Holy shit. I knew I captured something during Chiodos’ set but I didn’t check it until now… definitive lip syncing proof, drops the mic and the vocal track plays and it sounds the exact same as when he was “singing” https://youtube.com/shorts/o8qifW5WkwY?si=dLq6H9sw3r-QyEmO
All the videos I’m seeing of this fest makes me think I’d want to live at the side stages all day. Those crowd sizes at the main stage are too overwhelming.
That’s what I did last year. I tried going to main last year for NFG and Yellowcard and realized it was futile because it meant I’d be stuck there all day. I stayed almost entirely at the side stages and was infinitely more comfortable over there. I wandered sort of towards the main for the end of Blink/Green Day before realizing it was easier to watch on the screens and left maybe halfway through Green Day.
I felt that the last two years I nailed down a pretty good path that I can go easily from the two main stages to the two side stages, with Vip being more towards the left of the left main stage it through me kind of off, it felt more packed to me this year (I went saturday) for some reason. Eventually we found some decent spots at main stage.
Funny enough I actually got pretty close to the main stage and everyone was spaced apart where I was at, it was super nice
I agree with the post about how a band like the killers.......that's not what festivals like this are really about. The killers still headline indie fests all the time. I agree. There's only so much you can do with this genre. 2022 and 2023 essentially covered the entire spectrum. 2024 tried an album gimmick. Idk what else they got left
The best I got is some more 90s centric rock/punk hybrid. Smashing pumpkins, green day, no doubt, sublime, 311, rancid, Weezer, Alanis Morissette, deal But that's straying away from this genre way too much
I could see them pulling off a WWWY or SNW-type festival with solely 90’s alt rock bands. Have some of those bands you’ve mentioned and have it headlined by Pearl Jam. I’d attend the shit out of that
I’ve been hoping for something like that too. Everclear, Eve 6, Lit, Lisa Loeb, Harvey Danger, Marcy Playground, Juliana Hatfield, Gin Blossoms, etc etc. I’d be all over that show.
I do hear you in that it feels like a pivot. But I don't think it's as hard a pivot as some people are making it seem. I mean... You realize this festival was presumably named after a Killers song, right? To me, the Killers are close enough that it makes sense. Green Day, Blink-182, Paramore, and Fall Out Boy headline some of those same indie festivals. And to a certain type of person they are 100% associated with mid-2000s "emo" and all that nostalgia. It's definitely not the core of it but... The Killers wouldn't sound out of place playing after like, Taking Back Sunday or Dashboard. And if they were to do a Hot Fuss album play it would make even more sense. The biggest issue with the Killers is that they just wouldn't feel like a very "special" headliner.
I think I lived at the Allianz stage for the best sets I saw Saturday, furthest away from the main stages. Emery, Thursday, Saves the Day, Chiodos, Say Anything and Nada Surf were all over there and it was simple to come and go, move around, etc.
I saw a video of Nada Surf's Day 2 set on TikTok and there were maybe 100 people watching, I was so sad.
I took this pic before Pretty Girls Make Graves on Sunday and felt reslly bad for them. The festival needs to make a better work scheduling stage closers.
honestly it’s probably done on purpose this way, a lot of fest headliners have clauses built in where no one plays against them. This is probably a similar type build.
Wow that's awful. Personally if I was there I would've chose PGMG over MCR, but they totally got screwed over with that billing. They were already the underdogs of the lineup being scene-adjacent and never really hitting the commercial highs of the other early aughts bands on the lineup. They should've been earlier in the day and the stage closer should've been Dance Gavin Dance or Movements.
Someone in here mentioned that it was already bad that they overlapped Nada Surf and Pretty Girls Make Graves, as they probably share fandom. I think Coheed would have made a good stage closer, same as DGD.
Yes, it wouldn't cater to the emo / scene crowd specifically, but it's called 'when we were young' which doesn't imply the genre. I don't know who organizes it beyond livenation, but it'd totally make sense to me to branch out and just make it nostalgia heavy for late 90's / early 00's music. I don't think they care if it's repeat buyers, as long as there are buyers. Many people would drop off without the scene attachment, but would the organizers care if a flood of other people filled the gap and it sold out? not one bit. I think whatever the lineup is, for me, I'm over the whole one long day setup. It's too many people, too much of a rush to get between acts, too many conflicts, and just overwhelming for me to get enjoyment out of it at this point. 3 years in a row was the very definition of diminishing returns (personally). I'd rather go to a noon-11 fest at half the cost, with half the sets. Or saving the $800 I spent on VIP and seeing 10 $50 shows at clubs throughout the year.
Man that’s really sad. Nada Surf and Pretty Girls both got fucked. PGMG is also playing shows for the first time in… 17 years? That must feel shitty to come back after all this time and play a crowd that small
I do wonder how was the crowd for Ekkstacy who played right after Lit, couldnt even find a video of it. I did found a video of Kennyhoopla, who closed the other stage, and the crowd was indeed small but not as bad as I expected