When We Were Young Festival (Las Vegas) Tour • Page 168

i think a lot of the sad feelings for me are centered around something I cared about deeply fully jumping the shark and just being a bit. Like a living thriving scene doesn’t do a fest like this

 

Haven’t been to WWWY before, but that’s how I felt on the Emo’s Not Dead cruise… so many dude bros and rude catty people that felt disconnected from the actual music. It was so obvious that one night at dinner someone leaned over to me and said “aren’t these are the people who were picking on us in high school?”

 

I don’t have a big point to make here, I agree on some level with both sides, but here are my thoughts. as someone who is routinely annoyed by how nostalgia heavy a lot of my favorite bands’ sets are these days to appease casual fans (understandable, but it still sucks), I definitely get being annoyed at the sentiment in the LinkedIn post. As rmourz said, the scene never went away, it’s not just nostalgia for us, so I think we have a right to be a little put off by some of the hysteria and meme-ificafion of it, no less by people who really quickly left it.

it’s silly, but there’s a part of me that gets excited when I meet someone in the corporate world who says they were into that scene, so I get excited we may have a rare bond here, but then you come to find out they really mean they listened to the 3-5 super popular bands (which were basically just the popular rock music at the time) for a couple years, they loved Cute Without the E, and they probably made fun of people that listened to screamo. I definitely don’t expect that person to go to local shows, let alone WWWY, so when I see that LinkedIn post i almost can’t believe it’s a real person. I’m glad we can enjoy it all now, I’m glad the festival exists, but in the moment it does feel like it cheapens the bond between all the fest goers. I don’t know anybody that pays money to go to scene shows anymore that doesn’t still follow these bands so I think bewilderment is the overarching emotion here for me.

as a related example, I saw Silverstein play This Is How The Wind Shifts a couple weeks ago - an all time album for me. But I was stuck behind the 3 most annoying people in the world who talked the *entire* time (long story but I couldn’t go elsewhere). Everybody around us is singing along except these 3 knuckleheads. They only stopped to sing the choruses to Smile In Your Sleep and My Heroine, and didn’t recognize the band still had an encore to play. If I saw those dudes on LinkedIn or at WWWY talking about how emo they used to be I’m gonna be annoyed no matter what. Yea, yea it doesn’t matter, I’m glad the band got their money, but still gets under your skin.

 

That pretty much describes the vast majority of the people going to Emo Nites. College kids that are trying way too hard to let everyone know how "sad" they are and yell "OMG THIS IS MY JAM" when I Write Sins starts, splashing beer over everyone around them. I am always annoyed by these people but then I just tell myself that every person has a right to enjoy music their own way. Who am I to tell someone how to have fun?

Regarding Silverstein, I saw them a few months ago and there were so many confused people on the floor when they were doing "The Altar / Mary" as their last song. But I do understand why many of these bands play their hits. It's theie bread and butter. Hawthorne Heights have been staying alive off of just one aong for like 20 years now. All we can hope for is that they sprinkle some deep cuts here and there.

 

Im so glad The Altar/Mary has been in the set for a while, great live song. They closed this show with arrivals/solace, which I did not expect at all. Great duo, perfect ending for people that love the album, but the confusion was real. PMR had to stop people from talking bc seemingly none of those people know he was playing a real song.

 

Last night I had a dream I was at a sold out Armor for Sleep show, & the second Car Underwater ended the room completely emptied out & they were playing to me & 10 friends. I spend entirely too much time on this site

 

Saw them last night. So goood

 

Taking back Sunday was officially added.

 

Crazy day 2 hasn't sold out yet lol

 

I don’t think album play throughs is a good idea for a festival. That’s the main reason I’m not going but another reason is fatigue after the first two years.

 

Album plays are the reason I’m going haha

 

Same here

 

The timing really makes it seem like TBS was locked in a weird clause in their Coachella booking to let them announce first.

The album cover has been on the poster since November, peaking out behind Dashboard.

 

This third edition really didn't bring enough wow factor. The bands are mostly bands from the first two go around and they're doing songs/sets that are actually pretty common.

Album plays is a cool idea but I think there were other bands that could've been tapped to make it more interesting and unique.

Like say Paramore doing riot in its entirety. Or green day doing dookie. Weezer doing blue album. No doubt doing tragic kingdom. Alanis Morissette doing jagged little pill. Idk. Its a great idea just there needed to be more wow factor.


There was no way they were going to top the first two years

 

I'm somewhat biased, but I think it shows the appeal of the festival as a whole is people going for clout to sing the "emo songs" that were on the radio & go party in Vegas. I kinda think there's gonna be a fuck ton of people drunkenly wondering why MCR isn't playing I'm Not Okay, Helena, etc like a few years ago when people showed up at blink & said "wait who's that guy singing?"

I didn't go the first 2 years & this finally got me to pull the trigger!

I feel the complete opposite about it haha. There's quite a few album plays that haven't been done or haven't been a full tour (The Maine played Can't Stop Won't Stop in full once in Phoenix & said they never would again, I don't think ADTR have ever done Homesick in full,etc) & there's also quite a few reunions. It feels much more like a Riot Fest alternative than what they've done the last 2 years, which is why I'm finally going & I'm not doing Riot this year. Getting to hear very specific eras of bands that don't touch those songs anymore is so sick. Knowing I can watch The Used under a time constraint & Bert won't sing Happy Birthday or do weird poetry, Saosin playing S/T presumably with Cove, Sleeping With Sirens playing my favorite album, etc etc... I couldn't be more excited.

