and abused, until now.”
Costello continued, “Ive [sic] seen girls cry because they have been taken advantage of and made to do things they didnt [sic] want to do. I have seen horrible and disgusting things done by a man on a throne that does not deserve to be there… Showing you [sic] ass to kids? Having kids grab your dick on stage? Telling 12 year olds your [sic] going to come on their faces? Making derogatory comments to me on stage. Hitting fans on the head with equipment? Telling my friends they are band whores ON STAGE because they wont [sic] say into the mic his cum tastes good? Watching the cops get called on tour because he was with someone under the age limit. That is just A TINY TINY TINY TINY portion of [what] I had to watch every night. Not to mention what was done to me and done to so many other girls. It is a fucking disgrace. Its [sic] disgusting.”
Another member of Blood on the Dance Floor, singer Jayy Von Monroe, has been chronicled taunting fans with threats of rape and rape “jokes.”
While the accusations against Dahvie Vanity are a well-publicized example of bad behavior on the tour, they’re but one instance in Warped’s history of showcasing bands that have engaged in inappropriate sexual behavior toward minors. This past January, 23-year-old Jake Mcelfresh, who performs under the moniker Front Porch Step, came under fire when several young women began posting screenshots of text message conversations they had with the singer-songwriter.
“In the last two weeks, a growing number of accusations have surfaced online against Mr. Mcelfresh, 23, asserting that he engaged in inappropriate text message and social media relationships involving at least half a dozen teenage girls, including, in some cases, the exchange of sexually explicit pictures,” the New York Times reported in January. Days before that article was published, Mcelfresh dropped off Warped Tour—thanks in part to aChange.org petition—and announced he was suspending his 2015 tour schedule.
However, the most extreme case of sexual degeneracy with a connection to Warped Tour makes those of Front Porch Step and Blood on the Dance Floor look tame by comparison. In 2012, British rockers Lostprophets spent the full summer on the tour. Several months later, singer Ian Watkins was arrested and charged with a spate of crimes. In November 2013, he pleaded guilty to attempted rape and sexual assault of a child under thirteen.
“Watkins also admitted conspiring to rape a child, three counts of sexual assault involving children, seven involving taking, making or possessing indecent images of children, and one of possessing an extreme pornographic image involving a sex act on an animal,” the BBC said. The singer had, on two different occasions, filmed himself having sex with sixteen-year-old girls. Worse, he had attempted to rape an eleven-month-old baby, which hedescribed as being “mega lolz.” Information regarding the allegations about Watkins might have ostensibly been available, as his ex-girlfriend told policeshe had attempted to “raise the alarm” on several occasions dating back to 2008.
In addition to these suspicions and proven crimes, Warped Tour has seen its bands come under fire for espousing violence toward women.
“Some bands are so breathtakingly stupid they tumble forward into a kind of genius,” writes Alternative Press’s Phil Freeman, reviewing About That Life, the fifth studio album from “Atlanta deathcore knuckle-walkers Attila.” Sounding like somewhat of an apologist, Freeman writes, “There’s an undercurrent of misogyny that pops up from time to time and threatens to spoil the fun. But if/once you get past lines like ‘punch that bitch,’ you’ll be hoisting beers and throwing fists in the air in no time.”
Atilla’s Warped tour mates, Emmure, also have their own special brand of misogyny, which they sell to fans from behind their merch table every summer. “What self-respecting girl would respond positively to a guy wearing a shirt like this?” writes Robert Pasbani of Metal Injection. Pasbani is talking about Emmure’s and Atilla’s selection of t-shirts, some of which read things like “Keep Calm and Ask Your Girl What My Dick Tastes Like,” and “I Will Find Your Fucking Bitch And Fuck Her Right In Front Of You.”
They’re just t-shirts, you might say. And of course, it’s anybody’s right to sing about domestic assault if they so choose. But why should the women who attend or work on the tour have to contend with such immediate violence and hatred?
“I can assure you none of these matters have been taken lightly,” says Kevin Lyman. “All are dug into thoroughly once they are brought to my attention, which is usually after I book someone, so that should dispel the reason I put them on is because they are controversial.”
If Warped Tour is a giant, punk-rock summer camp, Lyman is the camp’s director. Under his purview are hundreds of musicians, administrators, volunteers, audio engineers, stage managers, roadies, and drivers, all of whom make Warped Tour what it is. Lyman has worked for over two decades to transform Warped Tour from a traveling circus into a cultural movement.
Lately, he’s had to protect the tour in the face of these accusations and aggressive litigation. When Lyman, looking to keep fans from injury and stave off lawsuits, announced in 2013 that bands were no longer allowed to prompt crowds to mosh, form circle pits, or stage the dreaded “wall of death,” he received pushback from fans. “That’s half the fun, the bands encouraging craziness,” a fan tweeted at him. “But in America that leads to many lawsuits, ever sat in one I have been through many, no fun and costly,” Lyman responded.
