The Vans Warped Tour may not be the punk rock indicator that summer has arrived, but it’s back, and it’s evolving. After celebrating its 30th anniversary with three dates last year, this new iteration is going international for the first time by expanding to shows in Mexico and Canada. Last year’s Long Beach stop seemed to be full of the same complaints that most festivals get, but it’s nice to see that there’s still interest. For as much as we loved the machine that Warped Tour was, it developed into that with trial and error. While this new iteration of Warped Tour has a lot in common with other music festivals, it’s still in its infancy.

This year’s stop in Long Beach felt a lot less claustrophobic. Organizers seemed to go big to celebrate the tour’s legacy; last year’s overcrowded layout may have been a double-edged sword that pushed them to rethink the festival’s footprint. This year seemed to have fewer stages, which made the rush and ability to see your must-see bands a lot easier to accomplish without as much conflict. However, the day was not without its issues. Assuming the festival’s packed schedule is similar to a house of cards, a power outage in parts of Long Beach threatened to throw a wrench into the festival’s operations.

An hour before the unveiling of the band’s schedules on the inflatable board, some members of the press were invited to a tour of the grounds by Kevin Lyman. Having to deal with this power outage did cut that time in half, but he did keep his word and was able to give us some of his time to answer questions and discuss some of the things he implemented in the past to make the Warped Tour as affordable as possible. While Vans and the Warped Tour may have grown into this giant thing over each of their multiple decades of existence, the keyword is growth. I think the word “sell out” gets overused when “growth” should be used, especially when it comes to something that spent decades growing its fanbase. However, when someone asked Lyman about some of the changes the Warped Tour has gone through, he did mention that doing promotion with Scooby Doo later in the day was a new thing.

The first day was full of interviews, and I didn’t get to see too many bands, but I was able to catch Whispers and their Warped Tour debut. I know the concept of what hardcore has evolved into is simple, but I still consider myself a novice. After speaking with lead singer Mike, I was happy to be able to make their set at the Octopus Stage. Whispers comes from Bangkok, Thailand, playing metallic hardcore with lyrics coming from Buddhist proverbs with heavy, almost doom-like guitars. The band took control of the stage and crowd with a set that was heavier than it was fast, but fun nonetheless.

My second day started with more hardcore. I’m not sure if my newfound interest in hardcore at forty-three says more about me or the genre itself, but I’m enjoying these bands I’m discovering, Start Today being one of them. Coming from Los Angeles and fresh off a tour with Terror, Start Today was the strong cup of coffee this crowd needed to wake up after Warped Tour’s first day. Clearly taking lessons from bands like Gorilla Biscuits and other straight-edge hardcore bands of the time, they mostly played powerhouse songs lasting no longer than a minute and a half or two minutes. I wouldn’t be surprised if we heard their entire catalog.

Across from Start Today was the chaos that was Haywire on the Off The Wall stage. Lead singer Austin Sparkman was already frantically jumping into the giant crowd gathered at the front. Boston Hardcore never sounded better or got a better response in California. If we can’t have Dropkick Murphys at this year’s Warped Tour, Haywire is a damn good substitute. Haywire dedicated their song “Always By My Side” to Sick Of It All frontman Lou Koller and L7 bassist Jennifer Finch, but also included songs like “Poser Disposer” and “Boston Boot Boys,” which they changed to “Long Beach Boot Boys.” Closing with Title Fight’s “Shed” and “Like a Train” from Haywire’s 2024 Conditioned For Demolition, Haywire’s set was a good time.

After missing Drain last year, they were definitely a priority this year, and I almost missed them as I had scheduled an interview during their set time. However, fortune smiled, and the interviewee asked if we could move it so he could also catch Drain. I happily obliged, and I’m glad I did. As with Haywire’s set, Drain showed some love for Lou Koller and opened the show with a cover of Sick Of It All’s classic “Clobberin’ Time,” breaking their tradition of always opening with “Feel the Pressure” from their album California Cursed. Lead singer Sam Ciaramitaro hyped up the crowd, encouraging them to get involved by moshing or crowd surfing, even going as far as opening up the pit by splitting the crowd in half from the stage to make its own giant pit. Despite covering the Descendents track “Good Good Things” from their record I Don’t Wanna Grow Up a few years back, there were fingerprints up and down their set that felt closer to the seminal punk band’s record, ALL.

