GALLERY & REVIEW | The Summer School Tour by Grace Forrester

For your average alternative teen in the late 90s to mid 2010s, there was no better time during the summer than spending a day out on the hot pavement moshing about at your local Vans Warped Tour stop. Chugging Monster Energy drinks over water, waiting in line at your favorite band’s merch table, and discovering your next musical obsession while waiting for the headliner of the day was just par for the course. Although Warped has come back within the past year with tremendous success, being delegated to just a handful of cities doesn't fully encapsulate the spectacle that was the cross-country tour of days past.

Enter The Summer School Tour, a project formed by Warped Tour founder Kevin Lyman, along with Michael Kaminsky and Eric Toben. Their first year in 2024 packed venues all across the US, boasting emerging pop-punk acts like The Home Team, Magnolia Park, Scene Queen, among a few others. Instead of traveling a whole parking lot to go from one stage to another, every act shares one throughout the night, alternating in short yet energetic sets back-to-back. Just like Warped, each show shuffles the lineup, so each crowd gets to experience the show in their own special way.

Summer School’s sophomore year challenged itself to be bigger and better, with upgraded venues, additional acts, and more of that larger-than-life atmosphere that made Warped the ultimate place to be. Dallas’ date was the perfect example of this, taking place at the iconic House of Blues in the heart of downtown. Opening with TikTok star-turned pop-punk heartthrob Huddy, the lineup this night was Beauty School Dropout, If Not For Me, Arrows In Action, Taylor Acorn, Rain City Drive, and finally ending the night with Charlotte Sands.

It’s hard whether to say this is biased or not, but the best act of the night was by far Taylor Acorn. Performing at Dallas’ House of Blues a year prior on their alternative stage The Cambridge Room, Acorn and guitarist RickyJab put their absolute all into their set. Acorn’s majestic hair flips and Ricky’s kick spins are staples in their on-stage personas, the biggest of smiles never leaving their faces. Acorn even took a moment to address the crowd and how much they matched her energy, saying that despite the year she has had in her personal life, nights like this are what makes it worth it for her.

Although Acorn was a stand-out, each act was just as fun as the next to watch. Arrows In Action was great at getting the crowd to participate in dance moves, claps, and more. Beauty School Dropout and If Not For Me brought the most chaotic energy of the night, bringing the rowdiness out of the crowd. Even headliner Charlotte Sands kept the venue going until the very end, promising to see them very soon as she plans to tour through Dallas later in the fall.

In just two years, this tour has more than proven its’ worth within the festival scene. If they’re able to keep up the momentum, there’s no doubt it will live up to the expectations that Warped set years ago!

GALLERY: Charlotte Sands in Dallas, TX, USA

GALLERY: Rain City Drive in Dallas, TX, USA

GALLERY: Taylor Acorn in Dallas, TX, USA

GALLERY: Arrows In Action in Dallas, TX, USA

GALLERY: If Not For Me in Dallas, TX, USA

GALLERY: Beauty School Dropout in Dallas, TX, USA

GALLERY: Huddy in Dallas, TX, USA

All photos: © Grace Forrester