Sad Summer Fest Ready to Kick Start Your 2022 Summer Fun
Sad Summer Festival is back again in 2022 to keep the travelling festival experience alive, featuring pop punk icons in Neck Deep, Waterparks, Mayday Parade, State Champs, and more. Sad Summer continues today in Houston, TX, and will run through Orlando, Pittsburgh, New York, Philadelphia, and more, coming to an eventual end on August 5th in Milwaukee, WI.
We at Scene Daddy will also have some special coverage coming to you from the Worcester, MA date on July 23rd, so stay tuned for that. In the meantime, we were able to chat with members of State Champs, Mayday Parade, and The Maine, about the culture and atmosphere of a typical Sad Summer Fest date.
Culture & Atmosphere
“I would say this festival is all about teamwork; everyone working together to better the experience,” says Jeremy Lenzo of Mayday Parade. “It feels like you’re a part of the festival rather than just a band playing on it. Because it’s not as large as say something like Warped Tour, you get a chance to know everyone, and to really bond with the other artist and crew.” Tyler Szalkowski of State Champs adds, “Everyone is stoked and just happy to be amongst friends. It gets a lot of warped comparisons but I’d argue it’s better so far because it’s without the egomaniacal weirdos.”
“Sad Summer feels like the the dream day for a fan of this kind of music,” says Pat Kirch of The Maine. “It has all the atmosphere and vibe of these mega festivals but on a smaller scale where you can actually watch every single band.”
He continues, “The crowds have such a great energy so it makes for an amazing show for every single band playing. The people going have such a passion for this music and they feel like the day was totally catered to their tastes. There isn’t another tour like it right now.”
Spirit of Warped Tour Lives On
It’s easy to compare travelling festivals such as Sad Summer Fest to the once pinnacle travelling fest of the scene in Warped Tour, but each member of the bands we talked to assured us that while Sad Summer embodies the spirit of Warped Tour, it’s taken on its own life over the years.
“I think the spirit is there, but it’s a definitely it’s own thing,” says Lenzo. “Currently the festival is mainly pushed at pop punk, but maybe in the future if more stages are incorporated and bigger venues, you could start adding in other genres to really make it diverse.”
“Each and every one of us has a little bit of Warped Tour in us to draw influence from.” Szalkowski continues, “The spirit absolutely lives on but I do hope it to will be respected as it’s own thing. A lot of hard work goes into it, and it deserves its own respect.”
Does Size Matter?
Deciding to expand a festival to include more stages, genres, etc. can be advantageous to draw in a diverse fanbase and expand your reach, but it can also come at the detriment of cost and atmosphere.
“[Sad Summer] compares to other tours by offering a smaller version of what you actually want from the bigger festivals if you’re a pop punk fan,” says Szalkowski. “A lower ticket price and you probably know every band instead of higher ticket price where you spend half the day in the grass drinking and waiting for the band you wanted to see!”
Lenzo adds, “You know, I was going to say having a second stage would help eliminate dead time and give crew more time to set up, but there is actually something nice about dead time between artists. It allows people to go get merch, food, restroom, etc. It also builds anticipation for the next band, and doesn’t burn the listener out on hearing music continuously without a break.”
Sad Summer Fest have carved out the ultimate niche within the scene, cementing themselves as the premiere pop-punk event of the year. Tickets for each date of the festival are now on sale, so get them before they’re gone!