Warped Tour Surprising Acts and Hidden Gems

For 25 years, Warped Tour was a summer staple for several American teens and young adults, providing an affordable option for individuals to run around seeing bands of a variety of artists in a safer environment.  I was late on board with Warped Tour and only attended two years (2014 and 2015), but I absolutely loved them and wish I had attended more of them.  I often enjoy looking back at the lineups and seeing the names that became big after or reflecting fondly on some bands I either used to listen to or still do.  Additionally, there are several smaller bands that I like that have not achieved popular success, many of which I discovered through Warped.  In this post, I will discuss 10 surprising big names that performed Warped Tour and 10 under the radar musicians.  I will also list some honorable mentions and a bonus section of live acts I recommend seeing.

 

Surprising big names

In this section, I will discuss some names that might not be expected at Warped Tour considering their current star status or style but were at least once.  I included artists who performed Warped Tour before they were famous in this section if they performed a genre that is not traditionally associated with Warped Tour (i.e. punk, emo, post-hardcore, metalcore, etc.).

 

Avenged Sevenfold

Avenged Sevenfold performed Warped Tour 2003-2005, as well as select dates in 2002 and one date in 2007.  While most known for the hard rock/metal sound of their music beginning with their third album, City of Evil, their first two albums were more metalcore influenced, which made sense for them to perform Warped.  Their second album, Waking the Fallen, was released in 2003 and it looked like they were primed to breakthrough before they truly broke through after switching styles for their third album in 2005.

 

Bebe Rexha

Bebe Rexha performed Warped Tour in 2015, 3 years before her debut album was released and prior to any of her major songs as the lead artists.  At the time of Warped Tour, her most known songs were probably being featured on David Guetta’s “Hey Mama”, Cash Cash’s “Take Me Home”, and her minor hit “I Can’t Stop Drinking About You”.  Later that year, “Me, Myself & I” with G-Eazy was released and she released (or was featured in) several popular songs after.

 

The Black Eyed Peas

The Black Eyed Peas performed Warped Tour in 1999, right in between their first two albums and a few years before Fergie joined the group.  Their early music was not as pop based as they became associated with starting with their third album, Elephunk, and often was classified as alternative hip hop, resulting in them making more sense for the tour.

 

Deftones

Deftones performed Warped Tour in 1995, 1996, and 1998, before they really broke out.  Their first album, Adrenaline, wasn’t particularly popular at the time, and by 1998, they released Around the Fur, which peaked at 23 in the US, but they weren’t massive yet.  While they aren’t the genres associated with Warped, 1998 had several other hard rock/alternative metal groups appear on the tour at select dates, including Godsmack and Staind.

 

Eminem

Eminem performed Warped Tour in 1999, the same year that The Slim Shady LP was released and debuted at number 2 on the charts.  While he had a couple singles that had minor success in the US, the biggest hit on the album was “My Name Is”, which charted at 36 in the US.  He wasn’t quite well-known enough to headline a bigger tour, but he also was associated as a comedic rapper earlier, which made Warped Tour a good outlet for him.

 

Incubus

I considered including Kid Rock here instead, but I opted for Incubus.  Incubus performed Warped in 1998, a year after their eclectic funk metal/nu metal/alternative metal S.C.I.E.N.C.E. was released.  While they might seem like a strange choice, 1998 also featured Deftones, Kid Rock, Godsmack performing a few dates, and Kid Rock performing a few dates.  It was another year before they had their breakthrough with Make Yourself, which started to indicate the direction they would go.

 

Joan Jett and the Blackhearts

Joan Jett performed Warped Tour in 2006 as well as a date in 2018, both of which with the Blackhearts.  Her 80’s hard rock doesn’t necessarily lend herself to the Warped Tour styles, but by that time her last charting album was 1990 and her last single to chart on any charts was in 1991 when “Backlash” reached 40 on the Rock charts.  She released an album in 2006, so it made some sense for her to do this rather than perform a headlining tour.

