NASHVILLE |DT: MARCH 27, 2003
FM: KRISTINE ASHTON/LIBBY HENRY/JENNIFER SHELLER
VANS WARPED TOUR ’03:
AMERICA’S LONGEST-RUNNING TOURING FESTIVAL
KICKS OFF JUNE 19 IN BOISE, ID;
TOUR HELPS RAISE CONSCIOUSNESS AND ENVIRONMENTAL AWARENESS WITH ‘DECARBONATED TOURING’ AND
‘KEVIN SAYS TAKE ACTION’ CHARITY AREA
Coming off its most successful year ever with nearly 500,000 fans in attendance, the ninth annual VANS WARPED TOUR returns to the road June 19 in Boise, ID and will criss-cross the U.S. and Canada, wrapping August 10 in Asbury Park, NJ. With ticket prices still in the $25.00 range, this year’s hotly-tipped line-up includes: AFI, Andrew W.K., Dropkick Murphys, Face To Face, Glassjaw, Less Than Jake, Pennywise, Rancid, Simple Plan, Suicide Machines, Sum 41, Taking Back Sunday, The Ataris, Thrice, The Used and many more. Top athletes in the action sports worlds of Moto X, skateboarding, freestyle BMX, street skating and bike trials will include Mike Frazier, Rick Thorne, Steve Caballero and many others.
New attractions this year include the “Kevin Says Take Action” charity area, which will feature live performances by artists who regularly support charity efforts, as well as booths with up to 12 non-profit organizations at each show. Another unique aspect of the 2003 tour is “Decarbonated Touring.” Through this environmentally conscious effort, the global warming impact of the VANS WARPED TOUR will be offset through the protection of threatened tropical rainforests. The tour will calculate the amount of carbon dioxide emitted by its trucks, busses, power use and fans driving to and from shows. In partnership with Conservation International, a portion of sponsorship fees will be donated to this cause to help protect threatened tropical rainforest with high biodiversity, thus preventing the release of an equivalent amount of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. For more information, go to www.conservation.org.
Another tour addition is The Hawk Kids Invasion Tour, featuring twelve top skateboarders hand-picked by legendary pro skater Tony Hawk. These skaters–revered as the next generation of professionals–will perform demos on their self-contained 70×14 foot skate arena at select shows. In addition, the Balls Of Steel motorcycle stunt show–featuring three 16 and 17 year-old motorcycle riders in a steel ball doing wheelies and back flips–returns to the tour after its 2001 debut.
The VANS WARPED TOUR–America’s longest-running touring festival–continues to help break new artists and receive accolades from the media. The 2002 tour was called “the summer’s best bargain” by Rolling Stone and was chosen as the “Best Concert” in the Alternative Press 2002 Readers’ Poll. The UK’s Kerrang! hailed the tour as “punk rock’s biggest and best tour,” while the Hollywood Reporter lauded it as “the blueprint of how to run a successful music festival.”
Since launching in 1995, WARPED has helped a wide variety of bands break through to the masses, including: AFI, Blink-182, Deftones, Flogging Molly, Good Charlotte, Incubus, Jimmy Eat World, Kid Rock, Limp Bizkit, New Found Glory, Saves The Day, Something Corporate, Sugar Ray, The Ataris, The Donnas, Thursday and many others. In the New York Daily News (March 24, 2003), Jim Farber noted: “Vans Warped has become the hottest breeding ground…never before have so many acts on recent Vans tours managed to warp sales in their favor.” Farber continues by pointing out that AFI debuted at #5 on the Billboard Top 200 Album Chart this week. Other 2003 VANS WARPED TOUR bands currently on the Billboard Top 200 album chart are: All-American Rejects at #40, Simple Plan at #44 with their gold-certified No Pads, No Helmet…Just Balls CD and The Ataris at #48.
Following is a current list of bands confirmed for this year’s tour, with more to be announced. Please note that not all bands are on every date.
AFI
All-American Rejects
Andrew WK
Atmosphere
Authority Zero
Avenged Sevenfold
Avoid One Thing
Bowling For Soup
Brand New
Coheed And Cambria
Count The Stars
Damone
Dropkick Murphys
Face To Face
From Autumn To Ashes
Glassjaw
Less Than Jake
Level
M-80
Mad Caddies
Maxeen
Me First And The Gimme Gimmes
Mest
New Transit Direction
One Man Army
Pennywise
Plain White T’s
Poison The Well
Rancid
Rufio
S.T.U.N.
Simple Plan
Slick Shoes
Story of the Year
Suicide Machines
Sum 41
Taking Back Sunday
Talib Kweli
The Ataris
The Starting Line
The Used
Thrice
Tsunami Bomb
2 Cents
Unseen
Vendetta Red
Yellowcard
New attractions in 2003 include:
Kevin Says Take Action: This area will feature live performances from bands that support charity efforts. Speakers from local non-profit organizations will have the opportunity to briefly address the crowd between sets on this stage. There will also be booths for up to 12 non-profit organizations at each show.
The Hawk Kids Invasion Tour: Twelve top skateboarders hand-picked by legendary pro skater Tony Hawk will perform demos on their self-contained 70×14 foot skate arena at select shows. These skaters are revered as the next generation of professionals. Catch these skaters at the following shows: Seattle, Portland, Pomona, Ventura, San Francisco, Sacramento.
