By Lorna Cariaga
December 2nd, 2025
On October 18 & 19th, 7-Eleven presented the fourth annual When We Were Young
Festival on the Las Vegas Festival Grounds. When We Were Young is a music festival that
features emo, punk, rock or metal music that was mostly popular during the 1990s to the early
2000s. With this year’s headliners, Blink-182 and Panic! At the Disco–who performed the
entirety of their debut album, A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out–and a sold out Saturday show, it
proved to be a major success.
I went to the Saturday show with VIP tickets, allowing me a better view of all the acts I’d get to
see that day. The festival began at 11:00 am, but I arrived at around 12:30 pm to catch both
Mayday Parade and Boys Like Girls, who were playing back to back. Although I am unfamiliar
with Mayday Parade, I enjoyed their set and was excited for what the rest of the day would look
like. Boys Like Girls were phenomenal and their energy was contagious! I loved their songs,
Love Drunk and The Great Escape–the song they say that ‘started it all’–and hearing them live
was great, musically and performance wise.
After these two performances, my boyfriend and I raced over to the other side of the venue to
see We the Kings, and were ecstatic to see them perform Check Yes, Juliet, a song that both of
us know very well. I will note that it was interesting to hear them dedicate Mr.Brightside–a song
by The Killers–to those who had never listened to them before. After, we walked back to the
main stages to see the end of Knocked Loose, and All Time Low. I only know Dear Maria, Count
Me In and Monsters, but I found their set to be a little lacking in terms of energy with the crowd
as well as the band. However, I very much enjoyed the short cameo from blackbear during
Monsters.
In the latter half of the day, we were able to get the chance to catch a short break before seeing
an anticipated act of the night: Ice Nine Kills. Hearing them on streaming services definitely
does not compare to seeing them live, especially since their music has a theatrical element to it.
They were amazing, and even as someone who does not take too well with horror, seeing Art
the Clown from The Terrifier was a lot of fun with all the effects and music to back up the act we
watched. While running to catch the headliners at a decent spot, I was able to hear Avril
Lavigne’s most iconic song, Sk8er Boi. My sisters and I grew up with Sk8er Boi and Girlfriend,
so hearing this song in passing on our way to see Blink-182 and P!ATD was extremely nostalgic
and exciting.
While waiting for good spots (which spoiler: we did not get for Blink-182) we had to see this
generation’s favorite musician meme Weezer. Although I’m not the biggest Weezer fan, I will
say they still sound exactly like the recordings. Blink-182 however, disappointed me a bit. The
idea of WWWY is to reminisce on the time you were a teenager, but they had instead played
newer songs, with only a small amount that were recognizable to an occasional listener (myself)
and a die-hard fan (my boyfriend). The last band, Panic! At the Disco, I made all the
disappointment disappear from myself, as we got rail spots and I got to hear the entirety of A
Fever You Can’t Sweat Out as well as songs that made up my entire preteen to early teen years
like This is Gospel and Emperor’s New Clothes. The energy was radiating from the band and
Brandon Urie brought out Spencer Smith–the former drummer and one of the founding
members–for a second run-through of I Write Sins Not Tragedies.
Overall, I had a ton of fun experiencing a genre I have an on-and-off relationship with. This was
my first year attending this festival, and I hope to make this a yearly trip to see favorites as well
as discover new bands. 9/10 I highly recommend it to everyone!!!!!
