Kevin Lyman talks about Warped Tour 2007, feuds in 2006 and attendance

As the Warped Tour pulls into Milwaukee for the show at the Marcus Amphitheater, tour founder Kevin Lyman spoke to the local paper about some of the changes and challenges affecting the tour in its 13th year.

Lyman notes that this year's tour focuses more on newer and younger bands than previous iterations which were driven by large draw acts. For example, the 2005 Warped tour featured several bands on the verge of huge breakthroughs including, Fall Out Boy, My Chemical Romance, Hawthorne Heights and All-American Rejects. With last year's less notable performers, the tour did take a hit. But Lyman seemed to take it in stride saying:

I've always felt like your success can be your downfall in some ways. I think we settled into what our niche is. I think the Warped tour is a niche of about 600,000 concert-goers.

Kevin also made reference to some of last year's "famous feuds" including one most people know all too well:

Some of the more seasoned bands were irked by newer bands with rock-star attitudes, and also that there was some tension between punk bands and Christian groups.

Finally, Kevin talked about the sense of entitlement which he was starting to see:

I want the Warped Tour to be special again, so bands, when they get out there, they work. They take the opportunity to work hard, and they also look at it as, 'Hey, this is something to aspire to and not just take it for granted.' You're not entitled to be on the Warped Tour because you've been a band for six months.

You can find the rest of the story here.