The much-delayed second Vans Warped Tour 2013 lineup announcement is due this Friday, as previously reported, but ahead of the ream of new bands being added to the bill, the punk and hardcore festival has changed locations once more for its Melbourne leg.
The Warped lineup of The Offspring, Simple Plan, Parkway Drive, New Found Glory, The Used, and more will now be performing back at Melbourne’s Birrarung Marr, the inner-city stretch of park tucked alongside the banks of the Yarra, in a move engineered to avoid a “shitfight” between Warped punters and “pillpopping” Stereosonic punters, in the words of festival promoter AJ Maddah.
Last month Maddah announced that Warped’s Melbourne leg would be held at Flemington Racecourse on Saturday 7th December, after strong ticket sales meant it had “outsold its capacity” at its originally scheduled venue, Birrarung Marr (or “Birrang Mahr or whatever that silly piece of land is where they hold Moonbah,” as Maddah put it).
But the proposed date put the punk and rock fans right next door to the electronic music lovers attending the first day of the weekend-long Stereosonic 2013 at the adjacent Royal Melbourne Showgrounds.
When a fan pointed out the fact to Maddah on twitter, the promoter responded by saying that the logistics would not affect the event; “Stereo crowd come in late and leave late. Our crowd come in early and we finish an hour before them,” wrote Maddah.
The Warped promoter has since changed his tune however, saying that running the two festivals side-by-side could create problems, while slagging off Stereosonic punters, and announcing the shift back to Birrarung Marr.
@doamustafa Too much of a shitfight with so many juicers and pillpoppers next door for Stereosonic.
— AJ (@iamnotshouting) October 15, 2013
UPDATE 16/10: Maddah has since removed the offending comment, presumably after he was pulled up on his inflammatory tweet by Richie McNeill of Totem OneLove, the group who present Stereosonic (that’s about to be sold for $75m to an American EDM conglomerate). Maddah has since apologised to McNeill over social media.
@richiemcneill But seriously, the comment was totally out of line, stupid and I sincerely apologise.
— AJ (@iamnotshouting) October 16, 2013
The Melbourne Warped is also expected to be the first of the tour to sell out, “I really thought Sydney would sell out 1st,” said Maddah, indicating that there are “just under 3,000” tickets left for the Melbourne leg, which are expected to go quickly once the second Warped Tour 2013 lineup announcement is made this Friday.
As for who to expect on the second Warped Tour 2013 lineup announcement, Maddah recently revealed he’d held off in order to “shoe-horn” Millencolin into the Warped bill, saying last month that he was waiting on the punk pop Swedes – who last year celebrated their 20th anniversary – to give him an answer “1 way or the other.”
So while Millencolin’s presence is still 50/50, Canberra band Hands Like Houses let slip of their involvement on the Warped Tour lineup alongside their touring partners Tonight Alive, who were already confirmed among the 18 bands for Warped when it was first announced last July.
Hands Like Houses are also pegged as one of a “load of locals” promised on the second Warped lineup announcement, and in fact the festival put out an open call for recommendations for Aussie bands for each of Warped’s six dates this November/December.
Maddah has also said to “expect another 4 or 5 internationals”; aside from the possibility of Millencolin, that could include polarising punk outfit Falling In Reverse for the Warped bill (or possibly the Soundwave 2014 lineup) “when visas are 100% approved,” tweeted Maddah recently.
Reel Big Fish have also been rumoured since the band revealed plans earlier this month to return to Australia, but have yet to confirm any dates on their official tour page, with a Warped-sized gap conceivably squeezing in-between gigs booked in for Pittsburgh (in mid-November) and Honolulu (mid-December).
Vans Warped Tour 2013 Lineup
The Offspring
Parkway Drive
The Used
Simple Plan
New Found Glory
Hatebreed
Tonight Alive
H2O
The Summer Set
Kids In Glass Houses
We Came As Romans
Man Overboard
Crown The Empire
The Dangerous Summer
For All Those Sleeping
Veara
Anarbor
Mallory Knox
RDGLDGRN
Vans Warped Tour 2013 Dates
Friday 29th November Brisbane RNA Showgrounds
Saturday 30th November Coffs Harbour Showground
Sunday 1st December Barangaroo, Sydney
Friday 6th December Exhibition Park, Canberra
Saturday 7th December Flemington Showgrounds, Birrarung Marr, Melbourne
Sunday 8th December Adelaide Showgrounds, Adelaide
Tickets and info head to http://vanswarpedtouraustralia.com/
