VANS Warped Tour 2026: It’s Not Just a Phase
Review by Liz Wyatt
Photos by Steve Satzberg
My first rodeo at Warped Tour began amid a sea of fishnet-clad and checkered, unfazed emos (I guess it’s not a phase). We found Free Throw already throwing down thunderous bass on the Vans Stage. With no time to linger, I had to get to Codefendants on the other end at the Eagle Stage. It was already packed, but I found a sweet spot under a speaker.
Ceschi Ramos and his satin tongue were spewing lyrics faster and more rhythmically than an adult novelty. He caught me in my jiggles, and before I knew it I was in a mosh pit — or so I thought. It was actually a gentle early-day ring-around-the-rosie compared to Day Two. Did I just fall in love? The speakers thundered and thundered, then alas, just like love… it was over. To the left, on the Verizon Stage, The Wrecks were ready to rock. What a fan base. The whole crowd had their arms up, swaying to and fro.
Lost for a moment in the unity of the crowd, I remembered I wanted to get to the front rail for Elijah, who had come all the way from Nashville. I latched on like a caboose to the centipede of people sliding into Elijah’s crowd. What a stacked blond titan Elijah is… is he heralding the second coming?! Seriously, he did not disappoint. Marrow-shaking bass, but why is it never loud enough? (The Verizon and Eagle stages were the smallest, and while intimate, they just weren’t as thunderous as the others.)
The 2026 edition of Warped Tour’s Washington, DC, stop was now in full swing, taking over the grounds beside the ruins of RFK Stadium on June 13 and 14.
Somehow I found myself next to the pit again, but I was still too chicken to jump in. Maybe some gummy guts mixed with liquid courage later today. #lifegoals #bestlife
Armed with a $20 Pink Razz Vodka Lemonade, I reclaimed my favorite speaker spot at the BeatBox Stage for Suicidal Tendencies. Hair-thrashing, heart-stopping thunder… finally, it was loud enough. My heart stopped and changed its rhythm entirely.
Still pondering the change, I saw Mike Muir surfing by and managed to touch his shoe with my pinky. Back on stage, he had us all raise our middle fingers and shout, “F— that guy!” I couldn’t even tell who “that guy” was, but whoever the problem was… F— that guy. Mike declared that from this moment on, it was F— that guy. We chanted “ST! ST! ST! ST!” I’m forever changed, forever on ST time… and yeah, F— that guy.
With my freshly shaken soul, a new heartbeat, a new mantra, and a $17 frozen lemonade, I claimed the front rail beneath the left speaker for GWAR.
Just as a famous world leader was being disemboweled, I took one crowd surfer to the back of the head… then another. I edged even closer and remembered to grab a photo. While I was bent over digging through my purse, everyone around me suddenly erupted. I stood up to find the Predator about 10 inches from my face. He had climbed down onto the platform right at the rail.
I’m still having flashbacks.
It’s one thing to see GWAR. It’s another thing entirely to have GWAR see *you*.
Covered in alien blood and alien j*zz, I staggered off in search of Anberlin. Instead, I found Jinjer.
Seeing Tatiana on two giant screens left me starstruck. Standing between the stages, with those massive three-story displays showing her perfect double braids, I couldn’t believe how stunning she looked in nearly 100-degree heat while bringing a different kind of heat herself. My bones were shaking from the bass. She was powerful, mesmerizing. I couldn’t believe that roar was coming out of her. I couldn’t have walked away if I’d wanted to.
Before I could even look up when and where Anberlin was playing, a thunderous boom hit my entire being unlike anything I’d ever imagined.
Suicide Silence.
My pants were vibrating around me—not just on me. I felt like I was hovering through space-time, existing somewhere outside myself.
Hernan “Eddie” Hermida was screaming, “WAKE UP! WAKE UP!”
The entire crowd screamed it back.
I think my soul was finally ready to try.
Round two. Middle fingers in the air again, chanting, “F— EVERYTHING! F— EVERYTHING!”
The crowd suddenly parted… to form a pit.
I moved toward the edge.
I was going in on purpose this time.
This wasn’t ring-around-the-rosie anymore.
It was Persia in front of me and Sparta charging from behind.
Before I even had time to think, I bolted across at warp speed in a blind adrenaline delirium… and somehow made it through untouched.
I couldn’t quite come back into my body afterward.
Shaken and unsure whether I still existed, I wandered in a PTSD haze looking for the press tent. Somehow there appeared an astroturf grassy knoll, shaded, with mellow reggae drifting over sixty exhausted, sweaty people.
I knelt on the knoll.
When I came to, I noticed it was six o’clock.
Anberlin!
I hadn’t missed them entirely. I caught the end of their set.
Next I searched for Varials, the last band on my must-see list for the day. I found a railing close enough to the stage that I could hold on while I jumped.
That’s when I noticed a *real* mosh pit.
Still drifting in and out of lucidity, and debating whether to throw myself into the belly of that pit and leave my old life behind, someone exploded out of it with one hand covering his eye. His elbow connected squarely with my temple.
I came to.
His eye was still there.
I decided three people back from this Thunderdome was close enough.
Woozy and shaky from the primal adrenaline rush, I needed the press tent again.
Onward to Hoobastank.
*”How do you sleep?”*
They debuted a brand-new song that had never been performed live before.
My moisture-wicking clothes were practically vibrating off my body as I found another sweet spot between the stages beneath what felt like a two-story stereo system.
Then “The Reason” began.
The massive three-story video screens filled with close-ups of fans crying as they sang along.
I sang along too.
They sounded every bit as good live as they do on the recordings.
Too emotional to move, I barely noticed Plain White T’s had begun with a fluffy pop number that initially made me want to leave. I was craving more deathcore.
Then I heard him sing, “I feel a little more myself than I have in a long time.”
That’s exactly how I was feeling.
They got me.
They were joyful and somehow saying everything I was thinking.
There’s always room for happy.
Next came “Our Time,” which honestly felt like the anthem for the day. Then came the love song: “All I wanted was to love, love, love.”
Unlike Day One, I had earplugs, so I could actually hear the lyrics.
I wandered over to 3OH!3, who leaned heavily into rap, hip-hop, and thunderous electronic chaos.
Then I circled back just in time for Plain White T’s to close with “Hey There Delilah.”
I think the entire festival sang along.
*”Oooh, it’s what you do to me…”*
I was trying to find All That Remains but stumbled into Machine Head instead, playing their first-ever show in Washington, DC.
The bassist had the most magnificent full head of thrashing hair this side of Cousin Itt.
My pants were rattling.
I needed a breather before making my way to All That Remains.
Then came the long winding journey back to the Metro station… and glorious air conditioning.
F— everything.
WAKE UP!
Let the world end.
I’ve seen the heart of humanity.
We’re going to be just fine.
Here are some photos from the 2026 Warped Tour in Washington, DC, in all of its glory. All photos are copyright and courtesy of Steve Satzberg.
Here some photos of the 2026 Warped Tour Washington DC in all of its glory. All pictures copyright and courtesy of Steve Satzberg.
