In the annals of rock music lore, few summer institutions held more sway than Warped Tour. It was sweaty, chaotic, and gloriously DIY—a punk rock summer camp that launched countless careers. For Jacoby Shaddix and Papa Roach, it was everything.
“That’s where we got our big break,” Shaddix tells SNSMix.com, the gravel in his voice still tinged with that ever-youthful roar. “It was our first major tour—‘Last Resort’ was blowing up on the radio and TRL. We started on the third stage, moved to the second, then the main stage. By the end, we were headlining alongside Green Day and Weezer. What an iconic moment.”
Warped Tour is officially returning in 2025, and for bands like Papa Roach—who came up in that whirlwind of Vans shoes and sweaty circle pits—its comeback is more than just nostalgia. It’s a resurrection of the scene’s very DNA.
“Warped Tour was that moment,” Shaddix says, looking back at the turning point that elevated the band from van-bound underdogs to arena contenders.
That meteoric rise may have started with “Last Resort,” but the rocket fuel was Warped Tour’s no-frills grind. Shaddix recalls the camaraderie, the long drives, the kids discovering new bands on side stages—an ecosystem that bred loyalty and longevity. “That punk rock summer camp vibe was everything,” he says.
With modern festivals like Sonic Temple and Welcome to Rockville drawing 60,000-plus attendees, Shaddix sees echoes of that Warped energy bubbling again. But Warped Tour’s DIY ethos—its melting pot of ska, punk, emo, and hardcore—offered something uniquely raw.
“I think we’re starting to see that energy again in rock. There are amazing festivals in America now taking cues from Europe—Sonic Temple, Welcome to Rockville, Inkarceration. These four-day festivals are bringing out 60,000 to 100,000 people,” he said. “Now the media is starting to take notice—like, ‘Oh snap, what’s happening in rock again?’ It’s building that youth culture again, which is awesome.”
Now, 25 years after “Last Resort” became a cultural touchstone, Papa Roach is enjoying one of the most successful stretches of its career. But for Shaddix, the heart of it all still pulses with that teenage urgency—the grit of the parking lot, the thrill of the set change, and the power of believing you could change your life in 30 minutes flat.
