The Vans Warped Tour is a travelling rock music festival that tours the United States every summer. This festival was founded by Kevin Lyman in 1995 and went international in 1998. Nowadays, it is playing in over 40 different locations around the United States, including at Hartford’s XFinity Theater on July 11. The Warped Tour was first centered around the music, but is now full of different attractions such as BMX biking and skateboarding. In addition, there are a variety of band merchandise stands and different charities in order to advertise and expand their fan bases. There are 85 different bands playing, with some of the most popular being American Authors, Sleeping With Sirens, Waka Flacka Flame, 3OH!3, and We The Kings.

American Authors, formerly known as The Blue Pages, was created in 2006. The band consists of Berklee College of Music dropouts, Zac Barnett (lead singer), James Adam Shelley (guitar and banjo), Dave Rublin (bass), and Matt Sanchez (drums). They were first noticed as the Blue Pages in 2006 by music producers Aaron Accetta and Shep Goodman while playing in the city. The band changed their name in 2012 and became American Authors. Soon after, the band created their first song, “Believer” in 2013. Their most popular song to date is “Best Day of My Life”. This year will be their exciting Vans Warped Tour debut.

Sleeping with Sirens members Kellin Quinn (lead singer), Jack Fowler and Jesse Lawson (guitarists), Justin Hills (bassist), and Gabe Barham (drummer) formed their band in 2009. They caught the attention of Rise Records who released their first album, With Ears to See, and Eyes to Hear in 2010, which sold over 25,000 copies. Their most famous song to date is “If You Can’t Hang”. Sleeping with Sirens has made several appearances at the Warped Tour in previous years.

Juaquin Malphurs aka Waka Flocka Flame first became interested in music after his brother’s death. When he was 20 years old, he produced a street album in 2008 called Salute Me or Shoot Me, Vol.1, that had the song “O Lets Do It”, which quickly rose to the number 7 spot on the Rap Songs Chart. In 2010, he released his debut album called Flockaveli, which gained popularity and eventually his single and most famous song, “No Hands” made it to the number 5 spot on the Rap Songs Chart.

3OH!3 is a two man group composed of Sean Foreman (vocalist) and Nathaniel Motte (vocalist). Both attended the University of Colorado, where they met in 2004. They are known for their use of electronic synthesizers and witty raps. Their most popular song to date is “DONTTRUSTME” which was released in 2006. They have been a part of The Warped Tour since 2007.

We The Kings (formerly known as Broken Image), consists of four childhood friends, Travis Clark (lead singer and guitarist), Danny Duncan (drummer), and brothers Hunter (guitarist) and Drew Thomsen (bassist). They created their band while in high school. Their band name came from “Martha B. King Middle School”, which they all attended. With the guidance of their manager, they uploaded several tracks on Purevolume, a social networking website, that would create online buzz. Their hit song “Check Yes Juliet” was number 70 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 25 on the Pop Songs chart and sold 70,000 copies. We the Kings were a part of The Rays Summer Concert Series. Additionally, they performed at Warped Tour in 2008. Shortly after finishing the tour, the band toured the US and Uk with “The Academy Is…,” “The Main,” “Hey Monday”, and “Carolina Liar”

This year’s Warped Tour will be performing from June 22nd to August 13th. Visit their website, http://vanswarpedtour.com, to check out more information on this event! Have fun!!