Inside When We Were Young Festival 2025

It goes without saying that the crux of the When We Were Young Festival is nostalgia. This year, sponsored by 7-Eleven, marked the fourth edition of the festival, with over 60,000 people taking over the Las Vegas Festival Grounds. Though much of the audience over the years has been driven by the promise of exclusive reunions, anniversary celebrations, and an eagerness to relive the soundtrack of their youth and dust off their Dr. Martens — this iteration set itself apart, with the inclusion of bands both outside the genre and era expectations set by years before. The same crowd chanted along to scene vets like Chiodos and Story of the Year drove circle pits during Drain’s pure, PMA-fueled hardcore set. Punk-rock darlings Destroy Boys and rising heavy stars Knocked Loose took the same mainstage — thrashing in baggy jeans and pleather corsets — that Avril Lavigne would stomp out onto, or Weezer would croon from later that day, in stripes and sweaters. 

Whereas last year’s headliner My Chemical Romance had inspired hoards of concertgoers to don gothic marching band attire, an homage to The Black Parade, for last year’s festival headliner, this year large groups of fans embraced burlesque, cabaret, and bohemian garb as a nod to Panic! At The Disco’s long-awaited performance of A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out in full. After three years, Brendon Urie returned to the stage in his hometown, delivering a larger-than-life, Moulin Rouge!-esque set that included original band member Spencer Smith playing drums on “I Write Sins Not Tragedies” for the first time in 12 years — and a brass section spearheaded by the forever smartly dressed Less Than Jake.

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When speaking with bands and festivalgoers, many have described it as a high school reunion of sorts, both touching on the festival as a place to return to year after year to reunite and find community. It was difficult to walk from stage to stage and not run into someone you knew. For outfits like the Cab, the fest served as a major homecoming after only recently reuniting after dropping their first EP, Road To Reign: A Prelude, in a decade.

Acts like Alexisonfire, on the other end of some sonic spectrum and who played two different raucous sets each day, performed in Vegas for the first time in years. However, this year, more than a reunion, the festival felt akin to an alumni mixer. An opportunity to hear, see, relate to bands adjacent to those who soundtracked our MySpace days as well as those who led the charge. And not only did the audience show respect for this wider scope, but backstage in conversation with AltPress for Veeps.com, the bands showered each other with praise. The Used and Yellowcard shared excitement about Knocked Loose, whereas emerging artist Taylor Acorn gushed about Lavigne. Bad Religion even offered reverence to emo and pop-punk music, a corner of the alternative space one might not easily associate with the punk-rock legends. 

Considering the community atmosphere, the festival has become known for surprise appearances during sets. Taking Back Sunday’s Adam Lazzara joined the Maine for their collaboration “Loved You A Little” and hopped onstage with Straylight Run — John Nolan’s TBS side project — and Simple Plan joined Lavigne for their song “Young & Dumb.”

Even though Sum 41 called it quits earlier this year, Deryck Whibley teamed up with Lavigne for an “In Too Deep” duet on the second night. NOFX’s Fat Mike played Tom DeLonge’s “new guitar tech” during blink-182’s set, running out as a surprise in between songs. On night one, Weezer brought out Blondshell for “I Just Threw Out the Love of My Dreams,” with PVRIS’ Lynn Gunn joining the performance the following day. At the end of her set on Sunday, Gunn touched on future editions of the fest and hoped that platforming more women would become a priority.

With this year’s edition coming to a close, it’s clear the 2025 festival proved the connection is more than just reliving the past. With surprise appearances, homecomings, and a curated mix of legacy and emerging acts, the festival has become a communal space for everyone — bands and attendees alike — to revel in the music that shaped and colored their youth. Four years later, the festival is still a reminder that the spirit of alternative music continues to resonate across decades and generations.

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