While the rumour mill circulates for the upcoming Splendour In The Grass Festival following Leeds quartet Alt-J announcing an Australian return around July, another lineup is getting fans excited, with the recent announcement of the Vans Warped Tour set to travel along the east coast in December with six shows confirmed.

Announcing last week that he will help bring the Warped Tour back to Australia, Soundwave headrunner AJ Maddah will be buddying up with Warped Tour founder Kevin Lyman, and confirmed that the tour will reach Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney, and Adelaide, as well as some regional areas of the east coast.

Speaking about its Australian return, Maddah stated that Soundwave and the punk tour had “different concepts.” Noting “Warped is about mayhem & DIY punk rock spirit. [Soundwave] is about delivering a slick & orchestrated day of performances.” He also noted his enthusiasm of working with the Warped founder; “Kevin Lyman IS warped and always the man to thank. I’m just privileged to assist him.”

In terms of lineup rumours FasterLouder points out that Maddah has faced criticism in the past for not supporting local acts on both his sold-out ‘bigger than Big Day Out’ Soundwave and Harvest festival shows, but has recently revealed on twitter that his Warped lineup will feature “lots of locals”.

In the past Maddah was cautious in booking local acts since the early days of the Soudwave festival where he alleges many Aussie groups used the experience as a chance to party instead of representing themselves respectfully at the festival.

Maddah also recently told broadcaster Andrew Haug that Soundwave is an “international festval” and is only looking for internationally successful bands which included just four Australian acts on the bill (in Northlane, The Amity Affliction, Milestones, and Confession).

With Maddah at the helm, he may be taking the reins when it comes to forming the lineup, fuelling speculation via twitter that he is “harassing” New Found Glory guitarist Chad Gilbert about touring with the festival later in the year. When an excited fan tweeted Maddah about the possible return of the pop-punk five-piece, Gilbert replied with enthusiasm.

FasterLouder also notes that Dylan Smith who used to drum with post-hardcore groups Scary Kids Scaring Kids and Four Letter Lie has spoken to Kevin Lyman about joining the Australian tour under his new rap name Mod Sun.

Punk rockers 28 Days – who are heading out on a national tour in April/May – are also keen for a return to the Warped Tour, stating on their Facebook page; “So the Warped tour is coming back to Australia. Hopefully its stays true to its roots and remains a punk rock festival and hopefully a bit more of a local feel.” The Melbourne outfit toured with the festival back in 2002 alongside The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, MXPX, Pennywise, The Vandals and Eskimo Joe.

Warped is set to be a very different festival to Soundwave with Maddah revealing tickets will be “somewhere around $70 +GST +BF”, cheaper than the $190 punters paid to attend Soundwave 2013. Billboard claim Maddah and Lyman are looking for smaller venues for the Warped tour dates, which among the swamped festival marketplace will be a “prudent way to test the waters.”

The punk rock festival is known for being held in obscure locations, including car parks or fields, but Warped will unfortunately not be hitting Perth this time round, with Maddah stating his reasonings were “too much red tape, unpredictable and moronic Government, small population, history of failing punk rock shows.” He does however, hope to take the tour to Canberra if they can find a decent venue.

The lineup for South America’s Warped Festival for 2013 could give fans a hint of who to expect at December’s shows. With names like The Used, Memphis May Fire, Reel Big Fish and Black Veil Brides gracing the South American earth in July/August this year, there is possibility that we could be enjoying these acts in our very own backyard come December.

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