The Fast and the Bi-Curious

If you’ve always wanted to go to the national punk-rock music festival known as the VANS Warped Tour but never cared to brave 115-degree heat, get your Warped on in cool comfort when VANS Warped Tour 15th Anniversary Celebration hits local movie theaters at 8 p.m. Thursday, September 17. The one-night-only film features two hours worth of the best performances from the Warped 15th-anniversary concert performed earlier this month at the NOKIA Theatre in Los Angeles.

While Warped vets such as Blink-182 and NOFX will be on display, the film is also scheduled to include performances by newcomers 3OH!3 and Katy Perry. Yes, that’s right, a pop princess singing about bi-curiosity has made it onto the Warped lineup. “When I first heard about [performing at Warped Tour], I was really scared, because there’s a lot of boys on that tour and not a whole lot of women,” Perry tells New Times. “I also thought to myself, ‘I’m a pop girl on a major label, and I get the opportunity to do something as cool as Warped Tour and not have to open up for some lame fucking singer.’”

Besides musical performances, the movie will also include behind-the-scenes footage of the show and interviews with musicians. If it’s not quite the same experience as being drenched in sweat and watching people faint on the asphalt, the movie does give audience members a taste of the music to expect from Warped, which comes back to the Valley next summer.

Seven Valley cinemas are scheduled to play the film, including AMC Desert Ridge 18, 21001 North Tatum Road; AMC Ahwatukee 24, 4915 East Ray Road; and Cinemark 16, 1051 North Dobson Road in Mesa.