“When We Were Young Fest is a cash grab!” - If you think this, I can’t wait for you to find out about other festivals because that’s pretty much how they all work. They get your money, you get your money’s worth. Festival money (which is not an insignificant amount of money) helps bankroll bands so that they can live and keep making cool shit instead of having to do only “real” jobs forever (you would be surprised by how many musicians from major emo bands have had to get normal-people jobs when they’re not on tour. some even left bands because they can no longer afford to be in them). Sadly, a lot of people in this scene are covertly kinda broke. MCR doesn’t appear to be scrounging between couch cushions for loose change so I don’t think they need this gig to live but either way, doing this festival was their choice. I’m slightly surprised MCR agreed to the one album play-through concept because they’ve never been the type to do an anniversary tour for a specific era before (the original self-imposed cash grab) but I think it’s clear that no one’s forced them to be at WWWY (twice!). Fall Out Boy’s there and they’re not limiting themselves to one album. So again, MCR chose to do things this way. I’ll be honest, more of often than not, I think old album-centric performances and tours can cheapen a band’s image and stunt growth by not focusing on building interest for new material BUT My Chem fans are obsessive, hyped about new material, and many never got to see My Chemical Romance on The Black Parade tour. In this specific case, the actual artistic choice of doing one single album as a one-off thing at a festival is kind of a win for MCR fans rather than the actual band. Personally, I don’t totally hate the idea of being able to experience the vibe of that era in 2024 and, because it’s MCR, I’m sure they’ll do something a little different with it. Anyway, I might be in the minority but I wouldn’t even go so far as to call festivals a necessary evil. Festivals are fun! Your high horse will not save you from the inevitable heat death of the universe! Enjoy things before it’s all over!
“MCR made fun of WWWY Fest therefore they HATE WWWY Fest” - You can poke fun at something without actually hating said thing. I know that you all know this in your hearts because y’all make fun of your favorite bands all the time. Yes, When We Were Young Fest is a name that grounds these bands in “the past” which might feel a little silly when much of the community are new fans, when older fans are still actively listening to these bands, when these bands are still making new music, etc. Ultimately, the branding is about nostalgia. I hear the frustration with that but consider that the reason you keep consuming emo music, a genre that you more than likely began listening to in middle school or high school, is not totally detached from that sense of nostalgia either.
