Warped Tour update, reaching out to fans and Camp Hollywood Heart

It's not summer until the Vans Warped Tour® Presented by AT&T begins. The annual punk rock extravaganza celebrates its 15th anniversary this year, and organizers are promising the most memorable jaunt yet for North America's longest-running touring festival. The 46-date tour commences June 26 in Pomona, CA and finishes August 23 in Carson, CA (see full list of tour dates, cities and venues below).

The 2009 incarnation of the VANS Warped Tour--affectionately known as "punk rock summer camp”--will host a distinct and diverse lineup of the hottest artists on the scene, as well as a full concourse of lifestyle attractions and vendors. Even better, it all comes at a traditionally affordable ticket price. With a new website launching April 1, WWW.WARPEDTOUR.COM will be more interactive than ever. Visit the site for a full list of bands performing at each show and more.

Also starting April 1, fans can purchase their tickets early via the annual internet pre-sale on the website. Fan-friendly ticket prices remain a staple of the Vans Warped Tour. In order to keep the festival affordable for all concertgoers, presale prices are approximately $25. That exclusive pre-sale price gives fans a concert ticket, a copy of the Vans Warped Tour 2009 compilation CD (SideOneDummy), a 25-cent donation to the Camp Hollywood Heart* charity and all service fees. Fans who snag the limited number of presale tickets in each market will also qualify for a chance to win exclusive prizes like tickets to a Vans Warped Tour 15th Anniversary special event in Los Angeles this September. Meanwhile, the regular on-sale for all of the dates will start on April 18.

The much-lauded WARPED Old School Stage returns to some cities in 2009. Check WWW.WARPEDTOUR.COM for details. There's another change to the tour's landscape this year--the tour will feature one main stage instead of two. This tour evolution will allow artists to give fans a full 40-minute set as opposed to 30-minutes in past years. Ten bands will rock the main stage at each date, and set changes will run like clockwork at only 20 minutes, encouraging fans to check out side stages as well.

Tour founder and producer Kevin Lyman comments, "We went to one main stage for a couple reasons. Many of these bands have been around for a long time and have lots of songs to choose from, so this year, instead of limiting them to five or six songs, they will have 40 minutes to play all your favorite songs from the past and a couple of new ones. This year's lineup is a great mix of the old and the new and continues our attempt to keep the lineup as diverse as possible. Since times are tough, it was also important to me to figure out how to keep the ticket price low this year. This way we can accomplish that AND still put on an awesome show."

Festival organizers made this traveling punk rock circus the summer's best bang for your buck. Appealing to everyone from traditional punk fans to backpacking hip hop kids to metal heads, VANS Warped Tour has its finger on the pulse of the most fiery acts in absolutely each and every genre--from the brash gutter punk of Gallows and the Adicts to the epic art metal of Underoath and the street savvy rhymes of P.O.S. Check out the lineup below. List is subject to change and not all bands will perform at every day (check WWW.WARPEDTOUR.COM for band listings by city).

3OH!3
A Day to Remember
A Rocket to the Moon
A Skylit Drive
Alexisonfire
Anti-Flag
Attack Attack!
Bad Religion
Bayside
Big D and the Kids Table
Black Tide
Bouncing Souls
Breathe Carolina
Breathe Electric
Brokencyde
Cash Cash
Channel 3
Chiodos
Dance Gavin Dance
Dear and the Headlights
DI
Dirty Heads
DOA
Escape the Fate
Every Avenue
Fishbone
Flipper
Flogging Molly
Forever the Sickest Kids
Gallows
Guttermouth
Hit the Lights
I Set My Friends on Fire
In This Moment
Innerpartysystem
Ivy League
Jeffree Star
Kiros
Less Than Jake
Lights
LoveHateHero
Madina Lake
Manic Hispanic
Meg & Dia
Millionaires
NeverShoutNever
NOFX
Outernational
P.O.S.
Punk Rock Karaoke
Runner Runner
Saosin
Scary Kids Scaring Kids
Senses Fail
Shad
Shooter Jennings
Silverstein
Sing it Loud
Streetlight Manifesto
TAT
The A.K.A.s
The Adicts
The Architects
The Ataris
The Devil Wears Prada
The Dickies
The Duane Peters Gunfight
The Exploited
The Goodnight Anthem
The Main
The White Tie Affair
There For Tomorrow
Therefore I Am
Thrice
Total Chaos
TSOL
TV/TV
UK Subs
Underoath
Valencia
Vanna
Westbound Train

Plus, Keeping our environment in mind, the WARPED ECO INITIATIVES (WEI) continue to be a big part of the tour in 2009. Facets of WEI range from biodiesel fuel for touring trucks and buses to environmentally friendly catering for bands and crew courtesy of Tada Catering. There's even a solar-powered sound system on the Kevin Says Stage. WARPED will again collaborate with Philippe Cousteau’s environmental organization Earth Echo International to cultivate environmentally-friendly programs that encourage awareness through action, and to bring these initiatives to into the collective fan consciousness.

Furthering WEI's online presence, the WARPED website (WWW.WARPEDTOUR.COM) showcases pages for each tour date, including public transportation options and carpool message boards as well as eco contests and initiatives. WARPED TOUR and EarthEcho International will again organize a volunteer watershed cleanup at NOAA’s Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary in Monterey, CA.

