When We Were Young 2022: The 7 Toughest Set Time Conflicts
The post When We Were Young 2022: The 7 Toughest Set Time Conflicts appeared first on Consequence.
There have been quite a few comparisons to Las Vegas’ brand new When We Were Young Festival to its pop punk predecessor, Warped Tour. The biggest differences come, frankly, in the price of tickets ($250+ for When We Were Young, where Warped Tour was only around $40), the locations (When We Were Young is solely held in Las Vegas, where Warped Tour toured around the country), and in the overall accessibility of the event (When We Were Young features multiple sectioned-off VIP areas, where Warped Tour was, essentially, a free-for-all). As we’ve learned with the arrival of the When We Were Young 2022 set times, we can now add overloaded schedules to that list.
When the WWWY lineup dropped back in January, it was still a mystery how this festival would manage to squeeze so many acts into one day, but now we have a much clearer picture. The event is putting up dozens of bands across five stages throughout a single day, and with set times ranging from just 30-60 minutes, there’s extremely limited time to decide which acts to see.
Luckily (and I can’t believe I’m saying that), When We Were Young has shared its set times five days before the event takes place, as opposed to the day of, which was Warped Tour’s usual move. For such an exclusive and rare event, attendees will need all the time they can get to sift through the coveted sets they plan on catching.
The Black and Pink stages serve as the festival’s main stages, alternating each act throughout the day (including the festival’s coveted headliners, My Chemical Romance and Paramore). Meanwhile, the Checker and Stripes stages are similarly side-by-side, but those sets will be overlapping by about 15 minutes — which is sure to create some occasionally awkward and dissonant sound bleeding. The Neon Tent is situated between it all, and it’s going to be a mad dash to catch all the bands on your to-see list.
Tough conflicts loom over the entirety of the day. Do you take the nostalgic, old school route, or enjoy more recent, burgeoning acts carrying the banner for pop punk, post-hardcore, and emo? Bright Eyes and Manchester Orchestra are the two dominant “indie” acts on the lineup, and yet they’re scheduled to play at the exact same time. Meanwhile, many pop punk juggernauts are at odds with each other, and defenders of the genre will have the hardest choices to make.
It may be irrelevant to say so, but it’s surprising that the organizers didn’t opt to make When We Were Young a two (or three) day event, and looking at the schedule, it’s even more puzzling. If you’re one of the few attendees heading to multiple editions of the fest (October 22nd, 23rd, and 29th, which all feature virtually the same lineup and schedule), you’ll have multiple opportunities to take in the full When We Were Young experience.
Ahead of When We Were Young 2022, we’ve rounded up the seven biggest conflicts on the schedule, and shared our personal picks of who we’d see. (We excluded any conflicts with Paramore and My Chemical Romance because, come on, there’s no choice there.) Choose wisely!
Saosin vs Hawthorne Heights vs Meet Me @ the Altar
12:20 p.m. – 1:15 p.m.
Acts like Saosin and Hawthorne Heights are why this festival is called When We Were Young. The latter were one of the bigger bands in the genre, thanks to the slogan-creating “Ohio Is for Lovers.” The former essentially gave emo hardcore icon Anthony Green his breakthrough, even though he was only with the band a year before he started Circa Survive; he’s been back with the band since 2014, and their sets these days mostly consist of 2016’s Along the Shadow. So you could start your afternoon with one of two stalwarts — or check out a monster of the modern scene and former CoSign, Meet Me @ the Altar, Fueled by Ramen signees who bring a fresh sound and perspective to pop punk.
Our Pick: If you’re looking to feed your nostalgia brain, you’re going to Hawthorne Heights. If you’re an Anthony Green diehard, you’re going to Saosin. Us? We’re going to Meet Me @ the Altar; there will be plenty of opportunity to get into the good ol’ days throughout the fest, so let’s kick it off with something fresh.
We the Kings vs Atreyu vs Boys Like Girls
1:35 p.m. – 2:20 p.m.
This is a bit of a shocking scheduling choice, mainly because We the Kings and Boys Like Girls are incredibly similar bands. They both reached peak popularity in 2008, they both play sun-soaked pop punk about girls and “getting out of this old town,” and they even have the same “three one-syllable words” band names. Their two biggest hits — We the Kings’ “Check Yes Juliet” and Boys Like Girls’ “The Great Escape” — are eerily similar to each other, both melodically and thematically. Factor in Atreyu, who certainly are in a different lane sonically, but who achieved popularity in a very similar window of the 2000s, and it’s the ultimate MySpace profile song conflict.
Our Pick: We’re inclined to say Boys Like Girls — mainly because they followed up their iconic Hollister-store-soundtrack of a debut album with the still undeniable pop rock anthem “Love Drunk.” Also, it would be interesting to see if Boys Like Girls frontman Martin Johnson can still hit those crazy high notes 15 years later.
