And you thought Andrew W.K. was scary. The organizers behind the Vans Warped Tour are tapping into the world of cinema by filming a “teenage slasher film” during the trek. “It’s about a disgruntled employee,” said Kevin Lyman, founder of the tour that mixes extreme sports and punk/ska music. “The guy gets fired the first day and he comes back and puts a curse on the Warped Tour. Then all these things happen.” The tentatively titled “Punk Rock Holocaust” will be shot by Backseat Conceptions, a division of Troma Films, makers of such B-movie classics as “The Toxic Avenger,” “Sgt.… Read more »
Jay-Z and 311 headline the Sprite Liquid Mix Tour, which kicks off Tuesday (August 20) at Wantagh, New York’s Jones Beach Amphitheater. Others on the bill include Nonpoint, Hoobastank, Nappy Roots, N.E.R.D., and Talib Kweli. The tour was put together by Warped Tour organizer Kevin Lyman, who revealed how it differs from Warped. “They asked if we’d come and produce it and I said, ‘Sure.’ And then I designed this thing called ‘the playground.’ I found all these great underground graffiti artists that are going to be doing, hanging under overpasses and building freeway overpasses. Because you drive down the… Read more »
The 2001 Warped tour came to a relatively subdued close on Sunday (August 12) in front 15,000 mosh-pit friendly fans at the Phoenix Plaza in the Detroit suburb of Pontiac, Michigan. Despite trepidation that the hip-hop acts D12 and Esham-booted off the tour a week and a half ago for fighting-might surface at their hometown stop (some D12 stickers were quietly distributed), the show went off peacefully and without a hitch. Some fans, however, were disappointed that Alien Ant Farm, currently hot thanks to its hit cover of Michael Jackson’s “Smooth Criminal,” wasn’t on the bill as expected. The group… Read more »
When the Vans Warped Tour hit Camden, New Jersey, on Friday, a longstanding Detroit rap rivalry reared up and got its participants, D12 and Esham, evicted from the lineup. A fight erupted backstage at the Tweeter Center at the Waterfront between Natas affiliates Esham and T.N.T. and Eminem protégés D12, just three days after Em’s crew joined the punk/extreme-sports outing. Warped Tour organizers wouldn’t discuss the flap’s details and only confirmed that both parties involved were immediately asked to leave the tour. “Personal issues were brought into the tour, and we felt they weren’t conducive to the Warped environment and… Read more »
Vans, Inc. (NASDAQ: VANS – news) today announced that it has executed agreements to acquire 70% of the VANS Warped Tour(TM) in a two-step transaction with LAUNCH Media, Inc. and the original founders of the Tour. The transaction is subject to certain conditions prior to closing. Under the terms of the new agreement, LAUNCH will operate the Tour this year and will retain the exclusive rights to sell sponsorship for the 2002 and 2003 Tours. The Company stated that it expects the acquisition to be accretive to earnings upon gaining control of the Tour in the summer of 2002.* Gary… Read more »
Trek’s organizers say band pulled out; group’s spokesperson says contract was never signed. Say it ain’t so – Weezer have dropped off the Vans Warped Tour, according to a spokesperson for the summer skate-punk trek. The band’s Geffen publicist, however, said on Friday (April 6) that Weezer were never officially on the bill in the first place, despite an announcement by tour organizer Kevin Lyman Productions in early February. “They had the offer, but they never confirmed it,” Dennis Dennehy said. “The band apologizes for psyching anyone up inadvertently,” a posting on Weezer’s Web site said Friday. An earlier post… Read more »
Rancid, Weezer, 311, Kool Keith, Pennywise, Rollins Band, and the Misfits are some of the bigger artists confirmed to play the annual Vans Warped Tour, set to kick off June 22 in Phoenix. An official announcement of participating venues and additional acts for the nearly two-month tour is expected within two weeks. Making its Warped Tour debut this year will be Incredibly Strange Wrestling, a hybrid of punk rock and hardcore wrestling. ISW appeared on the San Francisco scene in the mid-’90s, and features such wrestlers as El Pollo Diablo, Macho Sasquatcho, Chupa Suave, and El Homo Loco. Young punks… Read more »
As if Dolly Parton launching a 30-track rock album on November 17 wasn’t exciting enough, the artist recently released even more bonus tracks. Parton teamed up with Italy’s own Måneskin for a reimagining of the iconic “Jolene.” On November 19, Parton took to Instagram to post a behind-the-scenes video of the new rock version of “Jolene.” On top of working with one of music’s most legendary stars, Måneskin also shared a new music video during the holiday week for “TRASTEVERE” on November 23. The track comes from their extended album RUSH! (ARE U COMING?) and serves as the final music… Read more »
Before things wrap up we have a few more segments to end the punk rock bootcamp era.
Pop stars, led by Courtney Love and Don Henley, have been talking to members of the California state legislature about probing music industry accounting practices, lawmakers and artists said this week. Henley, frontman for veteran rock band the Eagles, has been leading a group of recording artists lobbying for repeal of a loophole in state labor law they claim gives record companies unfair commercial control over performers’ careers. More recently, Democratic members of both the California Assembly and Senate have spoken to Henley and his supporters about launching a legislative probe into the broader issues of record company accounting practices,… Read more »
