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Stepping onto the Las Vegas Festival Grounds for the fourth annual When We Were Young Festival felt like shaking hands with an old friend. Tens of thousands of punks and emos flooded in, rocking their Hot Topic-adjacent ensembles and basking in the comfort of their kind for the next 12 hours.
This year’s fest returned with an ambitious lineup of more than 50 bands and four stages cranking out tracks from every corner of the emo/punk universe. And unsurprisingly, day one sold out, making traversing from one stage to another a sardine-like venture.
Amidst the mosh pits, brand activations brought another layer of nostalgia. The 7-Eleven pop-up boasted a massive storefront with all the bells and whistles to transport you back to your youth. A Slurpee station held a line for hours, and vintage phone booth photo ops and temporary tattoos offered everything you could want from a brand tapping into the weekend vibe. It all reminded me of my teen years—waiting by the curb after Warped Tour and Extreme Thing, my mom picking me up and me only caring about getting a cherry Coke Slurpee from 7-Eleven.
Another activation also teased the upcoming Sick New World festival, which organizers originally cancelled in 2025. Fans online had speculated about its 2026 return, but this photo-op served as both confirmation and a sneak peek. The dingy 2000s punk bedroom backdrop—complete with a drum kit, shag carpets, and band posters from Deftones, Slipknot, Bring Me the Horizon and others—felt like an omen for the dark, grungy energy that Sick New World is known to conjure up.
Top billing artists like Blink-182, Weezer and Avril Lavigne drew the masses, but Panic! at the Disco delivered the most charged moments. The band revisited A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out in full, celebrating its 20th anniversary. Former drummer Spencer Smith reunited with the band onstage, and damn if that manic carnival of an album didn’t come to life with jaw-dropping set design and a string and horn section that made the whole thing feel cinematic. After the nostalgic high of A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out, Brendon Urie dove into newer material and for a lot of us, it was like watching the band grow up right before our eyes. Sure, I was a huge fan of the debut album, but hearing how the project evolved was a surprise, one that the crowd clearly embraced. The sound strayed far from its original pop-punk concept but still managed to feel in tune with the band’s ride-or-die fans.
Another festival highlight included Drain, a Santa Cruz based hardcore punk band that delivered the exact energy we needed to kickstart our day. Vocalist Sammy Ciaramitaro mentioned that the band had already been on a five-week run and had no expectations for its early festival set. “But yo, this is f***ing awesome, and you guys are f***ing awesome,” he said. The band’s cross-over thrash sound and catchy lyrics got the kids up and moving, and even enticed Ciaramitaro to throw his mic over the barricade for fans to finish the lyrics. “Take it out of our guarantee,” he joked before fishing the mic back onstage.
Knocked Loose’s set also served as a brutal reminder of what a real mosh pit looks like. "They should have designated pit entrances—if you have chest hair, enter here,” my friend quipped, as limbs started flailing. During “Moss Covers All,” vocalist Bryan Garris challenged the audience to crowd surf for the duration of the 50-second song. The crowd obeyed and became a wave of flesh, surging toward the barricade, only to be swallowed back in. The highlight was a double wall of death, something that caught the softer crowd off guard. They stood there, confused, almost annoyed by the carnage unfolding, but the pit vets knew exactly what to do. They shoved the clueless to the sides, creating room for the upcoming barreling. It was a nice change of pace from the otherwise chiller sets that followed.
The most surprising set of the day was the industrial metal quintet Motionless in White. Its cyber-tinged elements balanced with the heavy metal forward base made it impossible to ignore. And for a band that’s been around for over two decades, I’m almost embarrassed that this was my first time giving it an honest listen. But I’m glad I was in the right place, at the right time to catch this set.
English (US) ·