It was summer 2013, and Australian rock band Hands Like Houses had just taken the stage at Vans Warped Tour, a crowd of sweaty fans tightly packed against the metal barricade. Among them was Philadelphia’s Tyler Lewandowski and Levittown’s Daniel Chapman, both in their late teens. While Chapman was a Warped veteran, this was Lewandowski’s first dive into the haven for all things rock. As he watched vocalist Trenton Woodley in mesmerization, his future suddenly became clear.
“I remember standing and I was like, ‘I’m going to do this one day,’ ” he said. “I’m going to make it a point to do this.”
Now, that promise is about to be fulfilled. On Friday, July 13, at BB&T Pavilion in Camden, New Jersey, Lewandowski’s band Moral Support, along with Chapman’s duo Civil Youth, will join the ranks of Senses Fail, 3OH!3 and more on the lineup of Warped Tour’s final cross-country run after 23 years.
As the guys struggle to comprehend this massive career break, The Times caught up with them to hear what Warped-goers can expect during their respective sets. From short shorts to broken instruments (and maybe a few flaming bags), it’s safe to say neither will disappoint.
The bands boast relatively different genres of music, though both stemmed from the same group of friends, whose banter and chemistry is instantly infectious upon meeting them. Moral Support, formed just over a year ago, features Lewandowski as its lead vocalist, Evan Seeberger and Jeff McKinnon on guitar, Eric Griffin on bass and Seth Pumilia on drums.
“We started out as like an Irish punk band,” Lewandowski laughed.
Clearly, there wasn’t a market for such a sound, with Moral Support’s debut EP Nowheresville, released Dec. 8, perfectly blending metalcore and post hardcore in angsty, dynamic tracks such as “Too Close” and “Complexity.”
Civil Youth, on the other hand, describes itself as “alternative,” recently releasing a Punk Goes Pop-esque cover of Maroon 5’s “This Love” to follow its 2017 full-length Conversations. With Mike Kepko on vocals and Chapman on guitar, both of whom hail from Levittown, Civil Youth has been writing and performing for about three years, leading multiple national headlining tours and opening for artists such as Twenty One Pilots.
So how did these local bands wind up on one of the biggest platforms in the rock scene? For Moral Support, the story is pretty serendipitous. A few months ago, it was scheduled to perform at a new warehouse venue in Brooklyn. Unfortunately, circumstances were less than ideal.
“We almost didn’t play the show. I was really sick and I couldn’t sing,” Lewandowski said.
But rather than let his bandmates down, he powered through. Despite some rocky vocals, Moral Support’s performance struck a chord with one attendee, who emailed Warped founder Kevin Lyman after the set. Her message included a list of eight bands from New York and Philadelphia, including Moral Support, that she felt deserved a spot on the tour, which never featured a “local lineup” until this year. The band was one of only two chosen by Lyman, the other being Homeseeker, which will perform the July 28 date in Wantagh, New York.
“If we didn’t play, it wouldn’t have happened at all,” Lewandowski said.
When asked to describe the feeling of playing the last ever Warped Tour, members of both bands exuded a sense of “awe.”
“We’re getting a chance to play the pinnacle. We’ve reached a point that a lot of bands and people in the scene dream of,” Griffin said.
“It’s kind of mental. It won’t hit me, I think, until we leave the stage,” Lewandowski added.
Chapman mirrored their sentiment, reflecting on his unforgettable 2011 experience seeing A Day to Remember, Devil Wears Prada and Asking Alexandria.
“It was just amazing,” he said. “I’ll never forget the first set was Attack Attack! And I think 15 people passed out from heat exhaustion. It became so bad they put a fire hose through a fence and were facing it in the air so that people could come through like a sprinkler system because everyone was getting so dehydrated and overheated.”
Lewandowski shared an equally fond memory from his time at last year’s Warped.
“We pulled a really, I don’t know what it was, stunt,” he said.
While the Canadian hardcore band Counterparts was onstage, the Moral Support singer distributed paper bags with smiley faces (his group’s logo) to fans at the set.
“We didn’t put breathing holes in them, so no one could breathe. We just handed them out to random people and told them to go into the pit and mosh in them. The one dude actually got punched in the face but it was what we needed for the video,” he said. “It’s just funny to think that we did that, and so many people got mad at us. But we’re playing this year so I don’t care.”
Does this mean the bags will make a reappearance during Moral Support’s Warped set?
“I hope so,” Lewandowski said. “Flaming ones. We’ll light them on fire.”
Of course he’s (hopefully) kidding, but what attendees can definitely expect is for both bands to give it their all, with a few surprises sprinkled in.
“When we’re done playing, we can barely walk or breathe. I hurt myself pretty bad at least once a set,” Griffin said. “We go pretty crazy. I think the crowd absorbs that energy.”
“Stuff gets broken,” Lewandowski chimed in. “Maybe I’ll try to do a backflip. I’ve never done one before.”
Those lucky enough to attend Civil Youth’s set may bear witness to more of Kepko than they intended. Based on his track record, it’s not uncommon for him to discard a few (OK, most) layers of clothing during a set. But who would judge him in July?
“If Mike’s not in his short shorts and underwear, I feel like it’s a waste of Warped Tour, to be honest,” Chapman said.
“He’s not wrong,” Kepko admitted. ••
Moral Support and Civil Youth will play the Full Sail stage, and their set times will be revealed the day of the show. As far as post-Warped projects, Civil Youth will play with Red Jumpsuit Apparatus July 22 at Voltage Lounge in Philadelphia, while new music and videos are on the way from Moral Support.
Keep up with Civil Youth at civilyouth.com, on Instagram @civilyouthband and Twitter @civilyouthband. Follow Moral Support at moralsupportpa.bandcamp.com, on Instagram at @moralsupportband and Twitter @moralsupport_.
Samantha Bambino can be reached at sbambino@newspapermediagroup.com
