Save Your Tears: Sad Summer Fest Review, Gallery, Livestream and Survival Guide

Awsten Knight of Waterparks headlining Sad Summer Festival in Anaheim, CA. Photo: Nikki Phillips

With a lineup including Waterparks, Neck Deep, State Champs, Mayday Parade and more, it’s rather hard to keep on a sad face. Sad Summer Festival kicked off July 8th in Sacramento, CA before making its way down to Anaheim, CA at The Lot at City National Grove. We were lucky enough to catch the festival and share the juicy details with you all. Check out our recap of the Anaheim show along with a photo gallery featuring the full roster. Be sure to read over our Sad Summer Survival Guide if you plan on catching the tour in your city — if you can’t make it, Veeps just hosted a livestream of the show on Friday, July 22nd from New York City. You can rewatch here as many times as you’d like up to 90 days after the event!

The show commenced mid-afternoon with Lip Candy — winners of the Battle of the Bands contest, who were voted #1 out of almost 600 entries. The Los Angeles natives surely did not disappoint! You can listen to Lip Candy here and add them to your listening rotation (you will thank us later). Up next was newly established (2019) pop punk/emo Orlando-based band, Magnolia Park. Their energy was everything we needed to help us dive right into the the festival. The setlist included some of their most popular songs like “10 For 10” and “Back On My Bullshit” as well as killer cover of Fall Out Boy’s “Sugar, We’re Goin’ Down.”

Hot Milk surely brought the heat with their unmatched powerhouse performance fronted by Han Lee. Her co-vocalist Jim Shaw and bandmates Tom Paton (bass) and Henry Deller (drums) led an energetic, full force show without a minute to spare. The English emo pop punkers lit up the crowd with their hit, “Candy Coated Lie$” along with their newest releases “Teenage Runaways” and “I Fell In Love With Someone I Shouldn’t Have.” We were engulfed by the upbeat sounds of Hot Milk and already cannot wait to see them the next time they are in SoCal.

It wouldn’t be a Sad Summer without The Summer Set — and some major MySpace reminiscing. The emo pop veterans played a setlist that easily transported us back in time 15 years ago. Festival goers swooned over the piano-infused pop rock hits, including “Figure Me Out” and “Boomerang.” Formed in 2007 out of Arizona, The Summer Set has had numerous singles and albums since then, including a handful of songs released after a limited hiatus in 2017. Brothers Stephen and John Gomez also are members of TWIN XL, if you’d like a dose of additional new music.

If you haven’t heard of the new “post emo” genre, Hot Mulligan will get you acquainted. Boasting a sound that is reminiscent of the mid-2000s emo era with a modern twist, the band revved the crowd as they ate up every song. Highlights included tracks from their latest EPs, I Won’t Reach Out to You and you’ll be fine, as well as older favorites. Frontman Nathan Sanville amped everyone up belting each song as he jumped around the stage giving off some major Adam Lazzara vibes. We certainly may be emo kids at heart, but post emo seems to be pretty rad, too.

Mayday Parade set the bar high with their ten song performance, including an unexpected cover of My Chemical Romance’s “Helena” which drove the crowd wild. They came out to their mega hit “Jamie All Over” — an obvious crowd favorite. Another highlight of the show was a ten year old crowd surfer who managed to get her way all the way to the front — and received some major brownie points from frontman Derek Sanders. Sanders later brought up his own daughter onstage (of the same age) to say hello to the crowd — and yes, he was barefoot, in typical Derek fashion.

Pop punk kids (respectively) from all over united for both State Champs and Neck Deep. We talked with a few people from the crowd and learned some traveled hours from both Las Vegas and Phoenix (and more) to see their favorite artists. State Champs played a ten song set consisting of both recent and older material. The real surprise for State Champs fans was the debut live performance of their song “Some Minds Don’t Change” off of their newest album Kings of the New Age. Their performance was without a doubt a memorable one, full of the early 2010’s pop punk energy we all know and love.

