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See the Photos! When We Were Young Fest 2025

by Steve Brazill

Another When We Were Young Fest is in the books, and as expected it was a fantastic weekend at the Las Vegas Festival Grounds. Hanging out on the Vegas Strip, with a few friends, while watching a stacked lineup of 53 bands is a great way to spend a weekend, and this year’s show was fantastic! The way the festival is laid out, I couldn’t photograph every performance, as it would have been impossible to get through the crowds in time, but I managed to photograph 15 of the bands. I did catch The Summer Set, Destroy Boys, The Rocket Summer, Boys Like Girls, The Story So Far, Yellowcard, Simple Plan, The Maine, All Time Low, The Used, The Offspring, Avril Lavigne, Weezer, Blink-182, and Panic At The Disco. The gallery at the end of this post has over 150 photos to help you relive the weekend, or to convince you to not miss next year.

As I mentioned above, this year’s WWWY Fest had a stacked lineup, and while I knew that going in there was something I didn’t expect… Often at festivals I see a lineup that excites me, until I get there. It’s just a fact of life that some artists don’t sound as good live, but this weekend was amazing. Every band, every set, every song, sounded fantastic! You will hear me say that often in this post, and I was even repeating it Saturday night. These bands – every damn one of them – are just wonderful on stage.

Panic At The Disco

The last performance was from Panic At The Disco, and this was one of the many bands I hadn’t seen or photographed before. If I am being honest, I was surprised that Panic At The Disco had the final spot, I think Blink-182 made more sense to close out the show. But again, I hadn’t seen them live before. What a performance!

Everything about this set was a show, from vocalist Brendon Urie’s stage presence to the raised string and horn sections. Through 29 songs they left no doubt they belong in that main headliner spot, and most of those songs hadn’t been played live in years. This was the first full live performance of “The Only Difference Between Martyrdom and Suicide Is Press Coverage” since 2016, and they closed out the night with “I Write Sins Not Tragedies” with Spencer Smith on drums – the first performance with Smith since 2013. The highlight for me may have been the unexpected “Bohemian Rhapsody”, which they hadn’t done live since 2019.

Very excited to catch this band again someday.

Blink-182

This was the band I was most excited about. I had photographed Blink-182 before, but not since the reunion with Tom DeLonge. I did catch Angels & Airwaves once, at the Riverside Municipal Auditorium a few years ago, but to see these three on stage together… priceless. Hearing them banter back and forth was almost as fun as watching and listening to them play hit after hit after hit.

They ran through a set of 22 songs, and damn…. everyone knew every word. They kicked off strong with “The Rock Show” and “First Date”, and closed just as strong with “What’s My Age Again?”, “All the Small Things”, and “Dammit”, but the highlight for me – and my favorite Blink-182 song by far – was “Stay Together For The Kids. I can’t even describe how good these guys are. I would argue that the combination of Tom DeLonge, Mark Hoppus, and Travis Barker is one of the best live bands ever… yes, I said it. It’s a hill I am willing to die on. Go see Blink-182, trust me.

Weezer

This one was a surprise for me. I knew I would like Weezer live, but once again I was struck by how good they sounded. One of the tightest bands around musically. They ran through 11 songs, including “Hash Pipe”, “Island in the Sun”, “Beverly Hills”, “Pork & Beans” (fellow photographer Jenn D’s fave), “Say It Ain’t So”, and “Buddy Holly”.

Avril Lavigne

By now you should be getting the idea… this was a night of fantastic performances, and I have to say that hearing Avril Lavigne sing her hits was kind of special. She sounds amazing! Keep in mind, not all legends still do, but Avril can freaking sing. This set had a special surprise too, when the guys from Simple Plan, who has toured with Avril this past year, joined her on stage. This was also one of the two sets we had to photograph from “Front of House”, otherwise known as the sound board – the other was Blink-182. At a festival like this that’s really far away, and we were basically in a crowd of people. I bring this up to talk about part of the reason I think WWWY Fest is so special – the people.

When were first got there we had to shoot photos over the crowd, which is basically impossible. A few people found a spot standing on the barricades, but it was pretty tight. After the first 3 songs we left, but we were escorted back into that same area for the Simple Plan guest performance with Avril, and that’s when I had my faith in humanity restored. This time, security moved people back from the barricade so we could stand up there for a few songs. I fully expected the fans that were moved – people who paid to see their favorite bands – to be upset, but nope. One guy next to me kept telling what a great job we were doing. Another guy offered to let me use his shoulder for balance if I needed it. Everyone was so kind, and so welcoming…. I was honestly moved by their generosity.

