Photos and a review of the All Your Friends Festival at Burl’s Creek

[A report from Stephane Dubord. – AC]

Well, clearly it was never ‘just a phase’.

Since the demise of the Warped Tour in 2019, its collective following made up of Scene kids, skate punks, emos and metalcore fans had seemingly scattered, or retreated back to the underground. But it wasn’t long before that void became glaring enough for others to step in, such as the When We Were Young festival, held in Las Vegas each October since 2022. And now, Canada finally has its own version – the aptly named All Your Friends festival, which took place August 23-24 at the Burl’s Creek festival grounds.

Kicking off the festival in the smaller tent stage was Thunder Bay’s The Honest Heart Collective, who could be seen as a bit of an outlier for the festival. More roots rock than any of the other genres on the lineup, their high energy set introduced many in the crowd to their earnest lyrics. Maybe they could be considered ‘emo adjacent’?

In contrast, the next artist to take to the tent stage was Games We Play, carrying the flag for the next generation of pop punk. Fun and infectious, they unleashed a succession of catchy songs that had the early crowd singing along in no time, and with a Canadian tour soon to launch, those singalongs will only grow.

Launching the main stage festivities was Toronto’s own L0L0. Another relative newcomer to the scene, she brought the energy – and the pompoms – while performing songs off her debut full length album released in June.

Scene veterans We The Kings then played one of the most entertaining sets, which included inflatable aliens crowd-surfing, and their lead guitarist wandering into the crowd. If that weren’t enough, lead singer Travis Clark introduced their “biggest hit”… before launching into a cover of The Killers’ “Mr. Brightside”. That said, they did close with their actual mega hit “Check Yes, Juliet”.

Back to the main stage, Canadian pop punk legends Gob ran through a solid set combining their hits with their fantastic cover of the Rolling Stones’ “Paint It Black”. Volleying back to the tent stage, Gym Class Heroes had the tent bopping along to their massive hits including “Cupid’s Chokehold” and “Stereo Hearts” (unfortunately without surprise appearance from Adam Levine).

Scene mainstays Mayday Parade took to the main stage, and had the entire crowd belting out their emo-tinged pop rock anthems, from 2008 platinum hit “Jamie All Over” to this year’s “Pretty Good to Feel Something”. Even the piano ballads had fans hanging on every note. 

On the tent stage, Canadian trailblazer, and self-described “scene kid”, Lights brought her eclectic mix of genres that she has made her own over her career, from the synth pop of her debut album The Listening, the guitar driven Siberia, the electro-pop of her last album Pep, and even revealed a snippet of a new song.

Burlington’s Silverstein cranked things up a few notches, as the post-hardcore veterans got mosh pits going akin to their 2005 Warped Tour days, but armed with 11 albums now to pick songs from.

Closing out the tent for the night were All-American Rejects, making a rare Canadian appearance, only their fourth in 14 years. Absence clearly made the heart grow fonder, and fans sang along to every word from lead vocalist Tyson Ritter.

Headliners Billy Talent ended Night 1 with an incredible set, taking a moment to acknowledge that “this is our last show. FOR NOW.” and promising to be back. And as a perfect capper, they had Alexisonfire’s Wade McNeil join them for one of the most iconic renditions of Red Flag before ending with Fallen Leaves, their twentieth song of the night.

Day 2 

London’s newcomers Full Throttle got the day off on the right foot under the tent with pure pop-punk, with songs like “Caffeine Hangover” proving the future is still bright for the genre. 

More Canadian content kicked off the main stage lineup with Edmonton’s Stereos giving their hometown Oilers a shoutout amid their mix of early hits and new material since their reunion in 2019.

Montreal’s SUCKERPUNCH! kept the Canadian trend going, their fun brand of pop punk had everyone moving all set long, and if these songs are what they can come up with just two years together, they could very well explode with their debut album. 

Making her Canadian debut, Charlotte Sands took the main stage performing her viral debut “Dress” as well as other cuts from her first album released in January, which has already placed her squarely as one to watch in the new scene generation.

In contrast, no stranger to the Canadian music scene, Fefe Dobson took to the tent and had her dedicated fans singing to her memorable pop rock hits like 2010’s double platinum “Stuttering”.

Working the main stage crowd into an absolute frenzy, Toronto’s grandson had possibly the most energetic set, culminating in the singer joining the mosh pit while performing set closer “Blood//Water”, somehow managing to continue singing in the midst of the chaos. 

Prolific Arizona pop rock band The Maine had a nonstop set of hits for the crowd in the tent, including their first single to chart in Canada, “Loved You A Little”, which features Taking Back Sunday and Charlotte Sands. As a special surprise, Sands made the trek over from the main stage to join them for the memorable performance.

The Plain White T’s performed selections from their vast catalog on the main stage, launching what would be an ongoing sing-along for the rest of the night with their multi-platinum hit “Hey There Delilah”.

Fittingly, the only rain to fall during the festival was during the emo sets, including during Dashboard Confessional’s rousing set. Lead singer Chris Carrabba was in full voice, while Brampton’s Kenny Bridges (of Moneen fame) brought the energy one would expect for a rare hometown show.

Jimmy Eat World continued the crowd participation at the main stage, with fans singing every word of hits “Sweetness” and “The Middle” at the top of their lungs.

Closing out the epic first edition of the festival were Fall Out Boy, who took the stage 20 minutes early, with their entire set production, complete with grand piano atop a mountain, a 20 foot inflatable bear, and flamethrower bass. A career-spanning 26 song set interspersed with video clips culminated in a grand finale of streamers and fireworks that will be forever etched in festival goers’ memories.

It’s hard to imagine how this inaugural edition of the festival could have gone better, and festival goers could already be heard speculating on who could be on the bill next year. Whoever it ends up being, you can bet they’ll have all their friends showing up, as it is very much NOT a phase.