How the Van Warped Tour’s legacy stretches beyond any single genre

As the final day of the Vans Warped Tour unfolded Sunday, there was little indication fans had already spent nearly 12 hours in the Long Beach sun the day before. Stages remained packed, circle pits erupted throughout the afternoon and singalongs echoed across the Long Beach waterfront as attendees soaked up every remaining moment of the festival.

Sunday’s performances also underscored the staying power of the pop-punk scene. Several bands celebrated major career milestones, celebrating 20- and 25-year anniversaries while performing for crowds that have grown alongside them. Rather than feeling nostalgic for nostalgia’s sake, the weekend served as a reminder that many of these artists, and the community that helped build them, continue to thrive decades later.

That longevity came into focus during Mayday Parade’s midday set at the Vans Stage as the Florida rock band reflected on reaching two decades together.

“We started this band 20 years ago, and we feel so grateful to be here with you all,” lead singer Derek Sanders shouted to the crowd.

Mayday Parade drew heavily from the songs that have followed fans through those years, including “Jamie All Over,” “Black Cat,” “Three Cheers for Five Years,” “When I Get Home, You’re So Dead” and “Jersey.” The band also offered something new, introducing “Sugar” before revealing just how rarely it had been heard onstage.

“It’s called ‘Sugar,’” the band said. “We’re going to play this song for the second time live ever right now.”

Scenes from day two of the Vans Warped Tour in Long Beach

G-Eazy’s appearance later on in the day initially felt like one of the weekend’s more unexpected bookings. Among a lineup rooted heavily in punk, emo and alternative music, the Oakland rapper seemed, at least to some attendees, like an outlier. But once he explained his history with Warped Tour, the connection became clear.

“Ladies and gentlemen, my name is Gerald. I go by the name of G-Eazy. I’m from Oakland, California, and the first tour I ever got put on was Warped Tour in 2012,” he told the audience. “I learned a lot being on that first tour, the first shot I had. Fourteen years later, we’re still here.”

G-Eazy also gave flowers to Travis Mills and Mod Sun, recalling that they were part of his first touring experience. The moment reframed his inclusion on the lineup, revealing that his appearance was not a random departure from Warped Tour’s history but a return to one of the places where his career began.

It also served as a reminder that Warped Tour’s legacy stretches well beyond any single genre. Although it became synonymous with punk, pop-punk and emo, the festival also allowed developing artists to reach new audiences at a time when few touring platforms of its scale existed. G-Eazy’s return illustrated the breadth of that history: an artist who may have seemed out of place to some was, in fact, coming home.

That sense of coming full circle extended into the festival’s final sets.

Papa Roach closed out the Vans Stage at 9:15 p.m., marking 20 years since the band performed a Warped Tour show. The last time they were under the Warped banner was at a stop in San Francisco, fresh off the release of their instant debut album hit, “Invest.” The band kept it old school, sticking mostly to their Papa Roach classics such as “Last Resort,” “Getting Away With Murder,” and “Scars.”

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“It feels like yesterday, the year’s 2000, we get the call from Kevin Lyman who said, ‘Hey, you wanna play the third stage on Warped Tour?’ and I said, say less, we will be there,” lead singer Jacoby Shaddix told the crowd. “That tour changed the course of this band’s career and gave Papa Roach a shot to be in this game for so long. Shout-out to Kevin Lyman and all of Warped Tour for putting us on back in the day.”

Another one of the most anticipated sets of the weekend was a performance by The Paradox, who performed at last year’s festival at 1:15 p.m. This time around, they earned an evening slot at 5:00 p.m., and fans weren’t going to miss it. The Paradox performed on the Verizon Stage, and if festivalgoers didn’t show up early enough, they were out of luck. The crowd was the largest it had been compared to the other groups who performed over the two days. There was hardly any room for spectators to make it in. Even most of the food and beverage vendors were surrounded, with crowds forming all along the tents.

The Atlanta-based pop-punk act opened their set with their viral hits “Get the Message” and Travis Barker collab “Bender.” While those songs are genuinely great bops, the young Gen Zers deserve credit for the way they’ve built a loyal online following on social media, as well as their in-person demeanor. They have an energetic stage presence, and the way they joke with each other about accidentally seeing each other naked and childlike your momma jokes between songs is reminiscent of the fun antics of Blink-182 and other ’90s and 2000s alt-rock bands.

Fans looking for a new band to take them back to the early days of pop punk also got their wish at their set. The Paradox brought out Sum 41’s Deryck Whibley as a surprise guest for a joint performance of “Fat Lip,” and the crowd went absolutely wild, jumping up and down with excitement.

“You know I couldn’t stay away from Warped Tour, right?” said Whibley.

“Oh brother, this is like a dream come true, guys,” said lead vocalist and guitarist Eric Dangerfield. “Sum 41 is a major reason why we do what we do as a band.”

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Earlier in the day at the Ghost Stage, Santa Cruz-based group Drain was tearing through the house with their thrash and hardcore crossover set. Despite the majority of the crowd feeling the heat rising from the concrete and the sun sizzling down, fans showed up ready to mosh, stage dive, crowd surf and even went on a collision course in a massive wall of death. The set featured someone dressed up in a suit of their signature Kewpie Shark mascot, who danced around the stage in front of a banner that read: “Drain is not responsible for anything you do in the next 30 minutes!”

Lead singer Sammy Ciaramitaro had a commanding stage presence that was felt from the front row to the back of the neighboring Beatbox Stage. He mentioned that although the band Drain formed in Santa Cruz, he grew up in San Pedro and had been looking forward to performing in Long Beach because he grew up in the region. He also said that Long Beach held a special place in his heart because it was the band’s first show in Southern California.

“How many of you guys were there at the first show?” Ciaramitaro asked the crowd, with only a couple of hands raised in the air.

“You’re all liars,” he jested. “There were only five people at that show, and that was my mom, dad, brother and my cousins.”

While things may have been getting crazy in the Warped Tour mosh pits, organizations such as Punk Rock Saves Lives were making sure people didn’t forget their etiquette and the mantra of the genre’s DIY communal spirit.

Warped Tour returns with packed crowds, heat and plenty of nostalgia

“The rule of the pit is: if someone falls down, we pick them up,” said Rob Rushing, co-founder and director of outreach, for the nonprofit. “We make it the rule of life, and we hope others do too.”

The organization was founded in 2019 after years of touring with Love Hope Strength Foundation and inspired by the fight against blood cancers. In its expansion, it now helps get people to sign up as bone marrow donors, increase harm reduction practices, and advocate for mental health at shows, festivals, and tours across the country. They also make sure people are hydrated, handing them water if they need it, as well as making sure people have access to free earplugs.

“Warped Tour especially is an open channel with everybody where people are open to talk about helping out,” Rushing said. “You almost don’t have to explain it as much at Warped Tour because these kids want to do good. You tell them a little bit about being a bone marrow donor or any other of our programs, and they go over to sign up. There’s just something about this tour that is absolutely magical.”