SnoCore Tour

The SnoCore Tour, occasionally typeset as Sno-Core, was an annual festival tour of the United States. It featured performances by some of the most popular groups largely of the alternative rock and metal spectrum. The event took place every year since its inception in December 1995 until 2015 (with the exception of 2008). SnoCore was marketed towards the winter sports culture.

SnoCore Tour
Genre	Alternative rock alternative metal punk rock
Dates	January – April
Location(s)	United States
Years active	1995 – 2015
Founders	Rick Bonde
Website	http://www.snocore.com/ at the Wayback Machine (archived December 18, 2014)

History

John Boyle, Eric Lochtefeld and Rick Bonde established SnoCore as an entertainment opportunity for fans during the year's slow point in live music, the winter season. Originally began as a mini tour in December 1995 headlined by Sublime, it would also serve as an excuse for bands to perform for Western mountain resort towns and go snowboarding.^[1][2] SnoCore originally focused predominantly on punk and ska groups and routed through ski communities.^[3] But as it became a national tour, SnoCore aimed toward hard rock and heavy metal and engaged larger, more traditional concert venues.^[4] In late 1997, ARTISTdirect principals Marc Geiger and Don Muller, the former having also co-founded Lollapalooza, purchased the tour from Boyle. They still make a point to schedule dates in a number of resort towns despite having strayed somewhat from its original concept.

Corresponding with its name, SnoCore features large video screens playing footage of freestyle snowboarding and skiing between performances. Local shops have set up at concerts and local resorts have tied in with them. However, SnoCore does not feature sideshows as showcased at the Warped Tour and remains strictly a musical festival. The tour commonly hosts a sponsor; examples include Airwalk in 1997, Levi's in 1999, and Winterfresh in 2005.

On March 10, 1998, Foil Records released the Sno-Core Compilation which features various bands that have partaken in the festival. In 2001, SnoCore split into two tours: the funk/jam based SnoCore Icicle Ball and the hard rock/heavy metal based SnoCore Rock. This carried on once more the following year.

During the 2006 tour, stomach flu ran its course through all participating bands. Most severely affected was Seether frontman Shaun Morgan who, rather than cancel altogether, opted to perform acoustic sets for their last few shows. This alternative met with high approval from fans and influenced the group to release their first acoustic album, One Cold Night.^[5]

Saliva was scheduled to co-headline the 2009 tour but frontman Josey Scott needed more time to recover from a recent ulcer surgery. As a result, the band intended to cancel the first two weeks and substitute Scott with Walt Lafty of Silvertide beginning April 17.^[6][7] Ultimately, they decided in the interest of the fans to drop out entirely.^[8] This made the 2009 band lineup the leanest in SnoCore history.

Jägermeister sponsored the first Canadian SnoCore tour in 2010. The schedule ran just under two weeks and included cities such as Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto, and Vancouver.^[9]

Tour lineups

1995

• Sublime
• Guttermouth
• Skankin' Pickle
• Rhythm Collision
• Safe To Face

1996

• Sublime
• Guttermouth
• Assorted Jelly Beans
• Less Than Jake
• Skankin' Pickle
• theLINE

1997

• Face to Face
• The Pharcyde
• Voodoo Glow Skulls
• Powerman 5000 (select dates)^[10][11]
• Less Than Jake (select dates)^[12]
• Orange 9mm (select dates)
• Salmon (select dates)

1998

• Primus
• Blink-182
• Long Beach Dub Allstars (Feb 7 – Feb 21)
• The Aquabats
• Tha Alkaholiks (Feb 28 – Mar 16)
• Mephiskapheles

1999

• Everclear
• Soul Coughing
• Redman (first half of tour)
• The Black Eyed Peas (second half of tour)
• DJ Spooky

2000

• System of a Down
• Incubus
• Mr. Bungle
• Puya
• Boy Hits Car (select dates)

2001

Rock

• Fear Factory
• Kittie
• Union Underground
• Slaves on Dope
• Boy Hits Car

Icicle Ball

• Colonel Les Claypool's Fearless Flying Frog Brigade
• Galactic
• Lake Trout
• Drums & Tuba^[13]

2002

Rock

• Alien Ant Farm
• Adema
• Glassjaw
• Earshot
• The Apex Theory (Fenix*TX was originally announced for the tour but they dropped out a week before tour starts^[14])

Icicle Ball

• Karl Denson's Tiny Universe
• Spearhead
• Nikka Costa
• Ozomatli
• Blackalicious
• Sector 9
• Saul Williams^[15]

2003

• Sparta
• Glassjaw
• Hot Water Music
• Dredg

2004

• Trapt
• Smile Empty Soul
• Finger Eleven
• Strata^[16]