Girlz Garage (formerly Ladies Lounge): Tent featuring the latest fashion, music, DJs, sports, makeup, etc.
Balls of Steel: Stunt show featuring three 16 and 17 year-old motorcycle riders in a steel ball, doing wheelies and back flips.
Hansen’s Climbing Wall: Largest portable rock climbing wall in the country.
Auto Race Slip And Slide: Racing and old time car-themed slip-and-slide water attraction.
Returning attractions include:
Fanzine Region: This area–expanded in 2003–is dedicated to the numerous fanzines that have supported the tour throughout the years and dedicated their time to VWT bands. Fanzine editors will have the chance to exhibit their fanzine in their city, providing samples and giveaways, zine history, as well as information on subscriptions and zine distribution locations. This area will also have a database with all participating fanzines. Fanzines can conduct band and athlete interviews at the booth as well.
Locker Box: An avid VANS WARPED TOUR fan arranged this much-needed VWT Locker Check-In area. It allows concert-goers the chance to collect items and merchandise and then check it in when it's too much to carry. Coats, backpacks, bags, cell phones, shirts, hats, pants and shoes are all welcome.
Button Booth: Workshop for making customized buttons using photos, artwork, band autographs, etc.
Ernie Ball Stage: In its seventh year, the Ernie Ball Battle Of The Bands offers bands from across the country an opportunity to compete for various prizes such as: spots on the Ernie Ball stage, gear and instruments, as well as recording contracts. The stage also featured up-and-coming bands such as Maxeen and Bowling For Soup.
Reverse Daycare: A tented, air-conditioned area where kids can drop off their parents while they cruise the action of the festival. There will be a masseuse on hand to take care of the parents and movies will be shown in the tent, which will be equipped with “noise proofed” headphones. Parents will be able to get away from the heat and noise, enjoy cold drinks and discuss the triumphs of parenthood as their kids rock out to the music and activities.
Tour dates are as follows:
Date City Venue
Thu 6/19 Boise, ID Idaho Center Amphitheater
Fri 6/20 Bozeman, MT Gallatin County Fairgrounds
Sat 6/21 Salt Lake City, UT Utah St. Fairgrounds
Sun 6/22 Denver, CO Invesco Field
Mon 6/23 Wichita, KS Greyhound Park
Tue 6/24 Kansas City, KS Sandstone Amphitheater Lot
Wed 6/25 St. Louis, MO UMB Bank Pavilion
Thu 6/26 Cincinnati, OH Riverbend Music Center
Fri 6/27 Indianapolis, IN Verizon Wireless Center
Sat 6/28 Minneapolis, MN Float-Rite Amphitheater
Sun 6/29 Chicago, IL Tweeter Center
Wed 7/2 Calgary, ALB Race City Speedway
Fri 7/4 Vancouver, BC Thunderbird Stadium
Sat 7/5 Seattle, WA Gorge Amphitheater Lot
Sun 7/6 Portland, OR Columbia Meadows
Tue 7/8 Pomona, CA Pomona Fairplex
Wed 7/9 Ventura, CA Seaside Park
Thu 7/10 San Diego, CA Coors Amphitheater Lot
Fri 7/11 Long Beach, CA CSULB
Sat 7/12 San Francisco, CA Pier 30/32
Sun 7/13 Sacramento, CA Sleep Train Amphitheater
Tue 7/15 Phoenix, AZ Peoria Sports Complex (night show)
Fri 7/18 San Antonio, TX Verizon Wireless Amphitheater
Sat 7/19 Dallas, TX Smirnoff Music Center Lot
Sun 7/20 Houston, TX Reliant Center
Wed 7/23 Atlanta, GA Hi Fi Buys Amphitheater
Thu 7/24 Orlando, FL Central Florida Fairgrounds
Fri 7/25 St. Petersburg, FL Vinoy Park
Sat 7/26 Miami, FL Pompano Beach Amphitheater Lot
Sun 7/27 Jacksonville, FL Jacksonville Raceways
Mon 7/28 Charlotte, NC Verizon Wireless Amphitheater Lot
Tue 7/29 Virginia Beach, VA Verizon Wireless Amphitheater Lot
Wed 7/30 Washington, DC Nissan Pavilion Lot
Thu 7/31 Boston, MA Brockton Fairgrounds
Fri 8/1 Montreal, QUE Parc Jean Drapeau
Sat 8/2 Toronto, ONT Molson Park
Sun 8/3 Detroit, MI Pontiac Silverdome
Mon 8/4 Milwaukee, WI Marcus Amphitheater
Tue 8/5 Cleveland, OH Tower City Amphitheater Lot
Wed 8/6 Pittsburgh, PA Post Gazette Pavilion
Thu 8/7 Buffalo, NY Darien Lakes PAC
Fri 8/8 Philadelphia, PA Tweeter Center (Waterfront)
Sat 8/9 New York City, NY Randall’s Island
Sun 8/10 Asbury Park, NJ Asbury Park Lot
The Vans Warped Tour is made possible through the support of Vans, PlayStation 2 computer entertainment system, Yoo-hoo Chocolate Drink, Kraft Easy Mac, truth, Monster Energy and Hansen’s Sodas and SPIN magazine. For more information, visit www.warpedtour.com.
For more information contact:
MSO 818-380-0400
Kristine Ashton x 233 kashton@msopr.com
Libby Henry x 224 lhenry@msopr.com
Jennifer Sheller x 234 jsheller@msopr.com
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