The emotional highs, lows, and everything in between from When We Were Young music festival
The Las Vegas Strip turned into the boulevard of broken dreams on Saturday when the first day of emo/pop-punk music festival When We Were Young was canceled only an hour before it was set to begin. Tens of thousands of fans — some of whom had traveled from all over the world for the once-in-a-lifetime lineup — could be seen sitting dejectedly in hotel lobbies, casinos, and even on curbs outside as their dreams of seeing all their favorite bands were swiftly shattered due to unsafe weather conditions. It was, appropriately, the most emo Las Vegas has ever been.
But what began on a disastrous note soon turned into an unforgettable weekend as bands and fans rallied and festival organizers were able to move forward with Sunday's event headlined by Paramore and My Chemical Romance. Below, EW rounds up the emotional highs, lows, and everything in between from the inaugural weekend of When We Were Young.
Ben Trivett Paramore at the 2022 When We Were Young Festival
Day 1 was canceled
There's no other way to say it: Saturday was tragic with a capital T. Large crowds of excited fans were already lined up outside the gates of the Las Vegas Festival Grounds at 10:30 a.m. when an email was sent to attendees announcing that Saturday was canceled due to a high wind warning issued by the National Weather Service. The "dangerous 30-40 mph sustained winds with potential 60 mph gusts" were unsafe for artists, staff, and attendees, so the festival organizers were forced to cancel the first day, promising full refunds to ticket holders in a month.
Artists took matters into their own hands
As soon as the official announcement was made that Saturday was canceled, many bands stepped up to fill the void for disappointed fans. Within an hour, multiple artists shared on social media that they were trying to find indoor venues for make-up concerts, and by the early afternoon many were successful.
Hawthorne Heights, Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, and Armor for Sleep were the first to announce a free pop-up show in the casino of The Strat hotel beginning at 4:30 p.m., and eager fans showed up in hordes. The casino became so crowded that people were climbing on top of the giant roulette wheel and slot machines to get a glimpse of the musicians performing acoustic versions of their hit songs, and police were eventually forced to shut down the hotel entrance to anyone who didn't have a reservation. While the makeshift speaker setup wasn't intended to play music for a crowd that size, the fans more than made up for it by screaming the lyrics to the slowed-down performances of "Face Down" and "Ohio Is For Lovers."
Later that day, the All-American Rejects announced a free pop-up concert at local favorite restaurant Soul Belly BBQ. Their set began at 9 p.m. but hundreds of fans showed up to wait in line almost three hours early, and the venue reached capacity two hours before the concert even began. Fans who didn't make it into the packed restaurant weren't deterred, however — they still stayed to dance and sing along to the performance in the street outside, desperate for any kind of live music experience. And frontman Tyson Ritter and the band delivered a set that was arguably better than anything they could have performed at the actual festival since they ended up playing all their fan-favorite hits (and a hilarious mash-up cover of Alanis Morissette's "Hand in My Pocket" and Avril Lavigne's "Complicated") for an hour — twice as long as their When We Were Young timeslot. One grateful attendee bought a bucket of beers for the band at the bar and passed it through the crowd to the stage — as well as a bottle opener attached to a fan's keychain containing her house key. No word yet on whether she got her keys back after Ritter used it to open a beer.
Other pop-up shows that took place Saturday night included: Bring Me the Horizon, Knocked Loose, and Landon Barker's sold-out concert at the Palms for $80; Senses Fail, Anthony Green, Thursday, and Bayside's free show at the Sand Dollar; and the Wonder Years, La Dispute, Mom Jeans, and Sweet Pill's concert at Rockstar Bar for $40.
There were also official events outside the canceled festival that made it possible for fans to still experience a weekend full of emo and pop-punk music. When We Were Young after-show concerts (held in indoor venues) had previously been announced months earlier, many of which sold out almost immediately. Emo Nite kicked off its residency at Zouk Nightclub with DJs Morgan Freed and T.J. Petracca mixing emo/pop-punk classics with EDM beats, and featuring surprise guest appearances by Martin Johnson from Boys Likes Girls, 3Oh!3, State Champs, and Neck Deep.