2005

• Chevelle
• Helmet
• Crossfade
• Future Leaders of the World
• Strata^[17]

2006

• Seether
• Shinedown
• Flyleaf
• Halestorm

2007

• Army of Anyone
• Dropping Daylight
• Hurt
• Neurosonic

2009

• Static-X
• Burn Halo
• The Flood

Saliva was originally scheduled to co-headline but canceled due to Josey Scott's prolonged recovery from ulcer surgery.^[8]

2010

• Protest the Hero
• Theset^{[citation needed]}
• Elias
• Abandon All Ships (select dates)
• Doll (select dates)

Hawthorne Heights was scheduled to take part in the tour, but were forced to drop off due to immigration paperwork issues.^[18]

2014 (cancelled)^[19]

• The Pretty Reckless
• Heaven's Basement
• The Letter Black
• Crobot

2015

• Flyleaf
• Adelitas Way
• Framing Hanley
• Fit for Rivals
• Romantic Rebel (select dates)
• Lullwater (select dates)

References

1. Sublime (December 8, 2015). "On this day in '95, the first ever SNOCORE tour kicked off with Sublime headlining!". Facebook.
2. "SnoCore Sickness". Pollstar. January 10, 2005. Archived from the original on November 15, 2024. Retrieved November 15, 2024.
3. Lounges, Tom (January 26, 2001). "SnoCore's twin tours hit with a blizzard of modern rock". The Times of Northwest Indiana. Retrieved November 15, 2024.
4. Barrera, Sandra (January 12, 2001). "UNIVERSAL APPEAL GALACTIC PROVIDES COOL JAZZ WITH A FUNKY KICK". Los Angeles Daily News. Archived from the original on October 9, 2012. Retrieved January 13, 2008 – via The Free Library.
5. Harris, Chris (June 16, 2006). "Seether Lose Guitarist; Frontman Credits Stomach With Acoustic Night". MTV. Archived from the original on June 5, 2007. Retrieved January 13, 2008.
6. "SALIVA Frontman JOSEY SCOTT Recovering From Emergency Ulcer Surgery". Blabbermouth.net. March 21, 2009. Archived from the original on September 10, 2012. Retrieved July 15, 2011.
7. "SALIVA Recruits Replacement While Singer Recovers". Blabbermouth.net. April 14, 2009. Retrieved July 15, 2011.^{[permanent dead link‍]}
8. Smith, Jay (April 21, 2009). "Saliva Off Sno-Core". Pollstar. Archived from the original on April 25, 2009. Retrieved July 15, 2011.
9. Marsillo, Antonio (March 22, 2010). "Hawthorne Heights, Protest the Hero on Snocore 2010". LoudTrax.com. Archived from the original on March 16, 2012. Retrieved July 15, 2011.
10. Vice, Jeff (February 28, 1997). "POWERMAN 5000 TO LIGHT UP FOR PARK CITY CONCERT". Deseret News. Archived from the original on April 19, 2023. Retrieved November 15, 2024.
11. "Airwalk Sno-Core Tour '97 event info". Airwalk. Archived from the original on February 7, 1998.
12. Pareles, Jon (February 21, 1997). "Daredevils In Both Rock And Sports". The New York Times. Archived from the original on April 27, 2023. Retrieved November 15, 2024.
13. Simon, Richard B.; VanHorn, Teri (January 23, 2001). "Dual SnoCore Tours Raging, Jamming Across North America". MTV. Archived from the original on January 26, 2002. Retrieved January 13, 2008.
14. "Fenix TX Bow Out Of Sno Core Tour". rockdirt.com. Archived from the original on November 28, 2022.
15. D'Angelo, Joe (January 14, 2002). "Alien Ant Farm, Fenix TX At Heart Of SnoCore Tour". MTV. Archived from the original on January 17, 2002. Retrieved January 13, 2008.
16. Moss, Corey; D'Angelo, Joe (January 28, 2004). "SnoCore Gig Will Keep Trapt Trapped In Their Tour Bus". MTV. Archived from the original on September 6, 2004. Retrieved January 13, 2008.
17. "For The Record: Quick News On Jay-Z, Chevelle, Jessica Simpson, Sublime, The Killers, Mick Jagger & More". MTV. December 20, 2004. Archived from the original on December 30, 2004. Retrieved January 13, 2008.
18. Harik, Nour (March 29, 2010). "Live 'N Loud Meets Protest the Hero". Live 'N Loud Magazine. Archived from the original on July 3, 2011. Retrieved July 15, 2011.
19. "SNOCORE on Facebook". Facebook. Archived from the original on April 30, 2022.^{[user-generated source]}