Kevin Lyman seems beleaguered, always on guard. “If someone wrote some misinformation regarding this I think I might not take it so lightly,” he says. “I read how many false things are thrown at me on a weekly basis.” It may not be fair that Lyman has to face down critics more focused on the bad behavior of bands than on the good Warped Tour strives to do. The tour plays host to non-profit organizations, blood drives, food drives, and environmental initiatives. On off-days, Lyman prompts his staff and artists to volunteer. He’s been awarded for his philanthropy and was cited as Humanitarian of the Year by Billboard in 2009.
“Warped stands for what it always has and does not tolerate artists who do wrong,” he says. “They will be dealt with when there is proof but I cannot judge by the court of the Internet.” It’s well known that Lyman hosts a personnel meeting at the beginning of every touring season where he cautions his staff and bands against any inappropriate interactions with underage fans. Noting a decrease in the age of the average Warped attendee, Lyman has also taken the step of allowing parents into the tour free of charge.
But is Lyman doing enough to discourage the culture of violence threatening to metastasize within the Warped community?
One Warped Tour staffer, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, doesn’t think so. “I think Kevin understands there are a lot of artists on that tour that don’t align with its core beliefs,” she says. “Where does Warped draw the line?” She says she feels “like Warped Tour has educated a lot of people about community and standing up for what you believe in,” but wonders, “when is Warped going to stand up and say, ‘we’re going to educate you [about violence]?’ Just because you’re in a situation with someone you admire doesn’t mean you’re safe.”
This Warped vet understands the responsibility for fans’ safety falls on the artists they’re paying to see, but equivocates when it comes to parsing out matters of intent. She acknowledges that people like Dahvie Vanity and Ian Watkins are sexual predators but insists, “There’s a difference between de facto pedophilia, where [artists are] going after attractive people who happen to be underage, and pedophilia [proper], where they’re preying on children because they’re children. If you’re 20 and you’re into a girl who’s 16,” she asks, “are you into [her] because she’s 16? Is it her youth that attracts you? I don’t think so.”
These bands may not necessarily be attracted to these young girls because of their age, but if these girls weren’t 15 or 16, would they be engaging in the sort of idolatry that forms a mutual attraction between fan and artist? Probably not. And any argument about intent is semantic. Pursuing and engaging in sexual activity with a person who legally isn’t old enough to consent is objectively criminal.
Perhaps Warped Tour’s issue with violence is a problem of community. “Where is #PMA?” the Warped Tour staff member interviewed for this piece wonders. She’s talking about “Positive Mental Attitude,” a hashtag/platitude that pervaded the alternative scene half a decade ago. “I feel like I don’t experience it in the Warped world anymore. The message that was part of Warped Tour has, little by little, been eroded and there is no message anymore.”
“People aren’t coming together to have a conversation about the world around them and how it’s perceived by people living and experiencing an alternative lifestyle. The community is so split up by the violence inside and outside the music. How can the alternative community come together in order to combat violence? The question isn’t whether there’s a problem. Yes, there’s a problem, but the question is, why isn’t anybody addressing it?”
To be clear, the swelling tide of physical and sexual violence in the music industry is not exclusive to Warped (think R. Kelly, Chris Brown, and Ted Nugent). And it’s not Warped Tour’s fault, but it is Warped Tour’s problem. At some point, more aggressive measures against the presence of physical or sexual violence may need to be enacted. At some point, someone’s going to have to take a stand.
Is a pattern of untoward band behavior a reason not to buy a ticket to Warped? No. Is this a problem with most or even a large portion of bands on the tour? Absolutely not. But it’s something to think about next time you’re having difficulty deciding what merch you’re going to spend your money on. If you’re a young girl, maybe you’ll think twice about crowd-surfing or accepting an invitation onto a tour bus.
For now, rock’s biggest circus is still kicking, and every true believer out there, every fan who’s ever walked through a set of festival-ground gates on a hot summer morning, ready to see a collection of his or her favorite bands, clutching a fistful of cash to spend on merch—they’re all rooting for Kevin Lyman and Warped Tour. Warped isn’t too big to fail, but to the rock scene, it’s too damn important.
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Hello and welcome to a very special mid-week edition of our popular Journalism Tips series. We normally hold these columns until Saturday, but due to the time sensitive nature of the content contained within this post we decided to run it a few days early. Don’t worry, there will be something new on Saturday too.
