Millennial alternative fans all collectively lost their sh*t this week from an unexpected concert announcement. For those who grew up listening to early 2000s rock, this may be the line up of your dreams. The When We Were Young Festival, set for Las Vegas later this year, boasts tons of fan favorites from this era. Promising older fans an experience similar to the iconic Warped Tour. Could this be too good to be true?
The lineup includes some of the most influential and iconic acts in the emo and pop-punk music scene of the last two decades. Including My Chemical Romance, Paramore, Jimmy Eat World, Taking Back Sunday, The Used, The Maine, and A Day To Remember. All are expected to appear at this festival on this one-day-only event on October 22nd.
Yes, you heard me right, a one-day-only event. Yet 30+ bands are confirmed to perform? When ticket information came out initially, there was talk of only three stages.
Three stages… on this one day “emo fest.”
After two days of talk and publicity, the festival’s organizers took to Instagram to clear some things up. They now state that there will be “multiple stages” and the set times and performances by stage will be released closer to the festival.
The festival will take place from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. and there seems to be a lot of room for error and unfortunate events.
After the instagram stories went up, some people became skeptical about the fact that much of the initial information from the ticketing website had been changed, or slightly altered, much like the end time of the festival. Which was originally set to be 11 p.m.
Does this sound fishy to you?
It did to me, and a few other people on social media. Once I did some digging into the event, the host turned out to be none other than Live Nation; the company involved with Fyre Festival’s new relative, Astroworld.
The suspicion did not stop there, when you enter their webpage here, a great big banner is the first thing you see. Like this:
This is where the jokes start to roll in. Twitter users everywhere are making jokes about pulling out their best skinny jeans and most durable eyeliner to attend the festival. Some others joke about wearing the infamous “Iloveboobies’ bracelets to match the vibe when they attend.
The skeptics however, make jokes about the impending doom that may happen at the festival. There were jokes about the logistic of being able to see all your favorite bands in such a short period of time.
If you are familiar with Warped Tour, you know that while the lineup is overwhelming, but doable. Trying to conquer it in 12 hours, though? I’m not so sure. The fact that there are only three stages seems a little tight. Not only that, but there was no talk about spreading it out to more than just one day. It all seems rushed.
I myself enjoyed Warped Tour back in 2014. It was a great time for me and my friend. We saw many bands and walked around to different stages, tents, and events. So, in comparison, how much could this new festival offer in such a tight time span?
Could it be a scam?
So, let’s break this down, the presale begins Jan. 21 at 7 a.m., with tickets starting at “$19.99 down”– allowing those who want to attend to pay the general admission $224.99 in installments. The prices can go up to $499.99 for a VIP and hotel package.
With all this, there are no refunds or exchanges. Which for the most part is normal. But, this is where the “Live Nation is going broke” jokes come in. There is talk that this could be a cash grab on Live Nation’s part where something will occur, and the festival is cancelled. Meaning many excited concert goers may be scammed out of up to 500 dollars. Money that can be used to pay off a certain lawsuit from the Astroworld fiasco.
But these are all theories and talk from social media. In the end, many bands are talking about the festival and seem to be excited to participate.
I know that initially I was extremely excited to hear about the event. I suppose only time will tell.
So, are you down to revisit the nostalgic Warped Tour feeling later this year? Or is it not worth the risk?
