Shiragirl come full circle with Gritty in Pink Warped Warmup Tour

Back in 2004, Shiragirl crashed the Vans Warped Tour with a pink RV and set up their own bootleg stage, putting on an unforgettable show meant to challenge the festival’s woeful gender imbalance. Instead of kicking them out, founder Kevin Lyman appreciated the band’s backbone and invited them back officially, forming an unstoppable partnership. The Shiragirl Stage became a recurring platform on Warped Tour, empowering more women to get involved and serving as a launching pad for Paramore (then on their first tour), the Dollyrots, and hundreds more.

Read more: Yellowcard and Travis Barker are breaking the mold

Over two decades later, it only makes sense that their frontwoman, Shira Yevin, is involved in the former traveling tour’s 30th anniversary celebrations with Gritty In Pink. The name was inspired by a 2005 article about the Shiragirl Stage, and Yevin thought it defined her journey spectacularly — “loud, feminine, and unapologetic.” As the festival travels through the U.S. this year, Yevin is hosting a Gritty In Pink Warped Warmup Tour, featuring headlining shows from Sweet Pill, Royal & the Serpent, Sophie Powers, Millionaires, Chandler Leighton, and Sheblime. There’s also the Gritty Garage, which pays homage to the Girlz Garage, run by Michelle Ponce, on Warped and offers resources meant to uplift everyone who enters. Ahead of the Warped preshows, we sat down with Yevin to discuss the early days of the Shiragirl Stage, championing burgeoning artists, and maintaining a legacy that is still hugely felt.

You launched the Shiragirl Stage by crashing Warped Tour — now you’re coming back as a featured partner. What does this full-circle moment mean to you?

It means so much to partner with the festival that sparked our origin story. We crashed Warped Tour because there were barely any women onstage. Kevin Lyman gave us a shot and said, “If you can make it happen, I’ll let it happen. You can bring a stage.” That became the Shiragirl Stage — named after my band — featured at five Warped Tours through 2018. Gritty In Pink continues that mission, so it feels powerful and validating to return as a partner with the festival that gave birth to our movement.

Looking back on those early days, what do you remember most about the first Shiragirl Stage? When you decided to put the project together, was there a specific moment that was the final motivator? 

I remember the frustration of talking to people about not seeing female musicians, and they said, “Girls don’t play this kind of music” — which I knew wasn’t true. I was part of the NYC riot grrrl scene filled with hardcore all-girl bands. After Kevin gave us the green light, we scrambled for sponsors and hustled hard. We didn’t have much, so we bought a used box truck and literally built a stage ourselves — with sawzalls, hinges, and pink paint. Imagine a bunch of riot grrrls covered in Barbie pink paint, grease, and wood shavings — it was scrappy and beautiful. That DIY spirit lives on in Gritty today.

What’s the thread connecting Shiragirl Stage to Gritty — what’s the arc of these two projects been like?

The thread is the mission: provide a platform for gender equality in a male-dominated space. The name “Gritty In Pink” actually came from a 2005 article about the Shiragirl Stage and perfectly summed up our journey — loud, feminine, and unapologetic. We were never trying to fit in with the boys, or their conception of what a girl should be. When we officially launched Gritty in 2020 with the All GRL Jam, we almost renamed it — “Rebel Girl Night” was on the table — but ultimately, we decided to honor our roots.

What can an audience expect from the Gritty In Pink presence on the Warped Warmup Tour and the festival itself?

The Warped Warmup Tour is a blast — like a Gritty house party with Warped energy. Every show features Warped headliners, plus the All GRL Jam, with our house band and special guest vocalists covering Warped anthems — Paramore, Avril, Joan Jett, Fall Out Boy, MCR, Sublime, Linkin Park, and more. Everyone in our touring crew, on and offstage, is female or gender-nonconforming. It’s nostalgic for our generation and inspiring for the next — young fans seeing women rock out builds confidence and representation.

At the festival, we’re doing All GRL Jams on multiple stages, including the Unplugged Stage, and we have a big activation called the Gritty Garage: geared toward women and girls, it’s a fun, safe space to cool down, glam up and rock out, and meet and greet with the female artists.

