By Hilary Saunders
It’s hard to believe, but this summer marks the 20th anniversary of Vans Warped Tour as a cultural institution for teens across America.
Founded in 1995 by Kevin Lyman of Vans in conjunction with the Creative Artists Agency, the skate shoe company has sponsored the festival since 1996. And over the past two decades, seemingly every punk/pop punk/emo/scremo/ska/hardcore band that could hold its weight in pyramid studs and Hot Topic shirts has played Warp.
It’s become a rite of passage, not just for the teens who make the pilgrimage year after year, but also for groups in those genres that aspire to a career in music.
The Warped Tour began in the mid-90s, as grunge crashed and burned and Slacker Nation, composed of Gen X youths, arose in its wake. The traveling summer festival hatched a remarkable plan — a fest financially and thematically geared at young concertgoers that united up to 100 artists playing on permanent amphitheater and makeshift parking lot stages, in different cities each night between June and August.
In the early years, hardcore heavyweights such as the Deftones performed alongside (and sometimes, at the same time as) nu metal groups like Limp Bizkit and ska-punks like Less Than Jake, NOFX. Even now-household names like Sublime, No Doubt, and Beck played Warp back then.
In the 2000s, when emo ruled all, the Warped Tour assumed a stance that aligned with the trendy anti-pop sentiment of the time. Bands like the theatrical alternative quintet My Chemical Romance and pop punks Simple Plan who had MTV and VH1 cred offered a new source of soul-searching and entertainment for the kids disenfranchised with the boy bands of the day.
But lately, the Warped Tour has begun including more EDM and pop acts. Whereas a few years ago, bands appearing at the West Palm Beach date of the Warped Tour such as metal group August Burns Red, rockers Matchbook Romance, and hardcore act Senses Fail would have been the newbies, they new serve as the reigning experienced tour champs. This year, the burgeoning artists come from different genres; electronic duo Black Boots and spoken word artist Jake Ducey join budding pop stars such as Bebe Rexha on the Warped Tour rolling through South Florida on Saturday.
Rexha, a Brooklyn-born pop singer of Albanian descent, released her debut EP I Don’t Wanna Grow Up on Warner Brothers Records this May, but her voice and her songwriting can be heard in many other places. She sings the chorus on David Guetta’s smash “Hey Mama” (although she doesn’t receive credit for it) and has written for projects by Usher and Pitbull. She even served as the former frontwoman for Pet Wentz’s post-Fall Out Boy band Black Cards. (Of course, Fall Out Boy played perfect Warped Tour material, performing in both 2004 and 2005.)
Additionally, Rexha grew up in a household listening to Albanian music and opera. She’s opened for bands ranging from Bon Jovi to Panic! At the Disco, but cites acts as diverse as The Weeknd, Purity Ring, Erik Hassle, Craig David, and Coldplay as music she enjoys listening to these days.
So with all these diverse, and mostly pop influences, Rexha may seem like a strange addition to the tour borne out of punk and hardcore. But, she says in an email from the road, “I consider my music genre-less.”
And when placed within the Warped Tour’s context of affordable, accessible rebellion, Rexha’s participation actually makes perfect sense. Rexha, whose given appellation Bleta translates to “bumblebee” in Albanian, started going by Bebe in high school. In her newest video for lead single “I’m Gonna Show You Crazy,” the young singer presents herself in a repressive boarding school, as if she were back in high school. She leads the other self-proclaimed freaks in a coup against the tyrannical, conformist headmistress, fearlessly dropping f-bombs like Warped Tour vets and political punks Anti-Flag.
“I think as woman we get classified as ‘the crazy ones’ sometimes, and I believe in owning who you are,” she says about the song. “Being strong and accepting your flaws is powerful. I wrote it as an acceptance song to myself.”
The anthemic nature of “I’m Gonna Show You Crazy” fits so snugly with the Warped aesthetic. Its repetitive directive, “I’m gonna show you, I’m gonna show you” will draw listeners from across the amphitheater, and get stuck in their heads for the rest of the 10-hour festival.
But more importantly, Rexha’s ferocity and stomping in high heels will likely impress the apathetic and the punks drawn in by Warp’s reputation and brand lure. Her individuality and freedom of expression encapsulates the tour’s most cherished values.
“I always remain true to myself. And I truly just love music. So as long as I do what I love and say what I wanna say, I never have to worry about maintaining my identity,” she says.
“I’m just excited to connect with my fans on Warp and make new fans and friends!”
The Vans Warped Tour and Bebe Rexha appear at The Coral Sky Amphitheatre in West Palm Beach on Saturday. Tickets cost $38.50; visit vanswarpedtour.com.