Back in the good ole days of iPods, people watching at the mall, mix cds and side parts, those who had an affinity for punk and rock music could gather together at the famous Warped Tour music festival. Warped Tour was held annually in the US and Canada from 1995 until 2019. Although there are some rumors of its possible return, it will probably never live up to its former glory. A need was felt by the community of mosh-pitters, jammers and overall festival going humans who were craving their fix of community and opportunity to see their favorite pop punk bands. This need mixed with the now adulthood of Warped Tour lovers inspired the creation of the cheekily titled "When We Were Young" music festival.
The first year of the When We Were Young Festival was 2022. It had a similar setup to Warped Tour, featuring many artists over a weekend in a huge arena, the Las Vegas Festival grounds. The first year of WWWYF was a blast and a great throwback party for the festival-missing millennials. But there were problems during its debut. One of the days got cancelled due to violent winds in Vegas, audio equipment malfunctions occurred throughout the second day and transportation to and from the festival was a nightmare! My husband and I just attended the When We Were Young Festival Year Two and I'm here to tell you how it's improved since last year and why I think you should go next year. (If you already have tickets for next year feel free to skip to my Tips for the 2024 When We Were Young Festival.)
Do you still have to wait at the gate for hours before the festival?
Yes and no. In the first year of the festival lines got jumbled, people didn't know where to stand, loops and loops occurred around blocks. This year my husband and I arrived at 9:30am. With this early arrival we got to sit in the front of the line for about an hour until they started to let people in before 11am, which was one of the many improvements. Also at the entrance they put out the merch stand so that you didn't have to miss your favorite bands to get a t-shirt, another good change!
What does the General Admission ticket to the When We Were Young Festival get you and are VIP tickets worth it?
Last year VIP ticket holders had about a football field of space up close to the stages. This year, to my great shock (and glee), they completely changed this. At the 2023 event, GA ticket holders were allowed access to the very front of the main stages. This was the best improvement of the event from last year. Not only did this allow true fans the chance to see their favorite artists up close without a higher price tag, BUT this allowed for all of the 60,000 festival attendees to get closer to the performances and have more room to move, breathe and overall enjoy the day! Thank goodness! Last year we were stuck at the VIP entrance for the full 12 hours because we knew there would be no chance of getting anywhere near the main stages again if we left our spot. This year Cedric and I were able to escape the main stages to check out bands in the side stages while also making it back to the headliners in time! Amazing! (Note the side stages still have a designated spot for VIPs but it wasn't as large as last year's space. See the map below to find the pink areas where VIP got to stand this year vs. General Admission shown in green.)
General Admission also gets you free water throughout the day at hydration stations where you can fill your clear water bottle. Plus all the exclusive food choices from vendors that can only be found at festivals, such as the cult favorite "Island Noodles". However, although the WWWYF rules say there's no outside food allowed, Cedric and I were able to sneak in some small sealed snacks in our clear backpacks without a problem. Finally, you are able to leave and re-enter throughout the day if you need to with this pass.
The Low-Down on Ticket Options: So should you get VIP tickets? Honestly last year I said yes, but this year I say no! Instead of VIP I highly recommend their hotel and ticket packages which can be purchased with any type of ticket. This way you'll be guaranteed lodging at a discounted rate and in advance. Hotel prices surge and availability gets limited during the festival time so any way you can ease accomodations in Vegas for the festival the better! Unless you live nearby of course, which in that case I recommend going both days if you can afford it! That way you'll be able to see as many bands as possible!
Who performed at When We Were Young Festival 2023?
Here's the full lineup and schedule from the 2023 When We Were Young Festival
These are the artists featured in my When We Were Young Festival 2023 Video with clickable timestamps if you want skip ahead to your fave artists:
Magnolia Park: 1:40
Motion City Soundtrack: 2:27
Something Corporate: 2:50
New Found Glory: 3:43
Yellowcard: 4:52
5 Seconds of Summer: 7:09
Sum 41: 8:36
Good Charlotte: 11:48
Simple Plan: 14:45
Say Anything: 19:39
Blink 182: 23:06
Green Day: 26:38
When We Were Young 2023 Performance Highlights. Sum 41 was the most fun and action packed performance of the day! Pink confetti cannons blew and crowds jumped up and down the whole time! Good Charlotte and 5 Seconds of Summer had the best vocals of the day, sounding exactly like their records while still engaging the crowd. Yellowcard, Simple Plan and Say Anything had the most audience connection as they played all their classics with their full heart. Bros were hugging and cheering during Simple Plan, couple's swooned at Yellowcard's "Only One" and OG fans screamed lyrics of Say Anything's old school songs.
