On Friday, the emo-nostalgia When We Were Young festival was supposed to kick off in Las Vegas, but it was not to be. The fest’s organizers had to cancel the first day of When We Were Young because of a “high wind warning” — truly one of the strangest reasons that I’ve ever seen for a live-show cancellation.
Fortunately, Warped Tour veteran Katy Perry happened to be playing Las Vegas that night, as part of her Play residency at Resorts World. A large number of When We Were Young “orphans” apparently ended up at Perry’s show instead, and she was only too happy to welcome them.
During her Vegas set last Friday night, Katy Perry made light of When We Were Young being “gone with the wind” and had fun reminiscing about her Warped Tour days and welcoming the fans who didn’t expect to find themselves at her show instead: “I just want to welcome you to a pop show, where we throw bows just as hard but with a smile… Everyone welcome the emo kids tonight. You guys have been sad for so frickin’ long; it’s time to get happy!”
Later on, Perry pointed out a crew of When We Were Young orphans wearing Katy Perry shirts in the crowd, and she invited one of them onstage. The guy who came up, Dylan from Idaho, was extremely drunk, and he was also a total ham.
Perry interviewed this guy onstage for a surprisingly long time, and they both seemed to enjoy the experience a great deal. (Perry: “I can smell that you’re partying.”) Then Dylan dancedaound onstage, with Perry’s encouragement.