PHOTOS: Final Vans Warped Tour at The Pavilion at Montage Mountain in Scranton, 07/26/18
Thousands of local punk rock, indie, metal, and rap fans of several different generations said goodbye to the Vans Warped Tour when it made its last stop at The Pavilion at Montage Mountain on Thursday, July 26.
Warped Tour mainstays like Reel Big Fish, Less Than Jake, Mayday Parade, Simple Plan, 3OH!3, Asking Alexandria, We the Kings, Four Year Strong, Every Time I Die, and Silverstein performed on six different stages with standouts like Frank Turner, Twiztid, Nekrogoblikon, and Scranton’s own Motionless In White, who worked their way up from teenagers playing on the small Ernie Ball Stage in 2005 to national headliners in four different years, including this final tour. The band brought Warped founder Kevin Lyman up on stage to thank him in front of their hometown.
“Amazing things have taken place for this band because of this man right here, and sadly this is the last Warped Tour, but we are so, so happy that we had the chance to come here and play the final one in Scranton for you guys. And I need you right now to make some noise for a man who gave us a home and, more importantly, gave every fucking one of us a place to call home year after fucking year,” singer Chris Motionless told the crowd before they all posed for a picture with Lyman.
They made their short set count with “Devil’s Night,” “Reincarnate,” “Voices,” their classic songs “Ghost in the Mirror” and “Abigail” (with Spencer Charnas of Ice Nine Kills joining Chris on vocals), and appropriately closing with “570,” a song that mentions Scranton by name and chronicles their journey from the Electric City to where they are today.
While no other bands from Northeastern Pennsylvania played the Scranton date, Wilkes-Barre pop punk/alternative rock band Stay Loud did get to perform at the last Warped Tour at the KeyBank Pavilion in Burgettstown near Pittsburgh on July 16. Listen to them talk about this opportunity and what Warped Tour means to them in Episode 66 of the NEPA Scene Podcast, which also features an exclusive acoustic performance:
Citing “an evolving summer festival industry, a shrinking pool of bands, and declining ticket sales amongst its teenage demographic” in an interview with Billboard, Lyman admitted to feeling “tired” after decades on the road and, while Warped may continue in some form, particularly to celebrate its 25th anniversary, it will no longer trek across the U.S. with 60+ bands.
The 2018 photos are organized alphabetically below, ending with a gallery of music fans and random fun.
See NEPA Scene’s 2017 Warped Tour photos here and listen to exclusive Warped interviews with GWAR, Anti-Flag, Valient Thorr, Big D and the Kids Table, and Silverstein from last year here. See photos of Motionless In White playing Warped in 2016 here and hear Chris Motionless talk about the band’s history with the tour here.
Dayseeker
Every Time I Die
Frank Turner
Ice Nine Kills
Knuckle Puck
Kublai Khan
Motionless In White
MyChildren MyBride
Nekrogoblikon
Reel Big Fish
Sharptooth
Silverstein
Twiztid
Unearth
Miscellaneous Warped Tour fun