Oh yeah, thank you to the security guys for their help!

Back to Avril now… Her set included all the hits. “Complicated”, “I’m With You”, “Sk8er Boi”, and of course “Young & Dumb” with Simple Plan. I will admit I was excited to see her live, but I never expected it to be one of the highlights of the night to me.

The Offspring

This was THE PERFORMANCE OF THE NIGHT for me. I am not saying that because I am some crazy Offspring fan mind you. It’s just that this was 9 songs where we all knew every word, every note, every nuance. This was nothing but top hits. Starting with “Come Out and Play”, then “Want You Bad”, “Bad Habit”, “Gotta Get Away”, “Why Don’t You Get a Job?”, “Pretty Fly (for a White Guy)”, “The Kids Aren’t Alright”, “You’re Gonna Go Far, Kid”, and finally “Self Esteem”.

You
couldn’t get a better set than this, and they just killed it. So damn good. Now I feel like I need to see them again soon.

The Used

The first time I photographed The Used was maybe 10 years ago at Warped Tour in Pomona, and they still are one of the best live bands touring today. Celebring their 25th anniversary on this tour, they played a seven song set with all the energy they always have. This is a band of passionate musicians, from vocalist Bert McCracken, to bassist Jepha, drummer Dan Whitesides, and guitarist Joey Bradford, this band delights their fans every time they hit the stage.

I have photographed them many times now over the years, and if you haven’t seen them, just buy tickets.

All Time Low

I am starting to realize that with 15 bands to talk about we are going to be here for awhile, so I am going to mention a few of the other highlights, from my point-of-view, and then let the photo gallery below do the rest of the talking. To talk about highlights, I have to mention All Time Low. They brought the fire, literally. What was interesting is that I don’t often see pyro during a daytime set, but wow. It worked here. Just a fantastic set of energy, and flames.

All time low is such a fantastic band live, and their When We Were Young performance was everything I’d hoped for. Just a solid band at the tope of their game. Their new album “Everyone’s Talking” is out now.

Simple Plan

I already mentioned that Simple Plan joined Avril on stage later in the day, but their own set has to be mentioned. This is another band I had not seen before, or at least for a long time, and they are so fun!

Vocalist Pierre Bouvier is a joy to watch, and man, can he get some air! Definitely one of the most dynamic performances I have seen in a long time.

Yellowcard

Bring on the pyro! When you have violin, pyro, and jumps, you must be talking about Yellowcard. This is another set that caught me off guard. I LOVE pyro during the day, it actually shows up in photos, instead of just turning purple white.

I don’t know where to start with Yellowcard. Their stage show has grown so much over the years, and they are at the point I would put them up against any of the bands at WWWY that had the later spots. Hands down, one of the best in the biz.

Boys Like Girls

I hadn’t heard this band before seeing them this summer at Warped Tour in Long Beach, and in fact almost didn’t photograph their set at Warped. Seeing them there made to want to photograph them every day. Just plain fantastic. From their on stage antics, to the obvious fun they are having, this band is one that will stick in my mind for years to come.

If you have not seen Boys Like Girls before, all I can say is give them a shot. They have something that’s very hard to describe, beyond saying that some bands are geared for the studio, while others are born to live in front of a crowd. Boys Like Girls definitely fits the second group.

When We Were Young Fest – Who I Missed

I did manage to catch the bands Destroy Boys (above), and The Maine (below). There were some sets I missed that I wish I had been able to catch, and LetLive is the big one. I heard great things about their set – which if you know LetLive, or vocalist Jason’s other band Fever 333, won’t surprise you. I really wanted to catch Plain White T’s too, and We Came As Romans, Beartooth, Knocked Loose, The Amity Affliction, The Gaslight Anthem, Bad Religion, Taking Back Sunday, I Prevail, Asking Alexandria, Breath Carolina, PVRIS, The Plot In You, Story of the Year, Ice Nine Kills, Taylor Acorn, and of course Don Broco.

There were so many great bands in this year’s lineup that if you missed When We Were Young I can honestly say you missed one of the best festivals of the year. I can’t wait to see the lineup in 2026.