Who is performing at When We Were Young Festival 2024?
Next year's lineup has just been announced! Here's the full lineup for the 2024 When We Were Young Festival:
30H!3
A Day to Remember
Alesana
Anberlin
Armor For Sleep
Atreyu
August Burns Red
Basement
Bayside
Cartel
Chiodos
Cobra starship
Coheed and Cambria
Dashboard Confessional
Emery
Escape The Fate
Fall Out Boy
Hawthorne Heights
Four Year Strong
Jimmy Eat World
L.S. Dunes
Mayday Parade
Mom Jeans
Motion City Soundtrack
My Chemical Romance
Nada Surf
Neck Deep
New Found Glory
Pierce the Veil
Pretty Girls Make Graves
Saosin
Saves the Day
Say Anything
Senses Fail
Silverstein
Simple Plan
Sleeping with Sirens
State Champs
Story of the Year
The All-American Rejects
The Devil Wears Prada
The Distillers
The Forecast
The Maine
The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus
The Starting Line
The Used
The Wonder Years
Thursday
Underoath
We the Kings
How should I prepare for next year?
Get on the waist list via the WWWYF website
The only way to get a ticket is to get on the waitlist. There's so many people that get on this list that there's usually no more tickets left by the time presale happens!
Purchase & Pack everything ahead of time! (Refer to the website for allowed items)
Here's my festival approved packing list of items we brought to the event
Check out the WWWY festival website for a full list of do and don'ts
Don't forget your festival outfit! I thrifted my vintage band shirts online via Poshmark, your look may take a while to plan too!
Get lodging as soon as you get the tickets
We had a mishap this year with our lodging because we only booked one guest instead of two for our room! We didn't realize this until it was very close to the concert. Everywhere was booked and we ended up spending way more than we wanted to!
Day of Tips for the When We Were Young Festival
Get to the Las Vegas Festival Grounds at 9:30am.
If you leave your hotel around 9am then you will be able to walk or get an Uber in time to make it to the front of the line. In this spot you can sit on the ground while you wait! So worth it!
Print out the schedule!
So old school, I know. This year they did have a WWWYF app plus cell service at the venue which was an additional improvement. BUT looking at your phone screen in the bright sunlight and dark night is harder than you think. I printed out our schedule and glued it to cardstock and boy was it the envy of the crowd! We were able to pull it in and out of our pockets with ease to check the times while saving battery life on our phones.
Give yourself 1/2 hour to move from one stage to another.
If you're watching a band at the main stage and you want to make it for the start of a band at a side stage then you gotta move it early! Why? The enormous crowd will cause you to take about 20-30 minutes to travel across the festival grounds.
Leave one hour ahead of time to get an Uber.
This tip will be controversial because it does suck to leave the event early and miss the big finale of the headliner. BUT it's the only way to get an Uber back to your hotel at a reasonable hour. We left around 11pm. We got an Uber and arrived at the hotel by midnight. Our driver informed us that he was still driving people home from the concert the night before up to until 2am because of the crowds!
So is the When We Were Young Festival the new Warped Tour? And should you go next year?
Although your feet are sore, your throat is hoarse and you'll be catching up on sleep for a week after this event, it's still 100% worth it and will heal your inner child! The community this event is garnering in its second year harks back to the tight knit group of Warped Tour. The bonding begins a week before and after the event as attendees rock their festival merch on plane rides and airports for the journey there and back. Vegas itself is filled with concert goers hanging out and connecting over the shared experience of seeing their favorite bands for the first time in years! Even at the event there is a common ground of a love for pop punk music, a respectful atmosphere of different tastes and ages, plus a captivating excited buzz throughout the twelve hour event that can't be beat! So yes! If you have or haven't already, GO NEXT YEAR! Because year two was way better overall than year one, I'm sure that momentum of excellence will continue for the third year.
Catch up on my thoughts from the When We Were Young 2022 event in this blog article here
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