In 2019, Kevin Lyman dissolved The Vans Warped Tour after 24 years, and headed into the halls of University of Southern California, where he became a Professor for the Thornton School of Music’s music industry program. Turns out his inspiration to fire Warped back up again came from those classes. “In teaching and talking to the students, I realized that they were striving for that sense of community that the original Warped provided,” he says of the touring festival he founded in 1995. “There was a disconnect, and the younger generation didn’t really get turned on to festivals and live events because they were caught up in Covid. There was a gap there.” Lyman realized someone had to do it, so it may as well have been him.
Another aspect of the festival landscape that was frustrating to him was the sheer high cost of festival tickets in particular and most concerts in general. So re-engaging people at a price point that was reasonable was also important to him.
“There was a disconnect, and the younger generation didn’t really get turned on to festivals and live events because they were caught up in Covid. There was a gap there.” – Kevin Lyman
Thus, with a mix of new and old friends, Lyman put together three Warped festivals for this year. The first one was in Washington, DC., June 13-14. Vendor support for that stop included Lighting and video supplied by LEC, with I-Mag from Restless Media; and special effects handled by JDL FX. CSG’s G2 Structures supplied two stages, Stage FX provided four; backline was by Onstage, power by CES, and trucking was from Night Owl Transportation, owned by Insomniac, and 3G Productions supplied audio. The biggest change was unlike earlier incarnation, these shows go past dusk, until 10 p.m., meaning now lights, video, and I-Mag were added, as were some special effects. “It’s a lifestyle county fair type of feel, but with bigger production aspects,” Lyman says.
There were more similarities, though, including its popularity. The D.C. stop sold out 40,000 tickets before the bands were even announced. There was a canned food drive that brought in 25,000 lbs. of food for the local D.C. foodbank. There was a heavy involvement with nonprofits for good causes (over 20) on the site, plus working with the bands to be able to sell their merch (which they did well). There were skateboard ramps, the Nitro Circus Motorcycle Jump Team, and large sponsor activities involving everything from Phineas and Ferb to Beatbox. As Lyman walked the festival, he notes “it still felt the same way, but with the addition I-Mag and big video screens. We also did a live stream for Amazon Prime.” He pauses and adds “Everyone is cooperating to help bring this back—from the vendors to the bands, and everyone else. People were willing to maybe take a step back to move two forward to get people reengaged in music this way. I think it did really well.”
Lyman was not the only one who felt it needed to be brought back in some capacity. As soon as he stepped away from Warped in 2019, a lot of offers and proposals “from the usual suspects” of big corporate promoters streamed in. But it was Insomniac that made him think seriously about it. “In July of last year, they met with me and made it clear that they just wanted to support and guide my vision. And that was fantastic. It felt like a good fit.” Also appealing with Insomniac’s relationship to Live Nation, and all the resources that came with that.
They provided Lyman a great team, including Amanda Palen who had booked for concert promoter Danny Wimmer, and Maureen Valker who started her career with Warped and is now with Insomniac. Other key people involved included Nathan Armstrong, Chris Holland, and Kat Cody, all of whom previously worked on past Warped tours (Cody was a member of the Parnelli Awards NextGen Class of 2024). “Insomniac’s production team rolls from festival to festival, so the combination of people handled all the moving pieces extremely smoothly.” There were also former stage managers and back of house people involved that added to the success.
Passes start at $149, with VIP starting at $349, with the latter also selling better than expected. “I told them food was going to be a big seller, and they were shocked how much was sold,” comments Lyman. “We also insisted on having value-priced meals so you could get something for $15 or less, as I knew it was going to be a two-meal festival.”
Plans for festivals next summer are already in the works, but don’t expect another full tour like before. “I have to balance it out with being a full-time professor,” Lyman says. “And besides, the economics of touring with something like this isn’t there. But we thought we’d start off with three—the one next year in D.C. already has sold 20,000 tickets.” There are more than three for 2026 under consideration at this early date, but not by much.
On a personal note, for Lyman it was good to “be back—but honestly, I worked my ass off,” he says. “I was engaged in every level, and still am. But every department has a great team.” But unwavering is his commitment to making sure the joy and experience of being at a live music festivals live on. “I spent a lot of time walking the site and talking to people,” concludes Lyman, “and I feel that it was their first festival for about 30% of them, if not their first concert-going experience.”
