This festival may be my most favorite music event I’ve ever attended. Definitely in my top 5. The energy and vibes were on point; I felt safe amongst the security and crowd and enjoyed so many great performances throughout the day (when I finally got inside after waiting in line for over an hour). Read on to hear more about my experience at the first ever When We Were Young festival (WWWY) in Las Vegas.
Okay, so for starters, I was originally a 22er (iykyk). If you don’t know, this festival was originally supposed to debut on October 22nd, 2022. Unfortunately, about 50 minutes before the festival doors were supposed to open at 11am, I (luckily) checked my instagram and saw that the fest was cancelled for the day due to high wind warnings. You can’t imagine the depression that washed over me when I read that post. I went to the comments to feel some solidarity with others who were planning on going but (of course) the fest account didn’t allow comments on the post. However, there were lots of comments regarding the cancellation on other WWWY IG posts, twitter and facebook. Basically, everyone was super pissed and bummed.
So I’m in vegas with my husband at like 12pm still trying to wrap my head around this. Our flight is supposed to leave from vegas at 4pm the next day so at this point its kinda impossible for me to buy another ticket and go to tomorrow’s show. Side note: WWWY was a 3-day music festival where the lineup is (almost) the same for all 3 days, kinda like warped tour but only at one venue and only for 3 days. So im in our hotel room freaking out and my husband takes us out to breakfast so I can try to chill tf out. im basically scrolling through the internet all day trying to find more info – will Saturday ticket holders be able to get in on Sunday using Saturday tix? Will our date be rescheduled? Am I really only getting refunded for the ticket and not for these flights, hotels and everything else??
So while obsessing on the net I find out that some bands are doing pop-up shows around vegas to make up for the cancellation (bless them). I heard all American rejects, bring me the horizon, we the kings and others were doing some small shows. I also heard that Fremont street was playing some emo music in honor of the 22ers. My husband and I checked out Fremont and it was mainly a mix of punk kids and regular tourists walking around aimlessly and drunk. I didn’t hear much emo music while I was there that afternoon. I Also heard that some fights broke out because the pop-up shows were SMALL (like 300 max occupancy) which was def not enough for the eighty THOUSAND people who were set to attend on Saturday and they ALL wanted in lol. Needless to say, I didn’t end up going to any pop-up shows.
So we get back to our hotel that evening and I check the southwest app to see how much it would cost to reschedule my flight to Monday. Turns out that id actually get 150 bucks in credits because Monday flights are cheaper than Sunday. I take this as a sign – I work too god damn hard and already came all the way out here! I should just buy a Sunday ticket, eat the costs of the hotel and go to this fest that ive been waiting TEN MONTHS FOR.
So I did it. Around 6pm on Saturday, I yolo’d my credit card and got a ticket for Sunday at 3x the price (pray for me), and I can’t stress this enough – it was worth EVERY FUCKING PENNY. Omg.
I put on the outfit I’ve been planning all year, do my makeup extra cute and we set out. Luckily we stayed at the ahern hotel which was right across the street from the fest and SUPER NICE. I HIGHLY recommend this hotel for anyone attending an event at this venue or really anyone coming to vegas. Staying close to the grounds allowed us to quickly walk back to the hotel for bathroom breaks, food and to get my bunny ears for the night. Anyways, we walk over to the line and its long as fuck. And also disorganized. Ppl were cutting left and right, getting dropped off at the front and just walking in while others made the mile long trek to the “end” of the line(s). I said fuck that, im cutting and getting in there because its almost 1:20 and mayday parade is about to come on. I finally get in by like 1:30ish and book it to mayday at the black stage, leaving my husband in the dust (sorry neem, love you). I prolly looked crazy as fuck but fuck it. So glad I did that cause their set was amazingg, definitely the best one of the day for me. They played some good older ones like I’d Hate To Be You, Transmoconfiguration and of course Jamie All Over. You can tell im a super mayday fan ☻
The rest of the day was just lit overall. I ended up also seeing boys like girls, the maine, a day to remember, avril lavign, bring me the horizon, paramore and my chemical romance. After mayday, BMTH has the coolest performance, followed by ADTR. Definitely go see both of them live if you haven’t yet. Everyone there was so chill and nice. The average age was maybe like 30 so it was just a mellow vibe overall (except in the pits). I met some cool ppl, shared some drugs, danced and just overall had a really cool time. Definitely felt like a slightly mellowed out version of warped tour. My feet were feeling it at the end though because I was basically in the pit from ADTR at 6:30pm all the way to the middle of MCR’s set. Worth it though. It was my husband’s first time at a rock-type concert and even he had a good time just chatting ppl up and enjoying the energy. He stood in line for me and got me some fest merch while I was in the pit (bless him).
At the end of the show, while we were walking back to our hotel, there was an amazing fireworks show and apparently they were shooting out fake money stamped with the MCR logo. It was a really nice cherry on top. I almost teared up at how good the show went, especially after all the criticism the fest got throughout the year and after cancelling the Saturday show. I think the organizers really went above and beyond with this festival and delivered an experience I will never forget. Actually, it was this fest that inspired me to begin this blog! I just had to write about it, it was that good.
Some tips for anyone going to the fest next year: if you haven’t gotten a ticket, maybe wait until like a month out before the show to get one off stubhub because this year, ticket got super dumb cheap as the festival got closer. Also, there is a GA pit entrance at the far-left side of the black stage that you have to go through to get to the actual pit. Wish I knew that when I saw mayday :’(. Also FUCK THE LINES. The actual, organized lines to enter the grounds don’t start until you get past the front white gate at the corner of circus circus and sahara. Don’t even bother finding the end of whatever line is forming outside of this white gate, just keep walking toward the ticket scanner area. Honestly same thing goes for all the lines – they were super disorganized, just walk to the front or else youll be there all day. Last tip: I don’t condone drug use because it can be really bad for ppl, but my personal drug use that day kept me nice and warm when the sun went down. everyone else was freezing and I was chillin xD, it may have just been my excitement, though.
But yeah, overall the festival was absolutely amazing. I’m thinking about going next year just for the vibes (I only know a few bands on the lineup but fuck it). If you have any questions or comments about this review, if you wanna link up at a show, or if you want me to review your next event, def let me know in the comments on the homepage or hit me up on instagram @bunnygoestoshows! keep scrolling to see a few more pics
loved the pink tint in our hotel
