Like a modern-day version of Vans’ Warped Tour, When We Were Young Festival brings old and new pop punk, rock, and screamo artists together for a one-day festival, creating a unique event with special stages and collaborations that can be considered rarities. With four stages, countless food and drink vendor booths, and a few activations and other activities scattered around, not even the scorching Las Vegas heat was enough to deter fans from showing up in troves. With an 85,000 person capacity, the Las Vegas Fairgrounds were still packed to the brim as everyone came to see their favorite bands and singers.
This year’s festival boasted a diverse lineup, with three women-led bands and several acts with members of various ethnicities. While more well-known bands took the main stages, the smaller stages were just as crowded, with every performing artist pulling in their own dedicated fanbase. The four stages at the festival include the Stripe Stage, where artists like Michelle Branch and AJJ performed, the Ghost Stage, where zebrahead and Saves the Day played, the Green Stage, where fans clocked to see 5 Seconds of Summer and one of Sum 41’s final festival performances of their career, and the Pink Stage, which was adjacent to the Green Stage.
Asia Blooming dives into a few festival highlights featuring Asian performers. Kicking off the day right, zebrahead took the stage with high energy, engaging the audience to rock out with them. Iranian American frontman and lead vocalist Ali Tabatabaee showed off his charisma as he led the band and crowd through their short set. Next up was Michelle Branch. The Irish, Dutch-Indonesian, French American singer-songwriter blew the crowd away with a variety of her country, pop and pop rock songs. As she began strumming the beginning notes of her debut single, “Everywhere,” the audience went wild, screaming the lyrics to the song that brought about nostalgic, youthful memories.
Moving to the main stage with fancier, higher production performances, 5 Seconds of Summer (shortened as 5SOS), welcomed their fans with unique VCRs to introduce the band and to transition between songs. With so many tracks in their discography, the band even prepared a giant dice with song names written on each side for the crowd to randomly select a song. In the end, the Australian band decided on “End Up Here.” The band members, including bassist and vocalist Calum Hood, who is of Māori descent, performed passionately, while interacting with their fans and showing off their carefree personalities. Although 5SOS haven’t been around as long as some other bands who also took the stage, their catchy songs and infectious energy from their dedicated fans had everyone within the vicinity cheering and singing along.
Next up on the main stage was Sum 41, legendary Canadian rock band nearly 30 years into their career. As they performed onstage with a slew of pyrotechnics, confetti, streamers, and even a large inflatable skeleton holding up the band’s iconic Sum 41 finger salute, the set was even more meaningful as the band reminded their fans of their upcoming retirement. To wrap up their band activities, Sum 41 will be embarking on a final tour and releasing a final album in 2024. With this in mind, both the band and fans made the performance extra special by screaming the lyrics, jumping on cue, and simply enjoying the moment together. Lead vocalist and frontman Deryck Whibley also made sure to spotlight each of the band members with solos, especially Indo-Guyanese lead guitarist, Dave Baksh. Nicknamed “Brownsound,” Baksh showed off his sharp skills, proving how he’s been in the game for so long.
Moving back towards the smaller stages, up next on our list was Saves The Day. Performing just after the sun set, the band’s stage was illuminated with bright red lights. Each member of the band took turns taking the center spot, including Indian guitarist Arun Bali. Thrice, known for their more hard-core rock music, also thoroughly impressed the crowd with their energy and stage presence. Despite the day’s light being long gone, the band lit up the stage with their rambunctious music and loud cheers. Notably, lead guitarist Teppei Teranishi was a crowd favorite as he sang backing vocals and passionately played the guitar, focusing on his music even as his long hair covered his face. As one of the final acts of the evening on the side Stripe Stage, AJJ finished strong. The band, who hails from neighboring state Arizona, rocked out on stage with their unique folk-pop-punk sound. Drummer Kevin Higuchi set the tone for their set perfectly as he served as the backbone of each performance, counting in every song with the beating of his drums.
With so many different artists on the lineup, there was a musical act for every attendee’s preference. Ranging from folk or country style genres to pop-punk to heavy screamo music, every genre could be seen at some point during the festival. In comparison to the early 2000s, artists have only grown more diverse and are exploring musical expression in new ways, and this day-long festival was the perfect example of growing with the times.