The Used vs The Wonder Years vs Royal & the Serpent
4:00 p.m. – 4:50 p.m.
This conflict is less of a genre-specific one and more of a choice between tour-de-force vocalists. The Used’s Bert McCracken has an extensive range and heartfelt emo classics like “The Taste of Ink,” but The Wonder Years have just come off their most acclaimed album to date with The Hum Goes on Forever. Meanwhile, Royal & the Serpent has a one-of-a-kind voice, and her live shows are vibrant, high energy experiences. With this choice, do you go for 2000s nostalgia (The Used), 2010s nostalgia (The Wonder Years), or the sound of the future (Royal & the Serpent)?
Our Pick: All three acts are great, but The Wonder Years have proven themselves to be a band that gets better and better with every release. Give The Hum Goes on Forever a spin and you’ll see why.
Taking Back Sunday vs Bayside vs Black Veil Brides vs Four Year Strong
6:00 p.m. – 6:50 p.m.
This block pits two pioneers of New York emo rock (Taking Back Sunday and Bayside) against torch bearers of the Massachusetts sound (Four Year Strong) and Ohio glam metal outfit Black Veil Brides. They’re enough difference there to split the crowd, but for anyone with varying taste or a strong connection to a particular emo sound of the ’00s, it’s a tough one. All four of these bands are endlessly active, and essentially one member off from their “classic” lineups, so it might just come down to taste.
Our Pick: The fact is, if you really wanted to see any of these bands over the last decade or so, you likely already have. Which makes it something of a toss up, one that we’re going to decide by strongest recent output. That’s going to take us to Four Year Strong, arguably the most consistent band in this group. Now, if you tell me Taking Back Sunday is doing a Tell All Your Friends 20th anniversary run-through, we might have a different conversation.
A Day to Remember vs The Story So Far vs State Champs vs Motionless in White
6:45 p.m. – 7:35 p.m.
This is likely the toughest pop punk choice of the whole festival. All four of these bands occupy similar territory genre-wise, spanning from the heavier end of post-hardcore to the bouncy euphoria of pop punk. The Story So Far going up against State Champs is cruel for the pop punk folks, and A Day to Remember versus Motionless in White is unfair to the heavy fans. But all these bands together, at the same time, is like a 2012 Warped Tour conundrum playing out ten years later.
Our Pick: A Day to Remember is perhaps the biggest band of this specific conflict, and they’ve got the hits to match; but looking at the current state of pop punk and emo, it’s The Story So Far who have actually proven to be more influential than any of these bands. For the mosh? A Day to Remember. For the feels? The Story So Far.
Avril Lavigne vs The All-American Rejects vs Poppy vs Ice Nine Kills
7:30 p.m. – 8:15 p.m.
If you’re looking for newer flavors at When We Were Young, look no further than Poppy — the YouTube personality-turned-experimental musician has been to the uncanny valley and come back with fury and a genreless poise. Meanwhile, Ice Nine Kills have proven to be durable in a metalcore scene that has shifted and dissolved a great deal since the band’s inception.
But let’s talk about the biggest conflict here, which is undoubtedly Avril Lavigne against The All-American Rejects. Both of these acts were hit machines from 2000 to 2010, they both occupy similar territory genre-wise, and they both promise a cathartic, nostalgia-filled show. This is one of the toughest divisions of the festival, but Avril will almost certainly feature the larger crowd.
Our Pick: It’s almost too easy to say Avril Lavigne… she has the legacy, the hits, and the guest star potential. Plus, new music — which may or may not be a factor at such a nostalgia-centric festival. But with only 30 minutes to fit in their multiple hits like “Move Along” and “Gives You Hell,” All-American Rejects may be the set to see after all.
Bright Eyes vs Manchester Orchestra vs Sleeping with Sirens vs Palaye Royale
8:15 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.
This is hands down the weirdest, most eclectic conflict of the day. You’ve got Conor Oberst’s folk rock heroes Bright Eyes, progressive indie outfit Manchester Orchestra coming off one of the best albums of last year (The Million Masks of God), pinched-vocal-screamers Sleeping with Sirens, and “fashion art rock” siblings Palaye Royale. Like, what do you even do with that? Besides Sleeping with Sirens, the others almost feel like outsiders at a festival like When We Were Young, and yet it’s still one of the hardest decisions on the schedule.
Our Pick: It’s kind of hard to pass up Bright Eyes, even if Oberst has a reputation for being something of a dice roll of a live performer these days. Plus, it might be nice to have a bit of a change of pace from a day of hardcore and pop punk before heading into the headliners. To that point, if you’re looking for something a bit outside the box, try Palaye Royale — or catch them taking over the Consequence Instagram account on the day of the festival.
When We Were Young 2022: The 7 Toughest Set Time Conflicts
Paolo Ragusa and Ben Kaye
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