This blog exists to promote the future of the music industry, and to do that we need input from people like you and your music-loving friends. If you have any questions about the content in this article, or if you have an artist you would like to see featured on this blog, please contact james@haulix.com and share your thoughts. We can also be found on Twitter and Facebook.
There was a time not too long ago when I would have thought we talked about Vans Warped Tour too much. While it’s true that many labels who use Haulix to service their artist’s latest releases have participated in Warped Tour at least once or twice in the past, it’s not true for every single one of our clients and we often worry about giving any one area of music too much attention via this blog. In 2014, however, Warped Tour is a far different beast than it has been during any other year that I can remember. The punk and hard rock elements are still firmly in tact, but the world’s largest traveling music festival has also expanded its musical offerings to include people from the world of EDM, rap, pop, and beyond. Some complain, but I think it’s ultimately for the best, and if you’re smart about how you approach your coverage of Warped Tour you may find it has the potential to be one of, if not the most rewarding coverage experience(s) you have all year.
I know that every writer has their own method and routine when it comes to interviews and live coverage, but that does not mean you’re incapable of improvement. To help get this point across, I asked Absolutepunk staffer and all-round badass music blogger Jake Denning to provide a few coverage tips and tricks for those who have yet to attend the 2014 installment of Warped Tour. He agreed, and after a few back and forth conversations we settled on a nice list that I think drives home the idea that you can never truly perfect your interview style. In truth, you can only plan, practice, and hope for the best. Put yourself in the best possible position to succeed and do whatever it takes to make your goals a reality.
Without further ado, here’s Jake…
I recognize the advice I’m about to share is not gospel, but I feel like it will help some looking for some tips when it comes to doing press the Warped Tour (or any festival in general).
BEFORE YOUR APPROVED DATE:
1. Make sure you’ve turned in the interview request form that was sent to you when approved for press. Some interviews (such as The Summer Set and The Ghost Inside) require advance approval, and if you don’t turn in the form well in advance of your show date, there is absolutely no chance you will speak to that band.
2. Make sure you have a plan for food/water. My personal preference is to pack the following: (1) Quest Protein Bar, (1) 3.25oz bag of Jerky, and (1) Small bag of Trail Mix, along with (1) Empty gatorade sports bottle (you can generally find these at any sporting goods store for about $2-5, VERY useful).
ON THE DAY OF THE SHOW:
1. Have your batteries charged, your memory clean, your bag/gear organized
2. Get to venue and find yellow Vans tent well in advance of check-in time (generally 10:30am local time). This allows you to be ready to go when it comes time to enter the venue, and find the press area as quickly as possible
3. Once you’ve found the press area and you’ve introduced yourself and signed in, find the performance schedule, typically located next to the interview sign-up sheets. From there, momentarily forget about doing interviews for the day, and build a schedule based on what bands you’d like to watch. Ideally, you shouldn’t have more than 20 minutes between sets, as to maximize the day. Once you have that schedule, THEN start to remove performances that conflict with press times for a particular artist (For instance, if Every Time I Die is doing press from 1pm – 1:40pm and you’d like to see Motionless In White at 1:20…well, looks like you’re not watching Motionless In White)
4. HAVE AN OUTLINE – I recognize this is not for everyone, but for someone who tries to hit on the album/release a particular artist is touring on, this is essential for me. I need specific notes detailing my critical thoughts on said release, as well as questions pertaining to lyrical content, etc. You will never get a chance to interview this artist again on this specific day, so be as detailed as you can be in this setting.
5. Be mindful of when a particular artist is scheduled to interview and be mindful of when they arrive. Be near the press table when they arrive, so that you have a better chance of getting to interview them. To be honest, not every publication that signs up on the list (even if they’re first to sign up) will get to interview. For example, I had an artist come in that 7 different people (including myself) had signed up for – the Tour Manager routed them to AltPress, myself, and then one other publication, and then promptly left.
6. After an interview is done, IMMEDIATELY find a way to upload to Dropbox (or favorite cloud storage provider) – Things happen.
7. Chances are that you’re probably going to end up charging your phone/laptop/etc at some point in the day – take that opportunity to connect with other people/artists in the room. Plague Vendor (Epitaph) ended up on my radar because I ended up getting to know them for 20 minutes or so, not knowing who they were before hand.
8. Last, but certainly not least, FOLLOW THE RULES given to you when approved – for example, if you’re in a venue that does not allow video, then DON’T shoot video and claim you didn’t know about the rule afterwards.
Jake Denning is an entertainment writer and critic with years of experience working online. He has interviewed dozens of bands and written about more albums than you have probably heard in your entire lifetime. He’s a smart go-getter with a blindingly bright future ahead of him and we’re grateful that he was willing to help us with this post. If you would like to learn more about his efforts in music and beyond, click here to follow Jake on Twitter.
