Tip the Van takes on Vans Warped Tour

There's been a small backlash against the Warped Tour this year, with bands such as Be Your Own Pet declining to participate in the traveling punk-rock festival. But Tip the Van is eager to be part of the tour.

After playing three dates last year, the Marlborough ska band joins up for six more this summer, including a stop Aug. 2 in Pittsfield, Mass.

"I understand why a lot of bands wouldn't want to be on it. It's very, very commercialized,"says Nicole Oliva, 20, who fronts Tip the Van with her 17-year-old sister, Simone. "I just look at it as a good opportunity to get our music out."

That's been the band's goal this year. Efforts have included an album, Something Wicked, on the Connecticut ska label Asbestos Records.

The Olivas started the band five years ago. Tip the Van has rotated through nearly 30 members since then, as high-school priorities changed.

High school's finished now -Simone just graduated and Nicole studies communications at Eastern Connecticut State University, and the sisters have settled on a definitive lineup: Brian Dunnigan on guitar, Matt Levesque on drums, Justin Krips on bass, Anthony Del Vecchio on trumpet and Stephanie Allen on trombone.

Although Simone plans to enroll at a community college this fall, she says she wouldn't mind if a busy touring schedule interrupts her class work.

"I want the next five to 10 years to be completely saturated with band stuff," she says.

By ERIC R. DANTON

The Hartford Courant