The nature of the beast that is Warped Tour and other music festivals is always choosing which bands you miss part or all of to catch another. I had this dilemma Sunday evening when it came to finishing MxPx’s set and catching Hepcat. MxPx opened with “My Life Story” from their Elvis Costello-inspired, The Everlasting Moment, and continued to play some big songs from that era of the band, including the first three songs from Life in General: “Middlename,” “My Mom Still Cleans My Room,” and “Tomorrow’s Another Day,” along with “Secret Weapon” and “Party, My House, Be There.” While MxPx still has it without missing a beat, it pained me to leave them for Hepcat, a band that sadly only plays a couple of times a year.

Hepcat’s set was the kind of dance break this show needed. It was at this point that the weather started cooling down a bit. Hepcat cycled through the hits in a Right on Time-heavy set. Hepcat is always great, but it does feel different with Alex singing lead. Different, but not worse. While there is a Greg Lee-sized hole in the band, Jesse Wagner is more than adequate to fill the role Lee has left. His lead vocals on “Prisoner of Love” are proof of that. After verbally expressing their love for Greg, Hepcat closed their set with “No Worries.” It’s always an injustice to give Hepcat only thirty minutes. While they’re always cooking, it’s hard to put that fire out.

I closed out the night with the Aggrolites, and I’m happy I did. While they are one of the few bands that can actually get me to move and dance, I had no energy left. Neither did a lot of other people, but they still found some to keep moving. The Aggros played a good mix of songs, opening with “Funky Fire,” “Countryman Fiddle,” “Mr. Misery,” and “Dirty Reggae.” Having just released a new record, they played their latest single, “Til the Wheels Fall Off,” but also played two covers: their long-time fan favorite, “Don’t Let Me Down” by the Beatles, and the Cock Sparrer classic, “Take ‘Em All.” If their originals didn’t win this crowd over, these covers sure as hell did. The mix of songs was fantastic, and the band sounded on point. In the twenty years I’ve been going to see this band, they always sound perfect. It was the best capper to the weekend.

As I walked around, I caught parts of sets here and there from bands that would have caught my interest if I had had time. The first day I caught bits of Jimmy Eat World and Reel Big Fish. Both bands I didn’t always connect with in my youth, but grew an appreciation for because of friends who are fans and the repetition of hearing them. Before catching Start Today, I was able to hear a few songs from tiLLie’s second day opening set. It was snarky, defiant, and dancey. While an artist like tiLLie incorporated a cornucopia of genres in her set, it was still a weird contrast to the sounds of Start Today. There were a couple of things I didn’t get to do. Despite the Unplugged Stage being the gem of the Warped Tour, I didn’t get a chance to catch a set there. There was a professional wrestling ring set up and matches throughout the day.

During his initial walk-through with us, Kevin Lyman said that the festival was always evolving and that it is not for everyone. He didn’t want this to be a nostalgia festival, though one can argue that last year’s was inevitably that due to the fest’s thirty-year celebration. His insinuation was that a fan can age out of the Warped Tour as younger fans are discovering it.

Last year, I was super critical of the logistics of the grounds, but it seems a lot of those issues have been fixed. Festival food prices run neck and neck with those found at your local county fair. The only difference between the two is brand recognition over the triple dog dare and the resulting triple bypass of fair cuisine. This was a big improvement from last year, which seemed overstuffed with attendees, exhibits, and experiences. This year feels like a step in the right direction. The heart’s there; sometimes it takes a moment for the rest of the body to catch up.

Stay tuned later this week for interviews with some Warped Tour Rookies and Veterans.