The sun was beaming and the air already thick with sweat as the gates opened for Warped Tour’s long-awaited 30th anniversary return in Long Beach. The festival greeted its guests with carefree and nostalgic vibes straight off the bat with their punk themed festival atmosphere. Here, we see all generations – kids with protective headphones rode on their parents’ shoulders, teenagers ran hand in hand in groups past food trucks and lifelong rockers greeted each other like it hadn’t been five years since the last Warped. This time, the chaos was intentional and communal and necessary.

Right from the start, it was clear that this year’s lineup wasn’t just a “greatest hits” of Warped history. It was a curated wave of genuine, powerful, celebratory music that paid tribute to the past while pushing the scene in a forward direction.

At the Shapiro Stage, Fishbone exploded into their set with a chaotic declaration: “This is an attack!” The crowd responded in kind. Fans lifted each other onto shoulders to see over the pit while others headbanged and threw fists in sync. Their second song sparked a wave of shouting, followed by tight harmonies and a trumpet section that got even more people skanking across the field. At one point, a female vocalist stalked the stage, howling “Are you skanking to the beat?!” with the trumpet blaring beside her, hyping up the pit like a brass-powered riot. As they delivered the searing line “The state of America is ugly,” someone literally crowd-surfed on a surfboard. It was the kind of joyful defiance only Fishbone can conjure: radical, rambunctious and weirdly wholesome.

Fishbone

If Fishbone showed us our roots, Beauty School Dropout made it clear where we’re going. Opening the Rex Stage with reckless charm and zero warmup time, BSD launched into their set with a single command: Get up and surf. And the crowd did, diving over each other, arms raised, bodies caught midair. Backed by Mark Hoppus and signed to Verswire, BSD blends classic pop-punk bravado with Gen Z sarcasm and polish. Their presence was electric, their confidence earned. One by one you can see the new fans BSD had acquired with that short, yet powerful performance.

By the time Slaughter to Prevail took over later that day, things had fully devolved into beautiful, brutal chaos. Their giant inflatable bear loomed behind them like a mascot of destruction. The lead singer’s guttural growls had fans spinning in mosh pits, tossing water bottles into the air, climbing on each other’s shoulders and pounding fists skyward. When he yelled, “Spin the moshpit!” The crowd obeyed like it was gospel. It wasn’t just a performance, it was an exorcism!

Slaughter to Prevail

When Hawthorne Heights took the stage, they delivered a moment of quiet truth in between all the noise. “Outcasts, losers… come here to unite for emo music,” Lead singer JT Woodruff said, inciting a roar from the rating crowd. At that moment, everyone felt seen. They didn’t need fire or strobe lights to command attention, just honest lyrics, thick riffs and the kind of understanding that both bands and listeners all can come to.

Hawthorne Heights

Enter Shikari reminded the crowd that punk isn’t just sound, it’s a message. Their electro-hardcore hybrid filled the air with frantic beats, strobe-like energy and sociopolitical urgency. “This song changed my life” lead singer Roy Reynolds said as they began to play fan favorite “sorry you’re not a winner.”

Nearby, Mariachi El Bronx brought emotional depth and cultural dimension to the festival, offering mariachi music wrapped in punk sensibility.

Mariachi El Bronx

That massive crowd stuck around for Pennywise, who delivered one of their biggest sets to date. They called for a circle pit, and the fans delivered. Beach balls bounced, sweat poured and the band let the audience vote between covering Bad Religion or Beastie Boys; the result ended in a tie, so they played both!

Pennywise

Fans waited eagerly for the beloved band Sublime to join the festival stage. Long Beach’s very own chill rhythms, paired with a visible emphasis on crowd safety, gave the perfect winddown between moshes and crowd surfing. The staff passed out water, monitored fans and let the weekend end on a high note — calm but powerful. Lead singer Jakob Nowell put such an emphasis on how important family is, specifically his Sublime family. Not only had he taken the lead singer role due to the passing of his father, but they were also joined by the child of another Sublime band member, who took over guitar for Nowells, expressing that all the love displayed is never pretended.

Sublime

The All American Rejects delivered one of the weekend’s most bright and entertaining sets. With a massive banner reading “The Rejects” in Beatles-style font, they leaned into a clever time travel concept pretending to go back to the early 2000s as they played fan favorites such as “Swing, Swing,” “Dirty Little Secret” and “Move Along.”

Their recent backyard tour reignited their fanbase and pulled in a whole new Gen Z audience, which was clear as the crowd shouted every lyric back at them. Tyson Ritter was a standout chaotic, delightfully absurd and wildly charismatic. His stage presence was unpredictable and magnetic, keeping the audience laughing, locked in and fully alive. While also having touches of sentimentality when paying tribute to the late Ozzy Osbourne who had inspired many, if not all, bands on the festival grounds.

Comeback Kids

Comeback Kid and Better Lovers carried that same weight but with more force, launching tight hardcore sets full of sweat and release. Their pits were precise, their vocals urgent, their energy undeniable. No matter if you were way in the front or chose to enjoy from the far back, there was definitely a moshpit next to you! Fans chose to take out both their aggression and appreciation in a moment of free feeling, limb throwing, chaos.

Better Lovers

Later in the evening, A Day to Remember gave the kind of headlining set that reminds you why they’re legends. Mixing new songs from Big Ole Album Vol. 1 with longtime favorites like “The Downfall of Us All” and “All I Want,” they built a set that united old heads and new kids in one massive shout-along. Song after song received endless applause, fans waiting on every in between word attempting to guess what was to be played next and loving every minute of it.

A Day To Remember

A Day To Remember Setlist 

The Downfall of Us All
I’m Made of Wax, Larry, What Are You Made Of?
2nd Sucks
Right Back at It Again
Bad Blood
Paranoia
Have Faith in Me
All My Friends
Mr. Highway’s Thinking About the End
Resentment
LeBron
Miracle
All I Want
The Plot to Bomb the Panhandle
If It Means a Lot to You
Flowers
All Signs Point to Lauderdale

All photos by Colin Hancock