 

Katy Perry

Perry performed Warped Tour in 2008, which was right around the time that “I Kissed a Girl” was a massive success.  Typically, some pop artists who aren’t big at that point but are releasing their first music are booked for the tour, so Perry made sense in that regard.  Warped Tour wound up getting lucky that year though and she ended up with a number 1 hit while on the tour.

 

Limp Bizkit

Given the other artists listed, Limp Bizkit feels like an appropriate group to see listed.  After performing select dates in 1996, they performed Warped Tour in 1997, which was the summer they released their debut album, Three Dollar Bill, Y’All.  They weren’t quite big enough to headline a tour until their following album, Significant Other, hit number 1 in 1999, they performed Warped Tour and opened for Faith no more that year.

 

Papa Roach

Papa Roach performed at Warped Tour 2000, which was also the year that they had their commercial breakthrough with Infest.  While a nu metal/hard rock group isn’t necessarily who comes to mind at Warped, there were artists that came before them such as Limp Bizkit, Kid Rock, and Staind who set precedent.  While Infest was released in April of 2000, it wasn’t until August that it hit top 10, riding the success that “Last Resort” had found by that point.

 

Honorable mentions:  Additional artists or artists who only performed select dates

• Cassadee Pope (Select Dates 2018)
• Dick Dale (Select Dates 1996)
• G-Eazy (2012)
• Godsmack (Select Dates 1998)
• Jurrassic 5 (2000)
• Kid Rock (1998)
• Korn (Select Dates 2018 and 2019)
• Linkin Park (Select Dates 2014)
• Staind (Select Dates 1998)

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Hidden Gems

One thing I always found fun with Warped Tour (and other festivals, for that matter) was discovering acts I wasn’t familiar to prior to them being booked.  These are some of the acts that toured Warped Tour and have yet to have substantial commercial success.

 

Air Dubai

Air Dubai is currently on hiatus, but the hip hop/alternative group put on a good live show.  They also released 2 albums and performed a style that felt like they had the potential to find some crossover success, but always focused more on their touring.  They created several songs that were catchy and well-written.  They performed Warped Tour in 2014.

 

A.W.

A.W. previously performed Warped Tour in 2013 (and select dates in 2014) under the name Allison Weiss before they changed the name of the project after coming out as non-binary.  While they are indie pop, they have also incorporated several other styles into their music; in particular, the song “Back to Me” from their album New Love incorporates an electropop style and has a light touch of americana influence.

 

Best Ex

Best Ex originally performed select dates of Warped Tour before touring in 2015 under their former name Candy Hearts.  They are a pop rock group that is a blend of pop punk and power pop.  While singer Mariel Loveland has cited artists such as The Breeders, Juliana Hatfield, and Taylor Swift, I always felt like their song “Miles & Interstates” reminded me of if No Doubt was to shy away from a ska sound.

 

Brian Marquis

Brian Marquis is a folk singer who was actually the one behind the Acoustic Basement at Warped Tour.  He proposed the idea to Kevin Lyman (who loved the idea), was hired as the producer for it, and performed at it from 2012-2015.  He is a talented musician and showcased his range by performing a somber cover of Thrice’s “Digging My Own Grave” and two years later performing his seemingly playful yet somewhat dark “Drink You Up”.  He’s an underrated lyricist as well.

 

Crossfaith

The Japanese group Crossfaith has found a fairly large following in their home country, but it hasn’t translated over to the U.S.  While predominately a blend of metalcore and electronicore, their most recent album also incorporated elements of electronica and they have been known to dabble in other genres of metal.  They are an explosive band and, if you’re a metalcore fan, are definitely not a band to miss.  They performed Warped Tour in 2013 and 2015.

 

Drama Club

While Drama Club hasn’t been active in recent years (and some of their music is scarcer to find after being removed from many sites), they had some success as a gothic electro house group.  Their live shows often relied on shock/horror elements and loudness in general.  While they are most known for their remix of Andy Black’s “They Don’t Need to Understand”, the song that got me into them was “Halloween 365 (Never Coming Down)”.  They performed Warped Tour in 2015.