Neck Deep was arguably the crowd favorite, at least amongst the older half of the crowd. With vivacious stage presence and bold attitude, we couldn’t get enough of the Welsh pop punkers. They kicked off the show with their latest single “STFU” as crowdsurfers poured in by the minute. The sun began to set creating the perfect backdrop for a supercharged set with songs from the past decade. About half of the songs were from the fan favorite album, Life’s Not Out to Get You (2015) and included other songs mostly from their album The Peace and the Panic (2017). The passion exuded from these guys is unlike anything we have seen lately. Definitely check out Neck Deep the next time they are in your area.

Waterparks wrapped up the night as the crowd unraveled with pure exhilaration before the guys even stepped onto the stage. While some stepped back for a breather after an insane Neck Deep performance, the Parx fans left no room to spare. Waterparks blasted off their set with their smash hit “Stupid For You” off of their debut album, Double Dare (2016). They played songs from their later release, FANDOM (2019) as well as more recent titles. The audience was in absolute shambles and joy all at once — it is always incredible to witness diehard fanbases show their gratitude and commitment to their favorite artists.

Everyone at Sad Summer Festival this year was so stoked to be supporting their favorite artists and hanging out together. The atmosphere was positive and overall uplifting. The only downside was no official schedule with any times was posted. Even most of the security didn’t have any idea of when bands were going on. Though only one stage, it would have been helpful to help coordinate bathroom breaks and to refuel with water/food. The set times for Anaheim were as follows:

1:50 — Lip Candy

2:30 – 3:00 — Magnolia Park

3:20 – 3:50 — Hot Milk

4:10 – 4:40 — The Summer Set

5:00 – 5:30 — Hot Mulligan

5:50 – 6:25 — State Champs

6:50 – 7:35 — Mayday Parade

8:00 – 8:45 — Neck Deep

9:10 – 9:55 — Waterparks

* Your city may vary, but this may serve as a loose guide with some minor band changes in the early slots. Read below for more tips to help your Sad Summer Fest experience be the best it can be!

Sad Summer Survival Guide

Sad Summer Fest is all ages, even in VIP. Plan accordingly if you’d like to bring your little ones or a younger family member or friend. (Bar area is 21+)
Free water stations will be available at all dates of the festival! Plastic (no metal) reusable water bottles will be allowed when entering the festival. Reusable water bottles will be sold at the Sad Summer Fest merch tent, in partnership with Reverb’s Rock N Refill program. All proceeds from the bottle sales benefit Reverb. Festival hack: Bring powdered drink packets with electrolytes (Gatorade, Propel, etc) to help keep you hydrated and replenish as it can get hot under the sun.
Bring sunscreen! No aerosol cans, but sticks and small sized gels or lotions work great. Double check your venue’s policy on bringing liquid items in. Though there are some tents for shade, there’s not too much space (there were only three tented areas with some picnic table seating in Anaheim).

12” clear bags/backpacks will be permitted into each of the venues. No large backpacks or bags will be allowed through security. Bags will be available for sale inside the festival grounds at the Sad Summer Fest merch tent or prepare ahead of time and check out Amazon’s selection.

Keep and eye out on our socials for even more photos! Be sure to catch the remainder Sad Summer Fest in a city near you:

JUL 27, 2022 — PromoWest Pavilion at Ovation Outdoors – Newport, KY – TICKETS

JUL 29, 2022 — Stone Pony Summer Stage – Asbury Park, NJ – TICKETS

JUL 30, 2022 — Skyline Stage @ The Mann – Philadelphia, PA – TICKETS

AUG 2, 2022 — Jacobs Pavilion at Nautica – Cleveland, OH – TICKETS

AUG 3, 2022 — Artpark – Lewiston, NY – TICKETS

AUG 5, 2022 — The Rave / Eagles Ballroom – Milwaukee, WI – TICKETS

Post and photos by Nikki Phillips [ Instagram | Twitter ]

Did you attend Sad Summer Festival? Comment below!