The ninth-annual edition of the Vans Warped Tour will feature a mix of punk veterans like Rancid, Pennywise, Less Than Jake, Face to Face and AFI playing alongside newer groups such as Simple Plan, the Used, Finch, the Ataris, Glassjaw, the Distillers and tour freshmen Taking Back Sunday.

The six-stage, fifty-band tour will launch June 19th in Boise, Idaho, and wind its way through the U.S. and Canada until a grueling, tour-ending stretch of nineteen dates in a row culminating with an August 10th show in Asbury Park, New Jersey. Venues have not yet been announced, and not all bands will perform on all dates, according to tour founder Kevin Lyman.

"This year is such a true Warped lineup," says Lyman of the mix of indie and major-label acts on the bill, which also includes the Dropkick Murphys, Mest, Suicide Machines, Andrew W.K., the Unseen, S.T.U.N., From Autumn to Ashes, Tsunami Bomb, Thrice, Starting Line and Brand New. "A lot of these bands are the kind of acts that have developed on the tour over the years. We're trying to focus on a few less bands this year and a more comfortable show for the fans."

"The Warped Tour was awesome," says Simple Plan's Chuck Comeau of the 2002 outing. "For us, touring is the best drug ever," adds bassist David Desrosiers. "I don't do drugs, so this is my drug."

While past editions of Warped have featured everything from a female-friendly "ladies lounge" area to a traveling film festival, Lyman said his aim this year is to offer "more water, more shade and more video game tents for our physically unfit kids, since you can't really can't get much more extreme than the motorcycle stuff we've had for years." The one new wrinkle to the skate and punk event Lyman is hoping to add is a racing theme, which he hopes will include on-site meet-and-greets with NASCAR racers.

In addition to the above-mentioned acts, Me First and the Gimme Gimmes, Yellow Card, Ill Kid, Mad Caddies, Count the Stars, Rufio, Slick Shoes, Poison The Well and punk veterans the Damned will play select shows.

This year's "barbecue band" -- which has to cook for all the other bands every day -- will be L.A.'s Destruction Made Simple. Despite the onerous task, Lyman said more than 500 bands requested the coveted slot.

As an added value to the low-dough $25 tickets for the all-day show, Lyman said he's offering the first 1,000 patrons in every market who order tickets at warpedtour.com a free two-CD, fifty-band Warped Tour compilation.

Warped Tour 2003 Dates:

6/19: Boise, ID
6/20: Bozeman, MT
6/21: Salt Lake City
6/22: Denver
6/24: Kansas City, KS
6/25: St. Louis
6/26: Cincinnati
6/27: Indianapolis
6/28: Minneapolis
6/29: Chicago
7/2: Calgary, AB
7/4: Vancouver, BC
7/5: Seattle
7/6: Portland, OR
7/8: San Bernardino, CA
7/9: Long Beach, CA
7/10: San Diego
7/11: Ventura, CA
7/12: San Francisco
7/13: Sacramento
7/15: Phoenix
7/18: San Antonio
7/19: Dallas
7/20: Houston
7/23: Atlanta
7/24: Orlando
7/25: Tampa
7/26: Miami
7/27: Jacksonville, FL
7/28: Charlotte, NC
7/29: Virginia Beach, VA
7/30: Washington, DC
7/31: Boston
8/1: Montreal
8/2: Toronto
8/3: Detroit
8/4: Milwaukee
8/5: Cleveland
8/6: Pittsburgh, PA
8/7: Buffalo, NY
8/8: Philadelphia
8/9: New York City
8/10: Asbury Park, NJ

GIL KAUFMAN and LAUREN HARRIS
(January 16, 2003)