Alex Niceforo, who has just woken up, yawns over the phone. It’s 11 a. m., but Niceforo is exhausted, and understandably so — his band, Settings, has been working overtime to prepare for its upcoming stint on the Warped Tour.

Sponsored by Vans (a popular brand of skateboarding shoes) and featuring hundreds of bands (the sort that also tend to be favored by skaters), Warped Tour has been spanning the summer and the country since 1995.

PREVIEW

WHAT: Vans Warped Tour 2009

WHEN: Noon Thursday

WHERE: Darien Lake Performing Arts Center

TICKETS: $30 (Blockbuster, Livenation.com)

“Warped Tour’s different than anything,” says Niceforo, now in his second year on the tour. “You’re going to go see a band, and they’re not going to be able to use their setup, and it’s light out, and they’re unshowered.”

OK, so maybe that last part isn’t shocking. But regardless of how many times you’ve seen a band perform without freshening up first, the Warped Tour’s spur-of-the-moment quality does present a unique challenge and opportunity for performers.

For fans, the real excitement of Warped is the inclusion of so many up-and-coming bands, all of whom perform bite-sized shows ideal for introducing curious audience members to their music.

Here are just a couple bands to look out for when Warped makes its way to Darien Lake Performing Arts Center on Thursday starting at noon. Tickets for the event, including all concerts, are $30 in advance.

Settings

“Guys can love it just because it’s heavy and go, go, go all the time,” Niceforo says of his band’s music. “And girls like it because we don’t scream, and we’re pop-based with the lyrics and all that.”

The members of Buffalobased electronic rock band Settings — Niceforo (guitar, vocals and programming), Donny Evans (vocals), Sean Kalaras (bass and vocals), Chris Flury (guitar and programming) and Nick Drew (drums) — have put a lot of thought into their constantly evolving sound. And according to Niceforo, it has become much more mature with their new EP, “Platinum,” recently released in Buffalo and coming out soon on iTunes. “It kind of brought us up out of that whole emo land,” he says.

This concern with image is one of the reasons why, last year, Settings started its own online, weekly TV show. According to Niceforo, “Settings TV,” which recently released its 26th episode, is intended to help strike a balance with the band’s somewhat dark music and show its audience that Settings doesn’t always take itself so seriously. The show also highlights live performances by Settings and even takes the occasional fan contribution, making the group one of the more fan-accessible bands out there.

Of course, having a weekly show that caters to your audience can also have some unexpected side effects: For example, Settings’ fans have started talking like the band.

“We say certain words and phrases,” says Niceforo, to clarify what he means. “We say ‘rot’ a lot, we say ‘sick,’ we call everybody a son. We’re weird.”

Lights

Lights — nee Valerie Poxleitner — has just gotten a tattoo of a laser gun on her stomach.

“I’m kind of obsessed with laser guns,” she says, explaining her fascination with all things sci-fi. To listen to her electronic pop music, the lyrics of which verge on bubble-gum pop, you’d never guess that this young songwriter spends so much of her time reading comics and playing video games. But for Lights, putting out a song or an album isn’t just about the music.

In a style heavily influenced by comic books, Lights has drawn numerous illustrations to go along with her music, going so far as to create a kind of alternate universe in which Lights was born not in Timmins, Ont., but “on an ice planet known as Timmins in the galaxy of Canada.”

“It feels almost comfortable to put myself into that world,” Lights says. “It’s kind of my way to separate myself from the real world.”

Also an avid player of massive online video game “World of Warcraft,” Lights’ love for imaginary worlds extends to every corner of her life — except, strangely enough, for her music. Though everything from her Web site to her self-made autobiographical comic book fits within the sci-fitheme, her songs describe the everyday emotions of a normal young woman, without fantastical embellishments. And Lights intends to keep it that way.

But that doesn’t mean she won’t keep upping the fantasy ante as far as her visual art goes. Lights’ first full-length album, “The Listening,” will be released in September. “I just finished the artwork,” says Lights. “It’s ‘Watchmen’ meets ‘Sailor Moon’ meets ‘28 Days Later.’ ”

And despite having been on the tour for weeks already, Lights, who emphasizes her desire to learn something from every show she performs, isn’t tired yet.

“I think Warped Tour’s bringing something special to me,” Lights says. “I feel like the luckiest person in the world.”