This weekend, 45 seasoned emo, indie and punk bands assembled for 2017’s When We Were Young festival in Santa Ana. We don’t even know if Vans Warped Tour still exists (we just Googled—apparently it does, and it has Gwar?), but WWWY seems like a nice evolution for veteran groups from that era and a reprieve for fans who have kids, are old enough to drink and will go to an all-day event that possibly begins with Balance and Composure and ends with Morrissey. And because it has Morrissey, all the food is vegan, but there’s a heavy chance that people who live in the OC and listen to AFI are pretty cool/can afford that. Check the gallery above for photos of yesterday’s opening featuring AFI, Cage the Elephant, Joyce Manor and Streelight Manifesto, courtesy photographer Erica Lauren.
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AFI at When We Were Young, The Observatory, Santa Ana, CA, 4/8/2017.
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AFI at When We Were Young, The Observatory, Santa Ana, CA, 4/8/2017.
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AFI at When We Were Young, The Observatory, Santa Ana, CA, 4/8/2017.
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AFI at When We Were Young, The Observatory, Santa Ana, CA, 4/8/2017.
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AFI at When We Were Young, The Observatory, Santa Ana, CA, 4/8/2017.
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AFI at When We Were Young, The Observatory, Santa Ana, CA, 4/8/2017.
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AFI at When We Were Young, The Observatory, Santa Ana, CA, 4/8/2017.
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Cage the Elephant at When We Were Young, The Observatory, Santa Ana, CA, 4/8/2017.
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Cage the Elephant at When We Were Young, The Observatory, Santa Ana, CA, 4/8/2017.
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Cage the Elephant at When We Were Young, The Observatory, Santa Ana, CA, 4/8/2017.