I’m with the band: Bad Religion’s Greg Graffin reports of the joys of summer. 

 

In 1994, Bad Religion headlined a concert called Board in South Bay, a prototype of the Warped Tour, along with NOFX, the Offspring, and Down by Law. I thought a few thousand fans would show up, but about 10,000 turned out, and the organizers launched Warped as a national tour the following year. Since Bad Religion had always toured Europe in the summers, we had never played U.S. festivals before. We’d always been overlooked for Lollapalooza, and you’re only allowed to play the Lilith Fair if you have a vagina. (Not that I’m bitter.) 

 

Unlike those tours, which pride themselves on order and civilized behavior, the beauty of the Warped Tour is its organic nature. It’s disorganized, messy, and fun. Bands get to bond and do things like go white-water rafting together before shows. Rather than sitting in a dressing room all day, we run the Bad Religion festival tent, which is open to the public. I like to get there early to help set things up. Since we spend a lot of time sitting on our asses in a bus going between cities, it’s a good way to get some exercise. 

 

The first date of this year’s tour, in Phoenix, was chaos. I got there at eight-thirty in the morning. I was running back and forth to this Home Depot-type place called Sam’s Club (I’m a member, I don’t mind saying), buying lawn chairs and things for the tent. I also bought a sun umbrella, a Kentucky bluegrass AstroTurf rug, and a chaise lounge for myself so I could read books like Consilience by Edward O. Wilson and The Making of the Atomic Bomb by Richard Rhodes. 

 

Nothing on Warped is planned, including the meals, so we bring our own barbecue for the tent. When I get hungry, I’ll flip a burger or two and talk to the fans. And if people are courteous, they’ll be fed. I don’t know that much about politics, but there’s nothing wrong with a nice mixture of socialism and capitalism. 

 

The tent also has a pirate station called No Substance Radio. We spin music from late-’70s, early-’80s L.A. bands like the Adolescents and the Germs and British groups like Sham 69-the stuff that inspired us to start a band. For the young people who come to our shows, it’s a way to illustrate the scene’s long tradition. Punk was never just about music; it’s also a way of life and an expression of individuality-there’s more depth to punkers than you would guess by looking at their blue hair. 

 

Since I pride myself of being an empiricist, I keep looking for evidence at Warped that punk has reached critical mass and will soon disappear. But I haven’t found it yet. Every year, we get older and the audience stays the same age. I guess when that stops happening, you turn into Crosby, Stills and Nash.