A festival that helped launch the careers of iconic alternative rock bands in the 2000s is returning after a years-long hiatus — and a Tulsa outfit is on the bill.
Alternative rock band CLIFFDIVER will play two Vans Warped Tour dates this year. Formed in 2018, CLIFFDIVER has produced two EPs and two albums of Midwest emo punctuated by saxophone and lead vocals shared between Joey Duffy and Briana Wright.
CLIFFDIVER is one of scores of acts on a bill that marks Warped Tour’s return after a six-year hiatus. The festival toured the country from 1995-2018 and stopped indefinitely after a non-touring year in 2019.
Warped helped launch the careers of bands like Paramore and My Chemical Romance. The 2025 lineup includes Avril Lavigne, Motion City Soundtrack and Cartel.
Duffy said he’s been a fan of the festival since the early 2000s.
“Not only did I never get to go to Warped back in the day, but now my first time I get to go, I also get to play it. So, I mean, I don’t think 15-year-old me would believe it if I told him,” Duffy said.
CLIFFDIVER will play Warped Tour’s June 14-15 dates in Washington D.C. and its July 26-27 dates in Long Beach, Calif.
Duffy said the band’s record label SideOneDummy helped the band get on the bill. He said the label has long been a festival partner.
But Duffy also credited years of hard work from him and his bandmates.
“There’s 10,000 other bands that sound like we do, but you have to want it. You have to push harder than they are. You have to make use of all the avenues of getting your music out there that exist,” he said.
CLIFFDIVER is back on stage after bassist Tyler Rogers nearly died when a chain on a semi-truck crashed through the windshield of the band’s van in May 2023. Rogers performed with the band in its Dec. 27 show at Cain’s Ballroom.
The band recorded and released their album “birdwatching” in 2024.