While there were major capacity issues with every single event — making all the pop-ups almost dangerously packed and nearly impossible to get into — that was to be expected with tens of thousands of musical festival attendees looking for something to fill their suddenly free Saturday. For the lucky few who were able to get into one or more events that day, it was a worthy consolation.
Ben Trivett My Chemical Romance at the 2022 When We Were Young Festival
Day 2 actually happened — shocking everyone
Ever since When We Were Young was announced in January, skeptical fans nicknamed the event "Emo Fyre Festival," doubting that it would actually happen. The lineup was just too good to believe! But those who couldn't imagine that many bands playing in one day clearly never went to Warped Tour back in the day — the dual main stage setup makes it possible by having a band perform on one stage while the next band sets up on the other stage alongside it, and sets are shorter to fit everyone into the schedule. However, when day one was canceled, the skepticism surrounding the festival skyrocketed, despite the reason being bad weather and not scheduling issues like naysayers predicted.
Thankfully — and shockingly — day two kicked off on Sunday exactly as planned. Fans were lined up for multiple blocks waiting to get inside the festival grounds for the very first set at 11:45 a.m., and within an hour the festival was crowded with people eager to squeeze in all 12 hours of music. Sets averaged around 30 minutes to one hour, with almost every act professing their regrets that Saturday couldn't happen and their gratitude for everyone who showed up for Sunday. The vibes were high, with artists playing only their biggest, most fan-favorite hits — and if they played one newer song, they'd introduce it with an apology. Everyone knew this festival was all about nostalgia (it's literally in the name), and the bands understood the assignment. Some like My Chemical Romance and the All-American Rejects leaned even further into the message by playing their sets with fake old-age makeup, giving new meaning to the term "elder emo."
And there were surprises in store at many sets. During their headlining performance, Paramore played their hit song "All I Wanted" for the first time ever. Avril Lavigne brought out All Time Low for a rousing cover of Blink-182's "All the Small Things," as well as her fiancée Mod Sun for "Flames." Pierce the Veil brought out Sleeping With Siren's Kellin Quinn for the newly TikTok-viral hit "King For a Day" and Jeremy McKinnon for "Caraphernelia." The Maine brought out Taking Back Sunday's Adam Lazzara and Charlotte Sands for a performance of their new collaboration "Loved You a Little." Taking Back Sunday brought out Steve Aoki. Everywhere you looked, fans were having "pinch me, is this really happening?" (sung to the tune of A Day to Remember's "If It Means a Lot to You") moments. Many were in tears, hugging friends, loved ones, and strangers who became new friends.
Ben Trivett Avril Lavigne at the 2022 When We Were Young Festival
Despite the amazing performances, there were still some expected first-year festival issues. The lines to get merchandise snaked through the entire festival grounds, with some attendees waiting for up to three hours to get a hoodie or a T-shirt. If there's one thing that emo fans are known for, it's their love of concert merch, and When We Were Young organizers attempted to mitigate this issue with three official merchandise booths in different areas. It just wasn't enough though: Lines still grew out of control an hour after gates opened, all the way through the very last set. Fans dedicated to getting their coveted merch were forced to miss out on a large chunk of sets.
There were also unfortunate sound issues during multiple sets, with the worst happening during Dashboard Confessional's performance. Most of the crowd gathered at the Pink mainstage didn't even realize the band had begun playing because there was no sound at all for the first half of the set. When some speakers finally started working, the second half of the set proceeded with only mediocre sound quality. Thousands of fans did their best to help by trying to signal to the band onstage and then by singing the lyrics so those in the back of the crowd knew what songs were played.
When We Were Young's first outing wasn't perfect, but in the end, it still delivered a nostalgic, inclusive, and celebratory experience for many fans in its first weekend. The third day is set to take place Saturday, Oct. 29, and a 2023 event featuring Blink-182 and Green Day as headliners is already sold out. Emo is most definitely not dead.
— Additional reporting by Chancellor Agard
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