Launched in 1994, the Warped Tour has become the longest-running annual tour in North America. Founder Kevin Lyman estimates that he's only missed 10 shows in 14 years. "In 1996 I missed a couple of shows. The place turned to anarchy as soon as I left," he says. And so Lyman is up at 4 a.m. trying to secure every last detail before hitting the road with this year's lineup, which includes old-school punks Pennywise and Bouncing Souls and newer sensations Gym Class Heroes and Be Your Own Pet. According to the tireless Lyman, "Warped Tour is more like a summer vacation than a job."

What are your Warped Tour travel essentials? An ice chest, some good beach chairs, good shoes and my beach cruiser. And I need my friends. It used to be a lot of my peers [NOFX, Strung Out, Pennywise] were out on the road with me, so it was much easier for me to hang out on tour. Now we get a few of those bands out, but you know, I'm either a disciplinarian or a mentor to most people, so I have my people that come out and spend a few days with me.

Which performances stand out? I always love the performances up at the Gorge in Washington. I always choose a band that's kind of mellowish. Last year it was Pepper at sunset. We always put on something a little more ska or reggae, a little more vibe-y. I look forward to that every year. I already know that I have to look at what time the sun is going to be setting because I want the Aggrolites to be playing this year.

To what do you credit your longevity? We don't mess
with [the tour] too much. I really believe that there's a comfort zone when you come to a Warped Tour. We change it within but we don't do any drastic changes. There's some familiarity. I think some festivals tried to change so much and then lost the core audience. I'm very careful to try to protect that.

How has your audience changed? We've become second-generational where a lot of times you'll see dad in a Bad Religion shirt and a kid in a Yellowcard shirt. But it's a common bond we're connecting where people can come to a show with their kids and their kids look at them and think, "Hey we can hang out and have something in common." And I see a lot of people coming back to the Warped Tour that maybe went away for a few years'"people that can't go out to see shows all the time like they used to. And they can go catch up [on] at least this niche of the music scene in one day. Because I think we all start feeling old when someone says a band that we don't know.