Rock Hall Honors 25 Years Of Warped Tour
The retrospective features tour gear and costumes from the early days of Fall Out Boy, Katy Perry and more.
That rebellious spirit is captured in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame retrospective Forever Warped: 25 Years of Vans Warped Tour, opening June 8. Artifacts include a smashed, off-white Gibson Les Paul destroyed by Fall Out Boy’s Joe Trohman during the 2005 outing, and a tiger-striped Dolce & Gabbana mini-dress worn by Katy Perry during the 2008 trek.
“I wanted the exhibit to be really colorful, dynamic and fun — and, luckily, a lot of the artifacts themselves are colorful and fun,” says curator Amanda Pecsenye. “I also wanted to capture the democratic, diverse nature of the Warped Tour lineup. It wasn’t just a pop-punk tour, an alternative rock tour. There was hip-hop, pop, ska.”
Even hardened pit dwellers can learn new secrets in an exclusive video featuring new interviews with veterans who manned the tour’s trenches, such as founder Kevin Lyman, as well as musicians such as Shira Yevin, who created the tour’s all-women Shiragirl Stage.
The exhibit launches the same day as a 25th anniversary concert Warped is staging as a final (maybe) goodbye. Held at the Rock Hall, the show is headlined by some Warped mainstays, such as pop-punkers Simple Plan and Ohio post-hardcore act Hawthorne Heights. Admission to the exhibit is included with each ticket.
“The exhibit will be fun for longtime Warped Tour fans coming to the concert here, hopefully sparking some memories of shows,” Pecsenye says. “But it will also be a cool introduction to younger visitors who are not necessarily old enough to have attended Warped Tour. It’ll give a good overview of the Warped philosophy and what the tour was all about.”
