Kevin Lyman Interview

Warped Tour By Scott Bolohan Jul 24, 2007, 12:38

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Warped Tour Founder
Kevin Lyman

Thirteen years ago, Warped Tour Founder Kevin Lyman took bands like No Doubt and Sublime across the country in a van in what was the start of, for many, one of the most anticipated events of the summer. Inspired by skateboarding influenced shows of the late-‘80s and early-‘90s in California, Lyman took to the road in hopes of promoting his scene by providing music to the masses for a good price. Today, the Warped Tour continues to bring many live acts from around the country to your hometown.

Although the Warped Tour has become one of the most successful annual concert tours, at the start, Lyman had no idea how it would turn out. “I’ve always said, 'Keep your expectations low, that way you can achieve them,'” he said. “So each year we just try and get through next year. And we’ve been able to reach expectation and keep going.”

Warped Tour has seemingly become engrained in American culture, with it appearing in everything from song lyrics to a playable level on Guitar Hero 2. “Now that it’s going 13 years, I think it’s thriving and we’re getting a second and third generation of kids that maybe their parents went to it, and maybe their older brothers and sisters definitely went to it, and now they’re coming here, it’s great.”

Warped Tour brings in a diverse crowd of people, but Lyman says that it is one of the few places where kids can all co-exist: “It’s a good place for kids to have a fun time, but they learn, and they experience, and they’re not judged at this tour. You can go out there right now and there’s kids with mohawks, kids with polo shirts and kids who, maybe in high school, would be ridiculing each other, enjoying a day together, and that’s really kind of cool.” Although Warped Tour has become known as a punk-centered tour, there is more than just punk music on the bill, although Lyman says the attitude is the same: “I think it’s the punk ethos; it translates to a lot of artists, like k-os.

When asked why Warped Tour has become so successful, Lyman said, "If you liked music in any way, shape or form, you can wander around and find three or four bands that you’ve never heard of that you’re going to really like. Plus it’s cheaper than going to a movie theater.” | RDW