Staying tuned to the 'punk thing' keeps Warped Tour thriving 10 years later

All roads lead to the Gillette Stadium parking lot today and tomorrow for lovers of punk and underground rock. They'll come for a double visit by the Vans Warped Tour, which is committed to playing outdoor, general-admission sites without seats. Today's eight-hour show is the regular-season wrapup of the tour, with New Found Glory, Taking Back Sunday, Coheed and Cambria, Bad Religion, Story of the Year, and others. Tomorrow's equally long bash is a special 10th anniversary Warped reunion that includes Rancid, Good Charlotte, Dropkick Murphys, Andrew W.K., and Pennywise. Founder/director Kevin Lyman talked recently about this year's tour, its overall longevity, and increasing popularity.

What is it like to hold the Warped tour in a parking lot? You've done Suffolk Downs and the Brockton Fairgrounds before, but this is the first time you'll be in the parking lot of Gillette Stadium.

We did the biggest Warped show tour in 10 years the other day in a Detroit with 28,000 kids in a parking lot. They really enjoyed it. We do a lot of asphalt shows. I prefer grass, but with asphalt, if you have showers, it will dry out very quickly. . . . And we put in some extra shade tents, and we spread things out as much as possible. For our Thursday show, it looks like we'll be running our normal 11 stages, which includes the little teeny tents. But on Friday, we're going to scale down to the five principal stages to really showcase the bands that are taking time out of their schedules to come back and play with us.

Why was the Boston market chosen for the 10th anniversary show?

John Peters, the indie promoter there, has always done a very good job helping us out. Last summer, I told him, "Look, I'll end the tour there and give you the chance to promote it."

Friday's lineup is a blockbuster. Is there anyone you wanted but couldn't get?

I really wanted [Boston's] Mighty Mighty Bosstones, but their road manager is out with Ben Kweller now. He couldn't get the time off and [singer] Dicky Barrett didn't want to do it without him.

Checking a list of Warped alumni, I see that Eminem once played the tour.

Yes, Eminem and also Kid Rock. And we've had Sugar Ray and the Deftones and blink-182. It's a good start for a lot of artists.

Many other festivals have come and gone. What is the secret to the longevity of Warped?

Well, I don't screw around with the formula too much. You might see the anomaly of an Eminem, but we've mainly stayed true to the punk thing and that's why you see NOFX or Pennywise or Bad Religion still coming back, because I think they still put out relevant records. But we've also flowed with the music. When emo and screamo and ska were big, you'd see a lot of that come in for a while, because it's part of a cross-section of what these kids are into. I think the problem with a lot of other tours is that they try to reinvent themselves too much.

This summer has been tough on a lot of tours, but your attendance is up. By how much?

Last year, we sold 505,000 tickets. This year, not counting the Friday show, we'll do about 650,000 tickets. How do you explain the increase?

I think it's because we've hit a second generation of Warped fans. A lot of them are coming to their first concert ever. And it's a lot of responsibility for us, because we have to keep an eye on them because they've never been in this kind of environment.

The idea of these kids moshing in a parking lot -- isn't that a little daunting?

Well, I realized that some of them never learned about moshing. Moshing looks so dangerous if you just see it on a video, but there's a hierarchy, and kids learn how to work their way inside that environment.

The concept of bands playing half-hour sets is what the Warped tour is all about. Some people would say it's radical to have them play such short sets.

I think all the bands are out here doing a showcase. They're all going to be coming back on their own tours in the next four to six months -- and the kids they win over here will pay to see them play an hour later. But most of these bands don't play over an hour anyway. It's the ADD generation. A lot of kids say to me, "You're the grandad of ADD."

How do you keep up with all the new bands? How do you keep it fresh?

I'm 43 years old now, so my tastes aren't going to necessarily be what's reflected out here. But I have to be able to listen to the Internet and listen to the kids. I'm already getting about 10 to 20 submissions a day for next summer. . . . I don't read Rolling Stone every time it comes out, but I read the fanzines. I don't have time to do it on tour, but I throw them into a box and when I get home, I'll read them and see what these kids are talking about. That's where the groundswell is going to come.

The Vans Warped Tour comes to the Gillette Stadium parking lot today (tickets $30.50) and tomorrow ($34.50). 617-931-2000.