Warped Tour Long Beach 2026 Day 1
After returning to DC earlier this summer, Warped Tour brought its California stop back to the coast. Long Beach took over Shoreline Waterfront on July 25 and 26, featuring eight stages, more than 70 artists, and a schedule that forced fans to make tough choices all weekend. By Saturday afternoon, the grounds were already moving in every direction: people cutting through merch lines, stopping for food, catching pieces of sets they did not plan for, and trying to get from one stage to another without missing the song they came for. Long Beach had plenty to chase, from heavier sets and scene staples to radio singalongs, newer voices, and bands that still know exactly how to wake up a hot festival crowd.
Saturday’s lineup was stacked well beyond any single route through the grounds. Earlier in the day, sets from SACE6, Ivy Pacific, Winona Fighter, LØLØ, Jutes, Vana, Citizen, Yelawolf, Jinjer, and Escape the Fate helped get the festival moving, while later windows brought names like Hot Mulligan, Reel Big Fish, Bowling For Soup, 3OH!3, Joyce Manor, Plain White T’s, The Story So Far, Jimmy Eat World, The Devil Wears Prada, Attila, and The Ghost Inside into the mix. It was the kind of lineup where every choice came with a tradeoff, and that is exactly where Warped tends to thrive.
For Saturday, my day moved through Holy Wars, Gym Class Heroes, Underoath, Sleeping With Sirens, Grandson, Hoobastank, All Time Low, The Wrecks, Dance Gavin Dance, and Simple Plan. Together, they gave the day its own shape: darker rock, throwback singalongs, heavy moments, pop-punk staples, and modern alternative sets all colliding under the Long Beach sun.
Holy Wars kicked things off early in the day with a set that immediately gave Saturday a darker edge. While fans were still settling into the grounds, checking set times, and figuring out where the day would take them, Kat Leon cut through the movement around her. Her vocals gave the set its bite, shifting from controlled rock grit to heavier screams with a command that made the performance hard to look away from. Holy Wars brought something moodier and more intense to a lineup full of big choruses, familiar names, and sun-soaked singalongs.
Their set was a reminder that Warped has always been about discovery as much as familiarity. The legacy names may bring people through the gates, but bands like Holy Wars are what make the day feel alive in real time: different sounds, darker edges, and the kind of presence that can stop people mid-walk.
Gym Class Heroes brought a completely different kind of energy to the day. Their set had a relaxed confidence that worked especially well at a festival where people were being pulled between so many stages. They gave the crowd something loose, familiar, and easy to fall into without slowing the day down. Songs that crossed scenes, radio, and festival culture hit differently in a setting like Warped, where nostalgia does not belong to one genre. Gym Class Heroes felt like one of those acts that reminded people how wide this world actually is.
By mid-afternoon, the sun was blaring down, but Underoath still managed to pull the crowd into something heavier. Their set had the kind of intensity that does not need much setup. The band came out sharp, physical, and direct, turning the heat into part of the atmosphere instead of something to fight against. It was heavy in the way Underoath has always been heavy: not just loud, but tense, emotional, and built around the kind of moments that make fans push closer instead of step back. For a crowd already deep into a long day, they gave Saturday one of its first real gut-punch sets.
Sleeping With Sirens had one of those sets where the crowd did half the work before the band even had to ask. As soon as Kellin Quinn’s voice cut through the field, fans were right there with him, shouting lines back like they had been waiting all day for that exact moment. The emotion people associate with the band was there, but it never slowed the pace. Phones were up, arms were in the air, and the crowd turned the set into one of Saturday’s most memorable moments. It was the kind of Warped performance where a band’s history with its fans becomes visible in real time.
Grandson brought one of Saturday’s most pointed sets, using his time onstage for more than festival momentum. His music has always carried a political charge, confronting war, surveillance, corporate power, political corruption, and the exhaustion of living through one crisis after another. That is part of why his crowd feels so passionate and diverse. Grandson does not just give fans something to scream along to. He gives them language for the anger, anxiety, and disbelief they are already carrying.
Hoobastank gave the day one of its clearest alt-rock throwback moments, but it never felt like they were there for one song alone. Yes, “The Reason” will always have the kind of instant recognition that can stop people mid-walk, but the band did not treat that familiarity like a shortcut. Their set leaned into the songs fans already knew while still making room for something new, including “How Do You Sleep.” Frontman Doug Robb turned the track into a crowd-participation moment, teaching the chorus to the audience and making the new song feel like it had already found its place within the setlist.
All Time Low stepped into Saturday with the kind of confidence that comes from knowing exactly how to work a festival crowd, even with Jack Barakat missing from the lineup that day. The band opened with a burst of long string confetti, immediately turning the set into one of the more visual moments of the afternoon. From there, they leaned into the hooks, banter, and bright pop-rock energy that has kept them connected to Warped across their many different eras. LØLØ joined the band midset for “PMA,” adding a fun crossover moment that fit right into the set’s loose, crowd-first energy.
Simple Plan’s history with Warped does not need much explanation. They are one of those bands whose songs feel permanently tied to the festival’s older chapters, not because they are stuck there, but because they helped shape what so many fans remember about it. Their set brought one last surge of energy to a worn-down crowd that had stuck around for a final singalong before turning the page to the next day’s lineup.
The Wrecks and Dance Gavin Dance shared the same set time on opposite sides of the grounds, creating the kind of scheduling conflict Warped is basically built on. Dance Gavin Dance had the bigger draw, but The Wrecks were not playing to an empty field. A dedicated crowd showed up, sang along, and made it clear they had chosen that set on purpose.
That is what made the overlap work. It was not about who “won” the time slot. It was about watching two very different fanbases claim their own corners of the festival at the same time. Warped has always been at its best when the lineup gives fans room to make their own version of the day.
By the end of Saturday, Long Beach had already made its point. This was not a single-day nostalgia pull or a quick reminder of what Warped used to be. It was a full-scale festival weekend, with Day 1 showing how much the California stop could hold across its stages.
With Sunday still ahead, the weekend was not done making its case. Day 2 was ready to bring in a fresh lineup, another crowd, and another version of the festival.