I’m sure you’re all familiar with the Vans Warped Tour, music’s longest-running summer tour in history. Entering its 19th year, the punk-centric traveling festival is constantly finding ways to refresh and reinvent itself. One of those ways, recently, was the addition of a new “stage,” which is actually a tent: The Acoustic Basement. The Acoustic Basement was such a success as part of the summer tour, featuring side projects and members of Warped stage mainstays in a stripped down, acoustic setting, that Warped decided to break it off as a standalone tour. Warped has tried related tours, international jaunts, and one-off warmup shows before, but this is the first time a single stage has been turned into its own tour. The festival also tends to skip Nashville (it’s been years), so tonight’s your best shot at catching a little bit of Warped in Music City. The Acoustic Basement Tour hits The End (not The Basement, as I keep trying to type) TONIGHT and I’ve got a recap of the lineup for you below:
Geoff Rickly is best known as the frontman for influential post-hardcore band Thursday. These days, the singer’s focusing on calmer, self-reflective, stripped-down, and emotional tunes. You can definitely count on hearing some Thursday classics though!
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It’s not often that lighting can strike twice from band to band for a singer, but Vinnie Caruana‘s track record speaks for itself. Having fronted pop punk pioneers The Movielife, and now currently fronting I Am the Avalanche, Caruana also just released a great acoustic solo EP called City by the Sea (and it’s perfectly suited for this type of show).
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Listening to Massachusetts pop punks A Loss for Words‘ typical tunes, you might not picture them as the logical first choice for a calm, acoustic show. The group proved their range and restraint by releasing an acoustic record, Returning to Webster Lake, last year, however, and it’s fantastic!
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Singer/songwriter Koji is not only punk in influence, but also in his outspokenness for social activism. His style already lends itself perfectly for this type of show: melodic, stripped down, and earnest.
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Finally, rounding out the lineup, Brian Marquis might just be the furthest from his best-known gig with his spot on this tour. He previously played guitar in intensely hardcore band Therefore I Am, but, with his recent solo efforts, has proven just how pleasant his mellow, acoustic chops are as well.
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The Acoustic Basement Tour featuring Geoff Rickly, Vinnie Caruana, A Loss For Words, Koji, and Brian Marquis is stopping at The End tonight! Things kick off at 8:30PM, it’s 18+, and you can snag tickets here.
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