 

Emilie Autumn

It feels impossible to accurately classify the genre Emilie Autumn performs; it is some blend of classical, electronica, industrial, dark cabaret, opera, and even new age.  She is one of the most talented musicians I have ever heard.  I think her song “Take the Pill” from Fight Like a Girl seems to be the song that sums up what she can do.  Her music is often dark, but it is well-written and often powerful.  She performed Warped Tour in 2014.

 

Hyro the Hero

Hyro the Hero is a rapper who straddles the line between hip hop and nu metal perfectly.  He has a couple of songs that have had hard rock/radio success and I think could be a breakthrough star in the genre.  He reminds me a bit stylistically of Rage Against the Machine.  He performed Warped Tour in 2012 and 2019.

 

This Wild Life

This Wild Life is an acoustic emo/pop rock group that makes the most beautiful music I have ever heard.  I saw them live twice and are excellent live.  They are a funny band in between songs but their harmonies and instrumentals are incredible.  They have released 3 albums to date and performed Warped Tour in 2014, 2015, and 2018.

 

While She Sleeps

While She Sleeps is a metal band from the U.K. that started as a metalcore before shifting towards more of an alternative metal sound for their last album.  They kept some metalcore influence in their sound, but their both their earliest music and later music is stellar.  I saw them live and I would recommend seeing them if you like metal.  They performed Warped Tour in 2013 and 2015.

 

Honorable Mentions:

• Chronic Future (2004)
• Hunter Valentine (Select Dates 2014)

Not Quite Hidden Gems (A bit too popular to be satisfy this category, but not a massive name)

• The Amity Affliction (2013, 2015, 2018)
• Architects (2013, Select Dates 2008)
• Born of Osiris (2012, 2014)
• Close Your Eyes (2014)
• Fit for a King (2014-2015, 2017)
• The Human Abstract (2007-2008)
• Icon for Hire (2014-2015)
• Pup (2015)
• Secrets (2013-2014, 2016)
• Stray from the Path (2014)

Bonus
These are some former Warped Tour acts I would recommend seeing, written in alphabetical order.  The years in parentheses are the years they performed Warped Tour, not necessarily when I saw them live

• A Day to Remember (2008-2009, 2011, Select Dates 2005, 2014)
• Architects (2013, Select Dates 2008)
• Asking Alexandria (2011, 2015, Select Dates 2018)
• Atreyu (2005, 2019, Select Dates 2016)
• August Burns Red (2011, 2013, 2015, 2019, Select Dates 2008, 2012, 2018)
• Beartooth (2014-2015, 2017, Select Dates 2013, 2018)
• Blessthefall (2007, 2012-2013, 2015, 2017)
• Bowling for Soup (2003, 2014, 2017, 2019, Select Dates 2004-2005, 2011, 2013, 2018)
• Breathe Carolina (2009-2010, 2012, 2014)
• Brian Marquis (2012-2015)
• Bring Me the Horizon (2008, 2010, 2013)
• Circa Survive (2007, 2019, Select Dates 2005)
• Four Year Strong (2008, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2018-2019, Select Dates 2015)
• Hyro the Hero (2012, 2019)
• I Prevail (2017)
• Icon for Hire (2014-2015)
• Immortal Technique (2005)
• The Interrupters (2016, 2018)
• Memphis May Fire (2012-2013, 2015, 2017, 2019)
• Metro Station (2015)
• Motionless in White (2008, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2018, Select Dates 2006-2007, 2010-2011)
• Our Last Night (2015, 2017)
• Pierce the Veil (2008, 2010, 2012, 2015)
• PVRIS (2015, Select Dates 2013-2014, 2016)
• This Wild Life (2014-2015, 2018)
• Thrice (2003, 2005, 2019, Select dates 2001-2002, 2008)
• The Used (2002-2003, 2012, 2018-2019, Select Dates 2004, 2007, 2013)
• While She Sleeps (2013, 2015)

Who are some acts you saw at Warped Tour and liked?  Be sure to comment!