The final cross-country tour returns to Toronto
When news broke that Warped Tour would be making its final run in the summer of 2018, I was excited to see that the tour would be returning to Toronto on July 17. The tour had completely skipped Canada for the past two years. Luckily, the final Warped Tour’s return to Toronto did not disappoint. The day was punctuated by a surprise set, a 15-year album anniversary performance, and sunny weather.
One of the things that makes Warped Tour unique is that the festival doesn’t announce the schedule until the day of, so that every band on the lineup gets a chance to play at different times of the day throughout the tour.
Warped Tour veterans, Mayday Parade, have played on the tour several times. During their set, they covered Blink-182’s “The Rock Show,” (which features the lyric “I couldn’t wait for the summer and the Warped Tour”) as a tribute to Warped Tour’s legacy.
John O’Callaghan of The Maine joked around during their set, introducing themselves as Oasis and Good Charlotte, “a band from Phoenix, Arizona” at different points.
Chicago-based band Knuckle Puck saw a lot of crowd surfers during their set.
Post-hardcore band Silverstein played to a huge hometown crowd. Lead singer Shane Told pointed out his old apartment, which could be seen from the stage.
Festival organizer Kevin Lyman teased a surprise reunion from a Juno award-winning band the day before the Toronto date of Warped Tour. On the day of the festival, the surprise guest was revealed to be Toronto reggae/ska band, Bedouin Soundclash.
3OH!3 played an electrifying set of their chart-topping hits, including “My First Kiss,””STARSTRUKK,” “Don’t Trust Me,” and more.
The most exciting set of the day was from Sum 41, who were only scheduled to play one day of the tour. They played their classic punk album “Does This Look Infected?” in its entirety, which recently had its 15-year anniversary.
Australian band, Tonight Alive, have played on Warped Tour for several summers since their start on the small Kevin Says Stage in 2011. Now after their fourth album release, they’re able to draw a large crowd at the main stage.
Another Canadian favourite, Simple Plan also recently celebrated the 15-year anniversary of their debut album, “No Pads, No Helmets…Just Balls.”
Photos by Karen K. Tran
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