Rockers turned a grounded Southwest flight into an airborne concert when a nationwide FAA halt stranded Warped Tour bands on the tarmac at LAX.
Simple Plan frontman Pierre Bouvier, 45, Hoobastank’s Doug Robb, 47, and The Used’s Bert McCracken, 43, were among the musicians aboard the Orlando-bound jet last Friday when the Federal Aviation Administration ordered all flights grounded shortly before 4 p.m. ET. The bands were traveling to Florida for weekend performances on the Vans Warped Tour 2026.
The cabin became a makeshift venue as passengers held phones aloft and the artists belted hits from the aisle and front of the plane. Robb walked through rows singing Hoobastank’s 2003 smash “The Reason” while guitarist Dan Estrin, 48, strummed alongside, according to videos fans posted online.
McCracken performed The Used’s 2004 track “All That I’ve Got” and their 2002 breakout “The Taste of Ink,” footage from the tour’s official Instagram account showed. Bouvier kept to the front with his guitar, running through songs including “I’m Just a Kid” and “Perfect” from Simple Plan’s 2002 debut.
The Southwest flight was a special fan experience package, multiple social media posts confirmed. The aircraft eventually took off after the unprecedented grounding lifted around 8:15 p.m. ET, though thousands of travelers nationwide remained stranded.
Warped Tour founder Kevin Lyman addressed the chaos in a video message posted Saturday, warning of cancellations and scrambling logistics.
“We will have a few bands canceling and we will be updating you on that. Not as many as we thought, because the bands are working hard to change their flights,” Lyman said. “Some bands have jumped in vans and [are] driving from as far away as Chicago and Houston.”
Lyman continued, “We’re going to push some bands that were playing today, [they] will be playing on Sunday. We’ve extended the sets out and giving bands more time to play. Bear with us. We’re all working hard.”
Singer Lolo, who was aboard the flight, celebrated the impromptu show on social media afterward.
“Thank you Southwest for the memories,” Lolo wrote. “Every plane was grounded today, but the emo gods made sure this one flew.”
Another passenger offered a more understated endorsement of the airborne set: “Stuck on a plane for hours and you end up with a free Hoobastank show. Honestly not the worst way to wait it out.”
The FAA’s nationwide ground stop, triggered by a communications system failure, forced the cancellation of 4,467 U.S. Flights by Saturday with another 4,430 delayed, according to FlightAware data. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Saturday that investigators were examining whether a contractor error or faulty router caused the outage.
The weekend Orlando shows proceeded with adjusted lineups and extended sets as road crews and artists improvised travel arrangements across the country.