In 2018 it was announced that Kevin Lyman, founder and owner of Vans Warped Tour, would be ending the festivals after 24 years. The “punk rock summer camp” would be no more. Warped Tour was one of it’s kind, no other traveling festival lasted this long, let alone would there ever be another one like it. Kevin and team were going to make sure this final cross country run have some of the best veteran bands that were there from the beginning along with newer bands that Warped Tour was known to do to break them into the industry. Ask any band, and they will all say Warped Tour was the tour that either made or broke your band. Let it be from the grueling hours spent driving from location to location, never know when you were playing daily, and/or the heat, Warped Tour shaped a lot bands and without it who knows where some of those bands would be without it. It wasn’t just the bands that got something out of the tour, but also the fans. While other festivals think money first, Warped Tour was known to make sure costs were low for fans, this includes tickets and water, while also tearing down the barrier between the fans and the bands. Warped Tour didn’t want fans to feel like they couldn’t meet their idols, and such is why Warped Tour was as popular as it was, because you didn’t just get a show, but you could also hang out with your idols all day or at least meet them. The tour was one of its kind and without it, summer will have a void. For the Scranton date, if it wasn’t sold out it sure felt like, getting up the hill to the other stages was a challenge as was getting into the venue itself. Regardless of the time you arrived the line to get in was backed up for miles. Once inside certain spots were unmovable and with the heat, the day became tough to navigate through. For the final Scranton date the focus was on Journey’s Left Foot Stage and Mutant Red Dawn Stage. Each stage had a well verse lineup and captured the fun energy of Warped Tour. Up and coming pop punk band State Champs had a huge turn out with fans screaming every word, while even though he was acoustic and had half of State Champs attendance, Frank Turner gave probably one of the best performances on Warped Tour 2018. Sharptooth gave an exhilarating performance and Reel Big Fish did what they do best and that was have fun. It was a bittersweet summer saying bye to Warped Tour, but Kevin assured fans, Warped Tour will be back, not in this form, but it will come back.
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