SR/Live Mon, December 01, 2008

The 2008 Vans Warped Tour, currently making its way around the U.S. and Canada, is generating huge crowds seeking a full day’s worth of cutting-edge rock/punk live performances. Another thing the tour is generating is solar power, and in fact, the entirety of one of its stages (including a full PA system) has been running since the outset exclusively on solar without a single glitch.

Even further, the stage (dubbed the “Kevin Says Stage") is able to meet all power demands for more than 10 hours at each tour stop, where it consistently hosts a multitude of bands starting at about noon and running well into the evening. (The Vans Warped Tour website is here.)

The project is the brainchild of Tim Allyn of Allyn Consulting, Los Angeles, who has long been a champion of environmental causes. Other key players in the project include Vans Warped Tour Founder Kevin Lyman, Dave Rat, Stage Tech (Charley Guest and Joe Golden), EAW (Jeffrey Cox, Jeff Rocha and Rich Frembes), and several others. The system engineer and mixer is Tom McNabb.

PSW will soon be featuring detailed behind the scenes coverage of the entire story, which is particularly topical given the intense focus around the globe on energy issues. In the meantime, if you’d like to check out the stage in person, click here to see the Warped Tour itinerary. (Be sure to say hi to Tom at FOH!) Note, again, that the name is the “Kevin Says Stage” - the Vans Warped Tour features multiple stages working simultaneously over very large areas.