In addition, the VANS WARPED TOUR has partnered with the TJ Martell Foundation once more. For each tour date, the TJ Martell Foundation will auction pair of tickets and the opportunity for fans to watch their favorite band from the side of the stage. Plus, the second annual Vans Warped Tour/TJ Martell bowling event has been scheduled for June 29 in Phoenix, AZ. Bands will square off in a rock n' roll bowling competition of epic proportions. Working in conjunction with KEDJ (The Edge), WARPED will auction off a spot on every band bowling team, allowing lucky fans to roll alongside their favorite rockers.

The full list of tour dates is below (subject to change):

Date City Venue
Fri 6/26 Pomona, CA Pomona Fairplex
Sat 6/27 San Francisco, CA Pier 30/32
Sun 6/28 Ventura, CA Seaside Park
Tue 6/30 Phoenix, AZ Cricket Pavilion
Wed 7/1 Las Cruces, NM NMSU Practice Field
Thu 7/2 San Antonio, TX AT&T Center
Fri 7/3 Houston, TX The Showgrounds @ Sam Houston
Race Park
Sun 7/5 Dallas, TX Superpages.com Center
Tue 7/7 Indianapolis, IN Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre
Wed 7/8 Pittsburgh, PA Post Gazette Pavilion
Thu 7/9 Cleveland, OH Time Warner Cable Amphitheatre
Fri 7/10 Toronto, ON Arrow Hall
Sat 7/11 Montreal, QC Parc Jean Drapeau
Sun 7/12 Hartford, CT New England Dodge Music Center
Tue 7/14 Washington, DC Merriweather Post Pavilion
Wed 7/15 Scranton, PA Toyota Pavilion
Thu 7/16 Buffalo, NY Darien Lake Performing Arts Center
Fri 7/17 Camden, NJ Susquehanna Bank Center
Sat 7/18 Uniondale, NY Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum
Sun 7/19 Oceanport, NJ Monmouth Park Racetrack
Tue 7/21 Boston, MA Tweeter Center for the Performing Arts
Wed 7/22 Virginia Beach, VA Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre
Thu 7/23 Charlotte, NC Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre
Fri 7/24 Orlando, FL Central Florida Fairgrounds
Sat 7/25 Miami, FL Cruzan Amphitheatre
Sun 7/26 Tampa, FL Vinoy Park
Tue 7/28 Atlanta, GA Lakewood Amphitheatre
Wed 7/29 Cincinnati, OH Riverbend Music Center
Thu 7/30 Milwaukee, WI Marcus Amphitheatre
Fri 7/31 Detroit, MI Comerica Park
Sat 8/1 Chicago, IL First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre
Sun 8/2 Minneapolis, MN Canterbury Park
Mon 8/3 St. Louis, MO Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre
Tue 8/4 Kansas City, MO Sandstone Amphitheatre
Fri 8/7 Boise, ID Idaho Center Amphitheatre
Sat 8/8 Salt Lake City, UT Utah State Fairgrounds
Sun 8/9 Denver, CO Invesco Field
Wed 8/12 Calgary, AB Race City Speedway
Fri 8/14 Vancouver, BC Thunderbird Stadium
Sat 8/15 Seattle, WA Gorge Amphitheatre
Sun 8/16 Portland, OR Washington County Fairgrounds
Wed 8/19 Fresno, CA Save Mart Center
Thu 8/20 Mountain View, CA Shoreline Amphitheatre
Fri 8/21 Sacramento, CA Sleep Train Amphitheatre
Sat 8/22 San Diego, CA Cricket Amphitheatre
Sun 8/23 Los Angeles, CA Home Depot Center

The Vans Warped Tour® is made possible through the support of Vans®, presenting sponsor AT&T, and supporting sponsors such as: Kia Motors, truth.com, Monster Energy, Trojan, Hurley, Skullcandy, Rockband 2, xBox, Sonic Bids, Ernie Ball, Denny’s All Nighter, Alternative Press, NAMM, Sabian, Smartpunk, Dickies, FUSE TV, Zildjian, PETA2, Shirts for a Cure Project, Amnesty International and many others. Canadian Sponsors include West 49, AUX TV and more!

About Vans Warped Tour
The VANS WARPED TOUR® is well established as America’s longest-running touring festival, breaking up-and-coming indie talent as well as showcasing established artists since 1995. It has cemented its place in history by playing a major role in bringing punk-rock/skate/action sports culture from the underground to the forefront of American youth culture, while at the same time creating awareness and taking action towards environmental and causes and helping those in need. The traveling punk rock summer camp features a diverse array of artists as well as a variety of lifestyle attractions for its traditionally low ticket price. For more information on the tour that Alternative Press readers voted the “Best Tour/Festival” of 2009 and Rolling Stone called “America’s most successful festival” (2005), go to: WWW.WARPEDTOUR.COM.

This year’s 15th Anniversary VANS WARPED TOUR artwork was created by New York-based rock poster artist Brian Ewing, who has been working in the music industry since 2000. For the past six years, Brian has worked and toured with the VANS WARPED TOUR. He’s also created iconic imagery for such bands as Queens Of The Stone Age, Billy Idol, Alkaline Trio, Brand New, Metallica, The Bouncing Souls, My Chemical Romance and Bad Religion. In July 2009, Dark Horse books will publish Don’t Hold Your Breath, a collection of Brian’s rock poster work from the past eight years, with a forward written by Kevin Lyman.
http://www.brianewing.com/


* Camp Hollywood Heart (www.camppacificheartland.org) is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing recreational opportunities through a summer camping program for children infected and affected by HIV/AIDS.