Can you explain the “Gritty Garage”?

Our “Gritty Garage” lounge onsite at Warped Tour is designed to uplift female artists, fans, and aspiring music industry pros. Attendees who stop by the tent will have the opportunity to snap a pic in our photobooth, enjoy an on-site beauty station, receive gift bags featuring goodies from our presenting sponsor Mad Hippie, check out women in music resources and signature Gritty merch, and meet artists such as Royal & The Serpent, Nova Twins, LØLØ, Ava Maybee, and Mary Jo, through exclusive meet-and-greet experiences at select dates. The Gritty Garage is named to pay homage to the Girlz Garage, run by Michelle Ponce on Warped Tour for many years. 

At the Garage, you can join the newly launched Gritty Club, where members get access to our community, events, and more ways to grow. We dream of helping girls find a platform and safe space, and giving a voice to women/nonbinary/trans talent and professionals. Gritty Club members even get to skip the line.

You’re featuring emerging artists like Sweet Pill, Sophie Powers, and Chandler Leighton. How do you curate the talent for this tour, and what are you looking for in artists?

We wanted to stay true to this year’s artists for the headliners, so we worked in partnership with the Vans Warped Tour to source the talent. Very excited to showcase rising artists like Royal & the Serpent, Sophie, Chandler, and Warped staples like Millionaires. We also have Sheblime, our all-girl tribute to Sublime. We were going for badass, unapologetic, fun, and Warped style! 

But the magic of Gritty is that we aren’t limited to working with artists who are already established with teams and major funding backing them. For girls in all industries, it’s simply harder to get your foot in the door. So we ran a talent search with She Is The Music to curate special guests for the All GRL Jam. We looked for raw talent, an engaged online presence, and commitment to our mission. 

You’ve made it your mission to uplift women in music — not just performers, but fans and industry pros, too. What are some significant positive changes you’ve seen since starting this journey, and where is there still major room to grow? 

When I first went on the tour, there were almost no women onstage. Even though over half the crowd was female, the stages were mostly male. At the time, Tsunami Bomb was the only regular act with a female member (singer). The scene was not welcome to women musicians. After we crashed, I remember people telling us to go home, and there were bets against us making it through the tour. Today, things are changing and more supportive. You see Warped acts like Avril, Dance Hall Crashers, Scowl — and many Shiragirl Stage alums like Paramore and Meg & Dia Frampton went on to play major stages.

But we’re still not at full equal representation. That’s why we created the INPINK marketplace — where female and nonbinary creatives and pros can get listed, hired, and connected. And now with the new Gritty Club, we’re helping the next wave of talent build confidence and take up space.

Speaking to representation — what does true inclusion in the alternative/punk/rock scene look like to you in 2025? What’s something a reader can do to get involved in the ethos of what you’re doing?

True inclusion is diverse and intersectional, not only women, but queer folks, people of color, on and offstage. To get involved, anyone can sign up at inpink.com, and hire a woman/nonbinary pro from our marketplace! Women/gender nonconfirming artists, creatives and pros, please submit an INPINK listing, and visit the Gritty Garage or hit us up to sign up for the Gritty Glub!

How do you envision the next decade of Gritty In Pink evolving? 

We’re always striving to grow our impact and try new initiatives. Our big vision is to build a global destination to hire women in all industries, so we want to expand to other male-dominated verticals beyond music, such as sports. We’re also moving toward doing more events and shows on different platforms, everything from our own tour to cruises, virtual events, networking, and beyond. We want to get more established artists and companies behind the movement. We are blessed to have artists such as Melissa Etheridge on board, as well as our lead investor Live Nation.

Which Gritty artist are you most excited to see live this summer?

I’m excited for all of them! Royal & the Serpent headlining our show at The Echo LA on July 24 is going to be iconic. Sophie Powers and Millionaires at Garden Amp OC on July 20 will also be one for the herstory books. 

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given?

Never give up on your dreams, especially because it will take too long — the time is going to pass anyway. No one is gonna do it for you, so carve your own path, set your goals, and like Joan Jett told me in my RV on Warped Tour, keep going.