The idobi Radio Summer School Tour is ready to heat up Phoenix

When you think of the Van’s Warped Tour, you probably think of huge bands like NOFX or Bad Religion. These bands defined the pop-punk movement, even if the niche seems hard to comprehend for non-fans. But the one thing the festival does is invite up-and-coming bands to grab their five minutes of fame to hopefully bring their sound to thousands of new ears. However, what if there were a traveling festival that showcased local bands in the same kind of way? 

Coming to the Van Buren in Phoenix on Sunday, June 21, is the idobi Radio Summer School Tour, developed in part by Kevin Lyman, who founded Warped Tour in 1995. Summer School, produced by Eric Tobin (Hopeless Records) and Michael Kaminsky (KMGMT), captures that same spirit but on a smaller scale, bringing together headliners and local bands from each tour stop for a month. 

Kaminsky chatted with Phoenix New Times via email about what the Summer School Tour is and what it means. First and foremost, he says, it’s about uniting people who have a shared musical interest. The rotating bill of artists is a low-cost ticket with prices starting at $34. 

“This is for the fan who loves finding their new favorite artist,” says Kaminsky, “or for someone who has never even been to a concert before.” 

This year’s featured local Phoenix band is Diva Bleach. The pop-rock female-led duo will join buzzworthy acts Chase Petra, South Arcade, Winona Fighter, Games We Play and Honey Revenge. Doors open at 5 p.m. 

The concept for Summer School began when Kraminsky and his best friend were discussing the high cost of ticket prices and how newer bands couldn’t get on tours that allowed them to grow.

“We kept coming back to this idea of putting together a lot of hot up-and-coming bands that hadn’t quite broken through yet but were a lot of tastemakers’ favorite bands. And we got to the point where we had to step up if no one else was going to do it, we needed to be the change we wanted to see.” 

Honey Revenge, a pop-rock duo from Los Angeles, will play at this year’s Summer School event. Lead singer Devin Papadol says it’s an honor to return to the festival, now as a headliner. She especially appreciates the community aspect of the tour.

“The bands get really close, and there’s so much support and camaraderie between everyone,” she says in an email. “From a fan perspective, it’s a great place for music discovery.”

Although Summer School has a connection to the Warped Tour through Lyman, he’s not an actively involved equal partner. “These days,” Kraminsky says, “Warped is still a bigger festival with tens of thousands of attendees across many stages, focusing on a few select markets. Summer School is a bit of the glue, hitting about 25 markets but only on one stage.” 

There is also a charitable aspect to Summer School. It has a partnership with Save the Music Foundation for the third consecutive year. For every ticket sold beginning June 19, the idobi Radio Summer School Tour will donate 50 cents to Save the Music Foundation.

School districts can cut music education funding due to a lack of parental support or because they are in lower-income areas. Today’s youth have options thanks to technology, but without the assistance of early musical education, they might not get a head start. 

Speaking of the differences in musical generations, Papadol says that the recent ones are unique because they get to design their own destiny, “Back in the day, labels and managers had a hand in a band’s image and promotion, whereas now, the artist has the internet and they can control their perception and voice.”

Helping to perpetuate that kind of dynamic is the idobi Radio Summer School Tour. As a traveling series, local bands are getting their flowers and a chance to be seen and heard among hundreds of potential new fans. And there is more to come from Kraminsky and Tobin, but this time they are embarking on a whole new concept. 

“I think fans who have come, discover that the brand really fights for (them, and) will appreciate some of the other things we’re working on, including a rock cruise full of very fun bands launching next year.”

In the meantime, Honey Revenge has a full summer schedule and is eager to play the Phoenix leg of the tour. “Phoenix is cool because we have lots of friends in town and it’s not too treacherous of a travel day,” Papadol says.

idobi Radio Summer School Tour: 5 p.m. doors, 6 p.m. concert, Sunday June 21. The Van Buren, l401 W. Van Buren St. Tickets start at $34.