A Day To Remember Kicks Off When We Were Young Weekend With A Sideshow At Fontainebleau Hotel’s Bleau Live Theater

October 17, 2024 – This is where it all starts. The kickoff to one of Vegas’s biggest events, When We Were Young festival 2024. This festival has brought thousands of people from all over the world to Downtown Las Vegas to experience one of the greatest lineups of emo bands ever.

And to start it all off on Thursday, we had several sideshows around town played by various artists from the festival! And we were front and center for A Day To Remember’s headlining set at the Fontainebleau theater.

A Day To Remember has always been a top 5 favorite band of mine, and of course I’m no stranger to their live events. They get absolutely RIDICULOUS sometimes. I remember the good old days of Jeremy running around on top of the crowd in a giant hamster ball. It really doesn’t get much more fun than an ADTR show. I was so pumped to see them again and see what kind of changes they had made to their show, and obviously they tore the place down as usual.

Starting with a huge confetti pop, the band came out swinging with the absolute powerhouse of a track, ‘Sticks and Bricks.’ Jeremy’s vocals have always been a force in their live shows, and this night was no different as they were in top form. They really do just sound so powerful, you can feel the guitars and drums reverberating in your chest with every note. Lead guitarist, Kevin Skaff, was a juggernaut on the riffs, and Alex Shellnut kept things tight with the rhythm section in the form of Neil Westfall on guitar and Bobby Lynge on bass.

ADTR took us on quite the journey in this one, playing a number of tracks from nearly every one of their releases. They even played their cover of ‘Since U Been Gone’ which had everyone LOSING IT. Before beginning their song ‘Mindreader,’ Jeremy took the opportunity to get everyone familiar with what they call “crowd surfing on top of a crowd surfer,” which is pretty self explanatory. One person crowd surfs life normal, and someone stands on top of them like a surfboard and rides it allll the way to the front. Sick, right? As the band started their song, the crowd surfer surfers took their positions and began riding off into the sunset. Unfortunately, this DID result in an injury within the crowd, causing the band to stop the song, exit the stage, and return after about a 5-10 minute break.

Upon their return, the band had picked up right where they left off and slugged out several more bangers including ‘Have Faith In Me’ and ‘You Be Tails, I’ll Be Sonic.’ However, during ‘Resentment’ another injury was reported from the crowd, resulting in another 5-10 minute delay. The guys refused to let any of these setbacks stop them from putting on an amazing show for everyone in attendance, as they came back out with ‘All Signs Point To Lauderdale’ and instantly had the crowd right back in the thrill of it. Their two-song encore consisted of ‘Homesick’ and ‘The Downfall of Us All,’ which was the perfect ending to an expertly crafted set.

As a photographer you know I have to rave about good lighting design when I see it, and there was no exception here. Extremely fine detailing not just in the lights, but in the graphics that played on the LED screen at the back of the stage throughout the set. Very intricate designs that always deserve recognition!

A Day To Remember went on to play at WWWY for both days, where they performed their breakout album “Homesick” in its entirety. While the festival crowd got to experience the album play through, only people who attended Thursday’s show were treated to a unique setlist consisting of iconic bangers, and songs that the band hasn’t played in many years.

While this was billed as a WWWY sideshow, it was also technically the tour kickoff show for ADTR’s ‘Couple More Shows’ tour, which will run across the US with support from August Burns Red and Stand Atlantic. Be sure to catch this tour as it is an absolute CAN’T MISS! CLICK FOR TICKETS