I get what you're saying though, cause a million people would wanna see No Doubt play Tragic Kingdom. But I'm fortunate that I'm one of the like 75 people in the world who wanna see The Forecast get back together & do an album play

 

I’ve felt why would I spend all the money to fly out for a weekend in Vegas just to hear a 30 minute set of the same songs they play on every tour?

But to hear albums front to back which means generally longer sets, deeper cuts, and more unique experiences… that got me to spend the money.

 

i mean most of the albums are 35-45 minutes. it's not that much of a difference.

 

A 40 minute New Found Glory Sticks & Stones set is vastly different than their typical greatest hits set that includes 3-4 covers. Then do that with like 15-20 other artists... I'm very sold

 

The lineup getting announced 3 months ago was the first time I had ever heard of Pretty Girls Make Graves, and I've been listening to them daily since. If this really is their only reunion show, it might be enough to push me to finally go this year.

 

Not really. 1/3 of the album was played on their opening spot at a Fall Out Boy concert.

 

So… you’re trying to say playing 4 songs off of a 12 track album is the same as playing 12 songs from an album? Don’t be so dense

 

No, I'm saying it's not very different. NFG specifically playing S&S is nothing special. It's the album they've toured the most on and any set will have a majority of songs from that album. Same thing with TBS doing TAYF

 

Late to the convo on the scene/the linkedin post/the people going to these shows/etc, but....long post incoming as I'm just spouting haha

This may just be my little corner of the world, but what I remember most about the early 2000s and some of those bands and songs is, the songs were ubiquitous and everywhere, and yet there was still a lot of "macho" type culture left over from the 90s that often times it wasn't really "cool" to admit you liked a lot of them. There was definitely a lot of sexism and homophobia around it too. Like I have distinct memories of a lot of the girls I knew liking Dashboard Confessional but it was a "chick band" and it wasn't really "cool" for dudes to like them. Even amongst the more goth/alternative people! And everything else pop punk and screamo and post hardcore and etc got lumped in with the "Whiny" "screamy" descriptors. It was such a weird time because I could go to a house party and hear Taking Back Sunday being played in 2003/4, but virtually no dudes were admitting to liking them outside of a handful of the more "alternative" dudes who were musicians (I'm using alternative instead of "scene" because I feel like "Scene kid" has gotten wrapped up into the later 2000s "mall goth" scene kid hailey williams swoopy orange green hair kind of look that just didn't really exist in 2002 yet around here). But everyone knew the songs! And I think everyone liked the ones they knew! They were just too peer pressured into not really admitting it. And while some of those songs were popular, they were still mostly on the alt-rock station, while the more popular music radio stations were mostly rap and pop music.

Once it really blew up in 2005/6, and more people started going to local shows, it became a bit less of a thing and that macho shit started to fade a little bit, and people started embracing some of the songs and bands more. But then the bubble really burst by 2008 and people started aging into college and moving onto other popular music and etc. If you were going into college in 2008/2009 and really only started embracing emo with Black Parade, MakeDamnSure, and Misery Business, but suddenly the college house parties you're going to aren't playing TBS and Brand New or etc like your high school ones were, they're playing Ay Bay Bay and Kiss Me Through the Phone or Day n Nite and etc, well you're not really getting deeper into the culture AND it's not popular anymore so you're not exposed to it that way anymore. So now you're living your life and moving on to other bands and music and the Clap-Stomp-Hey indie that took over and etc.

I think the internet and meme culture has helped a lot of late 20s-early 40s people get back into touch with the music of their youth that wasn't pop or the "radio rap" that was huge during that time ala Eminem, Ludacris, Nelly, Ja Rule, 50 Cent, etc etc etc. They started embracing those songs they really loved when they were 14 but also didn't really get into "the scene" because none of their friends were and etc. And I say, fuck it, let them have their fun now. I've been listening to Dashboard pretty constantly since 2007, not to mention the songs I knew and liked by them from before that, so hearing Hands Down for a 1000th time maybe doesn't inject me with the same nostalgia hit. But for some of these folks who maybe forgot about that song for 8-10 years, it's probably like finding a piece of their memory and connection to their youth that they forgot they had. I get it being totally addicting and going completely overboard with it now that they're 34 and just wanting to feel good again lol. Yeah it's slightly annoying, but to me it's whatever. It doesn't effect my life. I'm just glad there are more people my age to talk about songs I like now (or, going back 7-8 years ago, more people who were jamming out to these songs at the bars as cover bands played them). And maybe even discovering these bands other songs that they only heard one or two songs of back when they were a teen.

 

I understand that I'm just bias because a lot of the 2nd tier bands and below are not my side of the scene so it's true I don't really know how special the Maine. Adtr, chiidos, underoath etc is

But from the bands that I do like, I know the album plays aren't unique to me. Nfg, used, motion city, saves the day.... while I loveeeee those albums, I've actually legit heard those albums in full already hah.

And like I'm not mad about it. Its still cool. Rejects doing their album in full would be awesome and all in all this still definitely rules. Just idk if the allure is as big as past two years.

Id still go don't get me wrong but WWWY is like. $1000 commitment. I can't do that on a whim hah. Maybe if my life is in shambles or I win the lottery I'll go

 

I'm talking myself into liking this festival now.
My faves;
Motion city, nfg, saves the day, the used, rejects, taking back Sunday, distillers black parade (although the pit scares me. Its gonna be a terrible mix of people that wanna mosh and people that definitely don't)

Sprinkle in;
Story of the year, hey Monday, millionaires, simple plan, Bayside, hawthorne heights etc

Okay fine. I'm getting more into it