In the event you haven’t been dwelling underneath a rock the previous couple of days, you’ve in all probability heard in regards to the When We Were Young Festival (allegedly) occurring in Las Vegas this October. The lineup alone was sufficient to get folks to interrupt out the eyeliner and return to a facet half, with each main emo, different, and/or pop punk band from the early to mid-2000s scheduled to carry out. Nonetheless, as soon as the preliminary pleasure from the announcement wore off, the query rapidly turned from “how do I get tickets and pull this off?” to “how do they pull this off?”

With 66 bands slotted to carry out inside the authentic 12 pageant hours (now up to date to 13), folks started to marvel if it was logistically attainable to suit so many acts into such a brief timeframe. A number of retailers reported that there would solely be three phases, giving every band a bit of over 30 minutes to carry out if the time was break up evenly, much less if the headliners performed longer. That doesn’t consider circumstances like technical difficulties or setup/tear down between units. Moreover, all these acts are supposed to play on the identical day. An eagle-eyed TikToker briefly gave hope to the elder emo neighborhood by digging into the code and discovering code for “Day 2”, one thing that will make the timing a lot much less tight. Nonetheless, when WWWYF Day 2 was introduced, the pageant clarified that it was not splitting the lineup into two days; it was a “second present” with the identical lineup. A third day on October 29th was added on January 24th (presale begins at 10am Pacific Time on January 31st). Lastly, there was the query of if the venue may even accommodate a number of sold-out crowds—the 37 acre Las Vegas Fairgrounds is a far cry from Coachella’s (eight phases) 642 acres or Bonnaroo’s (four phases) 700 acres.

Extra questions in regards to the lineup (and Fyre Festival comparisons) began circulating when Senses Fail guitarist Buddy Nielsen posted an Instagram story the day the pageant was introduced, stating that he had “no concept” he was taking part in it. (Fyre Festival famously blasted a graphic displaying acts for a lineup that have been by no means paid or confirmed for the pageant.) A number of massive names like My Chemical Romance, The All-American Rejects and Paramore have all confirmed they’re taking part in, although individuals are fast to level out that, as an illustration, Blink-182 have been additionally confirmed for Fyre Fest. (The truth is, Blink-182 solely pulled out of Fyre Festival as a consequence of Travis Barker’s concern of flying and the Fyre Festival’s incapability to accommodate one other mode of transportation for him to its distant location—which could say extra in regards to the band’s due diligence than the pageant’s legitimacy.) However a minimum of Stay Nation, in contrast to Fyre Media, is a widely known leisure firm that has efficiently placed on numerous exhibits. 

Additionally giving some followers sketchy vibes are the pageant’s refund coverage and wait checklist. The When We Were Young web site states that “all tickets are ultimate with no refunds or exchanges”, and on condition that Normal Admission tickets begin at $245 (plus a $79 price), a change of coronary heart about attending could be expensive. Even so, the pageant rapidly bought out, leaving many hopeful attendees upset and disgruntled. Some followers who didn’t fairly luck out on scoring tickets have been positioned on a waitlist, which appeared to require them to present cost info and would robotically cost them the total ticket worth (with no possibility for the $20 down cost plan marketed) if a waitlist spot opened up.

All of those questions culminated within the idea that WWWYF is a rip-off designed in order that Stay Nation may repay its authorized charges incurred because of Astroworld, a tragedy that left 10 useless and dozens injured. It’s true that Stay Nation is at the moment underneath investigation and going through a number of lawsuits for over a reported $2 billion because of the tragedy, but it surely’s additionally true the corporate has placed on quite a lot of occasions, and presumably earned cash, since.

As for the performances, on Friday, the WWWYF web site was up to date to say there could be “a number of phases of various dimension” and that units would begin at 11am and go till 12am. When reached for remark, Stay Nation advised Betches, “Set occasions will fluctuate with earlier bands having shorter units and the headliners having the longest. For a lot of festivals it’s typical for earlier acts to have 20-30 minutes, whereas headliners typically carry out longer, nearer to 45 to 60 minutes or extra.” So far as the scale of the venue, Stay Nation mentioned, “The Las Vegas Festival Grounds is a big occasion area that has held a number of different massive scale occasions and festivals prior to now.”

And though WWWYF’s coverage is to not supply refunds, Stay Nation robotically points refunds if an occasion is canceled; Entrance Gate Tickets, which handles the ticketing for WWWYF, seems to supply refunds if an occasion is canceled or rescheduled. Plus, pageant tickets (and live performance tickets usually) are not sometimes refundable for causes exterior of cancellation or postponement of the occasion. 

Even when Stay Nation isn’t the evil genius rip-off company the web needs them to be, they’ve had issues of safety at a few of their occasions. Along with Astroworld, there are lawsuits towards the corporate at the moment for the demise of hip-hop artist Drakeo, the mass taking pictures of 58 folks on the Route 91 Harvest Music Festival, and a number of different security violations endangering solid and crew. “The security of followers, artists and employees is totally deliberate for amongst occasion organisers and in coordination with native authorities,” Stay Nation advised Betches. The firm additionally launched an official assertion during which it inspired followers to “examine the pageant web site and socials for the entire newest updates” concerning up to date security protocols because the pageant will get nearer. The pageant’s web site now directs folks with “particular questions concerning security, safety, medical, and any others” to succeed in out by way of an electronic mail tackle.

Backside line: Is this pageant occurring? It seems so. With each pageant dates being bought out and a 3rd one within the making, it’s obvious that followers are within the enterprise of distress okay with taking a little bit of a threat within the hopes that When We Were Young is the final word nostalgia journey they need it to be. For the extra cynical of us, we’ll have to attend till October 22nd to seek out out if it lives as much as the hype.

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Stay Nation says “Extra particulars could be discovered underneath “Festival Info, Dates & Hours” on the pageant web site at whenwewereyoungfestival.com”. 

Picture: Christian Bertrand / shutterstock.com