Warped Tour 1996 was the 2nd edition of the Vans Warped Tour, and the first Warped Tour to be sponsored by Vans. The 24-date tour began on July 4, 1996 in Phoenix, Arizona and ended August 8, 1996 in Panama City, Florida.
The tour featured a main stage and a second stage, on which bands alternated so that as one band finished playing, the band on the other stage would begin. The band lineups and running orders on the two stages differed between dates. Some shows also featured a third stage with additional bands. All shows were held in outdoor venues with the exception of the shows in Washington D.C. and Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The former show was originally scheduled for Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Maryland, but due to issues with the venue, the show was moved at the last minute to the much smaller The Capitol Ballroom nightclub. The tour headliners included Fishbone, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, NOFX, Pennywise, and Rocket from the Crypt.
This was the first Warped Tour for The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, NOFX, Pennywise, and Blink-182, all of which played on multiple future Warped Tours. According to tour founder Kevin Lyman, the addition of punk bands such as NOFX and Pennywise helped establish the tour as a "credible" punk festival, thus making it more successful than the first year's eclectic lineup. A 2011 Warped Tour retrospective article in the Dallas Observer deemed the 1996 lineup one of the four best ever Warped Tour lineups in its 17-year history up to that point.
Vans sponsorship
Lyman sought a sponsor after promoters refused to pay for the tour in its second year because the first edition of the tour the year before had not made money. After a planned meeting with Calvin Klein was delayed by a blizzard, he received a call from Vans who wanted to launch an amateur skateboarding contest at the festival. Lyman, who was "desperate for money to keep the tour going", convinced them to sponsor the tour for $300,000. Vans later gave Lyman an additional $100,000 to buy back merchandising rights to the tour that he had already sold to another company. With the sponsorship, Lyman said that the tour "just survived the second year" and "paid everyone back from the first year."
Bands 311 The Alkaholiks Beck Blink 182 CIV Dance Hall Crashers Deftones Dick Dale Down By Law Face To Face The Figgs Fishbone Fluf Goldfinger The Mighty Mighty Bosstones NOFX Mushroomhead Pennywise Reel Big Fish Rocket From the Crypt Sense Field Unwritten Law Lagwagon White Kaps The Meices Screaming Bloody Marys
Tour dates Date City Country VenueJuly 4, 1996 Phoenix United States Desert Sky PavilionJuly 5, 1996 San Diego San Diego Sports ArenaJuly 6, 1996 Carson Olympic VelodromeJuly 7, 1996 San Francisco Crissy FieldJuly 9, 1996 Salem LB Day AmphitheaterJuly 10, 1996 Vancouver Canada Plaza of NationsJuly 11, 1996 Tacoma United States Tacoma DomeJuly 13, 1996 Salt Lake City Utah State FairJuly 14, 1996 Morrison Red Rocks AmphitheatreJuly 16, 1996 Bonner Springs Sandstone AmphitheaterJuly 19, 1996 Milwaukee Eagles BallroomJuly 20, 1996 Maryland Heights Riverport AmphitheaterJuly 21, 1996 Chicago United CenterJuly 22, 1996 Clarkston Pine Knob Music TheatreJuly 23, 1996 Pittsburgh IC LightJuly 24, 1996 Cleveland Cloverleaf Flea MarketJuly 25, 1996 Cincinnati Riverbend Second StageJuly 26, 1996 Buffalo La Salle ParkJuly 27, 1996 Bowmanville Canada Mosport ParkJuly 28, 1996 Montreal Blue Bonnets (raceway)July 30, 1996 Northampton United States Northampton AirportJuly 31, 1996 Washington, D.C. The Capitol BallroomAugust 1, 1996 Camden Blockbuster Sony Entertainment CenterAugust 2, 1996 Vernon Action ParkAugust 3, 1996 East Falmouth Barnstable County FairgroundsAugust 4, 1996 Asbury Park The Stone PonyAugust 6, 1996 Jacksonville Metropolitan ParkAugust 8, 1996 Panama City Club LaVelaAugust 9, 1996 Cocoa Cocoa Expo
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