While When We Were Young started largely as a nostalgic festival celebrating classic emo and pop punk, heavy metal and hardcore have always been part of its DNA, too. But damned if this past weekend’s iteration of the event wasn’t the pound-for-pound most intensely punishing year yet.
True, the two-day fest — which was presented by 7-Eleven — at the Las Vegas Festival Grounds featured poppy veterans like Avril Lavigne, Weezer, the Offspring and more, but there was an undeniably hefty amount of heavy talent in the 50-plus band lineup.
It was a weekend that found Knocked Loose knocking teeth out with their metalcore mastery, while Kublai Khan TX got in a few reps with their iron-heaving appearance, Ice Nine Kills bloodied the audience with their theatricore flair, and Drain got things going with crossover heaviness and mile-wide smiles. Other headbanging acts that seriously brought the noise included Loathe, Alexisonfire, Beartooth, Sunami, Motionless in White, letlive., the Amity Affliction, the Plot in You and more.
A number of photographers were on hand to capture the insanity, and you can see their photos down below. Backstage interviews with several of the bands went up over the weekend via a livestream on Veeps, which you can still watch on-demand. We’re also rolling out clips all week on the Revolver Instagram.
