The Van’s Warped Tour returns to Vegas next week after skipping us last year. And as is Las Vegas Warped Tour tradition, it’s once again being held in a new location. On Aug. 9, the youth-oriented extravaganza makes its Hard Rock Hotel debut, at its new Backyard Outdoor Events Center (note: This is the Hard Rock on Paradise). And also in the grand Warped tradition, the festival lineup is eclectic as ever, with hardcore and ska bands rubbing elbows with rappers and punk rockers. So in an effort to help lead you to the best of the best, we have our fifth annual “bands not to miss at the Warped Tour” list! Bands are listed alphabetically.
Note: Tickets for this year’s Warped Tour are still available via AXS.com.
Every Time I Die
If you’re not aware of the Buffalo hardcore outfit Every Time I Die, you’ve either been living under a mountain of rocks or are seriously sucking at life. With the band’s upcoming eighth studio release Low Teens they’ve hit the road with this year’s Vans Warped Tour and just so happen to be coming to Dirt City. I can bore you by writing about how their show performances and antics are ridiculous, but until you actually experience this band live there will be a giant ETID shaped hole in your heart. And that ain’t shinfo. – Chris Duggan
Four Year Strong
Four Year Strong is one of those bands that no matter how long I’ve been listening to them, and despite seeing them before, I always come back to their live performances time and time again. They fill the stage with such a presence that I will still go out of my way to make sure that I catch their set. Even if you never took the time to check them out in the past few years, if you have the time to hit their stage, it’s definitely worth it. They have such a chemistry together that even if you don’t know their songs, you won’t leave disappointed or bored. – Hunter Wallace
The Interrupters
When I first heard the Interrupters, I described them to my friends as “the best Rancid Album that’s come out in years.” Although Tim Armstrong’s presence is quite obvious on the recordings, they’ve really grown on me a lot as a band. Their live show greatly improved between their first couple Vegas gigs at Brooklyn Bowl and then Viva Ska Vegas, due to an obvious boost in confidence. I really dig the new album, and although I haven’t been to a Warped Tour in years, I hope the younger crowd enjoys seeing them as much as I do. – Aaron Mattern
Knuckle Puck
The first time I saw Knuckle Puck was on June 7th of 2014. I had never heard of them before and I was totally impressed. I love myself a good pop punky-fun band, and the dorky lookin’ boys really outdid themselves, unafraid to get everybody bouncing around and rowdy while the crowd pushed to get on stage with them. That was years ago, so I can only imagine how they’ll be performing now at Warped Tour! If you haven’t already – explore their music, prepare yourself, and don’t miss them this year or you’ll probably be sad and want to write your own pop punk music due to all the angst you have after missing a great band! If you plan on getting rowdy and exerting a ton of energy like I am, don’t forget to drink a ton of water before checking out the bands because it’s going to be HOT. See you guys there! – Rhiannon Price
Less Than Jake
If I were to crown a band “King of Warped Tour,” it would be Less Than Jake without question. The long running ska /punk band is one of the only groups from the festival’s formative years to continue on the tradition of braving the heat to play every other year. They’re also one of the few bands who benefit from playing in the morning sun, as their colorful stage show – chock full of confetti and bright outfits – really shine in the vibrant daylight. And it doesn’t hurt that their music sounds as fresh as it did in the beginning, begging listeners young and, well, slightly less young to skank and circle pit like it was 1997 all over again. – Emily Matview
Masked Intruder
What can I say? I just love color coordinated Ramones-influenced ski-masked pop punk dudes. Can you blame me? Masked Intruder’s songs are criminally catchy (zing) and they steal my heart every time I see them live (zing zing.) And if you need some extra coaxing – at any Masked Intruder show, there’s a really good chance you’ll get to dance with their parole officer, Officer Bradford, and with temps over 100 degrees, it’s destined to be a beautiful, sweaty mess. – Ashleigh Thompson
New Found Glory
I spent many a teenaged evening after my shift at Dairy Queen screaming the lyrics to New Found Glory’s songs out the window of my best friend car (wait, does hollering out the side of my best friend’s ride make me a scrub?!), yet nowadays – I always seem to forget how much I adore them. That is until they hit the stage and I erupt into an awkward cyclone of arms and hair and singing and beer. Elder statesmen of the pop punk scene these days, NFG has more energy on stage than I usually see from dudes half their age, and they’re not to be missed. – Ashleigh Matview
Reel Big Fish
Gone are the days of catching a rising punk band grind through the exhausting tour schedule Warp Tour is known for. Yet, even through the drastic change of desirable acts for the traveling festival’s lineup, a handful of ska-punk bands have managed to wedge themselves into the myriad of mascara and white face paint to play their hearts out every year. Reel Big Fish take on that honorable task this round and they couldn’t have picked a better band who are masters of their joyfully danceable craft. That’s why their set is a can’t-miss this year. – Alan Madrigal
The Story So Far
Let’s be honest, If you’ve read any of my past reviews, we all know I’m obsessed with The Story So Far so you know they’re the first one my list of bands you “can’t miss” at Warped Tour in Vegas this year. We can always expect some craziness out of Warped Tour, right? The Story So Far has been to Vegas a handful of times and each time, they put on such an incredible and wild show – so please do me AND yourselves a favor and don’t miss out on this one. They’ve got guitar player Will Leavy back (at this year’s Extreme Thing, his place was filled by temporary replacement/friend, Beau) making this the original line up of the band! That can only mean their songs will sound extra Story So Far-ish, yay! What I want out of this set is for them to play more songs from Under Soil and Dirt and I would just die if they played “Ali.” It’s going to be a great one guys! – Rhiannon Price
Teenage Bottlerocket
Teenage Bottlerocket is one of the few bands that can effortlessly migrate between Punk Rock Bowling and the Warped Tour. That’s because the band’s pop punk tunes combine the catchy three chord approach of genre pioneers the Ramones, air guitar worthy solos inspired by the likes of Kiss and Metallica and an energetic, jump-filled live show that earns the band the punk rock Evel Knievel moniker (or at least it’s Super Dave Osborne). – Emily Matview
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