Vans Warped Tour DC kicked off on June 14, aka Trump’s birthday and the date of the Army’s 250th anniversary parade. Between the authoritarian amount of tanks in the nation’s capital, the attacks on the LGBTQ+ community (especially during Pride month), the Israeli violence perpetrated against Palestinians, and the vile ICE raids happening in Los Angeles and beyond… it’s fair to say that the punks have a lot to say about the state of the world.
These brave musicians and artists used their platforms (which were broadcast on Amazon Prime) to speak truth to power. Here are the political messages artists shared at DC Warped Tour.
The Wonder Years
The Wonder Years leader Dan “Soupy” Campbell always uses his platform to speak truth to power. At the DC Vans Warped Tour, he wore a “Free Gaza” shirt and said, “I’m going to say three things: I’m going to say protect trans youth. I’m gonna say fuck ICE. And with my whole fucking chest, I’m going to say free Palestine.”
Millionaires
Meredith Hurley, one half of Millionaires, showed off her support during her set by sporting a “Protect Trans Folks” shirt. Thanks for your message, queen!
Senses Fail
Senses Fail‘s Buddy Neilsen took his time onstage to share his stance on the genocide in Gaza stating: “Every single day, I open my fucking phone, and I see a little kid’s face blown off. You cannot explain that shit to me. You cannot tell me that that is right, and that is all you need to know about that. It is never, never justifiable to kill children. Ever.”
Letlive. / Fever 333
Jason Butler‘s projects Letlive. and Fever 333 always prioritizes progressive political themes and calls out police brutality, racism, homophobia, and more. “As we come to DC today, I want to make very clear that this country was founded upon and will continue to be great because of diversity,” Butler says. Plus, he shared with the idobi Radio team that existing as a minority in the U.S. is an act of resistance.
CLIFFDIVER
One lead vocalist, Joey Duffy of CLIFFDIVER, sported a “Fuck Ice” T-shirt during their set.
Pennywise & Magnolia Park
Pennywise shared, “If you support fascism or any of that bullshit that’s going on right now, check yourself, take a little inventory. We can’t let this shit get out of control. We the people have the power, we’ve always had the power, don’t forget it.”
In the same TikTok video, user @lezbhonest711 also added a clip from Magnolia Park‘s set as the crowd chanted, “Fuck ICE.”
